Michel's Brewery

Michel Brewery 1857-1965

If La Crosse is often thought of by its historical minded natives first and foremost as a lumber town, its usually not far behind on that very same list that we think of it as a brewery city.  It was mentioned in a previous Blue Collar that the lumber industry up and down the Mississippi (all of Wisconsin for that matter), was destined to run out of wood.  Many mill towns at the turn of the 20th century went under or became mere shadows of their previous selves. The fact that La Crosse stayed afloat can be much attributed to its growing network of breweries.  In 1894, La Crosse was the number one beer producing city in Wisconsin; in the year 1900 there were eight working breweries;  "In 1906, the breweries employed 487 men; by 1914, 990 men were employed, an increase of over two hundred percent.'  One such original site was Michel's Brewery, where Big Al's Pizzeria stands now

on third street downtown.  Building-wise, although now unfortunately 'decorated' in a way that seems almost mocking of style, is of some architectural importance: "this building exhibits a mix of commercial Queen Anne and Italianate elements and has been described as Late Victorian Eclectic.  Gustav Stolze and Hugo Schick had an architectural partnership from 1887 to 1889 and designed many of the extant late 19th century commercial buildings in downtown La Crosse,  The C. and J. Michel Building exhibits strong architectural character and is an important contribution to the Third Street historic streets cape."  From such humble beginnings, it could be said a brewing empire

Each letter indicating a building connected the La Crosse Brewery

was being gradually built.  In 1889, the entirety of the brewing facilities covered five acres, including a brewhouse, malt house, ice houses, bottle house, cooper shop, stables and an full ice making shop was built in 1888.  "The annual capacity of the brewery in 1889 was seventy-five thousand barrels and the bottling department used seventy barrels per day [...]  In 1919, when Prohibition went into effect,

 the brewery changed its name to the “La Crosse Refining Company” and continued to operate by manufacturing malt and malt syrup. With the repeal of Prohibition in 1933, the brewery again started making beer, in addition to malt syrup. Its name was changed to “La Crosse Breweries, Inc. The Michel brothers bought the “Peerless” trademark and label the John Gund Brewing Company and started making “Peerless Peer.” On March 9, 1956, the Dahl Motors Company bought a 1/2 block tract of land from the brewery, containing its office, garage, and hospitality room. In 1958, the brewery was run by Theodore D. Solie. The firm closed in 1965."

As large, mass-production breweries now have to compete with unprecedented growth in the microbrewery segment, our own brew-rich history, as evidenced by old buildings and decrepit beer silos, would look to a visitor as if it, along with the lumber industry, was little more than a decaying reminder of our past.  As many of the outgrowths of the breweries age as well – the taverns and "sampling rooms" themselves – and La Crosse continues to replace the old with the new, few will still be able to recall that Brewing once put us on the national map.

    

21 September

Just past Ferguson's Apple Orchard down at the end of Tamarack Road, the old Aermotor windmill barely jostled against a thin late-September wind.  Here and there along the old gravel road crickets chirped hidden in the torn hay and shorn cornstalks. If you chose, you could reach over from the seat of your bike and pick a cob like you would any ripe fruit off a limb.  The sky blue as a potion.

Old mills are mesmerizing – the fact that they're still standing, those rusted tin legs so slender you'd think some historical windstorm would have pried their feet out of the earth by now.  All that metal reaching upwards in the sky an antique gesture of some other generation's invested hope in technology.  Dirt roads that meander off

into vaulted bluffs hold old farm components that lay strung out over wild lawns not so much as sad metal but simply unused...at rest.  Yet the windmill still stands ready for use.

Rising up from all this are the apple orchards where we still flock in early fall to sample the apples' earthy sweetness,

 

and the children – even if they don't know it – compare this year's growth to the dangling sunflowers.

Weeknight Cooking

Mediterranean Tuna Melts

Greens meet tuna in this easy, healthy, dynamic weeknight recipe.  Tuna melts seem to come in many forms.  We've seen here banana peppers, celery and, just the other night, diced zucchini stirred into tuna for flavor character.  This recipe out of the weeknight cooking section of Food Network Magazine calls for all kinds of stuff: fresh parsley, olives, red onion, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes,

baby arugula, Muenster cheese, and a bit of spice including paprika.  Instructions ask for certain sets of these ingredients to be mixed in certain batches, but we went ahead and mixed most of the smaller items right into two cans of tuna, went light on the mayo (recipe doesn't call for any at all), then added a few fingers full of kernel corn in addition for texture and sweetness.  The tuna mixture is to then be spooned into a pita pocket, cheese added, then baked for a few minutes for melting.  Serve the arugula and parsley as a side salad.  Kids here have been asking for more fresh veggies, fewer heavy processed calories, and they like to assemble their own wraps and sandwiches.  Greasy pizza and chicken nugget lunches at school have run their course.  All three girls bring their own lunches to school and wonder why the farmers haven't yet figured out how to drop off their produce to cafeterias daily.

North African Campaign WWII, 1940-43


The U.S. participation in WWII can best be seen through the lens of participation of the eventual Supreme Allied Commander, Dwight D. Eisenhower.  Ike's many portraits often bring remarks of his

presidency from '53-61', but, very similar to George Washington, Eisenhower (like Washington also lacking non-military formal education -- although a West Point grad) was first and foremost a long-term military man, beginning his stint as an Allied Commander in what is called The North African

Campaign in 1941. As Washington's various talents had been observed by John Adams in particular preceding Bunker Hill – where Washington would be chosen to be Commander of the Continental Army – Ike too had been raised through the ranks and observed by famous Army personnel such as Fox Connor, Pershing, and Macarthur, before being hand chosen by Chief of Staff Marshall for the leadership position in North Africa.  Unlike Washington, however, Eisenenhower had never been a combat soldier and had never commanded an army on the ground (only war games and training a tank division).  In essence, Ike missed his battle-time in WWI by a day.  For a general in the waiting, this lack of a war led to a long series of assignments including a station in Panama, one in the Philippines, and a short stint in Paris, where he worked as a French WWI battle-scene investigator which would come in extremely handy years later when the Allies re-entered France, liberated Paris, then moved northeast to chase the

Germans back into their homeland.  Despite his lack of combat experience, from tank-training, to learning under the most gifted military strategists in America, writing military history, and being a staff member in the War Department, all culminated to suit Ike well in handling the international scene

in North Africa, an episode of the war very often forgotten about against a memorable palate including Pearl Harbor, the German invasion of Russia, Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge and the Pacific fronts.

Loosestrife

When simple hikes become too few and too far between, it's easy enough to drive up and over Nathan Hill in Onalaska and on into Veteran's Memorial Park where at the end of the campground sits one of my favorite short and almost always quiet marsh walks in the area.

Here is located even by river marsh standards an unusually lush terrain as the trail meanders through a wide swatch of creek-filled banks off of the La Crosse River.  Crickets strum their wings in bunches

 here louder than anywhere I've ever heard; grasshoppers scratch at the stalks of cattails and reed

grass; and the bees hover in close to the flowering goldenrod and purple loosestrife (beautiful, like stalks of purple paintbrushes, but invasive) in wild hives.

Built-up higher than the ground water line and mowed along the edges, the trail, quite short before it reaches the State Bike trail, tends to be dry and mosquito-less, making it a nice safe trip to keep the kids interested in the wildlife surrounding, but not too close, all the way until the approach to the railroad tunnel which is usually the sign to head back and see it all again from the opposite direction.

The Tao of Food

"Umbrella, light, landscape, sky–
There is no language of the holy.
The sacred lies in the ordinary."









Edamame Corn Chowder




One of the beauties of edamame is that it is an easy vegetable to showcase in a recipe.  Edamame are soy beans shucked out of their pods before they reach full maturity, and because of this they maintain

a kind of fresh, plump crunchiness full of taste that few other green vegetables can boast.  Put into virtually any dish – unless you severely overcook them – they stand out visually and flavorfully.  Edamame history goes back far, primarily in Asian culture, but for Americans the little green seeds became popular in and around the time (1980's) that the mini-series Shogun arrived on TV.  A surge in Asian food interest led edamame to being served alongside beer in the place of peanuts; folks liked it without paying much attention, and had helped to establish edamame as a snack food, only to later become a hip organic aisle selection in this century.  The corn chowder asks for edamame along with kernel corn, a can of

cream style corn, frozen southern style diced hash browns, some bacon and onions.  As I was walking around the grocery store, I found a new package of lactose free sausage meatballs, so substituted these wonderful little pre-prepared frozen balls for the bacon; substituted four cups of milk with Lactaid.  I've found that any recipe including vegetables and milk need a considerable amount of salt, or seasoning in general, to enliven then final mixture.  Up against this mixture, both the meatballs and edamame stand out as substance and flavor.  Pretzel bread balls positioned around the bowl adds starchy protein and

pinches of salt.  There are ten ingredients in this recipe altogether, but it is like most soup creations that ask for a basic base (milk and onions) and garnish (corn, edamame, meat).  The final product is tummy warming, evenly seasoned, healthy, and texturally thick with a lot of possibilities per spoonful.

Tastes of Charleston

Final impressions of Charleston wouldn't be complete without, well, impressions themselves.  In a

final thought of the city, Charleston is a sort of throwback to the dying values of charm and authenticity, something many American travelers complain about when they visit any number of other urban hub alternatives including Chicago, Minneapolis, Seattle, or even NYC itself.  In an attempt to clean-up pockets of modern cities, travel centers have become somewhat homogenous (I would take plain over crime anyday though), and it's hard to pick-up on what exactly

is the American personality these days except to know that it often shows up in corporate logos like Starbucks and Subway.  Charleston turns all of this upside down – tenants of historic Charleston have to work with what they've got, and so Husk is in an old three-story residence

with a little city yard and veranda; the Inn at Middleton is an old facilities building; the Grill 225 is a part and parcel of the City Market. There are new buildings – especially in the wake of earth shaking

hurricanes – but that architecture, for the most part, stays within that standard of southern charm and preservation.  "New" is everywhere, but it comes in the form of remod, not always tear down.  Rainbow Row, known as the oldest string of Georgian architecture in America, looks fresh

and lively up against a sheet of sunshine in a way that modern dullness has a hard time competing with.  Cobblestones roads, once a concoction of quarried rock and oyster shells, still stand as main

line roads. Small gardens, not ostentatiously set out in front of small homes, but hidden like tropical mysteries barely seen from

tilted wrought iron gates, provide the passer-by with the beginnings of stories but not ends.  Pineapple fence posts indicate old city symbols for visitors welcome, and later show as fountains

down by a waterfront which does merge the old and new wisely without the common rush of neon signs.  What is created, on purpose or by accident, is not an American city at all, but old-world

Europe.  Only in the mazes of Nice, Venice, Aix en Provence, Paris and who knows how many others can you find the magical authenticity of the travelers dream: "what might lie around the next corner?"

To double this with extremely low crime rates is likely an enormous reason why Charleston has topped out many lists as the number one travel destination in America for several years in a row now.  One night, as Jan and I found an hour or two to get out of the room on our own, we thought and thought about where we could walk to that was within a block or two for a drink and a bite.  I mentioned I saw a miniature sign that said Jazz on it half a block away, didn't even remember the name.  We scooted quickly across the street and could hear the faint toot of a horn warming up inside.  The hostess was kind but said the Mezzanine was right now full as far as she could tell and the band was starting in a couple of minutes.  She smiled and ducked quickly upstairs to take a final look – this was to be a recorded session of the house band and tickets had been reserved in advance.  She said if you come up, maybe we could work something out, so we did and stood up near the bar for a few minutes until the band members themselves

cleared from their bar seats, which we took and listened at what I came to realize later was the number one jazz venue in the city.  When a city itself is art, anything is possible.  

Tastes of Charleston

Most of the reliable guidebooks to Charleston advise that in order to get to know the South Carolinian 'Lowcountry,' you have to get out of the city, out onto the marshy lowlands and the ocean itself.  In other words, don't just get stuck walking around the French Quarter of the city looking for your next meal the whole while ...."get out on the water!" Flying over Charleston in an approach to the city, it becomes obvious that what truly dominates the scene isn't merely the city on the peninsula, but the networks of nearly perfectly cut water trails through the lush

green high rising flora and fauna, as well as the nearby 65 degree wave-lapping beaches.  As  

Folly Beach, 15 minutes away from downtown Charleston

our resident trip advisor for this vacation, I thought the kayaking tour around the Middleton Place might suit us well,

a place that is recognized as an ongoing symbol of the low country.  Middleton is internationally acclaimed not only for its history (family as members of original Continental Congress, and a Signer of the Declaration of Independence), but for its gardens, considered the oldest and finest in America.  What better way to get to know the 110 acres (65 acre garden), than kayaking around its outskirts in among the man made rice fields (alligators included) and tidal marshes guided by Captain Luke, whose website Heart Marsh Outfitters begins with the only three words you need to know: "Nature-History-Adventure" ...

Middleton Place Trail Network

Garden grounds overlooking the creek we just kayaked

Dinner bell...sounds familiar

Further along the tour – for those of us who like water, history, adventure, nature, but are still looking for their next meal – there happens to be quaintest little restaurant on this side of the Ashley River,

where the tea is sweet and the shrimp and grits, the local meal, would be hard to imagine better at any old Husk, SNOB, Grill 225 or 39 Rue de Jean.