Little Swiss, Monroe WI Trip Recipe

Difficulty Level of Trip

Over all Rating Level of Trip

Brief Description of our Adventure

Don’t get me wrong this town is charming and uniquely odd. We parked directly in the main town square and every other shop was open. The Courthouse in the middle of the square was playing soft rock into the shopping area. Our first stop was the chocolate shop where I drooled over homemade chocolates. The store had many customers of all ages. My fiancé gave in and had white chocolate and macadamia cookie and a coffee which was of the top quality.

We then went into Baumgartner Cheese Store, it was more than we expected and again what you could expect from a cheese capital.

I read online this is a place that is much like a little Switzerland in

America and this store was decorated accordingly. When you walk in it is a deli but for cheese. In fact when I was admiring the cheese the counterperson asked what was I looking for and what did I like…I like stinky cheese and sharp cheddar. He gave me a taste of 7 year old cheddar and told me it would melt in my mouth and it did. What caught my eye was a white cheddar with cranberry. We explored the bar which had great murals of Switzerland and a bartender that knew everyone. They had homemade soda from the Minhas brewery and the wine-beer from New Glarus (another great place to visit).

To me (being from DC) this town encompasses what most people think of Wisconsin as….it is OLD WISCONSIN and very charming but do not go here thinking you will get anything but a country getaway. It is nostalgic like North Dakota is for the wild west.

Next we visited the Minhas Brewery where the tasting was the best ever but much longer than the tour. The guides had a mediocre amount of knowledge but were the best customer service oriented that I had met…isn’t that what it’s all about anyways? You may not learn a lot but you will have tasted some good beer and talked to some great people that work throughout the town and local area. When you are a tourist, I think that is what counts.