September 8, 2025 • 29 mins
In this episode, we preview Marshfield's Maple Fall Fest, which promises tons of tasty fun this weekend, with Visit Marshfield's Matt McLean. Looking ahead, we check out Seehafer Acres for fall fun in the area, the Marshfield Rotary Winter Wonderland holiday lights show with up to 2 million lights and a dazzling array of light, light shows, and a ton of festive activities, running just after Thanksgiving into New Year's. We also cover the remarkable Wildwood Park and Zoo, including the two Kodiak bears that are pretty rare to find in any zoo in the U.S... and they can walk above you on a bridge! Marshfield also holds the magic of Jurustic Park, and the downtown "Jurustic Park Trail" that offers metal art throughout the multi-block walk that can combine with great shopping and dining. And, for creatives, Board + Brush lets you craft your own artistic Marshfield memory. The Upham Mansion offers history and a unique look into 19th century living... on the nicer side! We also cover the Blue Heron Brewpub, the beer selection at Hop and Grape, the unique Nutz Deep II (quite the eye-catcher on Central Avenue), along with some other shops and restaurants. Just outside Marshfield, Powers Bluff, the Mead Wildlife Area, the Wood County Parks, and the four season fun you can have within minutes of town may surprise you. We cover it all right here.
After talking with Matt, Eric takes you on a highlight tour of U.S. 10 from Neillsville past Marshfield to just before Stevens Point, which offers a number of fun stops on a roadtrip across central Wisconsin - including to Marshfield.
After talking with Matt, Eric takes you on a highlight tour of U.S. 10 from Neillsville past Marshfield to just before Stevens Point, which offers a number of fun stops on a roadtrip across central Wisconsin - including to Marshfield.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the State Trunk Tour podcast. This is episode
fifty six of season four, and we're exploring a stretch
of US ten and central Wisconsin with some key stops
along the way, and one of the main cities along
that stretch of US ten is Marshfield. We're talking about
this hub city with Maple Fallfest coming up this weekend
and plenty of great attractions and places to shop, eat,
(00:20):
drink and play anytime. We'll be talking with Matt McClain
from Visit Marshfield about those including the Crazy Metal of
Juristic Park, Kodiak Bears in their local zoo will prep
you for their holiday season, and of course Maple Fallfest
and more. Then we'll cover some gems on a stretch
of US ten from Nilsville over towards Stevens Point, Marshfield included,
and we'll be right back with all of that in
(00:42):
just one minute or so. And joining me now is
executive director of Visit Marshfield, Matt McClain, one of our
faves in the hub of Wisconsin.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
How you doing, Matt, I'm doing good. Eric, How you doing.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
I am doing well, looking forward to all the fall activities,
you know, Labor Day came early, and the fall weather
kind of showed up early. I know there's still some
warm weather left, but might as well shift fully into
fall mode with what we've been dealing with, right.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Oh yeah, yeah, definitely a little chilly a few days
this week, and yeah, it's I think people are saying, oh,
oh my god, summer's over.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Pull out the pumpkin spice, I guess. But the good
news is it's a great time for fall festivals, and
you guys have a big one. It's early in the
fall season. In fact, it's still technically summer, but meteorologically
it's fall. Among all the things going on in Marshfield
Maple Fall Fest, let's start off with that because that's
coming up here starting Saturday the thirteenth.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah, yeah, the thirteenth and fourteenth. We host over one
hundred and twenty hand made arts and craft svendors in
our beautiful Wildwood Park and it's on the south side
of town, and we usually expect about five thousand people
a day or more coming to the festival, and we
have performances by like our local Dance Conservatory. We have
(01:57):
matd Doug and Merrill. They're kind of been a stable
for us lots of fun stuff for kids, and there's
this is kind of a great time to start your
Christmas shopping too, so all handmade arts and crafts. Ven
there's lots of maple syrup products, lots of good food.
Got to always have your festival food right.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Yes, you do. And the maple part is a big
factor of this. There's a lot of maple trees that
get tapped in the area and aren't there.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Yeah, we do have a lot of folks that do
maple syrup. We'll be serving some locally sourced maple syrup
at our pancake tent that is run by our friends
from the Columbus Catholic Sports Programs and they have regular
pancakes and potato pancakes are kind of what our festival's
fame is for. And we also have some maple sauces
that's only being made for our event and I think
(02:43):
it's from Smith Brothers Meats this year.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Nice. And then the coffee bar, Big Bee's Coffee they
have that there.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Yeah, the Big These Coffee is gonna be there with us,
and that's from seven am to noon on both Saturday
and Sunday, and it's.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Just eleven dollars yeah, that's really cool. And then just
family activities all day from nine to four, you've got
all of that. The arts and crafts vendors are there
from nine to five. You have yeah, mad Dog and
Merrill at eleven thirty on Saturday and Sunday. It's a
very consistent schedule. It's very easy to memorize.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Yeah, yeah, definitely, and we've been closing kind of are
almost closing near the end of the show. On Sunday
at two thirty, we have our friends from the Marshield
Monarchs do a butterfly their release on our main stage,
and so I think last year they had about two
or three hundred butterflies and it's kind of a very
picturesque event. We actually featured that on the front of
our visitor guide, a picture of all the butterflies being
(03:32):
released at the US.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Pretty pretty cool. Did you know they were originally called flutterbuys.
I did not, because they flutter by and somehow the
butter took center stage. Maybe that happened in Wisconsin, you know,
we're known for that kind of thing. Maybe butter cranberries,
maple syrup especially, So yeah, you can find out more
at stage on tour dot com. Of course we have
a page on it. Visit Marshfield dot com has a
(03:54):
lot on Maplefallfest, which is coming up Saturday the thirteenth
and Sunday the fourteenth. Certainly something to get on your calendar,
like right quick and get your road trip going. But
you have a lot of other activities fall. And since
you know you mentioned Christmas, we can look ahead to
the holidays too. What are some of the highlights people
can plan for as we go through September all the
way through October, November and December.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
You know, definitely celebrate the fall stuff. One of our
local farms for Acres, has some great wagon rides and
like corn mazes. And then one of the biggest events
of the year actually is right around the Christmas time
for us. It's it starts the Friday after Thanksgiving and
runs through New Year's Eve. Is called Rotary Winter Wonderland
(04:38):
mm hm. And so that's about two million lights in
our zoo and there's a walk through and a drive
through portion and it's free with suggested donation and or
canned food. And so every year there's thousands upon thousands
of food donated and we I think have over a
dozen different pit pantries that we've been able to give
(05:00):
food too and money and so it's I think we
clocked almost one hundred thousand people going through the festival
last year.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Wow, that's crazy. Well how many lights are there this year?
I mean it's it's an insane amount every year.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Yeah, it's about two million. I think they kind of
stopped counting after a million.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
How do you count that many?
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Double?
Speaker 1 (05:20):
That's just wild Does the rest of the city? Does
the rest of the city dim when they plug those in? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
You know, Actually before they were all led I think
it did. But I think I think now they say
it costs about seven bucks a night to run the
lights because they're like all LEDs. Oh my god, it
might have been like maybe seventy or seven.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Probably. Well, it's good that they got more efficient with it. Yeah,
and it's it's worth knowing yet noting that the holiday
lights that starts, yeah, right around Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Right and yeah, yeah, the Friday after Thanksgiving is the
traditional start for us.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Perfect and they're both happening at Wildwood Park and Zoo,
which is such a fantastic place to go just south
of downtown Marshfield, basically right off central Avenue, which is
a great main drag. It's one of my favorite main
streets through any Wisconsin city. And the zoo there has
a really impressive array of animals. It's a free zoo.
And then you have the Kodiak bears and how are
(06:14):
they doing?
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Yeah, they're kind of I think the stars of our zoo.
I think they're both tip and the scales that are
around one thousand pounds these days, and they're they're kind
of big, big toddlers, you know, like to wrestle each other,
and it's they're a fun thing to see. So there's
definitely people going to see them every day. There's a
forty thousand square foot kind of I guess they would
(06:37):
say more of a natural type habitat with like a
pond and different things, and then they can walk across
the bridge's school to see them across this bridge over
to more of I guess you would say are a
typical zoo setting. There's a big window and there's another
pool in that area and that's kind of really feed
them usually, and so I think I think zoo keeper
told me, I think between noon and two is a
good time to check out the bears and might get
(06:58):
to see them do a feeding daily is is definitely
it's a fun thing. I mean, you can't really see
these bears outside of Alaska, so we're one of the
few thin there's only two or three places in the
lower forty eight that have Kodiak bears and we got
two big boys.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Yeah, that was a big get for you guys. And
we have video of them playing in the pond on
a hot summer day. They love that and yeah, I'm
assuming after the feeding there's a little bit of siesta
for them, but that it is a huge And you
can walk under the bears because they can walk over
you on a bridge.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
That's just kind of mind blowing. And so it's a
fantastic zoo anytime of the year. To go and check
it out in Wildwood Park now up Central Avenue, which
is a fantastic boulevard. As I've mentioned, there's a ton
of other things to do and see when you go there.
I do want to mention one other event you had
on your site. If you're into quilting, there's a cool
(07:49):
one Treasures of Tomorrow quilt show that's happening in October.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Yeah, it's been a staple for us for years. Definitely
hundreds of people coming just you know, this cuilting is
kind of a I think a Wisconsin thing, and I've
been to the show a few times and it's just
pretty amazing to see what people can make.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
It is. It's the weekend before Halloween, Friday the twenty
fourth and Saturday the twenty fifth, So if you're into
quilting or you know someone who is, this is a
great one to hit. Marshfield's got a lot of the
unique things going on, and I just love the big
variety of events you have because you have the Central
Wisconsin State Fair, which was last month, and that went
pretty well from what I understand.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Yeah, I think I spoke with some folks with the fair,
and I think there was record attendance. There was a
big rock band called Hailstorm that sold out, probably one
of the biggest bands we've ever had in Marshfield. And yeah,
so I think we were blessed with good weather and
lots of cool entertainment and activities. So yeah, the fair
was a big success this year.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
We did luck out a lot in August. We got
off to a cool start here in September, but it's
going to be really nice for the next month or two,
the leads are going to be changing. You've got the
fall festivals and there's a lot of other things to
do and see in and around Marshfield as you go there.
You mentioned Seahy for Farms by the way, that's a
great stop.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Yeah. Yeah. They actually hosted our largest balloon hot air
balloon events and earlier this summer and so they had
about thirty five hot air balloons and we're looking at
doing that again next year second weekend in July. And yeah,
it's a cool stop. You know, you get some fresh
made ice cream and kind of do with a horse
(09:28):
round wagon ride and it is a cool stop.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Yeah. Codes One of our other popular destinations and that's
really cool when the leaves are changing to is Juristic Park.
So I'm sure you've been there, Eric.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Oh yes, well, we've posted plenty of articles about that
Sea Hay for First of all, these are both just
north of town. Sea Hayfers just northeast of downtown, basically
along Highway ninety seven which runs in and out of Marshfield,
and then a little bit to the west northwest is
Juristic Park, which really is a must stop, especially as
long as we still.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Have cla Sure, sure, yep, definitely must see.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
It's an amazing it's actually a residence turned metal arts
installation museum. Essentially, you get Clyde the host and his stories,
his wife who has the jewelry, and you won't believe
your eyes with what you're going to see in the
midst of trees there. We have a big piece on
Jurassic Park on State trunk tour. And the cool part
is there's elements of it in downtown Marshfield too. If
(10:27):
you're doing a little walking around the shops and the restaurants,
you've got an art walk down there.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Yeah, we got about a two mile Jurassic trail through
our downtown and you can see I think about a
dozen or more of his pieces. Some aer featured at
restaurants such as a Nuts Deep somewhere along our Veterans
Parkway there's a big dragon, and some are at our
local arts center, Chessas Center for the Arts, and so yeah,
it's kind of a you know, if you want to
(10:53):
check out, do some shopping downtown and see some fun art,
it's a good place to do that.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Yeah, there's art and some prizes on every corner, and
there's a lot of cool things to do in the
downtown area. I mean, you've got a theater, you've got
a fantastic record shop called Good Day Sunshine, and right
next to it is a guitar shop, which is awesome
stuff days guitars.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
It's pretty cool. They have about two thousand guitars and
makes me droll on the guitar players.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
I'm a really lousy one. Does that count?
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Sure?
Speaker 1 (11:22):
You can also be creative, right, Yeah, that's true. You
can also be creative at like Bordon Brush, which looks
like a cool place. I have not been to this one.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Yeah, yeah, I've got to make some stuff there. They
kind of you can make appointments there, cater to They
cater to groups a lot, and you can just make
some you know, cool things. I got a clock in
my kitchen that has some nice kind of barnwood style
thing that I made there with the group of my
co workers I think last year a year before. And
you can do yeah, all kinds of different you know,
(11:52):
get get crafty with with wood and bang on stuff
and make some noise.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Well that's good. You can let your art art side
come out if you love architecture. The upper mansion is
a terrific tour. And that's within that's right down town too.
Basically it's a block off of the main street and
so I highly recommend that.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Although is that seasonal, you know, it's actually opened by
appointment and on Wednesdays. It's good for groups, and so
they are open year round, but typically just open on
Wednesday afternoons.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Okay, the day the day I caught them and took pictures.
I happened to be there on a Wednesday, so I
took gad. I was there all the.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Time, you know, I know, we get some groups that
want to come in and they'll do special stuff by appointments,
and that's very cool. Victorian era, you know, kind of
history stuff.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Well, original period furniture throughout the whole house. The kitchen
is amazing when you think about all the stuff they
made back then and the way they made them, the
original utensils and some of the cooking not machines, but
some of the things that they did. I remember something
with a lot of sharp spikes on it in the kitchen,
like this was dangerous stuff. Yeah. Yeah, kind of makes
(13:01):
you want to go have a beer, a blue Heron,
which that's one of our favorite stops. We love talking
about Blue Heron brew Pub, which is right down on
fourteenth off of Central Avenue. Yep.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Yeah, definitely has some great local brews there. And then
we have a newer place called the Hop and Grape
that also has a great beer selection, kind of from
around the state and they are all changing taps. So
those are definitely a couple of places that I recommend grabbing
a drink at.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Great place for craft beer. But Hoppin Grape is not
its own brewery, right, No, No, it's own.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Now they kind of they this a feature stuff that
people like and yeah, you know, is good from around
the state and different different stuff.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
And Blue Heron is its own brew pub. And then
right by there you have one of the more interestingly
named spots, Nuts Deep Too, Nuts with a Z, and
let's explain to people. Let's explain to people what that is,
because you see people when they're driving by it, they
crane their necks.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Yeah, you know, it's just really kind of a silly name.
Is It's a really great pub and bar. They have
great food. They're one of the most popular restaurants in town.
They usually win the best burger, best cheese curds, and
are kind of best of Marshfield thing, and it's kind
of great there, Like they're always open to like you
can go in there for breakfast, you know, watch the game.
(14:16):
It's it's a it's a fun place. They got a
lot of nice big TVs. They have a downstairs area
with some pool tables and uh, I think football and yeah,
it's it's a it's a it's a fun place to go.
So I think it's pretty much everybody that comes to
Marshield has to make stuff and that's definitely reliable. The
original one was up north. Then the the owner of
(14:37):
the new one kind of said, hey, it's a funny name.
Can I use it? And the other owners said yeah,
just call it too, and we're like, okay, So it's.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Not even a franchise if you will, it's just.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
It's just a name and kind of added a location,
just kind of doubled the name there.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
So it's not like a movie sequel or something. Okay,
good to know. And if you love a classic American burger,
they're they're There are a couple of locations in Wisconsin,
just a few for Chips Burgers, and Marshfield is one
of them.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Yep, yep, that's kind of been a staple here in Marshfield,
so definitely kind of as I would say, like an
independent kind of fast food place. That's are some great burgers.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Yeah, they're kind of old school in that sense. The
only other one I know of off the top of
my head is up in Maryll So the one in
Marshfield right on Central Avenue too. That's such a great
main drag. I just I love driving up and down
that street. As you know, we talk about all the
kinds of things that are up and down it and
just off it because that includes the zoo, the world's
largest round barn, and the Central Wisconsin State Fairgrounds just
(15:36):
a few blocks off of that, and a lot of
the lodging is a long and just off of Central
Avenue too. Where are some of the best places to
stay now? Because they keep you keep adding some hotels in.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Marshfield, Yeah, definitely. The Hotel Marshfield is the closest one
to the park for kind of like our Maple Fall
Fest and the winter Waslinde great place today and that
is a kind of nice boutique style. I think they're
part of the Best Western brand, but kind of like
that boutique piece of it, you know, where they're kind
of independent and do their own things. We have a
(16:09):
holiday in that's right downtown on Central Avenue, and then
I think it's been open about three years now, a
really nice Hampton in that's a few blocks off our
Central Avenue, kind of closer to the Marshall Clinic, and
they've been doing a great job hosting a lot of
folks and they have a great breakfast in the morning,
and it's kind of a nice new property and everybody
(16:29):
loves the Hilton brand.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
They do a great job. Because we stayed there last
time many filmed for Discover Wisconsin and on some state
trunk tour stuff and that was a fantastic place. So
now I have several favorites in Marshfield for overnight stays.
And you know, it's quality because you've got you know,
a lot of people coming to Marshfield Clinic, whether it's
doctors or patients or research people staying there. So it's
nice that you have a really good quality selection of accommodations.
(16:54):
And so when people are doing a road trip, I
mean it's worth doing an overnight, a weekend, a long weekend,
maybe a week there's enough to do.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Yeah, definitely, and I don't want to forget. There's also
a nice local independent hotel called the Woodfield, and they
have a nice pool and they have one of the
best restaurants in town connected to it called the Lumberyard,
and another great place to grab a burger and have
a nice, nice selection of tap beers.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
And what are some of the other places you'd like
to highlight while we're talking if people are like, you know,
let's let's try the fall faster, let's do the quolting thing,
or maybe let's h seehy for farms or something like that.
A couple of other things to round out an itinerary
for a road trip.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Yeah, for sure. You know, one of the kind of
I think a little hidden gem as we have this
restaurant called Mojo's that kind of does like Cajun Italian
style food, and so that's definitely always on my mind
when my stomach is rumbling.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Where is that I've met? Then?
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Yeah, yeah, it's actually a block or two from the
record store. It's on I think the two hundred block
of our South Central Avenue. Oh sure, we'll have to
take you over there and have some sandwiches or some
nice pasta next time you're in towner.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Absolutely, it's right off that main drag where Highways thirteen
and ninety seven meet.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Oh geez, see that definitely. And then you know a
couple other things that are I think would be good
for a road trip as if you're bikers, we have
some Powers Bluff has some new trails for downhill and
mountain biking. And then there's the Mead Wildlife near us
that if you're a burder or something you want to
(18:31):
go kind of get get into nature and check that out.
That's a hot spot for folks.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
You know, you met an excellent point just now, Matt,
because I was so focused on the city. You do
the thing and we jumped out to Jurassic Park, we
jumped out to Sea Hayfer Farms. But the things around Marshfield,
in both Wood and Marathon Counties, there's some really cool stuff. Yeah.
The Mead Wildlife Area is fantastic. Power's Bluff. You have
the trails when it's warm enough out and then it's
(18:59):
it's tubing in the winter time on the hill.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Yeah yeah, yeah. I did some tubing this winter with
my son and a friend and we had a good
time tube in there and it's a great place to
learn how to ski too. They have a real kind
of light slope, you know, with a t bar, so
that's a lot of fun. And then you know, one
thing I've done a bit this summer is I went
fishing in the Lake Dexter near Pittsville, so just about
(19:24):
twenty minutes south of us. There's some fishing too.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Yeah, we did. We had some fun down there in Dexter.
There's actually a little drive in near there too, the
Lake Dexter Drive in, which is really cool. Good yeaheah.
It's right off Highway eighty. And that's the other thing.
You know. Marshfield's called hub city mainly because the railroads
came there for a hub. But it's in central Wisconsin,
and the most central spot in Wisconsin is in Pittsville,
which is only what eight to ten miles to the south.
(19:49):
You can like stand there on the county road off
of eighty and look at the central spot of the state,
which is this tiny island in the middle of the
Yellow River. It's truly in the center of yes, it is.
I see. I geek out over those things. I don't
know if everyone else does. And it's also worth checking out.
The Wood County Park System has some fantastic parks, Northwood
(20:11):
and Southwood especially.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Oh yeah, Yeah, the Northwood County Park is real close
to Marshfield and there's a great disc golf course there,
there's a beach, great camping sites, and there's actually some
camping sites that cater to folks with atv U TV,
so some extra area to park in. Definitely popular camping spots.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Yeah, phenomenal. So yeah, whether it's you know, city stuff,
because Marshfield's a good sized town, it's a city of
twenty thousand and with again so much medical there, there's
there's bigger resources than most cities of twenty thousand half
but you have all that access to a lot of
really cool outdoor recreational stuff. And this is a fantastic
time of year to go check it out, whether you
want to go to the specific events or just enjoy
(20:52):
fall in central Wisconsin, which is a place, you know
a lot of people want to go up north or
they want to head to one of the big cities.
Definitely a great spot to hit is in central Wisconsin
is Marshfield. And I think we've well established that before,
but we want to reiterate it because there's always something
new going on too good.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Sof Yeah, thanks Eric, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Oh, it's great talking with Matt McClean from visit Marshfield.
Make sure you check out the city. Be surprised at
all the cool stuff you can find, although maybe you're
not after that conversation. US ten kind of grazes the
southern end of Marshfield. It's part of a great drive
across Wisconsin, which is really it's a cross section of
the state from Prescott at the major junction where the
Mississippi and Saint Croix rivers meet in the Minneapolis Saint
(21:33):
Paul area, all the way over to Lake Michigan at Manatouq,
where the highway actually literally continues across the lake to
Michigan via the SS Badger. But let's talk about this
little stretch in central Wisconsin between Nilsville and just before
Stevens Point. We'll go west to east just for fun.
If you want to go east to west on ten,
you can listen to this portion in reverse if you want.
(21:54):
All right, we'll start in Clark County along US ten
in Neilsville, which is the seat of Clark County. A
great stop is the high Ground, an amazing veterans memorial
consisting of a one hundred and fifty five acre park
including a museum, gift shop, pavilions, picnic areas, and four
miles of hiking trails. Like its name implies, it's perched
high above the surrounding terrain, offering beautiful views of the
(22:17):
surrounding area. A lot of motorcycle rides begin an end here,
often raising money for veterans, and as you pass through Nilsville,
you'll also see two kitchee Wisconsin sits, Chatty Bell, the
world's largest talking cow, and a cool nineteen sixty structure
housing radio stations WCCNAM and FM and WPKGFM. They're perched
(22:39):
right across by the way from the Clark County Fairgrounds.
Now the structure of the radio stations are in. Is
this funky, cool yellow structure. It was the Wisconsin Pavilion,
the state's representative building at the nineteen sixty four New
York World's Fair. It was brought here after the fair
and now houses those stations. Now. WCCN on the FM
is called Rock one seven point five, which, along with
(23:02):
the Rock broadcasts Packers games in season and ninety two
point seven WPKG, which plays a variety of current hit
music and it all comes out of this historic building,
Chatty Bell, which is in the same parking lot. We'll
talk to you about Wisconsin dairy and other things if
you put a quarter in the machine when it's working.
It's a great little stop, though it is as kitchy
Wisconsin as you can get. Now. Jumping on US ten
(23:24):
further east, you'll find Fanny's Supper Club and Motel, very unique.
You guessed at supper club with lodging facilities in the
midst of the countryside, and dairy stops away just to
the east, Lynn Dairy and Lynn Wisconsin and Nasonville Dairy
in Yes, Nasonville, Wisconsin offers superior cheeses, kurds, and other
dairy products in their roadside stores. I mean we are
(23:46):
in the heart of some farmland that produces a ton
of milk and cheese and great dairy. Now by this
time you're in Wood County and you can prepare for
some shifts. Now a cool stop is kg's unique rare
and antique books. You wouldn't necessarily expect a bookstore like
that on this stretch of road, but they have some
very cool reads in there, and just to the east
of kg's US ten reaches Highway eighty, which it creates
(24:10):
the northern end of and then US ten takes over
at this roundabout and heads north just a couple miles
towards Marshfield. Now, this stretch has been US ten forever
for a long time. The stretch coming in that was
Highway eighty was Highway thirteen. Now thirteen comes in from
the east. It's a whole different story. More on that
in a bit, But ten meets eighty at that roundabout,
and a few miles north you hit another roundabout. Now
(24:31):
at that point you can continue north on to Central Avenue,
which is former Highway thirteen. Should still be some state
designated highway. Right that goes right into the heart of Marshfield,
into Wildwood Park and Zoo. It goes right into the
heart of downtown with all the shops, the restaurants, the
jurustic walking trail, everything we were talking about earlier with Matt.
(24:51):
That is the road you follow to check out the
heart of Marshfield. Now, if you want to keep following
US ten, you head east at that roundabout and ten
begins long Expressway stretch, which was fairly recently built. The
expressway goes all the way to just north of Stephens Point,
now Highway thirteen, which is now what they call a
through pass. It comes in from the east towards Marshfield
(25:12):
and goes right through town. It meets Highway ninety seven
at the northern end of the downtown area in Marshfield.
Ten and thirteen joined together and head to the east.
Now you can see Highway one eighty six that leads
you south to powers Bluff and Arpen in Wood County,
right past Auburndale, Blanker Millador and Junction City. So there's
(25:33):
all these small towns. Now, if you want to follow
the old road, you go a little slower, but you
see all the historic stuff. If you follow County Highway
p along that stretch. That's the original US ten, so
you can see the older buildings, the farms, the gas
stations and more along there. That works so well for
historic road trippers. By the way, that's also part of
the historic Yellowstone Trail, which is part of the Grand
(25:55):
National Trail that was established from Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts
to Puget Sound in Washington State back in nineteen thirteen.
A historic auto trail. Yes, you're on that stretch and
historic trail blazer signs will guide you now. One major
note south on Highways thirteen and thirty four aches at
US ten just before Junction City. Basically that will lead
(26:18):
you south to Rudolph, which is a small town with
big history and more cheese kurds. Rudolph has the beautiful
Rudolph Grotto, which is a religious site built as a
fulfillment of a promise made by father Philip Wagner while
studying for the priesthood in Europe back in nineteen twelve,
with seriously failing health, he visited Our Lady's shrine in Lourdes, France,
which was well known for healing, and promised to marry
(26:40):
that if his health were to be restored, allowing him
to be ordained, he would build a shrine in her
honor someday, and he did in Rudolph, Wisconsin. And you
won't believe the beauty that awaits at the Rudolph Grotto.
There are thousands of tons of rock that were hauled
from local farms used to create the shrines and unique
formations there. Cave alone is a one fifth mile passageway
(27:03):
featuring twenty six shrines, and it was patterned after the
Catacombs in Rome. The handcarved plaques and statues were made
from the finest marble in the world in Carrera, Italy,
to the exact specifications of Father Wagner. Maybe he was Wagner,
I'm not sure at the time. And there's a variety
of shells and marbles, tiles, all kinds of colored glass
that gives the grotto its unique appearance. And it's all
(27:26):
just south of US ten via Highways thirteen and thirty four. Now.
Also in Rudolph you'll find Dairy State Cheese, which is
a great stop that offers freshly made courage. You can
actually watch them making them. There's a wide variety of cheeses,
ice cream and more. A bought some white protein powder
there too. Very popular retail destination and for race fans.
Rudolph is the home of the legendary Dick Trickle, who
(27:49):
went from Wisconsin's short track racing circuit to become a
NASCAR legend. Now, a new memorial commemorates Trickle and other
racers who grew up in the area, showcasing Wisconsin's relative
prowess in the racing world. Among the Midwest states, Wisconsin's
got some of the biggest prowess in the racing world. Now,
heading back up to US ten, it remains a freeway
leapfrogs the Wisconsin River heading east. Highway thirty four heads
(28:12):
north by the way towards Knowlton and the Nolton House Distillery,
which is a really cool stop too. But US ten
continues east. It joins I thirty nine and US fifty
one southbound for the ride down to Stephens Point. Beautiful
college town of thirty thousand people. You've got centur year
old for golf Point Brewing and District one brewing company
for craft beers since that point winery for wine. A
(28:33):
beautiful downtown full of murals and a lot of bars
and restaurants, and just all the college life. And Stevens
Point Sculpture Park, which is right by the northern end
of where I thirty nine and BUSINESS fifty one meet.
Great spot for art and hiking, unique signs and more.
It's a great stop as you head into Stephens Point. Now,
we could continue on US ten, but we'll stop here
(28:53):
for practical length reasons and we'll pick it up on
other podcasts. You can also find out more at State
Turnk Toured look up things on Stephen's Point and all
the highways that run in and out of it. Also,
be sure to head to visit Marshfield dot com for
more on Maplefallfest this weekend, all the great events coming up,
especially towards the holidays, and all the fun things you
can do in and around Marshfield. Thank you for listening.
(29:16):
Catch you for the next episode on the State Trunk
Tour podcast.
Welcome to the State Trunk Tour podcast. This is episode
fifty six of season four, and we're exploring a stretch
of US ten and central Wisconsin with some key stops
along the way, and one of the main cities along
that stretch of US ten is Marshfield. We're talking about
this hub city with Maple Fallfest coming up this weekend
and plenty of great attractions and places to shop, eat,
(00:20):
drink and play anytime. We'll be talking with Matt McClain
from Visit Marshfield about those including the Crazy Metal of
Juristic Park, Kodiak Bears in their local zoo will prep
you for their holiday season, and of course Maple Fallfest
and more. Then we'll cover some gems on a stretch
of US ten from Nilsville over towards Stevens Point, Marshfield included,
and we'll be right back with all of that in
(00:42):
just one minute or so. And joining me now is
executive director of Visit Marshfield, Matt McClain, one of our
faves in the hub of Wisconsin.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
How you doing, Matt, I'm doing good. Eric, How you doing.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
I am doing well, looking forward to all the fall activities,
you know, Labor Day came early, and the fall weather
kind of showed up early. I know there's still some
warm weather left, but might as well shift fully into
fall mode with what we've been dealing with, right.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Oh yeah, yeah, definitely a little chilly a few days
this week, and yeah, it's I think people are saying, oh,
oh my god, summer's over.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
Pull out the pumpkin spice, I guess. But the good
news is it's a great time for fall festivals, and
you guys have a big one. It's early in the
fall season. In fact, it's still technically summer, but meteorologically
it's fall. Among all the things going on in Marshfield
Maple Fall Fest, let's start off with that because that's
coming up here starting Saturday the thirteenth.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Yeah, yeah, the thirteenth and fourteenth. We host over one
hundred and twenty hand made arts and craft svendors in
our beautiful Wildwood Park and it's on the south side
of town, and we usually expect about five thousand people
a day or more coming to the festival, and we
have performances by like our local Dance Conservatory. We have
(01:57):
matd Doug and Merrill. They're kind of been a stable
for us lots of fun stuff for kids, and there's
this is kind of a great time to start your
Christmas shopping too, so all handmade arts and crafts. Ven
there's lots of maple syrup products, lots of good food.
Got to always have your festival food right.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
Yes, you do. And the maple part is a big
factor of this. There's a lot of maple trees that
get tapped in the area and aren't there.
Speaker 2 (02:21):
Yeah, we do have a lot of folks that do
maple syrup. We'll be serving some locally sourced maple syrup
at our pancake tent that is run by our friends
from the Columbus Catholic Sports Programs and they have regular
pancakes and potato pancakes are kind of what our festival's
fame is for. And we also have some maple sauces
that's only being made for our event and I think
(02:43):
it's from Smith Brothers Meats this year.
Speaker 1 (02:45):
Nice. And then the coffee bar, Big Bee's Coffee they
have that there.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
Yeah, the Big These Coffee is gonna be there with us,
and that's from seven am to noon on both Saturday
and Sunday, and it's.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Just eleven dollars yeah, that's really cool. And then just
family activities all day from nine to four, you've got
all of that. The arts and crafts vendors are there
from nine to five. You have yeah, mad Dog and
Merrill at eleven thirty on Saturday and Sunday. It's a
very consistent schedule. It's very easy to memorize.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
Yeah, yeah, definitely, and we've been closing kind of are
almost closing near the end of the show. On Sunday
at two thirty, we have our friends from the Marshield
Monarchs do a butterfly their release on our main stage,
and so I think last year they had about two
or three hundred butterflies and it's kind of a very
picturesque event. We actually featured that on the front of
our visitor guide, a picture of all the butterflies being
(03:32):
released at the US.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Pretty pretty cool. Did you know they were originally called flutterbuys.
I did not, because they flutter by and somehow the
butter took center stage. Maybe that happened in Wisconsin, you know,
we're known for that kind of thing. Maybe butter cranberries,
maple syrup especially, So yeah, you can find out more
at stage on tour dot com. Of course we have
a page on it. Visit Marshfield dot com has a
(03:54):
lot on Maplefallfest, which is coming up Saturday the thirteenth
and Sunday the fourteenth. Certainly something to get on your calendar,
like right quick and get your road trip going. But
you have a lot of other activities fall. And since
you know you mentioned Christmas, we can look ahead to
the holidays too. What are some of the highlights people
can plan for as we go through September all the
way through October, November and December.
Speaker 2 (04:16):
You know, definitely celebrate the fall stuff. One of our
local farms for Acres, has some great wagon rides and
like corn mazes. And then one of the biggest events
of the year actually is right around the Christmas time
for us. It's it starts the Friday after Thanksgiving and
runs through New Year's Eve. Is called Rotary Winter Wonderland
(04:38):
mm hm. And so that's about two million lights in
our zoo and there's a walk through and a drive
through portion and it's free with suggested donation and or
canned food. And so every year there's thousands upon thousands
of food donated and we I think have over a
dozen different pit pantries that we've been able to give
(05:00):
food too and money and so it's I think we
clocked almost one hundred thousand people going through the festival
last year.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Wow, that's crazy. Well how many lights are there this year?
I mean it's it's an insane amount every year.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Yeah, it's about two million. I think they kind of
stopped counting after a million.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
How do you count that many?
Speaker 2 (05:19):
Double?
Speaker 1 (05:20):
That's just wild Does the rest of the city? Does
the rest of the city dim when they plug those in? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
You know, Actually before they were all led I think
it did. But I think I think now they say
it costs about seven bucks a night to run the
lights because they're like all LEDs. Oh my god, it
might have been like maybe seventy or seven.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
Probably. Well, it's good that they got more efficient with it. Yeah,
and it's it's worth knowing yet noting that the holiday
lights that starts, yeah, right around Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Right and yeah, yeah, the Friday after Thanksgiving is the
traditional start for us.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Perfect and they're both happening at Wildwood Park and Zoo,
which is such a fantastic place to go just south
of downtown Marshfield, basically right off central Avenue, which is
a great main drag. It's one of my favorite main
streets through any Wisconsin city. And the zoo there has
a really impressive array of animals. It's a free zoo.
And then you have the Kodiak bears and how are
(06:14):
they doing?
Speaker 2 (06:15):
Yeah, they're kind of I think the stars of our zoo.
I think they're both tip and the scales that are
around one thousand pounds these days, and they're they're kind
of big, big toddlers, you know, like to wrestle each other,
and it's they're a fun thing to see. So there's
definitely people going to see them every day. There's a
forty thousand square foot kind of I guess they would
(06:37):
say more of a natural type habitat with like a
pond and different things, and then they can walk across
the bridge's school to see them across this bridge over
to more of I guess you would say are a
typical zoo setting. There's a big window and there's another
pool in that area and that's kind of really feed
them usually, and so I think I think zoo keeper
told me, I think between noon and two is a
good time to check out the bears and might get
(06:58):
to see them do a feeding daily is is definitely
it's a fun thing. I mean, you can't really see
these bears outside of Alaska, so we're one of the
few thin there's only two or three places in the
lower forty eight that have Kodiak bears and we got
two big boys.
Speaker 1 (07:12):
Yeah, that was a big get for you guys. And
we have video of them playing in the pond on
a hot summer day. They love that and yeah, I'm
assuming after the feeding there's a little bit of siesta
for them, but that it is a huge And you
can walk under the bears because they can walk over
you on a bridge.
Speaker 2 (07:28):
Correct.
Speaker 1 (07:29):
That's just kind of mind blowing. And so it's a
fantastic zoo anytime of the year. To go and check
it out in Wildwood Park now up Central Avenue, which
is a fantastic boulevard. As I've mentioned, there's a ton
of other things to do and see when you go there.
I do want to mention one other event you had
on your site. If you're into quilting, there's a cool
(07:49):
one Treasures of Tomorrow quilt show that's happening in October.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Yeah, it's been a staple for us for years. Definitely
hundreds of people coming just you know, this cuilting is
kind of a I think a Wisconsin thing, and I've
been to the show a few times and it's just
pretty amazing to see what people can make.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
It is. It's the weekend before Halloween, Friday the twenty
fourth and Saturday the twenty fifth, So if you're into
quilting or you know someone who is, this is a
great one to hit. Marshfield's got a lot of the
unique things going on, and I just love the big
variety of events you have because you have the Central
Wisconsin State Fair, which was last month, and that went
pretty well from what I understand.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
Yeah, I think I spoke with some folks with the fair,
and I think there was record attendance. There was a
big rock band called Hailstorm that sold out, probably one
of the biggest bands we've ever had in Marshfield. And yeah,
so I think we were blessed with good weather and
lots of cool entertainment and activities. So yeah, the fair
was a big success this year.
Speaker 1 (08:49):
We did luck out a lot in August. We got
off to a cool start here in September, but it's
going to be really nice for the next month or two,
the leads are going to be changing. You've got the
fall festivals and there's a lot of other things to
do and see in and around Marshfield as you go there.
You mentioned Seahy for Farms by the way, that's a
great stop.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Yeah. Yeah. They actually hosted our largest balloon hot air
balloon events and earlier this summer and so they had
about thirty five hot air balloons and we're looking at
doing that again next year second weekend in July. And yeah,
it's a cool stop. You know, you get some fresh
made ice cream and kind of do with a horse
(09:28):
round wagon ride and it is a cool stop.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Yeah. Codes One of our other popular destinations and that's
really cool when the leaves are changing to is Juristic Park.
So I'm sure you've been there, Eric.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Oh yes, well, we've posted plenty of articles about that
Sea Hay for First of all, these are both just
north of town. Sea Hayfers just northeast of downtown, basically
along Highway ninety seven which runs in and out of Marshfield,
and then a little bit to the west northwest is
Juristic Park, which really is a must stop, especially as
long as we still.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Have cla Sure, sure, yep, definitely must see.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
It's an amazing it's actually a residence turned metal arts
installation museum. Essentially, you get Clyde the host and his stories,
his wife who has the jewelry, and you won't believe
your eyes with what you're going to see in the
midst of trees there. We have a big piece on
Jurassic Park on State trunk tour. And the cool part
is there's elements of it in downtown Marshfield too. If
(10:27):
you're doing a little walking around the shops and the restaurants,
you've got an art walk down there.
Speaker 2 (10:33):
Yeah, we got about a two mile Jurassic trail through
our downtown and you can see I think about a
dozen or more of his pieces. Some aer featured at
restaurants such as a Nuts Deep somewhere along our Veterans
Parkway there's a big dragon, and some are at our
local arts center, Chessas Center for the Arts, and so yeah,
it's kind of a you know, if you want to
(10:53):
check out, do some shopping downtown and see some fun art,
it's a good place to do that.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
Yeah, there's art and some prizes on every corner, and
there's a lot of cool things to do in the
downtown area. I mean, you've got a theater, you've got
a fantastic record shop called Good Day Sunshine, and right
next to it is a guitar shop, which is awesome
stuff days guitars.
Speaker 2 (11:13):
It's pretty cool. They have about two thousand guitars and
makes me droll on the guitar players.
Speaker 1 (11:19):
I'm a really lousy one. Does that count?
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Sure?
Speaker 1 (11:22):
You can also be creative, right, Yeah, that's true. You
can also be creative at like Bordon Brush, which looks
like a cool place. I have not been to this one.
Speaker 2 (11:31):
Yeah, yeah, I've got to make some stuff there. They
kind of you can make appointments there, cater to They
cater to groups a lot, and you can just make
some you know, cool things. I got a clock in
my kitchen that has some nice kind of barnwood style
thing that I made there with the group of my
co workers I think last year a year before. And
you can do yeah, all kinds of different you know,
(11:52):
get get crafty with with wood and bang on stuff
and make some noise.
Speaker 1 (11:57):
Well that's good. You can let your art art side
come out if you love architecture. The upper mansion is
a terrific tour. And that's within that's right down town too.
Basically it's a block off of the main street and
so I highly recommend that.
Speaker 2 (12:11):
Although is that seasonal, you know, it's actually opened by
appointment and on Wednesdays. It's good for groups, and so
they are open year round, but typically just open on
Wednesday afternoons.
Speaker 1 (12:25):
Okay, the day the day I caught them and took pictures.
I happened to be there on a Wednesday, so I
took gad. I was there all the.
Speaker 2 (12:30):
Time, you know, I know, we get some groups that
want to come in and they'll do special stuff by appointments,
and that's very cool. Victorian era, you know, kind of
history stuff.
Speaker 1 (12:39):
Well, original period furniture throughout the whole house. The kitchen
is amazing when you think about all the stuff they
made back then and the way they made them, the
original utensils and some of the cooking not machines, but
some of the things that they did. I remember something
with a lot of sharp spikes on it in the kitchen,
like this was dangerous stuff. Yeah. Yeah, kind of makes
(13:01):
you want to go have a beer, a blue Heron,
which that's one of our favorite stops. We love talking
about Blue Heron brew Pub, which is right down on
fourteenth off of Central Avenue. Yep.
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Yeah, definitely has some great local brews there. And then
we have a newer place called the Hop and Grape
that also has a great beer selection, kind of from
around the state and they are all changing taps. So
those are definitely a couple of places that I recommend grabbing
a drink at.
Speaker 1 (13:26):
Great place for craft beer. But Hoppin Grape is not
its own brewery, right, No, No, it's own.
Speaker 2 (13:31):
Now they kind of they this a feature stuff that
people like and yeah, you know, is good from around
the state and different different stuff.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
And Blue Heron is its own brew pub. And then
right by there you have one of the more interestingly
named spots, Nuts Deep Too, Nuts with a Z, and
let's explain to people. Let's explain to people what that is,
because you see people when they're driving by it, they
crane their necks.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
Yeah, you know, it's just really kind of a silly name.
Is It's a really great pub and bar. They have
great food. They're one of the most popular restaurants in town.
They usually win the best burger, best cheese curds, and
are kind of best of Marshfield thing, and it's kind
of great there, Like they're always open to like you
can go in there for breakfast, you know, watch the game.
(14:16):
It's it's a it's a fun place. They got a
lot of nice big TVs. They have a downstairs area
with some pool tables and uh, I think football and yeah,
it's it's a it's a it's a fun place to go.
So I think it's pretty much everybody that comes to
Marshield has to make stuff and that's definitely reliable. The
original one was up north. Then the the owner of
(14:37):
the new one kind of said, hey, it's a funny name.
Can I use it? And the other owners said yeah,
just call it too, and we're like, okay, So it's.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
Not even a franchise if you will, it's just.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
It's just a name and kind of added a location,
just kind of doubled the name there.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
So it's not like a movie sequel or something. Okay,
good to know. And if you love a classic American burger,
they're they're There are a couple of locations in Wisconsin,
just a few for Chips Burgers, and Marshfield is one
of them.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Yep, yep, that's kind of been a staple here in Marshfield,
so definitely kind of as I would say, like an
independent kind of fast food place. That's are some great burgers.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Yeah, they're kind of old school in that sense. The
only other one I know of off the top of
my head is up in Maryll So the one in
Marshfield right on Central Avenue too. That's such a great
main drag. I just I love driving up and down
that street. As you know, we talk about all the
kinds of things that are up and down it and
just off it because that includes the zoo, the world's
largest round barn, and the Central Wisconsin State Fairgrounds just
(15:36):
a few blocks off of that, and a lot of
the lodging is a long and just off of Central
Avenue too. Where are some of the best places to
stay now? Because they keep you keep adding some hotels in.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Marshfield, Yeah, definitely. The Hotel Marshfield is the closest one
to the park for kind of like our Maple Fall
Fest and the winter Waslinde great place today and that
is a kind of nice boutique style. I think they're
part of the Best Western brand, but kind of like
that boutique piece of it, you know, where they're kind
of independent and do their own things. We have a
(16:09):
holiday in that's right downtown on Central Avenue, and then
I think it's been open about three years now, a
really nice Hampton in that's a few blocks off our
Central Avenue, kind of closer to the Marshall Clinic, and
they've been doing a great job hosting a lot of
folks and they have a great breakfast in the morning,
and it's kind of a nice new property and everybody
(16:29):
loves the Hilton brand.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
They do a great job. Because we stayed there last
time many filmed for Discover Wisconsin and on some state
trunk tour stuff and that was a fantastic place. So
now I have several favorites in Marshfield for overnight stays.
And you know, it's quality because you've got you know,
a lot of people coming to Marshfield Clinic, whether it's
doctors or patients or research people staying there. So it's
nice that you have a really good quality selection of accommodations.
(16:54):
And so when people are doing a road trip, I
mean it's worth doing an overnight, a weekend, a long weekend,
maybe a week there's enough to do.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Yeah, definitely, and I don't want to forget. There's also
a nice local independent hotel called the Woodfield, and they
have a nice pool and they have one of the
best restaurants in town connected to it called the Lumberyard,
and another great place to grab a burger and have
a nice, nice selection of tap beers.
Speaker 1 (17:17):
And what are some of the other places you'd like
to highlight while we're talking if people are like, you know,
let's let's try the fall faster, let's do the quolting thing,
or maybe let's h seehy for farms or something like that.
A couple of other things to round out an itinerary
for a road trip.
Speaker 2 (17:32):
Yeah, for sure. You know, one of the kind of
I think a little hidden gem as we have this
restaurant called Mojo's that kind of does like Cajun Italian
style food, and so that's definitely always on my mind
when my stomach is rumbling.
Speaker 1 (17:48):
Where is that I've met? Then?
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Yeah, yeah, it's actually a block or two from the
record store. It's on I think the two hundred block
of our South Central Avenue. Oh sure, we'll have to
take you over there and have some sandwiches or some
nice pasta next time you're in towner.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Absolutely, it's right off that main drag where Highways thirteen
and ninety seven meet.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Oh geez, see that definitely. And then you know a
couple other things that are I think would be good
for a road trip as if you're bikers, we have
some Powers Bluff has some new trails for downhill and
mountain biking. And then there's the Mead Wildlife near us
that if you're a burder or something you want to
(18:31):
go kind of get get into nature and check that out.
That's a hot spot for folks.
Speaker 1 (18:39):
You know, you met an excellent point just now, Matt,
because I was so focused on the city. You do
the thing and we jumped out to Jurassic Park, we
jumped out to Sea Hayfer Farms. But the things around Marshfield,
in both Wood and Marathon Counties, there's some really cool stuff. Yeah.
The Mead Wildlife Area is fantastic. Power's Bluff. You have
the trails when it's warm enough out and then it's
(18:59):
it's tubing in the winter time on the hill.
Speaker 2 (19:01):
Yeah yeah, yeah. I did some tubing this winter with
my son and a friend and we had a good
time tube in there and it's a great place to
learn how to ski too. They have a real kind
of light slope, you know, with a t bar, so
that's a lot of fun. And then you know, one
thing I've done a bit this summer is I went
fishing in the Lake Dexter near Pittsville, so just about
(19:24):
twenty minutes south of us. There's some fishing too.
Speaker 1 (19:28):
Yeah, we did. We had some fun down there in Dexter.
There's actually a little drive in near there too, the
Lake Dexter Drive in, which is really cool. Good yeaheah.
It's right off Highway eighty. And that's the other thing.
You know. Marshfield's called hub city mainly because the railroads
came there for a hub. But it's in central Wisconsin,
and the most central spot in Wisconsin is in Pittsville,
which is only what eight to ten miles to the south.
(19:49):
You can like stand there on the county road off
of eighty and look at the central spot of the state,
which is this tiny island in the middle of the
Yellow River. It's truly in the center of yes, it is.
I see. I geek out over those things. I don't
know if everyone else does. And it's also worth checking out.
The Wood County Park System has some fantastic parks, Northwood
(20:11):
and Southwood especially.
Speaker 2 (20:13):
Oh yeah, Yeah, the Northwood County Park is real close
to Marshfield and there's a great disc golf course there,
there's a beach, great camping sites, and there's actually some
camping sites that cater to folks with atv U TV,
so some extra area to park in. Definitely popular camping spots.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Yeah, phenomenal. So yeah, whether it's you know, city stuff,
because Marshfield's a good sized town, it's a city of
twenty thousand and with again so much medical there, there's
there's bigger resources than most cities of twenty thousand half
but you have all that access to a lot of
really cool outdoor recreational stuff. And this is a fantastic
time of year to go check it out, whether you
want to go to the specific events or just enjoy
(20:52):
fall in central Wisconsin, which is a place, you know
a lot of people want to go up north or
they want to head to one of the big cities.
Definitely a great spot to hit is in central Wisconsin
is Marshfield. And I think we've well established that before,
but we want to reiterate it because there's always something
new going on too good.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Sof Yeah, thanks Eric, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (21:11):
Oh, it's great talking with Matt McClean from visit Marshfield.
Make sure you check out the city. Be surprised at
all the cool stuff you can find, although maybe you're
not after that conversation. US ten kind of grazes the
southern end of Marshfield. It's part of a great drive
across Wisconsin, which is really it's a cross section of
the state from Prescott at the major junction where the
Mississippi and Saint Croix rivers meet in the Minneapolis Saint
(21:33):
Paul area, all the way over to Lake Michigan at Manatouq,
where the highway actually literally continues across the lake to
Michigan via the SS Badger. But let's talk about this
little stretch in central Wisconsin between Nilsville and just before
Stevens Point. We'll go west to east just for fun.
If you want to go east to west on ten,
you can listen to this portion in reverse if you want.
(21:54):
All right, we'll start in Clark County along US ten
in Neilsville, which is the seat of Clark County. A
great stop is the high Ground, an amazing veterans memorial
consisting of a one hundred and fifty five acre park
including a museum, gift shop, pavilions, picnic areas, and four
miles of hiking trails. Like its name implies, it's perched
high above the surrounding terrain, offering beautiful views of the
(22:17):
surrounding area. A lot of motorcycle rides begin an end here,
often raising money for veterans, and as you pass through Nilsville,
you'll also see two kitchee Wisconsin sits, Chatty Bell, the
world's largest talking cow, and a cool nineteen sixty structure
housing radio stations WCCNAM and FM and WPKGFM. They're perched
(22:39):
right across by the way from the Clark County Fairgrounds.
Now the structure of the radio stations are in. Is
this funky, cool yellow structure. It was the Wisconsin Pavilion,
the state's representative building at the nineteen sixty four New
York World's Fair. It was brought here after the fair
and now houses those stations. Now. WCCN on the FM
is called Rock one seven point five, which, along with
(23:02):
the Rock broadcasts Packers games in season and ninety two
point seven WPKG, which plays a variety of current hit
music and it all comes out of this historic building,
Chatty Bell, which is in the same parking lot. We'll
talk to you about Wisconsin dairy and other things if
you put a quarter in the machine when it's working.
It's a great little stop, though it is as kitchy
Wisconsin as you can get. Now. Jumping on US ten
(23:24):
further east, you'll find Fanny's Supper Club and Motel, very unique.
You guessed at supper club with lodging facilities in the
midst of the countryside, and dairy stops away just to
the east, Lynn Dairy and Lynn Wisconsin and Nasonville Dairy
in Yes, Nasonville, Wisconsin offers superior cheeses, kurds, and other
dairy products in their roadside stores. I mean we are
(23:46):
in the heart of some farmland that produces a ton
of milk and cheese and great dairy. Now by this
time you're in Wood County and you can prepare for
some shifts. Now a cool stop is kg's unique rare
and antique books. You wouldn't necessarily expect a bookstore like
that on this stretch of road, but they have some
very cool reads in there, and just to the east
of kg's US ten reaches Highway eighty, which it creates
(24:10):
the northern end of and then US ten takes over
at this roundabout and heads north just a couple miles
towards Marshfield. Now, this stretch has been US ten forever
for a long time. The stretch coming in that was
Highway eighty was Highway thirteen. Now thirteen comes in from
the east. It's a whole different story. More on that
in a bit, But ten meets eighty at that roundabout,
and a few miles north you hit another roundabout. Now
(24:31):
at that point you can continue north on to Central Avenue,
which is former Highway thirteen. Should still be some state
designated highway. Right that goes right into the heart of Marshfield,
into Wildwood Park and Zoo. It goes right into the
heart of downtown with all the shops, the restaurants, the
jurustic walking trail, everything we were talking about earlier with Matt.
(24:51):
That is the road you follow to check out the
heart of Marshfield. Now, if you want to keep following
US ten, you head east at that roundabout and ten
begins long Expressway stretch, which was fairly recently built. The
expressway goes all the way to just north of Stephens Point,
now Highway thirteen, which is now what they call a
through pass. It comes in from the east towards Marshfield
(25:12):
and goes right through town. It meets Highway ninety seven
at the northern end of the downtown area in Marshfield.
Ten and thirteen joined together and head to the east.
Now you can see Highway one eighty six that leads
you south to powers Bluff and Arpen in Wood County,
right past Auburndale, Blanker Millador and Junction City. So there's
(25:33):
all these small towns. Now, if you want to follow
the old road, you go a little slower, but you
see all the historic stuff. If you follow County Highway
p along that stretch. That's the original US ten, so
you can see the older buildings, the farms, the gas
stations and more along there. That works so well for
historic road trippers. By the way, that's also part of
the historic Yellowstone Trail, which is part of the Grand
(25:55):
National Trail that was established from Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts
to Puget Sound in Washington State back in nineteen thirteen.
A historic auto trail. Yes, you're on that stretch and
historic trail blazer signs will guide you now. One major
note south on Highways thirteen and thirty four aches at
US ten just before Junction City. Basically that will lead
(26:18):
you south to Rudolph, which is a small town with
big history and more cheese kurds. Rudolph has the beautiful
Rudolph Grotto, which is a religious site built as a
fulfillment of a promise made by father Philip Wagner while
studying for the priesthood in Europe back in nineteen twelve,
with seriously failing health, he visited Our Lady's shrine in Lourdes, France,
which was well known for healing, and promised to marry
(26:40):
that if his health were to be restored, allowing him
to be ordained, he would build a shrine in her
honor someday, and he did in Rudolph, Wisconsin. And you
won't believe the beauty that awaits at the Rudolph Grotto.
There are thousands of tons of rock that were hauled
from local farms used to create the shrines and unique
formations there. Cave alone is a one fifth mile passageway
(27:03):
featuring twenty six shrines, and it was patterned after the
Catacombs in Rome. The handcarved plaques and statues were made
from the finest marble in the world in Carrera, Italy,
to the exact specifications of Father Wagner. Maybe he was Wagner,
I'm not sure at the time. And there's a variety
of shells and marbles, tiles, all kinds of colored glass
that gives the grotto its unique appearance. And it's all
(27:26):
just south of US ten via Highways thirteen and thirty four. Now.
Also in Rudolph you'll find Dairy State Cheese, which is
a great stop that offers freshly made courage. You can
actually watch them making them. There's a wide variety of cheeses,
ice cream and more. A bought some white protein powder
there too. Very popular retail destination and for race fans.
Rudolph is the home of the legendary Dick Trickle, who
(27:49):
went from Wisconsin's short track racing circuit to become a
NASCAR legend. Now, a new memorial commemorates Trickle and other
racers who grew up in the area, showcasing Wisconsin's relative
prowess in the racing world. Among the Midwest states, Wisconsin's
got some of the biggest prowess in the racing world. Now,
heading back up to US ten, it remains a freeway
leapfrogs the Wisconsin River heading east. Highway thirty four heads
(28:12):
north by the way towards Knowlton and the Nolton House Distillery,
which is a really cool stop too. But US ten
continues east. It joins I thirty nine and US fifty
one southbound for the ride down to Stephens Point. Beautiful
college town of thirty thousand people. You've got centur year
old for golf Point Brewing and District one brewing company
for craft beers since that point winery for wine. A
(28:33):
beautiful downtown full of murals and a lot of bars
and restaurants, and just all the college life. And Stevens
Point Sculpture Park, which is right by the northern end
of where I thirty nine and BUSINESS fifty one meet.
Great spot for art and hiking, unique signs and more.
It's a great stop as you head into Stephens Point. Now,
we could continue on US ten, but we'll stop here
(28:53):
for practical length reasons and we'll pick it up on
other podcasts. You can also find out more at State
Turnk Toured look up things on Stephen's Point and all
the highways that run in and out of it. Also,
be sure to head to visit Marshfield dot com for
more on Maplefallfest this weekend, all the great events coming up,
especially towards the holidays, and all the fun things you
can do in and around Marshfield. Thank you for listening.
(29:16):
Catch you for the next episode on the State Trunk
Tour podcast.
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