Jun and I set our sights on Eau Claire after being unable to find an appealing campground. The downtown was bursting with culture, with theaters, artwork and books at your fingertips. Our concierge recommended a restaurant called Stella Blue, which enthralled my taste buds so thoroughly with fried pickles, beet salad and Cajun-spiced veggie pasta. The local beer was not bad, either. Eau Claire is home to Leinenkugels brewery, and even though my sister adores it, I do not, so we stuck with other fun labels like Spotted Cow.
Instead of heading to a dive bar I was eyeing earlier to celebrate Saturday night and our four-week anniversary, we tucked ourselves into bed before midnight and woke up early to start out for Mondovi, home of an amazing barn renovated into the Barn Again Lodge. We stayed in the Honeymoon Bungalow, a little red cabin. We wanted to stay forever. It had a little bed, couch, table, plus microwave popcorn and DVDs. The wraparound porch held a table and chairs and a gas grill. I was in love.
Then a glance at our atlas taught me that we were less than a half hour away from the birthplace of Laura Ingalls Wilder. I treasured her nooks as a child, reasons the adventures of Lsura and her family until they almost felt like my own. The TV series was nearly as enchanting. The museum resurrected in her honor was small and a little shabby, but there were a few interesting trinkets and I took home a biography of her captivating life.
And of course, we stopes for cheese curds to snack on. At summertime we utilized the grill and gave our wallets a break, stopping at the supermarket for two sirloin steaks, a red pepper, Vidalia onion and fresh blackberries and raspberries, all for $12. It was divine. If you haven't noticed, we adore food in a big, big way.
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| Moo. Now leave me alone. |
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