A Step Back in Time…

Once again I took over the wheel.  The sisters and Cousin Carla wanted to visit the cabin that the sister’s family used to spend summers at near Tomahawk Wisconsin.  It was a little attempt to glimpse the past…their childhood actually…

Our first stop along the way was at Holiday Acres, a family owned attraction based in Minocqua Wisconsin.  It was hard to even find a parking place!  Holiday Acres offers horseback riding, pony rides, miniature golf and go kart tracks…

Horses were the draw at Holiday Acres for the sisters.  Back in the day when they were just kids, they spent hours riding horses in fields and on trails near Tomahawk.  All 3 of them love horses.  Laurie even had her own horse when we first met… All of the ladies spent time talking to the horses as well as petting and scratching them.

Then there was this photo of a very happy Karole with one of Holiday Acres’ ponies…

Moving up the highway near Tomahawk Wisconsin, this is the barn at Pine Cone Ranch in Heafford Junction where the horses were kept that the girls rode during their family summer vacations.  The sisters were sad to see that it isn’t being used for horses any longer.  When they were staying in the cabin, Karole, Laurie and Bonnie used to walk to the barn every morning, grab 3 horses or ponies and take off for the day! Karole was 12, Laurie 5 and Bonnie 4 yrs old at that time. They were young when they first started coming to Pine Cone Ranch back in 1956. The world was definitely a different place back then! They returned every summer to Pine Cone Ranch, when sadly, the sister's father died from a massive heart attack on September 20th 1969. 

The Lamer family operated Pine Cone Ranch when the sister’s family was renting their cabin.  Mr. Lamer also raised mink.  His son Lon Lamer and his wife Sharon still run Pine Cone Ranch on Crystal Lake and they offer a number of cabins and boats for their guests.  You can check out Pine Cone Ranch Resort at http://www.pineconeranchresort.com/.

This is 'Limberlost', the cabin that the sisters remember so fondly.  It’s located on Deer Lake which is right next to Crystal Lake.  It doesn’t appear that it’s part of Pine Cone Ranch Resort at this point…but it still is being rented out.

Laurie, David II, Laurie’s mother and myself did spend a pleasant summer week her many years ago in 1981.  This is a new dock.  I do remember sitting on the old dock with the water level of the lake actually above it.  It looked like I was floating on water!  I was sitting on that dock when the propane stove in the cabin ignited after a gas build up.  There wasn’t any damage and no one was hurt but it did get our attention…

We also fed the chipmunks, did a bit of fishing and had a couple of nice fish fries thanks to Laurie’s mom cleaning and cooking the pan fish for us!

Here are Bonnie, Laurie, Karole and Carla standing by Limberlost.  I think that the family that was staying in the cabin when we visited were a little startled...but they said that it was alright to take a few photos. 

If you’d like to stay at Limberlost, the current summer rate is $200.00 per night.  Check it out at https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/4479531. 

Our next stop along memory lane was the town of Tomahawk.  The ladies wandered from shop to shop while I walked around taking pictures. 

Another small Wisconsin town with a ‘living’ movie theater!  The Tomahawk Cinema is a single screen theater that was named the Lyric Theater when it first opened in 1925.  When I researched it, I learned that back in 2015 it was in danger of ‘going dark’.  Thankfully, local fund raising efforts saved it and its still entertaining locals and tourists after 93 years!

To see what’s currently playing at the Tomahawk Cinema, just go to https://tomahawk-cinema.business.site/.

We love the fact that so many central Wisconsin towns are still alive and functioning.  Much credit goes to the resident’s entrepreneurial spirit plus the fact that with all of the lakes and rivers in the area, the tourist business continues to nourish the economy. 

We were in town on a Tuesday…and the local Farmer’s Market at Third Street and Wisconsin Avenue was up and running. (Tuesdays from 9AM to 1PM) This seasonal farmers market offers a selection of vegetables, fruits, plants, honey, maple syrup, flowers and bakery goods.

The town of Tomahawk has changed over the years but plenty of its old buildings remain in use.  Interestingly, no buildings or places in Tomahawk are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Research revealed that this building at 201 West Wisconsin Avenue became the new home of the Bank of Tomahawk back in 1904.  The original bank was established as a private institution in 1895.  It moved into this building when it was incorporated under Wisconsin’s banking laws.  It’s now the home of Kevin Urmann, the local State Farm Insurance Agent. 

This is a type of sporting facility that you rarely see in any downtown location.  The Strikers – Tomahawk Bowl is located at 309 West Wisconsin Avenue.  I’ll bet that this business does a box office business in the middle of Wisconsin’s long cold winters!

The Bradley Bank was first established as a ‘private bank’ when Tomahawk wasn’t much more than a clearing in the woods.  The original bank was a small wooden building nearby.  In 1923, Bradley Bank moved to this substantial building, which was completed the previous year.  This days, a branch of Huntington National Bank occupies this structure.

This poster in a store window in downtown Tomahawk is almost a thing of the past.  Circuses are rapidly disappearing from the American scene.  Like them or not, at one point the circus was a significant portion of the entertainment and social fabric of the country.

 

The Culpepper and Merriweather Great Combined Circus is not an old time operation per se… It started with the 3 founders and a very small show.  The 3 took turns announcing, performing and selling concessions.  Indeed, they relied on donations…a passing of the hat…at the end of each show.  Nobody thought that they’d succeed but the circus continued to grow.

The Culpepper and Merriweather Circus is currently based in Hugo Oklahoma.  That town is known as “Circus City, USA”.  This particular circus is the 20^th circus to call that town home…and 2 other circuses are also based there now.  For 32 weeks each year, the Culpepper and Merriweather circus provides 90 minute shows to over 200 towns in 17 different states.

As a side note, there are groups that are trying to shut down all circus operations on behalf of animal welfare.  Given the impact of social media, I doubt that they will survive much longer…

Don’t you think that the Chamber of Commerce Building and Visitor’s Center in the first photo above is a fitting structure for a town in the north woods that’s focused on tourists?  This building is only 32 years old…but it is in keeping with its predecessor!

The second log building…actually a large cabin…is the building that the Visitor’s Center used to be in.  Back in 1927, a couple of local resort owners built a similar cabin for the Tomahawk Civic and Commercial Club as an information and visitor’s center.  That organization later evolved into the Regional Area Chamber of Commerce.  The first cabin was destroyed in a big fire in 1929, but a replica was reconstructed that same year.  It served as the visitor center until it was replaced by that new log building in 1986.

The old cabin was moved to Washington Park and The Log Cabin Museum can be found at 18 East Washington Street.  Exhibits include farming, logging and the history of the area’s railroad.

Tomahawk’s early life was founded on the timber industry.  The railroad arrived and the logging/lumber businesses arrived at almost the same time after which there was rapid growth.  It was in September of 1887 when the tracks of the Wisconsin Valley Division of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad reached Tomahawk and in October the first train arrived.

I was unable to determine when the Tomahawk Railway Depot as shown above was built.  As per the information on DepotsMaps.com, it was built by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad.  From what I can determine, the building was completely abandoned by 1980.  An on-line photo of the depot on DepotsMaps.com shows a photo of it…decrepit and sad looking.

Thanks to Tomahawk Stove Junction LLC, it’s been nicely restored and it’s now serving as that company’s offices and store.  The work was completed in 2006.  To learn more about this company selling pellet stoves and fireplaces, just go to http://www.pelletstovejunction.com/.

 Marinette, Tomahawk and Western Railway Company locomotive #19 was built in 1923 for the Charcoal Iron Company of America for use in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  This 2-6-0 type locomotive then served a Wisconsin lumber company from 1927 until 1947.  In turn that company sold it to the MT and W Railroad.  Ca. 1960, it was donated to the City of Tomahawk.

The Marinette, Tomahawk and Western Railroad never had more than 50 miles of track and by the 1930’s that number was down to 13 miles and locals nicknamed the railroad as the “Miserable, Tired and Weary”.  

In 2005, the railroad sold to Genesee and Wyoming and the renamed Tomahawk Railway now operates about 6 miles of track.  It provides daily service to a local pulpboard mill at Wisconsin Dam and the mill’s warehouse in Tomahawk.  About 8,000 carloads of various materials are then transshipped to Tomahawk Railroad’s connection with Canadian National’s operations at Tomahawk. 

That’s it for this edition of the blog.  Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Exploring the Town of Waupaca Wisconsin…Plus

Of course, while we were wandering and eating around the Chain O’ Lakes area, we had to stop in Waupaca to look around and give the 3 sisters and Cousin Carla a chance to shop.  I took the opportunity to take a few photos around the center of town…

The first building that I spotted was the Rosa Theatre at 218 South Main Street.  It’s unusual in that very few small town cinemas continue to operate, especially in the downtown areas.  One issue has been the cost of converting to a digital movie format and the other is competition with big multi-screen theaters and companies such as AMC, Cinemark and Regal.

The Rosa Theatre is a relatively new building in downtown Waupaca, having been built in 1948.  This theater is actually part of a small chain of small town theaters.  Rogers Cinema operates 7 theaters in Wisconsin and upper Michigan.  In Stevens Point Wisconsin, this company actually has a multi-screen theater with 7 screens.  To learn more, just go to https://www.rogerscinema.com/.

The Danes Hall was built in 1894 as a gathering place for the Danes Home Society.  Originally it served as a clubhouse, a meeting hall and as an auditorium.  There was a dance floor on the upper floor with its own balcony. 

The Danish Club was organized in early 1877.  The Wisconsin Central Railroad had just completed construction to Ashland Wisconsin and, combined with out of work farm workers, there were a lot of idle men around that had no place to go except for the local saloons.  At its peak, the club had 300 members before dropping to only 32 by 1940. 

Danish Club bylaws required that only males born to Danish parents, were 18 years of age or older and who could read and speak Danish, would be eligible for membership.  Gambling and alcohol were forbidden.  The Club had a library of over 1,000 books and the Danes Home Society even had their own health and long-term insurance program.

In more recent years, the dance hall has been used by various groups as well as by the National Guard for drills and the local high school for graduation ceremonies.  As the photo shows, it’s once again being refurbished.  The stated goal is to return the building as “a focal point and social gathering space…” for Waupaca.

Downtown Waupaca is somewhat restricted by its location on a ridge or hill alongside the Waupaca River.  As recently as June of this year, the river was expected to crest at 2 feet above flood stage.  I was on the hill where downtown is situated when I took this photo.

The river got its name from the Native Americans that inhabited the area.  Waupaca is the Native American word for ‘tomorrow’.  Since the Native Americans needed 24 hours to travel the full length of the river, they wouldn’t be able to reach the end until ‘tomorrow’.  The state of Wisconsin officially calls the river the Waupaca/Tomorrow River. 

These 2 buildings at 103 and 105 North Main Street were built within a year of each other.  The first one is the Beadleston Block. (1877) The one to the right is the Masonic Block. (1878) Note the Masonic symbol at the top.

The Beadleston Block was built for Hiram C. and Henry Beadleston who came to Waupaca in 1857 and opened a grocery store on this site in a wood frame building in 1862.  This building was erected in 1877 after a fire destroyed their first store.  The Masonic Building was built immediately afterwards.  This building not only served as the Masonic Temple but it also served as a drug store beginning in 1877 and continuing until recent times.  Now it appears to be part of the Main Street Marketplace.  

Website: http://www.mainstreetwaupaca.com/home.html.    

What would any self-respecting town in Wisconsin be without a local bar or pub!  The Paca Pub at 106 North Main Street has been in business since 1984.  They serve adult beverages in addition to lunch and dinner.  The front of this building has been ‘updated’ but the Gmeiner Block/Building was built way back in 1900. 

For more on the Paca Pub, go to https://www.facebook.com/PacaPub/.

This one is a little confusing.  There are 2 Roberts Blocks…connected but built at different times.  The original building was built in 1884 by R.N. Roberts.  He built it on the site of his father’s general store.  In 1893, Roberts added Roberts Block #2…all in all, a total of 5 storefronts.  

Roberts was a successful businessman who had an interest in the city’s Crescent Roller Mills, a lumber company and the city’s potato starch company.  In 1884, he founded the City Bank for which in part he’d built this building.  Eventually it became known as the Old National Bank.  Other commercial businesses in these buildings included a restaurant, shoe store and a drug store.  Part of one of the buildings is now an extension of the Rosa Theatre.  Addresses for the Robert’s buildings include 204, 210 and 212 South Main Street.

This is one of the ‘newer’ buildings in Waupaca’s Main Street Historic District that’s listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  The Whittington Block is located at 201 North Main Street.  This rather more modern structure was built in 1913 by a firm based in Marshfield Wisconsin.  The two separate storefronts have seen many different businesses come and go in the last hundred years. 

Note the rapidly increasing rarity along the side of this building…a blue United States Postal Service mail drop box!  Like pay telephones, they’re headed for extinction.

Ah…and I was just sitting down and relaxing in chairs provided by a local merchant when I saw my ‘tour group’ headed on down the sidewalk in my direction.  Carla, Laurie, Karole and Bonnie were ready for our next adventure…

Don’t you love covered bridges?  They remind me of the olden days.  But this one over the Waupaca River isn’t really old.  It was built in 1976 in order to connect a subdivision of new homes to the main road.  It still gets your attention when you first spot it!

I was unable to identify this older building at the Wisconsin Veteran’s Home in King Wisconsin…just outside Waupaca.  The Wisconsin Veterans Home has been in existence for 130+ years.  All branches of the military are represented here.  This long-term and rehabilitative facility provides care for veterans, veteran’s spouses, veteran’s widows and Gold Star parents.  

The setting is certainly beautiful.  This 42 acre facility sits on the shores of a blue spring-fed lake on one side and there are rolling green hills on the other.  Buildings date from the 1880s to the present.  In 1887, the City of Waupaca purchased a defunct hotel and 78 acres for the establishment of the Wisconsin Veterans Home.  

The property was presented to the Grand Army of the Republic for the creation of a Veterans Home.  The GAR was a fraternal organization made up of veterans from all branches of the Civil War’s Union Army.  The GAR was among our first organized advocacy groups and one of their causes was the establishment of health care for surviving injured veterans.  By 1890, the GAR had 490,000 members.

Civil War physician and GAR member Dr. Frederick Marden headed up the effort.  One of his innovative ideas that was put into action was the practice of allowing wives and widows of veterans to live at the home. 

The Wisconsin Veterans Home in the town of King (Waupaca County), is one of the largest veteran’s home facilities in the USA.  It has almost 1,000 employees…even its own fire department.

In 2016, there was quite a bit of uproar in the news about the quality of care being delivered at the home, ongoing staffing shortages and the state’s redirecting of millions of dollars of Federal funding from the King facility to other veteran’s programs. 

To learn more about this facility, you can go to https://dva.wi.gov/Pages/veteransHomes/VeteransHomeKing.aspx.

This large and beautiful Queen Anne style home overlooking Rainbow Lake, part of Waupaca’s Chain O’ Lakes, is the Commandant’s House at the Wisconsin Veteran’s Home in King.  It was built in 1888 by the GAR to house retired soldiers.  It now houses the facilities commandant.  This is the only  large frame structure remaining from the Veteran’s Home historic period.  The effort was to make this complex into a real community, where staff and residents lived and worked together. 

FYI…The last member of the GAR and last Union Army veteran died in 1956 when he was 106 years old.  He’d been a drummer boy.   The last verified Union Army combat veteran died in 1953 at the age of about 110.

Dr. Marden also piloted the idea of allowing veterans to live semi-independently in cottages.  Consequently, this pleasant street and one other in the Veteran’s Home complex are lined with 31 small neat white cottages.  Some were used as staff residences too.  As per the Veteran Home’s building inventory, the cottages were built between 1890 and 1925.  Despite the parked cars, some of the cottages didn’t look like they were being lived in when we drove through and most of them needed repair and refurbishment, at least on the outside.

Note:

·         Wisconsin’s first state veteran’s cemetery was opened right across the street from the Veteran’s Home.  The first burial was of course, that of a Civil War Veteran.  This cemetery is now the final resting place for more than 6,700 veterans and their dependents.  Veterans from the Civil War, Indian Wars, Spanish American War, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam and the Persian Gulf War are all buried here.

That’s all from Waupaca…both the city and the county.  Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

Thanks for stopping by for another glance into the past…and present.

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Heritage Park in Plover Wisconsin

In planning for our trip to visit Laurie’s family in Wisconsin, I’d made note of a few railroad depots and historic places along the way.  Of course I’d done the same thing for Stevens Point, which is just a short distance north of Plover Wisconsin.  However, I also noted that there were a number of historical structures in Plover…so Cousin Carla took us to Plover’s Heritage Park for my photo op.

Plover’s Heritage Park is the largest of the Portage County Historical Society’s 4 properties.  The organization also maintains several on-line archives as well as extensive materials at the University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point.  To learn more about this organization and all of its activities, you can go to http://www.pchswi.org/index.html.  

This is the Engford/Barnsdale House.  It’s known locally as the “Circus House”.  A number of circus families owned this home over the years.  It was built in 1850 by a pioneer attorney and judge.  

This is the oldest verified house in Portage County.  When the original owner passed on, his widow sold the house and a progression of owners followed.  In 1923, the home was purchased by Robert Engford, a pioneer in the motorized circus equipment industry.  He first toured the state with his motorized equipment in 1920.  Engford died in 1967 but his daughter continued to live here until 1999.

      

After Engford died, his son and granddaughter carried on with the family business.  Except for the period during World War II, an Engford family member performed every year from ca. 1900 until 1999!

This nifty restored circus caravan is on display on a concrete pad behind the ‘circus house’.

 

To learn more about Robert Engford, his accomplishments, life and family, check out the archive on the Portage County Historical Society’s site at http://www.pchswi.org/circus/engford_family/robertengford.html.

This gray store is one half of what is now a double ended structure.  The Pierce building was a grocery store and butcher shop when it was built.  After the Pierce family sold it, several other businesses used it…among them a general store.  The Society had plans to use the front portion as a print shop and the back for the display of farm equipment.  However, vandals burned the structure in 1994.  The front has been partially restored and it will be used as originally intended. 

A new section was built over the foundation of the back of the Pierce Building that had been destroyed by the arson fire.  This barn with its covered outdoor area, is being used to display an extensive collection of farm equipment.  To view the equipment included in the collection, just go to http://www.pchswi.org/museums/hpark/farmequip/farm-equipment.html.

What would an old depot be these days without an accompanying caboose?  This bay-window style caboose was originally operated by the Green Bay and Western Railroad…then the Wisconsin Central and finally the Canadian National Railroad. 

The depot was moved from nearby Bancroft Wisconsin.  It had been built in 1898 by the Wisconsin Central Railway and was subsequently utilized by the Soo Line. (Also known as the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad) The depot was on the Soo Line’s branch that operated from the city of Portage to Steven’s Point.  

As per the website, the exterior and first floor of the depot have been restored to the 1920’s look by the Central Wisconsin Model Railroaders, Ltd.  They use the basement as a clubhouse.  The depot is the last one of this design…

Bancroft has a special connection for Laurie and her sisters.  Her mother was born there and her maternal grandfather operated a creamery in the area for many years.

This ca. late 1930s cabin was built as a replacement for similar cabins that were part of part of a wayside establishment for weary travelers along what was called the “Yellowstone Trail” as it passed through Portage County Wisconsin.  Subsequently, this cabin became an extension of a local motel.

Note:

·         The Yellowstone Trail was the first transcontinental highway through the upper portion of the USA.  It was established in May of 1912.  This auto trail ran from Plymouth Massachusetts through Yellowstone Park to the Pacific Ocean in Seattle Washington.

This building is the oldest church in Portage County.  It was built ca. 1856 by a Presbyterian Congregation.  In 1866 it was sold to the Methodist Congregation and they used the church until they built a new church in 1963.  Many of the family attended this Methodist church. It was stripped bare on the inside in an effort to convert it for other uses.  Nothing worked out and the building just sat unused.

 

The Portage County Historical Society obtained the church in 1978 and rescued it from total collapse.  The exterior design is clearly Greek revival architecture while the interior provides a roomy barnlike space. 

The Historical Society brought this building onto the site in 1989.  When all is completed, it will represent what a general store would have looked like in the late 19^th century.  Over the years this building served many purposes…a store, taxidermy shop, a tavern, etc.  At one point an entire house was added to the back and it functioned as a tavern.  The Society has had to demolish the house extension and gut the interior

The Franklin-Calkins House was obtained by the Historical Society in 1983 and then moved to this site.  This home, built in 1867, is a cross between Greek revival and Federalist styles.  The exterior has changed very little over the years and the Historical Society has returned the interior to its original look ca 1870.

The home was built by George Washington Franklin, a potato grower and the first potato broker in the USA when he shipped produce to the Union Army during the Civil War.  The house was passed down through the female side of the family.  Mr. Franklin’s granddaughter married someone in the Calkins family and Mrs. Calkins died in 1981. 

The blacksmith shop came from the Town of Buena Vista Wisconsin and one of the earliest homesteads in the county.  Originally the land it was on was a payment to a veteran of the Seminole Wars in Florida.  The second owner of the land was the one who built the blacksmith shop…probably about 1880. (Sorry about the photo with its 'sunspots')  

The Society acquired the building and moved it in 1985.  A number of tools designed and made by the second owner are on display in the blacksmith shop.  This building was the first structure the Historical Society rehabilitated and opened…

This little building was just one of several Post Office buildings that served the Village of Plover.  As small as it is, the structure is actually 2 much smaller buildings butted together back to back.  Both the front and back portions of the structure were built ca. 1870.  No one knows what the back part was used for.  So, the front end will be restored as the Post Office as it was intended while the back portion will be restored as a doctor’s office.

This school house was built ca. 1894 almost on the Portage-Waupaca County line about 18 miles to the east of Plover.  It served as a school house until the late 1940s.  A local landowner donated the school to the Historic Society as it was on his family’s land.  Many members of the family had attended the school over the years but it had been used for storage in more recent times.  When they moved this school from its original site to its new home in Plover, they had to cut the school into 3 pieces.

Much of the material used to write this post were gleaned from the Portage County Historical Society’s website.  It is a very helpful site and it’s loaded with all kinds of information about the Plover Heritage Park as well as the other properties operated by the Society.

Plover's Historical Park is open on weekends from Memorial Day through Labor Day from 1 PM to 4 PM.  For more information about the Heritage Park you can just go to http://www.pchswi.org/museums/hpark/Heritagepark.html.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a tour and a little local history!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Dinner in Waupaca Wisconsin

The sisters’ cousin, Carla, had this whole day all planned out…what to see, where to shop, where to take a break and relax…and later on, where to eat dinner too! 

This is the Wheelhouse Restaurant and it’s located on the Chain O’ Lakes just down the road from The Beach House where we took our early afternoon break.  The Beach House is on Taylor Lake and the Wheelhouse Restaurant is on County Road Q right between Columbia Lake and Round Lake.  The Wheelhouse has been in business since 1978…that’s 40 years!

This is the bar area at the Wheelhouse.  The place was hopping when we arrived.  Finding a parking place was a bit of a challenge.  They actually had a person directing traffic!

The dining room was packed and there was a wait for an inside table.  It was so chaotic that we were glad we had to dine on the deck!

So…why was this place so crowded with locals and tourists alike?  The folks in the center of this photo could supply the answer.  They are surrounding a buffet table.   It was the Monday Night Pizza Buffet!  This is an all you can eat buffet with a variety of pizza, garlic bread and cheese garlic bread available to diners.

Like many if not most restaurants in tourist areas, Wheelhouse has a big deck and, in this case a second bar to serve more customers.

This was our table/picnic table on the deck.  From the left, Carla, Bonnie, Karole and Laurie.

All 4 of the ladies opted for the pizza buffet.  I’m not sure what the buffet cost because against our will and despite our protests, Carla picked up the check! (That’s not the way retired people generally function) In any case, one of the reasons this buffet is so popular is that its reasonably priced… Prices aren't listed on-line so I’m guessing its around $9.99 per person.

Knowing myself and knowing that I view any buffet as a food challenge, (getting my monies worth), plus the fact that my doctors wouldn’t approve, I decided to order off the menu.  This was my French Dip sandwich.  The seasoned thin sliced beef topped with mozzarella cheese was served the au jus for dipping.  It was a very satisfying sandwich and I was a happy camper!

This little ice cream shop was located on the property just down from the restaurant and next to where we parked.  We’d eaten too much food already…but it was ice cream!  We were saved by the fact that the Scooper Ice Cream Parlor is only open on the weekends…

We had a nice time and enjoyed our meals at the Wheelhouse Restaurant.  It’s located at E1209 County Road Q in Waupaca Wisconsin.  Phone: 715-258-8289.  The Wheelhouse Restaurant has frequent specials for dinner and they also host a number of special events.  This restaurant is open daily year around.  During the week they open at 4 PM and on the weekends, they open at 11 AM.  For more information and a look at the menu, check out their website at http://wheelhouserestaurant.com/.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave