BY TEA KRULOS AND KRISTINE HANSEN
1. Al Johnson’s Goats
In 1973, the log structure now known as Al Johnson’s, a Swedish restaurant in the northern Door County burg of Sister Bay, arrived in pieces from Norway and was “put back together like Lincoln logs,” recalls second-generation co-owner Lars Johnson. Al’s buddy Winkie Larson thought it would be funny to put a goat on the grassy roof. Plot twist: The goat loved it! Each spring, goats amble up to this rooftop pasture, via a ladder, and once a year star in a parade. (This year’s is June 13.)
READ MORE FROM OUR “WEIRD WISCONSIN” FEATURE HERE.
“Thousands of people come out,” says Johnson. “We have a big goat fest afterwards at our beer garden.” There’s also a Swedish pancake-eating contest and stein-lifting contest. By early November, the goats move indoors. “We treat them like our kids. Would you have your child up there for five hours in this weather?” asks Johnson. “We really take care of the goats.”
Tell us who you’d pick to be a Betty this year!
2. A Comical Statue
Standing atop a pedestal in Flatiron Park in Lake Geneva is a sausage-nosed, mustachioed man in a suit, hat and bowtie, his foot resting on a globe. Who is this not-exactly-realistic character, and what’s he doing in this resort town? Andy Gump was the patriarch of “The Gumps,” a comic strip created by Sidney Smith that debuted in the Chicago Tribune in 1917, long before “Peanuts” or “Garfield.”
Now largely forgotten, the syndicated comic strip was a smash success in its day, and in 1922 the suddenly wealthy cartoonist Smith joined other rich Chicagoans in buying an estate in Lake Geneva. The Trib bought the first Andy Gump statue as a gift for Smith’s estate in 1924. After Smith’s death in 1935, the statue was placed in the park but was destroyed in a “drunken riot” of rampaging teenagers in 1967. The statue’s replacement was stolen (and never recovered) in 1989, 30 years after the strip ended, but the community would not let its anachronism die and replaced the bronze Gump again. That third statue – fiberglass, this time – still stands cartoonishly stoic on Geneva Lake’s shores today.
3. Sputnikfest
On Sept. 5, 1962, a 20-pound fragment of a Soviet satellite, Sputnik IV, crashed down into downtown Manitowoc. Call it an odd thing to celebrate, but every first Saturday after Labor Day – Sept. 12 this year – the city pays tribute to this mini-meteoric event with a space-themed community festival (alien costumes optional) outside the Rahr-West Art Museum, which has a replica of the debris on display inside.
4. Mount Horeb’s Trolls
How does one charming small town stand out in western Dane County with its abundance of them? Seeking whimsy with a touch of the grotesque, Mount Horeb went all in on trolls. It has 40 of the hand-carved statues scattered outside and in downtown businesses, ready for you to match their expressions in a selfie.
5. The Middle of Everywhere
In the middle of a cornfield in central Wisconsin’s Marathon County is the literal middle of our northwest hemisphere: 45 degrees north, 90 degrees west. It’s the only hemisphere center on Earth that’s not in an ocean or the remote desert of northwestern China, and it’s nicely appointed with picnic benches, a sign and bronze marker. The nearest bar, incidentally, is C&J’s Central Pub, a two-minute drive away at 44.995 degrees north, 89.995 west.
6. National Mustard Museum
Barry Levenson was searching for direction in life when inspiration hit him during a trip to the grocery store. Forty years later, he has over 7,000 mustards on display, as well as hundreds of related memorabilia items showcased in his museum in Middleton. The gift shop offers around 200 varieties, from blue cheese to cranberry to curry, plus a tasting bar to try them out.
