We have arrived in Dodgeville, WI, which is a small, indistinct town of 5,000 people or so in deepest, darkest rural Wisconsin. The countryside is rolling fields, many of which have been harvested, the only evidence of crops are the fields of corn, where the plants have turned a honey brown. The largest employer in town in Landsend (for those people who are not in the US and will not have heard of Landsend – they are one of the largest catalogue clothes distributors in the country), and Dodgeville is their head office. This got Karen very excited, unfortunately they have stopped tours of their factory (which Karen was planning as an educational trip for Jack and Emily!!!) and their local outlet store is full price and has limited offerings. C’est la vie. To make things worst the weather is very depressing with a low mist hanging over us for the whole day – reminded us of England. We all felt the weight of the weather on us this day – we were all a bit depressed and cranky with each other. Anyway to kill some time we went out to Mount Horeb, a town about 15 miles east of Dodgeville. The origins of Mount Horeb date back to Norwegian settlers who established the town, and their influence is still there today with a number of shops in the town selling Scandinavian products.
Our first port of call in Mount Horeb is the Mustard Museum, a most unusual establishment, which is free to enter (there is a sign up saying they occasionally charge to exit). There is an area set aside to mustard making and displays of mustards of the past, which makes interesting reading. The main attraction is the store and the huge range of mustards it sells. There are mustards on sale from across the world and covering a huge range of styles – and yes you can taste almost any mustard on sale. It is very much like a good wine shop.
On leaving the Mustard Museum we braved the damp veil of the day and strolled the streets of Mount Horeb. One of the unusual aspects of this town is that theyhave designated the main road through the town as the Trollway. All along this road there are carvings of Trolls about 4 feet high in various poses and carrying out day to day activities – somewhat odd to say the least. Sadly we missed the Troll festival – perhaps we’ll catch that next time we’re in town. Any way it was fun finding the trolls along the street.
A bit more cheerful we set off back to our hotel, which is catchily called The House on the Rock Inn – after the local attraction of the same name we planned to visit tomorrow. The hotel has a great pool with a play area with a large submarine, which made you feel like Captain Nemo would step out of it any moment and come down one of the slides.
Our first port of call in Mount Horeb is the Mustard Museum, a most unusual establishment, which is free to enter (there is a sign up saying they occasionally charge to exit). There is an area set aside to mustard making and displays of mustards of the past, which makes interesting reading. The main attraction is the store and the huge range of mustards it sells. There are mustards on sale from across the world and covering a huge range of styles – and yes you can taste almost any mustard on sale. It is very much like a good wine shop.
On leaving the Mustard Museum we braved the damp veil of the day and strolled the streets of Mount Horeb. One of the unusual aspects of this town is that theyhave designated the main road through the town as the Trollway. All along this road there are carvings of Trolls about 4 feet high in various poses and carrying out day to day activities – somewhat odd to say the least. Sadly we missed the Troll festival – perhaps we’ll catch that next time we’re in town. Any way it was fun finding the trolls along the street.A bit more cheerful we set off back to our hotel, which is catchily called The House on the Rock Inn – after the local attraction of the same name we planned to visit tomorrow. The hotel has a great pool with a play area with a large submarine, which made you feel like Captain Nemo would step out of it any moment and come down one of the slides.
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