Highway 53 north of Eau Claire, WI is the main route north towards Duluth MN. I recently made the effort to explore what turned out to be a very worthwhile detour.

At Rice Lake, take exit 143 and head west on Hwy 48 about 13 miles to Cumberland. At Hwy 63 turn right and head north. Along the way, if you want to make the detour worthwhile, about 1 mile after the turn, keep your eyes peeled for Louie's Finer Meats, an award winning purveyor of brats. I did not have time to stop myself, but Mom and Dad vouch for Louie's.

Louie's Finer Meats Inc.
2025 Superior Avenue
Cumberland, WI 54829
(715) 822-4728
http://www.louiesfinermeats.com/

Yet, your true destination lies about 7 miles further north where you will reach the town of Barronett. There are about 8 or 10 buildings and in the center of the cluster is the Red Brick Cafe. Open 7 am to 2 pm, seven days a week. The cafe is exactly what you'd expect in the north country: a 1920's era red brick building, with a bright and cheery knotty pine paneled restaurant inside. Breakfast served as long as they are open. A specials board on your way in lists the lunch specials (spaghetti on the day that I happened to be there). A quick glance around the room gives you the impression that the folks seated at the tables are regulars, yet as an outsider you sense you are among friends, because they catch your eye and give you a smile.

The key thing to order is the made from scratch cinnamon rolls. The waitress will pull out an 8 x 8 pyrex pan that holds four cinnamon rolls. Giant, yeasty pillows with brown sugar and cinnamon rings, and cream cheese frosting. They ooze so much cinnamon and brown sugar, that you will observe that she wrestles them a bit to get them out of the pyrex. So big and puffy, they get a little smashed by the styrofoam clam-shell to go box. They are big enough to share. They are perfect, exactly what a cinnamon roll should be, good enough to make you search out the cafe's email address once you get home, so that you can send a thank you note. And you also make a note to yourself to arrive hungry next time, so that you can sit down and order a meal.

Red Brick Cafe
2974 US Highway 63
Barronett, WI 54813
(715) 822-3424
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Red-Brick ... ?sk=photos
http://www.restaurantbarronettwi.com/

To return to Highway 53 and the road to Duluth, when you leave the cafe, continue north. You will pass through the towns of Shell Lake and then Spooner. If you like to bake, and like me, you collect bags of flour as you travel, then by all means stop at the Schmitz's Economart grocery for White Lily flour (for making biscuits) and a few varieties of Dakota Maid flour from North Dakota Mills (stone ground whole wheat flour and bread flour for making bread--I prefer it to King Arthur Flour).

Schmitz's Economart
700 South River Street (Hwy 63)
Spooner, WI
(715) 635-2836
http://www.schmitzeconomart.com/

A few miles past Economart, as you reach the northern outskirts of Spooner, you will rejoin Hwy 53. About 5 miles north of Spooner you will pass through Trego. (There are a couple of posts that mention Trego upthread.) At the north end of Trego, you will see that Hwy 63 turns off to the east toward Hayward. Are you ready for another detour?

Follow Hwy 63 toward Hayward for about 20 miles. At Hwy 27 turn right, and continue about 1/2 mile. Look for the Windmill on the right. Enter the Windmill Square shopping plaza and you will find Lynne Marie's Candies near the center. This independently owned and operated candy shop features hand made and hand dipped chocolates and fudge. On a recent visit, there were many molded chocolate Easter bunnies on offer. There are more varieties and flavors of dipped chocolates and truffles than I could count, including a much larger than usual selection of sugar free chocolates. Their menu lists 17 flavors of fudge, and at least 10 flavors were offered the Wednesday that I was there. They do not have a website showing their wares, but if I can figure out a way to scan the menu and order form, I will edit this post to add it.

Lynne Marie's Candies
15772 State Hwy 27
Hwy 27 S @ Windmill Square
Hayward, WI 54843
(715) 634-3552
1-800-873-8343
http://members.haywardareachamber.com/l ... ayward.htm

Roadside Attraction Alert: as you leave the Windmill Square, look across the road and slightly to the right for Hwy B and the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame and Museum. There is a giant Muskie (or is it a Northern Pike?), so big that you can walk through the body and stand in its mouth.

National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame
10360 Hall of Fame Drive
Hayward, WI
(715) 634-4440
http://www.freshwater-fishing.org/

Next, retrace your steps back to Hwy 63. Along the way you will pass the lamented Norske Nook (see the posts upthread). At Dad's request we stopped to eat. Let's just say that I took one for the team and confirmed that not much has improved at the ole' Nook. I ordered the special of the day: Norwegian Meat Balls. It looked so promising, but turned out to be salty meat in salty brown gravy with canned corn. Thankfully, Mom and Dad enjoyed their omelets with hashbrowns.

Norske Nook Restaurant & Bakery
10436 State Rd 27
Hayward WI 54843
(715) 634-4928
http://www.norskenook.com/

Once you've retraced your steps to Hwy 63, turn right to continue north. You can make additional stops in downtown Hayward. The Hayward Bakery offers artisan bread, and West Dairy offers ice cream, as I described in the other, shorter thread about the route to Duluth.
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=25159

Return to Hwy 53 by taking Hwy 63 N to Hwy 77, then west to Minong and Hwy 53. This is a particularly scenic route when Fall colors peak in late September.

mrsm wrote:Roadside Attraction Alert: as you leave the Windmill Square, look across the road and slightly to the right for Hwy B and the National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame and Museum. There is a giant Muskie (or is it a Northern Pike?)

It could only be a muskellunge.

Thanks for the detailed report. A good area for detours.

Since we have veered somewhat off the direct course between Chicago and Minneapolis into Hayward, I will veer just a bit further off course into Cable. There is a place called the Rookery Pub on M between Cable and Clam Lake on Lake Namekagon that is doing menus with a level of sophistication miles above anything else I have seen in the area. Here is their website: http://www.rookerypub.com/ It is not the usual fare for that area. If you are in that neck of the woods (literally) for any length of time eventually you need a meal to cleanse you from the effects of multiple days of fried entree with cheese and gravy with a side of fries. The Rookery hits the spot. It is also quite a bit more expensive than anything within miles.

We also like the pizza at the Sawmill Saloon in Seeley.

Staying in Menomonie this weekend, going into Durand Wisconsin as well. Anyone know anything about the cheese at Eau Galle? I also want to pick something local up to bring back to a Packer Party in Racine on Sunday. Any recommendations on the drive from Menomonie to Racine?

EvA mentioned Target Bluff up thread. Unfortunately, it closed a few years ago, and so far, is still closed.

An update on Highway 63's Red Brick Cafe. The cinnamon rolls are as good as ever. And, as expected, the meals are just as good. In the past few visits (always for breakfast), eggs, skillet breakfasts, French toast, and hash browns have met my high expectations.

Another find further north on Highway 63 is the River Street Family Restaurant. Opens 6 am, closes 7 pm weekdays but 2:30 pm weekends. Why have I never stopped here before?

LIt has all the right signals:
Full parking lot - check
Lots of regular customers - check
Waitresses who are friendly and have worked there for decades - check

Breakfast was great. Food was fresh, cooked properly, very tasty. We were offered substitutions like fresh fruit and extra plates for splitting meals with no extra charge. My companion ordered the Wednesday special omelette filled with hash browns and lots of extra crispy chopped bacon. It was topped with sausage gravy. And fluffy pancakes were included. I ordered hash browns extra crispy with scrambled eggs. Both tasted like they were cooked in real butter. Everything was perfect. The way you hope such a breakfast will taste, but it rarely does. The tab was less than $14.

My one regret was that we could not hang around for the Wednesday dinner specials of walleye, blue gill and lake perch.

River Street Family Restaurant
519 River street
Spooner, WI
715-635-2222
No website, but it looks like they have a Facebook page

Hmmm. Somebody else driving to Minneapolis for the American Homebrewers' Association's National Homebrew Conference?
With fingers crossed, I shall attempt to motor the 1987 Chevrolet Sprint there and back in mid-June. Of course, being adverse to toll roads , I will drive US 12 between Chicago and Madison, WI.
I will go back through this thread later, but for now, I'm getting ready to head out to Beer Under Glass at the Garfield Park Conservatory, so let this entry be a placeholder.

Edit: I got to share a room downtown with somebody else. So instead of driving, I'll ride MegaBus to | from Minneapolis, and ride MN Transit around the area.

mrsm wrote:EvA mentioned Target Bluff up thread. Unfortunately, it closed a few years ago, and so far, is still closed.

Too bad. It was a hoot of a place with some good German food. I can't believe my post about it was so long ago. Our son didn't end up at Macalester but at Grinnell and graduated two years ago. Still, Target Bluff seemed like a place that could go on forever.