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Posts Tagged ‘Sheboygan’

  1. Art Attack! John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI

    September 7, 2012 by admin

    Kids should be exposed to fine art as often as possible.  There are many ways to immerse your child in the arts: fairs, sculpture gardens,museums, and more.

    We love smaller art museums because they are usually free (or donation only).  This helps us, as parents, keep our heads level if the kiddoes decide to tear through a place, rather than stopping to really appreciate their surroundings.  It is also our experience that smaller, gallery style art museums are usually not very crowded.  This fits in well with our way of exploring.  Occasionally, smaller galleries don’t look kindly upon kids, but that is not the case at this museum!

    The John Michael Kohler Arts Center (Jmkac) is a big space, though not overloaded with art.  The vast high-ceilinged areas allow you to move around and see things from alternate angles.  Our kids really enjoyed being able to walk all the way around certain large, suspended sculpture to see it in different ways.  Look for the hidden horse as you wander about the different rooms.  The Jmkac also has a community art room, called the Artery, encouraging visitors to get hands on with an art project.

    Tip:  If you participate with the current project in the art room- please note they don’t allow you to take your creation home.  Our kids would have been devastated to have to leave something behind that they worked hard on creating.  So we didn’t encourage a long visit in this room.

    Be sure to explore the outdoor, small and funky sculpture garden which features an odd assortment of tiny stone and cement castles.  A great way to stretch the legs before climbing back in the car.  One of the most unexpected discoveries is the Jmkac’s elaborate restrooms!  Seriously.  The restrooms are like nothing we have ever seen and worth the visit alone.  Make sure you check them out.

    And the Jmkac has a small café tucked away in a corner, but we recommend you check out the Paradigm Café instead.  It’s just a few blocks away.  Parking at the Jmkac is plentiful and free.  Admission is also free.

    We had a great time and look forward to going back.

    What’s your favorite way to get your art on?


  2. Backroad Bonus: Paradigm Cafe, Sheboygan, WI

    August 17, 2012 by admin

    We didn’t set out for the Paradigm, but when we found ourselves hungry and in Sheboygan.  We lucked upon the Goodside Grocery and asked about where to find a good vegetarian lunch.  Although the two women at the grocery mentioned several other places in town, they kept coming back to how good the Paradigm was.  One started quoting her favorite veggie sandwiches off the menu.  We were convinced!  So we fed the parking meter and headed around the corner to the Paradigm.

    We were expecting maybe a small hole in the wall cafe, but that’s not the Paradigm.  What we found wasn’t just a coffee shop, but a great café in a fabulous space.

    The Paradigm features numerous hot and cold sandwiches, soup options, and a wide array of coffee drinks.  We greatly enjoyed the house hummus that come with a generous portion of homemade pita chips!

    Small wonder that the food is so good, since they run a scratch-made kitchen in their little corner of Sheboygan.  Whether you go for a mexican flair of the Blackjack– black beans and cheese squeezed into a fresh pita; the garden fresh goodness of the Zeus– cucumbers, hummus, kalamatas! and more; or something else- there is so much to choose from its hard to settle on one item.

    All is served up in a huge, open space.  There are large farm tables mixed in with smaller ones, couches to lounge on, and a reading space with a pretty good library of books and magazines to check out while you’re there.   There are also numerous board games stacked up on shelves and the space to play them.

    There’s a nice stage area in front of a large dance floor, so we bet the place gets hopping on weekend nights.

    We loved the seating and the fact that our kids were in a large safe environment where they could wander a bit, if they wanted.  Add in the wonderful selection of vegetarian options, a good coffee menu, and fast service and you’ve got a great place to dine!

    I guess there’s other vegetarian places to go to in Sheboygan, but it’ll be a while before we tire of the Paradigm and choose to explore more.

     


  3. In the Garden of Delights

    August 8, 2012 by admin

    A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.  ~Chinese Proverb

    Bookworm Gardens is a hidden treasure tucked away within the UW-Sheboygan campus.

    Bookworm Gardens is built around children’s storybooks.  All the displays are interactive:  open up the door to Pooh’s tree home, wash off the pup of Harry the Dirty Dog, and visit the home of the Playhouse for Monster.  These are just a few of the delights to be found as there are dozens of displays, large and small.  As you walk through the gardens, you will find musical instruments to play, books to read, and a Koi pond to sit by for a quiet moment.

    There is also a pretend farmyard with live plants to water and where all the farm-themed book displays are placed.

    It is about a 2 hour trip from Madison and well worth the travel.  Admission is absolutely free unless it is an event day (on one such occasion, we paid $2 to get in).  Parking is a bit awkward but we’ve never had a problem finding a spot even on a more crowded special event day.  There are restrooms which include changing stations.  There is no café or vending machines, but there is a small gift shop with books and few gardening themed items.  You are welcome to carry in food as long as you carry it out again after your visit.  Most paths are shady, but not all of them.  On hot, sunny days be sure to bring a hat and sunscreen!

    Once you’ve wrapped up your visit of the Gardens, consider stopping in downtown Sheboygan for their art gallery (see post coming soon!) and find some awesome vegetarian food .  Or venture closer to the water and enjoy access to one of the public beaches for an afternoon swim!



  4. Finding Good Vegetarian Eats

    June 28, 2012 by admin

    Where do vegetarians find good food when traveling?

    It can be quite a challenge to find healthy, vegetarian food choices in a small town. Even larger towns or cities sometimes have nothing to offer beyond fast food.  Thank goodness for Subway and QDoba.  Otherwise the fast food choices become pretty grim and you end up piecing together a “meal” of side dishes: greasy grilled cheese or breakfast eggs all day long.  And as much as we like Subway and QDoba when we’re traveling, we find that we often just really want to sit down in a restaurant/café and eat some hearty, quality food. 

    Recently when traveling to Sheboygan, we approached the lunch hour with no easily spotted prospects for food.  Then we happened upon a food co-op, the Goodside Grocery, and decided to run inside to ask where they’d recommend we go for lunch.  Thanks to this quick stop, we ended up at Paradigm  (see later post for review) and had a wonderful meal in a fantastic atmosphere.

    Tip 1:  Asking the locals where to eat can lead to wonderful discoveries.  If you have specific dietary needs, like vegetarianism, finding a co-op/health food store or funky little coffee shop to inquire within usually results in some good recommendations.

    Tip 2: Asking the locals also leads to interesting conversations!  Don’t be afraid to say ‘Hello!”