June 28, 2024 • 22 mins
We preview the last weekend of June in this episode and then dive deeper into Sheboygan, where Eric Paulsen has a discussion about upcoming events with Shelly Harms from Visit Sheboygan. The 4th of July celebrations coming up kick off Wedmesday the 3rd with live music on City Green (part of the weekly Levitt AMP Concert Series happening all summer) and the Venetian Boat Parade, plus more events capped off with fireworks on the 4th. August kicks off with the much-heralded return of Brat Days (fitting, in the Bratwurst Capital) and the resurrected Coho Derby on Lake Michigan with celebrations along at Deland Park. The Sheboygan Midwest Challenge brings speedboats to Sheboygan the following weekend with plenty of action, plus a trolley can take you from South Pier and the Harbor District, through downtown and all the way up to Bookworm Gardens and 3 Sheeps Brewery for ease of getting around - all day long for just $1! Discover more about Sheboygan's vibrant downtown and South Pier areas, find out why the kids will also love a road trip there, find out some great places to stay, and be sure to hit Highways 23, 28, or 42 to get there. Oh, and remember: StateTrunkTour.com has not only events and fun resources, but updated listings and showtimes for drive-in movie venues across Wisconsin all season long!
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
And welcome back to the State TrunkTour Podcast. Americ Paulson, your head
tour guide for Rhodes end to endaround Wisconsin, and today doing a little
weekend preview here as we enter thelast weekend of June twenty twenty four,
and then we're going to talk alittle bit about Sheboygan with Shelley Harms from
visit Sheboygan talking about not only theirJuly fourth holiday activities coming up, but
(00:21):
broad Days is coming back in theBroadworst capital of the world. You gotta
love it. There's a resurrected CoboDerby happening and the Midwest Challenge racing event.
We're talking speedboats in Lake Michigan.All that and a bunch more.
We'll talk with her about that momentarily. Now, don't forget Summerfest continues this
weekend. It is weekend two ofthree going on and basically at Summerfest it's
(00:43):
open Thursday, Friday and Saturday.A lot of great acts lined up for
the weekend. It goes on againJuly fourth through the sixth. But that's
not the only major concert going onoutdoors. We have Country Fest happening in
Cadot, just east of Chippewa Fallsand then just a little southwest of Chipwla
Falls and Eau Claire, the BlueOx Music Festival is taking place on the
(01:03):
water. Balsam Lake, which isthe county seat of Polk County has the
Balsam Lake Water Ski Show over incon Over. The Taste of con Over
gives you a chance to sample abunch of wonderful foods between Eagle River and
Landa Lakes. That's right along Highwaysforty five and thirty two con Over.
You'll find it there. Dodge CountyRodeo is happening just outside of Beaver Dam
and the Dodge County Fairgrounds. That'son Highway thirty three, a little bit
(01:26):
east of one fifty one. SpringGreen has their Arts and Crafts Fair this
weekend. Head on down there.If you love Frank Lloyd right, you're
gonna love spring Green. Highways fourteen, twenty three and sixty bring you there.
County Fair. The Outa Gamey CountyFair is happening in Seymour, legendary
home of the Hamburger Or. Highwaysfifty four and fifty five meet up and
(01:47):
at Road America and Elkhart Lake.The trans Am Speed Tour is happening.
Should be a great weekend to getout and check out all the action on
the racetrack. Similar for some othertracks around the state, including at Angel
Park in sun Prairie, where you'llalso find the Midget Racing Hall of Fame.
Now, if you want a Fourthof July feel with fireworks, well
you've got several options. In Thorpe, not too far from Cadatro Claire,
(02:08):
the Fireworks Extravaganza is happening on Saturday. That's where Highways twenty nine and seventy
three come together. You'll find MarikaGuda there too. Lights The Isthmus is
happening in Madison Saturday night too atBreeze Stevens Field, right along US one
fifty one, which is East WashingtonAvenue. It's a huge Independence Day celebration
(02:29):
a little bit early where they havelocal bands, food beverages, games,
prizes, and an illustrious twenty minutefestival foods fireworks display launched from behind the
stage where they have all those greatconcerts. Also, the high Ground in
Nilsville has their Freedom Celebration fireworks Saturdaynight. You'll find the high Ground along
US ten in Clark County and inJanesville. While due to high water conditions,
(02:52):
the Rock Aqua Jay's water ski showteam will not be able to perform,
they do have a huge set ofcelebrations with food, trucks of beer,
tent kids, games, pontoon rides, live music and more throughout the
day in Janesville. US fifty one, Highways eleven, twenty six and I
ninety and US fourteen all bring methere a lot of great drive in movies
(03:13):
this weekend too. Can't believe it'sthe last weekend of June already and the
showtimes are starting to creep earlier againby about five minutes because of sunset times.
But if you go to State TrunkTour dot com a huge selection of
flicks under the stars all across thestate. So now, Greek Fest is
happening in Sheboygan's DeLand Park this weekend, but that's one of many celebrations that
(03:35):
they're having coming up, including forJuly fourth, the third, and the
fourth. They have a bunch ofgreat events going on and the aforementioned broad
Days, Coho Derby, the MidwestChallenge racing event, and more lots happening
in Sheboygan, which the downtown justkeeps getting better all the time. So
it's time to talk with visit Sheboygan'sShelley Harms Hillo Eric, How are things
(03:55):
in Sheboygan right now? Oh?They are crazy good. It's been it's
been one busy summer. We're aweek out from Fourth of July, so
we're crazy with that and planning outthe rest of the year. So it's
it's been good. Yeah, andwe're gonna be talking about Fourth of July
and the resurrection of broad Days andthe Coho Derby, all kinds of great
(04:16):
stuff today. And you know,Sheboygan fun place to hit and especially in
the summertime when you get the coolernear the Lake Effect. Highways twenty three,
twenty eight, forty two take youthere right off Ive forty three,
just minutes off the interstate in Downtown'ssuch a great place in the harbor.
Love it. What was that bigboat race thing? I think it was
two summers ago at this point thatdrew so many people. We yeah,
(04:39):
we drew That was last year.Was the first year, and they are
coming back this year August ninth tothe eleventh. It was renamed the Sheboygan
Midwest Challenge, So that's cool.Fantastic, But yeah, it's it was
a great event last year. Lotsof activity. I mean, it's something
to see these massive power boats racingout in Lake Michigan. It is truly
(05:02):
remarkable. And I got a chancewhen we were doing that, we walked
on that pier past Blue Harbor allthe way out it extends aways out into
the lake, and yes it does. We were impressed. The view of
downtown, Sheboygan from there is phenomenal, all the boats going by. My
girlfriend and I went there. Iguess it was the last year. It
seems two years ago, but yeah, it was just this past August,
(05:24):
and man, you know, thenwe went out to dinner on Eighth Street.
So many great choices for restaurants andeverything, and you know, we
had a great time. And everytime she's like, we got to come
here more often, I'm like,yeah, yeah, we do. So
a lot of the things to checkout in sheboy getting. Now, First
of all, how's the visit,Sheboygan, your headquarters doing, Man,
you keep putting cool stuff in there, Yeah, we do. The visitor
(05:44):
center has been a real boom thisyear. We had rocket sales a couple
of weeks ago, and it's justa great gathering point for people to stop
and grab information, you know,grab a souvenir. Everybody loves postcards and
chocola. There's the little things totake home. And you know with again,
Cooler by the Lake. A lotof people don't anticipate that, so
(06:05):
we are selling sweatshirts like crazy,but we love it. Yeah, I
still wear my Sheboygan hoodie quite abit, weather permitting. It's yes,
it's great. Yeah, you comeby Cooler by the Lake definitely, And
the visit Sheboygan Visitor Center. It'son a street. It's just north of
the big roundabout where the County RoadI think that's Peep comes in. That
was the original highway twenty three backin the day. It's just on the
(06:27):
north side of the Sheboygan River,so it's at the south end of downtown,
kind of at the north end ofwhere you access the Harbor District.
So I mean you're in prime spotright there for people to stop in because
you can walk to everything from theretoo. We do, and we tell
people that a lot. It's like, you know, part your cars here,
you know walk, I mean youwalk underneath the bridge which brings you
to the boardwalk, you walk acrossthe bridge which brings you down south.
(06:49):
Here we have the Segue rentals.There we have a trolley stop. So
the trolley started running a couple ofweeks ago. It's a hop on,
hop off trolley that brings you tothe downtown through the riverfront. And now
that route was expanded as well lastyear. So they're bringing you off to
three sheets to book them gardens intothe art preserve so you can hop on
(07:13):
and hop off all day for onedollar. Wow, So that one dollars
like an all day pass and youcan get to all of them now they
pass yes, and you know,it's a great way to kind of,
you know, if you just wantto take the half an hour loop and
go around and see the things downand kind of get a little tour.
It's it's not narrated, but youknow, you see everything. You see
the marina, you see the beaches, you see the surfers or if they're
(07:34):
out there. You know, youget to the heart of the downtown and
you just say, you know,I want to get off in this corner
and you stop at at the Children'sMuseum, or you stop at the John
Michael Kohler Art center. And thenthere is a spot right in front of
the visitor center conveniently located there,so you can leave your car and jump
on the trolley right there and goaround all afternoon. You could even bring
(07:58):
your kayak and go in the riverright from there. You can. Yes,
the launch is right there, rightnext to our visitors center. You're
a multimodal station there at the visitSheboygan headquarters on E Street. Yes,
we are, you know. Andbefore we get into some of these events,
I wanted to talk a little bitmore about Bookworm Gardens. You know,
I've talked about Three Sheeps Brewing,I've written about it extensively on stage
(08:18):
trunk Tour, and of course I'vesampled their beers quite a bit. But
Bookworm Gardens, that's like a reallyawesome place for anybody, but to bring
the kids. It's really phenomenal.It is it really it's kind of all
encompassing, and you know, andI tell people that a lot when I'm
out at shows or just talking topeople, and like, first and foremost,
Bookworm Gardens is a botanical garden,but it's based on children's literature.
(08:41):
So the garden groups love it.The seniors love it. The kids love
it, you know, but it'snot it's not a playground. So many
people think, oh, it's aplayground and there's going to be kids running
all over. Yes there is,but they they encourage you to take time,
take the book that the garden isaround, relax with the book,
sit there and read, read thestories together. It's just a beautiful place.
(09:07):
And how they manage to do everythingso botanically, and these vibrant colors,
and it changes throughout the season.There's different flowers from spring through summer
into fall, and they want fantasticevents and it's just a really really magical
place for kids of all ages andyou know, young and the young at
(09:28):
heart. So it's it's phenomenal place. It's pretty lush there too, it's
really sweet. So yeah, youhave that, and then above and beyond
Children's museum for the kids. Sothere's a lot if you bring the kids
to sheboyg and there's plenty to doand see and enjoy for them. And
there's plenty of room for him torun around too. Oh absolutely, yes,
yes. So we're on the cuspof the fourth of July holiday weekend.
(09:52):
The annual boat parades going on.There's a lot happening. Let's cover
that a little bit and why whenpeople have their kind of Fourth of July
weekend and the fourth itself is ona Thursday this year, you know why,
it's worth taking a trip over toSheboygan and checking things out. Well,
it's really nice and what's nice aboutit and the way it falls this
year too with it being on aThursday. So during the summer for six
(10:13):
weeks during the summer, the elevenAmp Concert Series happens downtown in City Green.
That's a concert series that is sponsoredby the John Michael Kola Art Center
and it brings in musical acts fromaround the country. And that's every Thursday
night in the City Green Space.It brings a couple of thousand people downtown
(10:35):
every every Thursday night, with theFourth of July starting on a Thursday.
This year they bumped it to theday before, so starting July third,
they will be having the Live levenAmp Concert Series there so people can go
and enjoy that, hit the foodtrucks, get some live music, walk
the few blocks down to the riverfront and then you can see the Venetian
(10:58):
Boat Parade which starts at So that'sa really nice addition on July third this
year with just having that will akickoff to the concert as well. And
then on Thursday itself, we startoff at nine o'clock in the morning with
a parade. There's over ninety entrieswith the parade. It ends around noon,
so some people gather down at FountainPark where there's another community music production,
(11:24):
and then a large majority of thempop down to DeLand Park right on
the waterfront, and that's where wehave thirteen plus food trucks. We have
live music all afternoon. The jc'sare doing a broad fry and serving beer,
so that kicks off all afternoon,and then obviously the big grand finale
from the festival fireworks is that eveningat dusk man a live That's a whole
(11:48):
fully packed weekend. Boy, itsure is. And places to stay downtown.
You know, I don't talk aboutwatching all that often. Perhaps I
should a little bit. But ifpeople are coming into Sheboygan, where do
you recommend that they stay in downtown? I know there's some places, but
what would you tell people? Wedo have a couple of places, so
right downtown obviously Blue Harbor is righton south here, so that's kind of
(12:11):
our little resort, you know,right on the little resort. The place
is huge. Yes, yeah,that's true. I shouldn't say little.
It is a huge resort. It'sbeautiful. But downtown itself, we have
the Harbor Winds Hotel, which isright across the street from us at the
Visitor Center, so that's right onthe Sheboygan River. And then one of
the newer properties is called the WatershedHotel, and that's been there for just
(12:35):
a few years now, and that'son the Sheboygan River further up on North
fifteenth Street, so a little bitfurther out, but it's right on the
water. It's right across from KiwanasPark. So beautiful location. It's a
little boutique hotel that's very close tothe downtown area. And then we also
have the Graham Stay Hotel, whichis right downtown in street all right,
(12:58):
perfect, and you know there's plentyout by the highway too. But yeah,
if you could stay downtown, that'snice because you can. Sheboygan does
have a phenomenal walkable downtown and youcan get to all the different districts,
you know, DeLand Park, likeyou said, a street, all the
museums, the Harbor, South Pier, that whole area, and it's closer.
When you're driving it, it seemsfurther away than it is because you
can walk it without too much difficulty. Yeah, it's easier, and so
(13:22):
it just park your car and walk. I mean within a few blocks.
Everything is around you. And youknow, you mentioned a couple of things
that will lead us to another majorevent that's coming up. You mentioned a
brot fry during the fourth of July, and then you also mentioned Kewanas Park,
how the new boutique hotel is nearthat. Let's put the two together
and talk about the return of oneof the biggest events in Sheboygan in most
(13:45):
years. Yes, yeah, we'rehappy to have that back. Broad Days
is back again this year. Theytook a year off, kind of regrouped
a little bit, got things backgoing. So they are kicking off live
on Friday, August second and Saturdaythe third. They streamlined it a bit
to just have one main stage,so it's one big stage of musical entertainment
(14:05):
throughout Friday and Saturday. And thenyou know, the same as usual,
all the kids' activities that the rides, the Broad Eating Contest, the broad
Parade, all of that is onSaturday, so it's nice to have that
back. People really missed it lastyear. Yeah, you know, Bronte's
is one of the signature events forSheboygen and it is the broad worst capital,
(14:28):
so it follows that you'd have amajor event like that. And I'll
still never forget the first time Iever saw Kobayashi, the competitive Eater was
on ESPN when they were reporting livefrom Sheboygan at the broad Eating Contest.
That is something to see. Itdefinitely is. I mean the first time
I went and thought, I'm like, Okay, let's see how this goes.
(14:48):
And it's amazing how much they canpack in in a few short minutes.
Yeah. I hope the municipal systemscan handle the aftermath of all of
that. But boy, oh boy, bronz and beer and all kinds of
different foods. They get creative withthe brats there, But I mean just
some of the best broughts around andthey make so many in Sheboygan and Sheboygan
County a lot of places to getmeet, so that's phenomenal. We have
(15:11):
more on broad Days on State TrunkTour dot com and of course at visit
Sheboygan dot com you guys have allthe info and updated and everything like that.
So huge thing. Broad Days Augustsecond and third, Keiwanas Park easily
accessible. It's just west of downtownbut minutes off the interstate. And some
other cool things going on like DlandPark, which is phenomenal for that shipwreck
(15:31):
is there that you can run throughit, not run through, but walk
through and check out kids run throughit. You have a resurrected Coho Derby
coming too, we do, andthat's going to be fun to see how
that plays out because that's the sameweekend as broad Days, but it's kind
of a little bit different clientele,so we'll see how that goes. So
Coho Derby the event itself, whichis a big fishing tournament out in Lake
(15:54):
Michigan, you know, has beengoing on for years and then they just
had a smaller gathering you know atthe end afterwards at the wharf right downtown
on the river front. But theydecide to resurrect that get that back going
down at de Land Park, sopeople will be bringing in the big fish
and weighing. I'm on the scalesout there. But again another another event
(16:17):
that has live music all week andlong. That's going Friday, Saturday,
and Sunday. So that's a threeday event, live music all three days.
Again, brought fries, you know, different food trucks, different vendors,
just a great activity to be outon the water. Man, I'll
tell you, she Billian is agreat place actually for fishing. You know
a lot of people like to bringrecreational boats and more of them there because
(16:38):
you have a great harbor. Butboy, if you're a fisherman or fisherwoman,
it's a great place to and youcan get charters and all that stuff.
Yes, we have a really extensivelist of charter fishing and it's one
of the greatest. And you knowthe Lake Michigan shore, but yeah,
the Port of Sheboygan is fantastic withthat. We have a number of charter
(16:59):
fishing and they've just been bringing themin this year. I really think it's
been a banner year for them.I mean every day they post and I'm
like, I swear, I don'tknow where they keep finding these fish,
but they're coming in. Nothing likefresh salmon caught from Lake Michigan. Yeah,
I'll tell you. And it's nicethat they're having a good fishing year.
There's something reassuring about that, actuallythere is, yes, and the
(17:22):
lake temperature. You know, wehad a mild winter and a mild spring.
Hasn't been an overly hot summer,but we've had a few spells.
The lake temperature is pretty good rightnow. So if you want to try
your hand, not only hitting thebeach, North Beach or South Beach among
the best. Colorandre State Park justsouth of town also another great place to
go, but if you want totry surfing, they'll get you covered too.
That Eos surf Shop, man,I love that place. Yes,
(17:45):
yeah, it's surprising. They've hada really good year. I mean we're
known historically for our surfing in winterI mean late fall into spring. But
they're out there every day. Imean last week we had a fantastic day
and you know there's twenty five thirtyof them out there, so it's great.
I mean that's one feature too.We just relaunched a brand new website,
(18:08):
so we encourage everybody to check outvisit Sheboygan dot com. But we
do have one of the big featuresthat we've always had on there, and
it's one of the most popular,is our webcams. So we have live
cameras out there behind Blue Harbor bythe marina and buy the land beach so
you can actually watch the surf checkto see what it's like, and when
(18:30):
those surfers are out there. Imean, i just love watching the webcameras
and just watching them. If ifI can't be down there myself, I'll
be checking out the webcams and lookingat it. You know, in the
summertime, when you've got the warmweather and you have the beautiful blueness of
the water, and downtown's a littlebit up on a hill, you know,
you go down the hills to thewater and there's just such a California
(18:51):
feel when you see the people surfing. When you're in the Eos Surf Shop,
they talk like they're from California.In some cases, Yeah they do,
Yes, they definitely do. Andyou know, and that's the fun
party. I mean, I'm justhappened to look at the camera right now
and it's getting a little wavy,So probably this afternoon there might be some
surfing back out there again. Iknow there was a few of them out
this morning. There's a couple ofdiehards that are out there morning, noon
(19:15):
and night if they can and they'rewatching the conditions and take a lunch break
and run down there and jump inthe surf for a little while. So
yeah, it's always it's always funto watch that. Get Beach Boys songs
in your head just thinking about it. But yeah, check out check out
those live cams at visit Sheboygan dotcom. That can help entice you to
head over there. And if you'rea foodie too. By the way,
(19:36):
I got to recommend Stefano's Slow FoodMarket. I've mentioned it before, but
places like that. The restaurant Seenein Sheboygen is fantastic and only getting better.
But if you want to find somereally cool, unique food items,
that market is just fantastic. Itis. It's really nice. Stefano's himself
just celebrated thirty years for Stefano's Restaurants, so this is his thirtieth year.
(20:03):
Slow Foods was his latest edition thatopened up a year or two ago,
and it is. It's great.You can buy all the products from from
the restaurants. You know, youcan go get the pizzas, you can
get his sauces in the freezer section, but all the fresh produce, the
fresh bread they bake there, youknow, they've got their own little coffee
counter and a Jelli counter. It'sit's really been a great addition to the
(20:27):
downtown area. Well. I knowof people who they're from, like the
Bay areas of California and from NewYork, and they go there and they're
like, Wow, this is moreimpressive than I anticipated this. The market
in the downtown, you got theapartments right there. I mean, there's
there's some good living down there nowtoo. You know, the Shwoygan's economy
has some great companies. It's agreat place to live in and just an
(20:48):
ever increasingly great place to visit withsome fantastic events. So I definitely recommend
getting down there and checking out allof these events again. Coming up,
you've got all the Fourth of Julyfestivities. Third and four of July,
You've got the parade, You've gotthe fireworks, you have all kinds of
great stuff with the Venetian Boat Parade. Broad Days is back first weekend of
August, same weekend the Coho Derbyat DeLand Park and then the Midwest Challenge
(21:12):
racing event, which is really phenomenal, some souped up boats. You can
check that out. The second weekof August I do believe right, that
is yes, that is correct.Man, y'all are really busy for the
next month or so. We are. We are, but we are loving
it. I mean, you know, that's what it's all about. It's
the summer that is just peak forus, and we love it. It's
(21:34):
just a great place to be,all right, Shelly. Well, I'll
keep posting about this on State trunkTour dot com too, so people can
road trip their way there. Keeppointing people to visit Sheboygan dot com.
You're fully revamped site with all thosegreat cams and everything. And make sure,
by the way, when you goto Sheboygan you hit the visitor center.
It is one of the coolest visitorcenters in the state. Take it
(21:55):
from me. I'm telling you it'sphenomenal. It's right there on a street
where so much other great stuff isso Highways twenty three, twenty eight forty
two. Get into Sheboygan and seewhat I and Shelley have been talking about.
Thanks a lot, Shelly, Thankyou so much, Eric, very
much appreciate it. Remember you canfind out more again at visit Sheboygan dot
com and keep up with all theevents going on for your road trips around
the state. At State trunk tourdot com have a lot of fun keeping
(22:18):
those drive in movie listings updated.We're doing that all summer long for you,
and we have more great articles comingup, So watch State trunk tour
dot com. Check us out onFacebook and Twitter and Instagram. And that's
all at State Trunk Tour and we'lltalk again soon. I'm Rek Paulson.
Thanks for listening to the State TrunkTour podcast.
And welcome back to the State TrunkTour Podcast. Americ Paulson, your head
tour guide for Rhodes end to endaround Wisconsin, and today doing a little
weekend preview here as we enter thelast weekend of June twenty twenty four,
and then we're going to talk alittle bit about Sheboygan with Shelley Harms from
visit Sheboygan talking about not only theirJuly fourth holiday activities coming up, but
(00:21):
broad Days is coming back in theBroadworst capital of the world. You gotta
love it. There's a resurrected CoboDerby happening and the Midwest Challenge racing event.
We're talking speedboats in Lake Michigan.All that and a bunch more.
We'll talk with her about that momentarily. Now, don't forget Summerfest continues this
weekend. It is weekend two ofthree going on and basically at Summerfest it's
(00:43):
open Thursday, Friday and Saturday.A lot of great acts lined up for
the weekend. It goes on againJuly fourth through the sixth. But that's
not the only major concert going onoutdoors. We have Country Fest happening in
Cadot, just east of Chippewa Fallsand then just a little southwest of Chipwla
Falls and Eau Claire, the BlueOx Music Festival is taking place on the
(01:03):
water. Balsam Lake, which isthe county seat of Polk County has the
Balsam Lake Water Ski Show over incon Over. The Taste of con Over
gives you a chance to sample abunch of wonderful foods between Eagle River and
Landa Lakes. That's right along Highwaysforty five and thirty two con Over.
You'll find it there. Dodge CountyRodeo is happening just outside of Beaver Dam
and the Dodge County Fairgrounds. That'son Highway thirty three, a little bit
(01:26):
east of one fifty one. SpringGreen has their Arts and Crafts Fair this
weekend. Head on down there.If you love Frank Lloyd right, you're
gonna love spring Green. Highways fourteen, twenty three and sixty bring you there.
County Fair. The Outa Gamey CountyFair is happening in Seymour, legendary
home of the Hamburger Or. Highwaysfifty four and fifty five meet up and
(01:47):
at Road America and Elkhart Lake.The trans Am Speed Tour is happening.
Should be a great weekend to getout and check out all the action on
the racetrack. Similar for some othertracks around the state, including at Angel
Park in sun Prairie, where you'llalso find the Midget Racing Hall of Fame.
Now, if you want a Fourthof July feel with fireworks, well
you've got several options. In Thorpe, not too far from Cadatro Claire,
(02:08):
the Fireworks Extravaganza is happening on Saturday. That's where Highways twenty nine and seventy
three come together. You'll find MarikaGuda there too. Lights The Isthmus is
happening in Madison Saturday night too atBreeze Stevens Field, right along US one
fifty one, which is East WashingtonAvenue. It's a huge Independence Day celebration
(02:29):
a little bit early where they havelocal bands, food beverages, games,
prizes, and an illustrious twenty minutefestival foods fireworks display launched from behind the
stage where they have all those greatconcerts. Also, the high Ground in
Nilsville has their Freedom Celebration fireworks Saturdaynight. You'll find the high Ground along
US ten in Clark County and inJanesville. While due to high water conditions,
(02:52):
the Rock Aqua Jay's water ski showteam will not be able to perform,
they do have a huge set ofcelebrations with food, trucks of beer,
tent kids, games, pontoon rides, live music and more throughout the
day in Janesville. US fifty one, Highways eleven, twenty six and I
ninety and US fourteen all bring methere a lot of great drive in movies
(03:13):
this weekend too. Can't believe it'sthe last weekend of June already and the
showtimes are starting to creep earlier againby about five minutes because of sunset times.
But if you go to State TrunkTour dot com a huge selection of
flicks under the stars all across thestate. So now, Greek Fest is
happening in Sheboygan's DeLand Park this weekend, but that's one of many celebrations that
(03:35):
they're having coming up, including forJuly fourth, the third, and the
fourth. They have a bunch ofgreat events going on and the aforementioned broad
Days, Coho Derby, the MidwestChallenge racing event, and more lots happening
in Sheboygan, which the downtown justkeeps getting better all the time. So
it's time to talk with visit Sheboygan'sShelley Harms Hillo Eric, How are things
(03:55):
in Sheboygan right now? Oh?They are crazy good. It's been it's
been one busy summer. We're aweek out from Fourth of July, so
we're crazy with that and planning outthe rest of the year. So it's
it's been good. Yeah, andwe're gonna be talking about Fourth of July
and the resurrection of broad Days andthe Coho Derby, all kinds of great
(04:16):
stuff today. And you know,Sheboygan fun place to hit and especially in
the summertime when you get the coolernear the Lake Effect. Highways twenty three,
twenty eight, forty two take youthere right off Ive forty three,
just minutes off the interstate in Downtown'ssuch a great place in the harbor.
Love it. What was that bigboat race thing? I think it was
two summers ago at this point thatdrew so many people. We yeah,
(04:39):
we drew That was last year.Was the first year, and they are
coming back this year August ninth tothe eleventh. It was renamed the Sheboygan
Midwest Challenge, So that's cool.Fantastic, But yeah, it's it was
a great event last year. Lotsof activity. I mean, it's something
to see these massive power boats racingout in Lake Michigan. It is truly
(05:02):
remarkable. And I got a chancewhen we were doing that, we walked
on that pier past Blue Harbor allthe way out it extends aways out into
the lake, and yes it does. We were impressed. The view of
downtown, Sheboygan from there is phenomenal, all the boats going by. My
girlfriend and I went there. Iguess it was the last year. It
seems two years ago, but yeah, it was just this past August,
(05:24):
and man, you know, thenwe went out to dinner on Eighth Street.
So many great choices for restaurants andeverything, and you know, we
had a great time. And everytime she's like, we got to come
here more often, I'm like,yeah, yeah, we do. So
a lot of the things to checkout in sheboy getting. Now, First
of all, how's the visit,Sheboygan, your headquarters doing, Man,
you keep putting cool stuff in there, Yeah, we do. The visitor
(05:44):
center has been a real boom thisyear. We had rocket sales a couple
of weeks ago, and it's justa great gathering point for people to stop
and grab information, you know,grab a souvenir. Everybody loves postcards and
chocola. There's the little things totake home. And you know with again,
Cooler by the Lake. A lotof people don't anticipate that, so
(06:05):
we are selling sweatshirts like crazy,but we love it. Yeah, I
still wear my Sheboygan hoodie quite abit, weather permitting. It's yes,
it's great. Yeah, you comeby Cooler by the Lake definitely, And
the visit Sheboygan Visitor Center. It'son a street. It's just north of
the big roundabout where the County RoadI think that's Peep comes in. That
was the original highway twenty three backin the day. It's just on the
(06:27):
north side of the Sheboygan River,so it's at the south end of downtown,
kind of at the north end ofwhere you access the Harbor District.
So I mean you're in prime spotright there for people to stop in because
you can walk to everything from theretoo. We do, and we tell
people that a lot. It's like, you know, part your cars here,
you know walk, I mean youwalk underneath the bridge which brings you
to the boardwalk, you walk acrossthe bridge which brings you down south.
(06:49):
Here we have the Segue rentals.There we have a trolley stop. So
the trolley started running a couple ofweeks ago. It's a hop on,
hop off trolley that brings you tothe downtown through the riverfront. And now
that route was expanded as well lastyear. So they're bringing you off to
three sheets to book them gardens intothe art preserve so you can hop on
(07:13):
and hop off all day for onedollar. Wow, So that one dollars
like an all day pass and youcan get to all of them now they
pass yes, and you know,it's a great way to kind of,
you know, if you just wantto take the half an hour loop and
go around and see the things downand kind of get a little tour.
It's it's not narrated, but youknow, you see everything. You see
the marina, you see the beaches, you see the surfers or if they're
(07:34):
out there. You know, youget to the heart of the downtown and
you just say, you know,I want to get off in this corner
and you stop at at the Children'sMuseum, or you stop at the John
Michael Kohler Art center. And thenthere is a spot right in front of
the visitor center conveniently located there,so you can leave your car and jump
on the trolley right there and goaround all afternoon. You could even bring
(07:58):
your kayak and go in the riverright from there. You can. Yes,
the launch is right there, rightnext to our visitors center. You're
a multimodal station there at the visitSheboygan headquarters on E Street. Yes,
we are, you know. Andbefore we get into some of these events,
I wanted to talk a little bitmore about Bookworm Gardens. You know,
I've talked about Three Sheeps Brewing,I've written about it extensively on stage
(08:18):
trunk Tour, and of course I'vesampled their beers quite a bit. But
Bookworm Gardens, that's like a reallyawesome place for anybody, but to bring
the kids. It's really phenomenal.It is it really it's kind of all
encompassing, and you know, andI tell people that a lot when I'm
out at shows or just talking topeople, and like, first and foremost,
Bookworm Gardens is a botanical garden,but it's based on children's literature.
(08:41):
So the garden groups love it.The seniors love it. The kids love
it, you know, but it'snot it's not a playground. So many
people think, oh, it's aplayground and there's going to be kids running
all over. Yes there is,but they they encourage you to take time,
take the book that the garden isaround, relax with the book,
sit there and read, read thestories together. It's just a beautiful place.
(09:07):
And how they manage to do everythingso botanically, and these vibrant colors,
and it changes throughout the season.There's different flowers from spring through summer
into fall, and they want fantasticevents and it's just a really really magical
place for kids of all ages andyou know, young and the young at
(09:28):
heart. So it's it's phenomenal place. It's pretty lush there too, it's
really sweet. So yeah, youhave that, and then above and beyond
Children's museum for the kids. Sothere's a lot if you bring the kids
to sheboyg and there's plenty to doand see and enjoy for them. And
there's plenty of room for him torun around too. Oh absolutely, yes,
yes. So we're on the cuspof the fourth of July holiday weekend.
(09:52):
The annual boat parades going on.There's a lot happening. Let's cover
that a little bit and why whenpeople have their kind of Fourth of July
weekend and the fourth itself is ona Thursday this year, you know why,
it's worth taking a trip over toSheboygan and checking things out. Well,
it's really nice and what's nice aboutit and the way it falls this
year too with it being on aThursday. So during the summer for six
(10:13):
weeks during the summer, the elevenAmp Concert Series happens downtown in City Green.
That's a concert series that is sponsoredby the John Michael Kola Art Center
and it brings in musical acts fromaround the country. And that's every Thursday
night in the City Green Space.It brings a couple of thousand people downtown
(10:35):
every every Thursday night, with theFourth of July starting on a Thursday.
This year they bumped it to theday before, so starting July third,
they will be having the Live levenAmp Concert Series there so people can go
and enjoy that, hit the foodtrucks, get some live music, walk
the few blocks down to the riverfront and then you can see the Venetian
(10:58):
Boat Parade which starts at So that'sa really nice addition on July third this
year with just having that will akickoff to the concert as well. And
then on Thursday itself, we startoff at nine o'clock in the morning with
a parade. There's over ninety entrieswith the parade. It ends around noon,
so some people gather down at FountainPark where there's another community music production,
(11:24):
and then a large majority of thempop down to DeLand Park right on
the waterfront, and that's where wehave thirteen plus food trucks. We have
live music all afternoon. The jc'sare doing a broad fry and serving beer,
so that kicks off all afternoon,and then obviously the big grand finale
from the festival fireworks is that eveningat dusk man a live That's a whole
(11:48):
fully packed weekend. Boy, itsure is. And places to stay downtown.
You know, I don't talk aboutwatching all that often. Perhaps I
should a little bit. But ifpeople are coming into Sheboygan, where do
you recommend that they stay in downtown? I know there's some places, but
what would you tell people? Wedo have a couple of places, so
right downtown obviously Blue Harbor is righton south here, so that's kind of
(12:11):
our little resort, you know,right on the little resort. The place
is huge. Yes, yeah,that's true. I shouldn't say little.
It is a huge resort. It'sbeautiful. But downtown itself, we have
the Harbor Winds Hotel, which isright across the street from us at the
Visitor Center, so that's right onthe Sheboygan River. And then one of
the newer properties is called the WatershedHotel, and that's been there for just
(12:35):
a few years now, and that'son the Sheboygan River further up on North
fifteenth Street, so a little bitfurther out, but it's right on the
water. It's right across from KiwanasPark. So beautiful location. It's a
little boutique hotel that's very close tothe downtown area. And then we also
have the Graham Stay Hotel, whichis right downtown in street all right,
(12:58):
perfect, and you know there's plentyout by the highway too. But yeah,
if you could stay downtown, that'snice because you can. Sheboygan does
have a phenomenal walkable downtown and youcan get to all the different districts,
you know, DeLand Park, likeyou said, a street, all the
museums, the Harbor, South Pier, that whole area, and it's closer.
When you're driving it, it seemsfurther away than it is because you
can walk it without too much difficulty. Yeah, it's easier, and so
(13:22):
it just park your car and walk. I mean within a few blocks.
Everything is around you. And youknow, you mentioned a couple of things
that will lead us to another majorevent that's coming up. You mentioned a
brot fry during the fourth of July, and then you also mentioned Kewanas Park,
how the new boutique hotel is nearthat. Let's put the two together
and talk about the return of oneof the biggest events in Sheboygan in most
(13:45):
years. Yes, yeah, we'rehappy to have that back. Broad Days
is back again this year. Theytook a year off, kind of regrouped
a little bit, got things backgoing. So they are kicking off live
on Friday, August second and Saturdaythe third. They streamlined it a bit
to just have one main stage,so it's one big stage of musical entertainment
(14:05):
throughout Friday and Saturday. And thenyou know, the same as usual,
all the kids' activities that the rides, the Broad Eating Contest, the broad
Parade, all of that is onSaturday, so it's nice to have that
back. People really missed it lastyear. Yeah, you know, Bronte's
is one of the signature events forSheboygen and it is the broad worst capital,
(14:28):
so it follows that you'd have amajor event like that. And I'll
still never forget the first time Iever saw Kobayashi, the competitive Eater was
on ESPN when they were reporting livefrom Sheboygan at the broad Eating Contest.
That is something to see. Itdefinitely is. I mean the first time
I went and thought, I'm like, Okay, let's see how this goes.
(14:48):
And it's amazing how much they canpack in in a few short minutes.
Yeah. I hope the municipal systemscan handle the aftermath of all of
that. But boy, oh boy, bronz and beer and all kinds of
different foods. They get creative withthe brats there, But I mean just
some of the best broughts around andthey make so many in Sheboygan and Sheboygan
County a lot of places to getmeet, so that's phenomenal. We have
(15:11):
more on broad Days on State TrunkTour dot com and of course at visit
Sheboygan dot com you guys have allthe info and updated and everything like that.
So huge thing. Broad Days Augustsecond and third, Keiwanas Park easily
accessible. It's just west of downtownbut minutes off the interstate. And some
other cool things going on like DlandPark, which is phenomenal for that shipwreck
(15:31):
is there that you can run throughit, not run through, but walk
through and check out kids run throughit. You have a resurrected Coho Derby
coming too, we do, andthat's going to be fun to see how
that plays out because that's the sameweekend as broad Days, but it's kind
of a little bit different clientele,so we'll see how that goes. So
Coho Derby the event itself, whichis a big fishing tournament out in Lake
(15:54):
Michigan, you know, has beengoing on for years and then they just
had a smaller gathering you know atthe end afterwards at the wharf right downtown
on the river front. But theydecide to resurrect that get that back going
down at de Land Park, sopeople will be bringing in the big fish
and weighing. I'm on the scalesout there. But again another another event
(16:17):
that has live music all week andlong. That's going Friday, Saturday,
and Sunday. So that's a threeday event, live music all three days.
Again, brought fries, you know, different food trucks, different vendors,
just a great activity to be outon the water. Man, I'll
tell you, she Billian is agreat place actually for fishing. You know
a lot of people like to bringrecreational boats and more of them there because
(16:38):
you have a great harbor. Butboy, if you're a fisherman or fisherwoman,
it's a great place to and youcan get charters and all that stuff.
Yes, we have a really extensivelist of charter fishing and it's one
of the greatest. And you knowthe Lake Michigan shore, but yeah,
the Port of Sheboygan is fantastic withthat. We have a number of charter
(16:59):
fishing and they've just been bringing themin this year. I really think it's
been a banner year for them.I mean every day they post and I'm
like, I swear, I don'tknow where they keep finding these fish,
but they're coming in. Nothing likefresh salmon caught from Lake Michigan. Yeah,
I'll tell you. And it's nicethat they're having a good fishing year.
There's something reassuring about that, actuallythere is, yes, and the
(17:22):
lake temperature. You know, wehad a mild winter and a mild spring.
Hasn't been an overly hot summer,but we've had a few spells.
The lake temperature is pretty good rightnow. So if you want to try
your hand, not only hitting thebeach, North Beach or South Beach among
the best. Colorandre State Park justsouth of town also another great place to
go, but if you want totry surfing, they'll get you covered too.
That Eos surf Shop, man,I love that place. Yes,
(17:45):
yeah, it's surprising. They've hada really good year. I mean we're
known historically for our surfing in winterI mean late fall into spring. But
they're out there every day. Imean last week we had a fantastic day
and you know there's twenty five thirtyof them out there, so it's great.
I mean that's one feature too.We just relaunched a brand new website,
(18:08):
so we encourage everybody to check outvisit Sheboygan dot com. But we
do have one of the big featuresthat we've always had on there, and
it's one of the most popular,is our webcams. So we have live
cameras out there behind Blue Harbor bythe marina and buy the land beach so
you can actually watch the surf checkto see what it's like, and when
(18:30):
those surfers are out there. Imean, i just love watching the webcameras
and just watching them. If ifI can't be down there myself, I'll
be checking out the webcams and lookingat it. You know, in the
summertime, when you've got the warmweather and you have the beautiful blueness of
the water, and downtown's a littlebit up on a hill, you know,
you go down the hills to thewater and there's just such a California
(18:51):
feel when you see the people surfing. When you're in the Eos Surf Shop,
they talk like they're from California.In some cases, Yeah they do,
Yes, they definitely do. Andyou know, and that's the fun
party. I mean, I'm justhappened to look at the camera right now
and it's getting a little wavy,So probably this afternoon there might be some
surfing back out there again. Iknow there was a few of them out
this morning. There's a couple ofdiehards that are out there morning, noon
(19:15):
and night if they can and they'rewatching the conditions and take a lunch break
and run down there and jump inthe surf for a little while. So
yeah, it's always it's always funto watch that. Get Beach Boys songs
in your head just thinking about it. But yeah, check out check out
those live cams at visit Sheboygan dotcom. That can help entice you to
head over there. And if you'rea foodie too. By the way,
(19:36):
I got to recommend Stefano's Slow FoodMarket. I've mentioned it before, but
places like that. The restaurant Seenein Sheboygen is fantastic and only getting better.
But if you want to find somereally cool, unique food items,
that market is just fantastic. Itis. It's really nice. Stefano's himself
just celebrated thirty years for Stefano's Restaurants, so this is his thirtieth year.
(20:03):
Slow Foods was his latest edition thatopened up a year or two ago,
and it is. It's great.You can buy all the products from from
the restaurants. You know, youcan go get the pizzas, you can
get his sauces in the freezer section, but all the fresh produce, the
fresh bread they bake there, youknow, they've got their own little coffee
counter and a Jelli counter. It'sit's really been a great addition to the
(20:27):
downtown area. Well. I knowof people who they're from, like the
Bay areas of California and from NewYork, and they go there and they're
like, Wow, this is moreimpressive than I anticipated this. The market
in the downtown, you got theapartments right there. I mean, there's
there's some good living down there nowtoo. You know, the Shwoygan's economy
has some great companies. It's agreat place to live in and just an
(20:48):
ever increasingly great place to visit withsome fantastic events. So I definitely recommend
getting down there and checking out allof these events again. Coming up,
you've got all the Fourth of Julyfestivities. Third and four of July,
You've got the parade, You've gotthe fireworks, you have all kinds of
great stuff with the Venetian Boat Parade. Broad Days is back first weekend of
August, same weekend the Coho Derbyat DeLand Park and then the Midwest Challenge
(21:12):
racing event, which is really phenomenal, some souped up boats. You can
check that out. The second weekof August I do believe right, that
is yes, that is correct.Man, y'all are really busy for the
next month or so. We are. We are, but we are loving
it. I mean, you know, that's what it's all about. It's
the summer that is just peak forus, and we love it. It's
(21:34):
just a great place to be,all right, Shelly. Well, I'll
keep posting about this on State trunkTour dot com too, so people can
road trip their way there. Keeppointing people to visit Sheboygan dot com.
You're fully revamped site with all thosegreat cams and everything. And make sure,
by the way, when you goto Sheboygan you hit the visitor center.
It is one of the coolest visitorcenters in the state. Take it
(21:55):
from me. I'm telling you it'sphenomenal. It's right there on a street
where so much other great stuff isso Highways twenty three, twenty eight forty
two. Get into Sheboygan and seewhat I and Shelley have been talking about.
Thanks a lot, Shelly, Thankyou so much, Eric, very
much appreciate it. Remember you canfind out more again at visit Sheboygan dot
com and keep up with all theevents going on for your road trips around
the state. At State trunk tourdot com have a lot of fun keeping
(22:18):
those drive in movie listings updated.We're doing that all summer long for you,
and we have more great articles comingup, So watch State trunk tour
dot com. Check us out onFacebook and Twitter and Instagram. And that's
all at State Trunk Tour and we'lltalk again soon. I'm Rek Paulson.
Thanks for listening to the State TrunkTour podcast.
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