Welcome to New Glarus

About a decade ago, I started coming to New Glarus, a small town south of Madison, Wisconsin. What attracted me at first was the local brewery, appropriately called New Glarus Brewing. They made some excellent small production beers, and I wanted to see the source of all the fine ales and lagers. I stopped in the tasting room and took a brief tour of the brewery. I tasted samples and bought a case or so.

While driving to the brewery, I noticed the downtown area. Since I had made the trip, my curiousity led me to stop there too and I instantly felt attracted to the small businesses offering meats, cheeses, and chocolate. The village was originally founded by the Swiss and it has tried to maintain some of its heritage. This means tastes and sights that you don't find everywhere, not even in a large metropolitan city like Chicago.

Depending upon traffic, it's about 3-4 hour trip from Chicago area and I had been heading to the town for occassional day trips for about a decade. Buy beer. Buy food. Enjoy the pleasant scenery along the way. Sandra and I took such a day trip back on a sunny January 2nd. Even with winter making things barren, the rolling landscape of southern Wisconsin offers dramatic views. Once I get off the interstate in Beloit, the drive through the small cities and farmland makes me like driving. Open road. Sun.

The semester ended in July and we took another trip. This time was for a three night stay, my first overnight to New Glarus. The drive out of Chicago was hectic as we caught the beginning part of the Friday rush. Stopping at the Belvedere toll oasis, we took a picnic break before heading back out onto the interstate. Due to construction and weekend getaway traffic, things stayed congested until we hit the exit for route 81.

For me, route 81 is the gateway to the fun part of the trip to New Glarus--interesting that Beloit is nicknamed "The Gateway to Wisconsin". Originally founded in 1836, Beloit is a city of about 35,000 people on the Rock River. It's a mixture of new and old, vibrance and slippage, a snapshot of the industrial Midwest.

Through that mixture, the route weaves along different streets before heading out to the countryside. Following along and then dipping down and then rising back up, the road transverses the sweeping hills. I hold the landscape vividly in my memory. Green. Lush. Particularly on days like that Friday. Sunny skies with drifting clouds. Fields of tall corn. Cows and horses grazing.

We had to detour outside Monroe, finally catching route 69 in Monticello--a slightly longer trip, but this meant more time riding on top of ridges and seeing valleys stretch before rolling upward into another lush ridge. It really is a land to paint with oil and place on postcards and attach the caption "Fertile".

We rolled into town a litte before 7:00, just as the sun warmly basked the town and hillsides with that end of day glow. A good start to a good trip.

For more about Beloit's city page: click here.
For New Glarus Chamber of Commerce: click here.

From Saturday, here's a little tease:



New Glarus