Northern Exposure--Day 19

The last two days have been a mixed bag. Yesterday we took it kind of slow. A trip to Wal-Mart, some time to relax and some time to do a little coach maintenance. Had to go around tightening screws that had worked loose while we drive this thing around exploring this great country. This is a pretty serene place to be right on the banks of the Mississippi River, except of course for the trains that go by, blaring their horns about every 30 minutes to an hour. The first couple of days we saw some barge traffic on the river but that has all but stopped due to the high water and flooding they are experiencing down stream in Iowa and Missouri.

Today we took a drive south about 40 miles to the town of Cassville. They have a river ferry there that usually runs between Cassville and some place in Iowa. The ferry can haul up to nine cars at a time. Unfortunately the ferry was closed due to the river being so high. We did have a good brunch at a place called the River Cafe. Just a little mom and pop place with good home cooking. After we ate we drove around the town to check it out. A nice little town that takes pride in it's parks and public areas.

We later drove out to the main attraction in Cassville, the Stonefield Museum and 1900 Heritage Town. This is a great museum of Wisconsin agriculture. They have many displays of farm life and farm equipment dating back to the 1800's. They also have constructed one of the most authentic looking replica towns as it probably would have looked in 1900. The buildings are all complete inside and out. They have all been furnished with stuff from that era. You enter the town through a covered bridge and immediately come upon the depot with a train sitting on the tracks next to it. The town is arranged around a town square with wooden plank sidewalks in front of the buildings. The buildings down "Main Street" has a soda fountain on one end and a saloon on the other. On the other end of town they have a carpenter's shop, blacksmith shop and a livery stable. Within the town are also a school, church building with cemetery, creamery, fire house, and the usual stores that a person would find in a small town in 1900. Although we had a good time wandering around the "old" town we found the agriculture museum just as fascinating.

We were really amazed at the old farm implements and machinery. They had everything from horse drawn plows and other equipment, including huge thrashing machines to more modern things as gas and steam powered tractors. If you ever find yourself in the far Southwest corner of Wisconsin then a trip to Cassville and the Stonefield Museum and Heritage Town is well worth the trip.