SAY “WISCONSIN,” and what pops into your thoughts?
I would expect these top two answers: cheese and the Green Bay Packers
Wisconsinites, am I right?
Every time I travel to the Dairyland State, which has been often since my second daughter moved to Appleton a year ago, I find myself drawn to that which distinguishes Wisconsin from my home state of Minnesota.
With my camera, I try to catch the snippets of buildings and life and sites and scenes that the typical tourist might never think to photograph. Often I capture these images in an instant, from the car window passing by or walking along a sidewalk. I have an moment to snap the shutter and then the scene vanishes.
Let me show you those snippet photos taken during a New Year’s weekend trip to Appleton, an hour’s drive from Lake Michigan in central Wisconsin.
Next time you’re in Wisconsin, or anywhere for that matter (even in your own community), I’d encourage you to not only look at what surrounds you, but to truly see. Let me repeat that word. See.
Notice the signage, the curve of a street, the contrast of a building against sky, the shape of a window, the quirky and the unusual. Take in the details. Then, and only then, will you truly see.
I was more than a bit lost in Appleton as our daughter chauffeured my husband and me around town. I spotted this building along the railroad tracks and photographed it because, well, my eyes were drawn to it. Appleton residents, what is housed in this building?
My favorite quirky discovery of the weekend, this signage near none other than...see the next photo.
Lamers Dairy, along the Milky Way, sells its own bottled milk, cheese, wine and other food and merchandise. Visitors can watch milk being bottled. Unfortunately, this does not occur on weekends, when we were visiting.
Walking in historic downtown Appleton, I saw not a cheesehead, but this banana, who later posed for a photo. However, I prefer the action photo to the posed. She was promoting the Tropical Smoothie Cafe. My daughter was hoping we would also spot a gorilla pushing balloons along another Appleton street. But, alas, the gorilla was nowhere to be seen.
Inside artsy Studio 213, I laughed at this humorous tee. I grew up on a dairy farm. What can I say? I appreciate barn humor.
Over at the Downtown Appleton Farm Market in City Center, a vendor marketed bison meat. Now I'm wondering, is that bison head real and how do you cart that around?
When I shop at farmers' markets, I pay attention to details like merchandise display. Jan Jourdan's vintage marketing theme drew me right over to sample her Jan's Fabulicious Cookies. I asked to try the gingersnaps. Ooops. Not gingersnaps, but molasses cookies. Thick and chewy, they were as advertised, "fabulicious." Love those aprons, too. If my daughter hadn't just given me one for Christmas...
TO SEE MORE PHOTOS from Appleton, click here to view a previous blog post from the historic downtown.
Click here to see photos I shot along Wisconsin Highway 21 in a post titled “Preserving central Wisconsin’s rural heritage via on-the-road photography.”
In case you missed the link earlier in the story, click here for more info about downtown Appleton.
Click here to learn more about the Downtown Appleton Indoor Winter Farm Market.
Click here to learn about Lamers Dairy.
Click here to read about Studio 213 and here to check out the Tropical Smoothie Cafe.
© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Love the photos and you are right too often we miss some great moments and scenes around us.
The former Appleton Paper Company is in your first photo above. They have since changed their name to simply Appleton since they sell more than paper.
And yes, that is a real bison head and they bring it every week. Fortunately they were wise enough to mount it on wheels!
Can’t wait to see more of your photos after your next visit!
Thanks for the info on the building and the bison.
I think it sometimes takes someone from the outside looking in on a town to “see” what’s there. We can become complacent in our typical environments and fail to notice the details.
I most definitely look forward to exploring Appleton again with camera in tow.
So many cute shots!! Love the aprons…and the Milky Way sign!
Thanks, Gretchen. They are not, technically, great shots. But they were shot in the moment, so that is what I got. I nearly missed that Milky Way sign. My daughter told me to hurry up and shoot my photo, because she was driving and was turning the corner and was not about to wait for me to compose a perfect image. That is how quickly that happened.
I would have taken more images at the Farm Market, and I did, but the lighting was not conducive to shooting with natural light without a tripod (which I did not have with me). And I detest flash. I’ll need to return when the market is outdoors.
Yes, I love those aprons, too. I may need to purchase one even if I already have a lovely new one from my second daughter.
Thanks for stopping by on this cold morning. I hope you’re staying warm out there on the southwestern Minnesota prairie.
Photos are total enjoyment! Brings back all the memories when I was on the road for Radio advertising. Wish I’d thought to take a camera then. Thank goodness….you take yours. Wonderful photos and commentary. Let me know when you decide to come Oshkosh way. Thanks, Audrey.
Thank you, Jeanne. Digital photography makes it so much easier now to capture images whenever, wherever. One of these trips, when it’s longer than a weekend visit, we’ll check out Oshkosh.
I used to live in that area before I moved to Sioux Falls, SD. I know Appleton pretty well. 🙂 There are a lot of places I miss like Copper Rock Coffee (which is downtown), Carmella’s Italian Bistro, Solea Mexican grill, Fava Tea Company. I could go on and on. It was a treat to see Appleton from a different point of view.
I found your blog linked from Appleton Downtown’s Facebook page.
Thanks for stopping in from Sioux Falls, Kathy, to offer your tips on great places to visit in Appleton.
I am truly impressed by the through-the-roof hits I’ve gotten as a result of Appleton Downtown’s Facebook page posting. This proves to me that Appleton most definitely has a strong online presence and networking system. My blog stats show that.
Congrats, Appleton, and thanks to everyone for stopping by to read my Minnesota perspectives on your fine city.