Chicago to Minneapolis - Break up the trip

August 4, 2006 4:58 PM

Interesting places to stop to break up the drive between Chicago and Minneapolis.

My daughter, my 11-year-old grandson, and I are driving up to visit friends in Minneapolis. It's about a six and a half hour drive, if we drove straight through. We'll leave around 8:00 am and want to get to Minneapolis by suppertime. I'd like three or four places we could stop along the way for about an hour each. Good restaurants for breakfast/lunch. Odd roadside attractions. Interesting shops. Kid friendly is nice but not necessary. (He's got a PSP and we may not hear anything from him the whole trip.) Any place we don't get to on the way there we can stop at on the way back. I'm looking for places along the way, not in Minneapolis itself, where my friends have our time all planned out.

posted by Joleta to Travel & Transportation (24 answers total)

Get pie at the Norske Nook in Osseo. I have never had better pie in a restaurant, ever.

I have relatives in Minneapolis and central Minnesota, and that's the only non-bathroom stop I'll make on the way there.
posted by rocketman at 5:26 PM on August 4, 2006 [1 favorite]

I did this drive all the time as a kid. Here's what I remember to be the highlights: Baraboo right over the border in Wisconsin has some pretty cool stuff..and further along the Wisconsin Dells (home of the xanadu foam house!) has about 8 million things for an 11 year old to go crazy on.

It's an easy drive, and super pretty. Have fun!
posted by monkey!knife!fight! at 5:27 PM on August 4, 2006 [2 favorites]

Madison. The rest is visually appealling, but not so much so for stopping, unless of course you are deathy ill and then there is the Mayo Clinic.
posted by caddis at 5:27 PM on August 4, 2006

If you want to take a detour through Milwaukee, I recommend going to the Milwaukee Ale House. They have a nice selection of pub-style food and various delicious seasonal microbrews. Otherwise, Milwaukee has very little going for it (lived there for six years)...maybe the Node coffeehouse on North avenue just past the river--it's home to the tiny local goth/bohemian scene (as well as random transients). The art museum might be worthwhile too.
posted by nasreddin at 5:41 PM on August 4, 2006

Best answer: It's not exactly on the way, but I can't recommend the Spam Museum in Austin enough. The website linked lets you search individual cities and will give you a couple "interesting" things to see. They also have a book, which is what I took on my roadtrip through Minn. a couple of years ago - your grandson might get a kick out of helping plan the driving route based on stuff he thinks is cool.
posted by blackkar at 6:16 PM on August 4, 2006

I will strongly second the recommendation for the Norske Nook. We lived in Chicago when I was a kid, and that was always the only good part of the whole drive.
posted by ThatSomething at 7:24 PM on August 4, 2006

They make Jelly Belly candies just over the border in Kenosha, you know. That's another attraction on the 94-via-Milwaukee route, though.
posted by gimonca at 7:33 PM on August 4, 2006

If you're looking to stretch your legs, there's a nice scenic overlook at a rest area located a few minutes south of Black River Falls, as you're heading towards Minneapolis (it'll be tough to reach on the way back home). It's a long hike to the top, but well worth it (and nothing a well-rested 11 year-old couldn't handle).

But if want to make the stop your grandson will never forget, I'd highly recommend Action City, just seconds off I-94 in Eau Claire.
posted by Kibbutz at 8:21 PM on August 4, 2006

Sadly, Xanadu has been torn down and replaced by a miniature golf course.

Not to be a hater, but I wouldn't recommend stopping in the Baraboo/Dells area. I grew up there, and while there are some really neat things to see, that's a weekend trip, not a stopping on the way sort of place.

You'd be driving past Madison pretty close to lunchtime, and there are some great restaurants here. If you want to know more about good places to stop, my email's in my profile.
posted by rocketman at 8:44 PM on August 4, 2006

I'm gonna be a party pooper and say that I stopped at Norske Nook on my last trip from Madison to Minneapolis, and they sell good pie -- but I didn't find it to be appreciably different from other good pie.
posted by escabeche at 9:24 PM on August 4, 2006

Response by poster: Oh, you guys are great, especially blackkar for turning me on to that Roadside America web site. (I see it covers Canada, too, and we're going to Calgary and Banff in September.) Kibbutz, I've stopped at Rest Area 54 but never knew it had a scenic overlook. And thanks, rocketman and ThatSomething for reminding me about the Norske Nook. I remembered something about a pie restaurant but couldn't think of the name or where it was.

Too bad the Xanadu house is gone. That's exactly the kind of thing I'd love to see. No matter. Here's what's on my list of stops (thanks mostly to Roadside America): Rock in the House (not House on the Rock), Fountain City, WI; The Forevertron, Baraboo, WI; and maybe Mid Continent Railway Museum, but that looks like it might take a longer chunk of time.

If anyone thinks of anything else, I'll keep checking in here.
posted by Joleta at 9:26 PM on August 4, 2006

Ella's Deli in Madison for lunch. If you're going to stop in Fountain City anyway, be sure to stop at the Nelson Cheese factory just up the road in Nelson Wisconsin. Great ice cream. If you come back through Eau Claire, I second Action City. They have a nice indoor go-cart track and a decent arcade. It's an easy on-and-off from the interstate.
posted by cosmicbandito at 9:51 PM on August 4, 2006

Oh, and I'm seconding the "meh" for the Norske Nook. Their reputation for pie is more hype than anything else. It's just pie.
posted by cosmicbandito at 9:52 PM on August 4, 2006

it really depends what you're looking for. If cheese and Americana is on your menu, the Dells/Baraboo would be right up your alley.

With Xanadu torn down, "House on the Rock" might be your thing. I thought it was totally weird and creepy as a kid, but now it'd be highly entertaining.
posted by awegz at 11:11 PM on August 4, 2006

If you go through Rock or Green Counties (the scenic route, granted, but not entirely out of the way if you stopped in Lake Geneva) there are two breweries worth checking out. Huber Brewery in Monroe, and Gray's in Janesville. Gray's makes delicious sodas.
posted by luminous phenomena at 11:50 PM on August 4, 2006

Another vote for the House on the Rock. You just don't realize how weird it is until you experience it for yourself.
posted by drmarcj at 7:40 AM on August 5, 2006

Although I agree the Dells are a weekend type dealie, there are a couple of things you could see as you pass through:

Museum of Historic Torture Devices (link goes to a list of attractions in the area - this is one)

Tommy Bartlett Exploratory (I've been to this - it is pretty fun!)
posted by SuperSquirrel at 8:03 AM on August 5, 2006

I know you asked for places to stop along the way... however if you decide to try to get there cheap and fairly fast, you should try the megabus. I went from Chichago to Milwaukee for $16 round trip. Sometimes it is about the journey and sometimes the destination.
posted by nimsey lou at 9:57 AM on August 5, 2006

I live in Madison, so I might be biased. However, we have a fantastic downtown with a ton of great restaurants - Ellis Deli is great for kids.

I would also say avoid the Dells unless you have a day to go to the waterparks. For the most part, the Dells is just strip mall hell with a lot of annoying tourists in the summer if you are just looking for some place to stop for an hour or two.

And +1 on the house on the rock if you haven't been there. Its too creepy to miss.
posted by rsanheim at 4:34 PM on August 5, 2006

I highly recommend madison, to add to the din a bit. If it's still there (it's been a few years), UW is one of the last college campuses that has an administration-sanctioned bar in their student union. Beautiful view of the lake outside, either way, and sailing, etc., is available (maybe only to students, I never went there).

I've been on tens of college campuses across the States, and Madison is one of the prettiest. Be ready for hills, though. It has the unique distinction of being a regional 'party school' and having some of the best scholarship around - Wisconsin is often mentioned in the same breath as the Ivies and Caltech, at least in the sciences. You'd do well to stop, and remember that there aren't many locked doors on college campuses - worst they'll ever do is ask who you are and tell you to leave. If I could stand the cold anymore, I would have tried for Wisconsin for grad school.
posted by oxonium at 6:59 PM on August 5, 2006

oxonium: yep, the rathskellar is still there, and its still one of the best outdoor/indoor bars I've been to. Lots of free shows, too.

Oh, and Madison is one of the best cities in the states for biking, if the OP is into that. You can go from the west side to the east on trail, w/ only a few sections that aren't at least well-marked bike lanes (and a lot of it is bike path).
posted by rsanheim at 7:14 PM on August 5, 2006

Wisconsin is often mentioned in the same breath as the Ivies and Caltech, at least in the sciences

In chemical engineering it is the top school in the nation and no one else even really comes close. At least this was true a few years ago - and truly the disparity was striking, unlike anything else in the engineering field.
posted by caddis at 7:18 PM on August 5, 2006

Response by poster: Madison is one of my favorite towns. Ella's Deli was the first place I ever ate in Madison. My husband and I like to go up there to visit friends, walk through the farmers' market, go to a concert, shop on State Street, stay in a B&B. We've even stayed in Madison to see plays at American Players Theater in Spring Green, even though there are closer places to stay. Since you can't drag me out of Madison in an hour, I think we'll drive on by this trip.

Ditto for House on the Rock. We've all been there once, and once in a lifetime for House on the Rock is enough. (The tacky museum part, that is. I like the actual house.)
posted by Joleta at 9:52 PM on August 5, 2006

Response by poster: Here's a brief trip report for posterity:

We didn't make as many stops as we'd planned, and a good thing, too, because the 7 hour drive took up upwards of 10 hours in each direction. On the northward trip we stopped at Delaney's Surplus in North Freedom, Wisconsin to see the amazing creatures made from scrap metal. This is a totally astonishing place, not just a "scrap metal guy thing" Check out my photos.

I dragged the group up to that scenic overlook at the rest area 54. It was a nice walk, and good to get out of the car to stretch our legs.

On the way back we stopped in Fountain City, Wisconsin to visit The Rock in the House. My grandson really enjoyed this, but my daughter and I were nervous about standing in a house that had twice been hit by a giant boulder. (The woman who lived on this site in 1910 was killed by a similar rock.) Here are my photos.

We did stop at the Norske Nook for breakfast (and pie) on the way back, and I have to concur that it's really not that special. It was okay, though, and not too far off the highway.

We're going to visit Action City and the train museum on another trip.

Thanks, everyone, for your advice. Our stops made the long drive memorable.
posted by Joleta at 6:47 PM on August 25, 2006