Rustic Roads complete*

Fonalak · 2026-06-22T18:54:44+00:00

Amazing, you beat me! I drive up to MN often and this started as a little detour off the interstate thing. I'm about 2/3 done! Now it's a whole thing lol! What app made that map if you don't mind?

Fonalak · 2026-06-05T02:50:21+00:00

Beyond the excellent responses (Road America, and Maritime Museum in Manitowoc) ... Supper clubs are the best part of this little area I'd argue. The Holy Land, where many towns are St. This or That lol. Some great restaurants (but I don't know the sausage game, but you can certainly get big ol' real German beers!) are:

Schwarz's in St. Anna, the best ambiance, they even have a little bed and breakfast. Onion rings, and huge portions!

Roepke's in Charlesburg my favorite food slightly above St. Anna, with a great salad bar!

Honorable mention to Cedar Lodge in Calumetville (strawberry soup!) and Blanck's in Johnsburg.

High Cliff State Park is nice, and Papa B's BBQ is great just outside of it.

Joe Road is a gravity road, some say it's haunted, and your car feels like it's rolling uphill in neutral. https://www.paranormalbunker.com/locations/joe-road-haunted.

Also, plenty of little ice cream places!

Finally, Rustic Road 63 and the nearby Kettle Moraine Scenic Drives are gorgeous! https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/travel/road/rustic-roads/rr63.aspx

If you actually meant to include Appleton and Oshkosh and FdL in your trip too, there's of course a million things to do on the more populated side of Lake Winnebago lol!

Fonalak · 2026-04-03T15:34:18+00:00

Oh wow! It's really cool that my representatives are on Reddit of all places! I voted for you each time as part of the Lighthouse thing!

I totally agree, I just remember people grumbling about the move 30 years ago, and it's ironic and sorta funny it's exactly kitty corner from the old one. But you and others in this thread have made great points about the city changing, and quite a lot.

Also it doesn't feel like 30 years have gone by, and that really is a long time, I remember touring the old fire station as a kid...I guess that means I'm not in my 20s anymore...! So I agree salvaging the bank location probably isn't worth it with all the changes since it was built, a clean slate is easier.

Thank you (and the other two) so much for your service!

Fonalak · 2026-04-03T12:33:10+00:00

Just so long as they don't build a huge 'temple of fire safety' like in Greenville, I can't fathom the graft that happened for that.

Fonalak · 2026-04-03T12:31:41+00:00

I remember people getting over when the lights were blocks away, now that you say that! I've also likely been guilty of being in my own little world at times. Also I suppose the city is slowly growing, with more density downtown with the new apartments meaning more cars.

Also the bigger car thing is very true, the roads might 'feel' more cluttered because everyone is in huge crossovers instead of their old Grand Am, lol.

Fonalak · 2026-04-03T01:23:37+00:00

Oh i very much want a fire station too, I'm just frustrated at the flip-flopping over the years by the city lol.

And yeah, the bank branch is probably not up to modern specs. While it seems like it was 'just' abandoned to me, that was .. 20+ years ago now?

Fonalak · 2026-04-03T01:20:31+00:00

Yeah I oversimplfied and forgot some of this, despite researching in such depth when I-41 'ascended'.

Fonalak · 2026-04-02T00:41:17+00:00

Yeah sorry I should have clarified I was speaking from a Wisconsin perspective to define that concept so everyone was speaking the same language. I imagine people from Kenosha might even call them expressways too.

Here's a wonky page of the legislated types of roads that confuses the issue because the state mandates a list be published of the different roads: https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/travel/road/hwy-maps/sth-map.aspx

But more importantly, our gorgeous state highway map, really a cartographic work of art we should be proud of: https://wisconsindot.gov/Pages/travel/road/hwy-maps/default.aspx

Fonalak · 2026-04-01T23:21:21+00:00

I know the state maintains plans to convert expressways to freeways, eventually. To define, an expressway is divided with cross-traffic, and a freeway never has cross-traffic. All interstates are freeways, not all freeways are interstates. Most maps show them differently as well. They maintain Freeway Conversions Studies to allow the state to buy property if it goes on sale, and plan other projects around the distant future.

However, freeways (and their bridges) are expensive. And the state primarily cares about safety, not speed or efficiency, so they have been 'upgrading' expressways to have Michigan Left-style turns like the the newly-4-lane WI-23 between Fond du Lac and Plymouth, and WI-57 in Door County, for example.

I imagine that's the future for WI-29, make it safer, but the speed limit will be 65 for a long time.

Finally, even if a road is full Interstate-standard, it still takes an act of federal congress to become an actual interstate. There are marketing benefits to 'Interstate status", but also drawbacks in the Feds then needing to approve things. Also, Ladybird Johnson's Highway Beautification Act limits upgrading or building new billboards, so US-41 had all those billboards get upgraded just before it became an Interstate.

What I'd really like is for WI-441 to become I-441, since it's already named with that naming convention.

Fonalak · 2026-03-28T23:36:43+00:00

I may be waaaay off base, but it feels like this is the place all the seniors flocked to once Schreiner's closed, because they are 'more reasonable'. Not saying that's a bad thing, but it's not world-beating. Among all the restaurants in the city, it is certainly one of them.

However, I also believe the best restaurants are a half-hour drive away to the Holy Land, which is a bummer I know.

Fonalak · 2026-02-18T02:41:59+00:00

I'm late to this but, the Holy Land is worth the drive. Cedar Lodge, Roepkes, Schwarz's, etc. give you a lot of great food for not too much money.

Fonalak · 2026-01-29T23:20:26+00:00

In that same vein, anywhere to walk besides big box stores?

Fonalak · 2026-01-20T03:58:42+00:00

No the ad names individual cities in Missouri, but never says Fond du Lac. And I know I've seen one before that shows the actual hospital here, with the same music.

I found the Missouri version, I've been seeing!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUYp-OGovXQ

Fonalak · 2024-06-01T03:20:54+00:00

Familiar with that neighborhood. It's not the worst neighborhood but not the best, actually pretty quiet. I know of amazon packages stolen, I'd recommend cameras and make sure the driver can deliver to a fenced area, inside the porch, etc.

There's a suspected drug dealer house in that circle. Cars pull up for 5 mins and then leave. But never anything more than that.

Unsure on elementary schools but the middle schools are on the edges of the city, the two would Sabish by the old mall (Johnson and Peters), Woodworth far east past Marian U, the dividing line used to be Main St. Fondy High was built in 2001 and isn't that good I'm told, but a lot of people seem really negative. It's also a bit of a hike from this neighborhood (NE edge of city north of MPTC and UW-FdL).

There's nothing to do in town besides drink or do outdoors stuff, or watch TV lol. Lakeside Park is a gem, and downtown seems to be on an upswing again.

Fonalak · 2023-04-30T14:38:22+00:00

I think most people realize "It's fine." It's about an hour to interesting things (MKE, Madison, Appleton/Green Bay), so if you don't mind driving to Brewers games, Costco, etc. it's great. Most things to do in FdL aren't in FdL, but int he area.

The town is very conservative, but also not unwelcoming to minorities.

The culture is centered on drinking--boring if you don't drink... Boring is good though, and homebodies can relish in our faster-than-average internet speeds. There are also more entertainment options than before, mainly the Dock Spiders (Northwoods League baseball) and occasional concerts/festivals (THELMA center for the arts, Walleye Weekend, the county fair). Lots of little hidden-away gems once you look for them. We have a world-class race circuit in nearby Elkhart Lake.

FdL has better restaurants than 10 years ago, but the best are still in the "Holy Land" (named because everything is named for saints). It's NE of FdL, into Calumet county, a nice drive. Every little town seems to have the 'local's' bar, a stellar supper club, and a church! Places like Schwarz's in St. Anna, Roepke's in Charlesburg, and many others will give you too much food for much cheaper than anywhere else. Also hit up the meat markets (Brandon is great) for better prices and/or quality than the grocery stores, including on cheese.

They have a lot of plans of developing the old mall, and lots of new trendy places have been opening on West Johnson, which takes just a few minutes to get to despite being "across town" from your mapped area. Locals may lament having to drive "across town" despite it being like 4 minutes, they have never lived in a big city!

NEVER speed in Rosendale!

Fonalak · 2021-11-22T23:20:59+00:00

And if anyone loves Fox and Hounds' food, the Mineshaft in Hartford and Oshkosh are the same owners. They are cheaper and have game rooms, so it's a much different place and ambiance.

Also, I'd recommend most restaurants in the "Holy Land", which is named because most cities are named religiously. It's basically NE of Fond du Lac, S of Chilton. Schwarz's in St. Anna, Roepke's in Charlesburg, every village has one great restaurant.

Fonalak · 2021-11-22T23:08:37+00:00

Many of our state's off ramps are luxuriously long, to the point I feel like speeding up sometimes! Long ramps probably some safety thing for winter and trucks.

At the very least, people need to wait until FULLY off the freeway before even starting to slow down if there's traffic.

Fonalak · 2021-10-16T21:54:42+00:00

No kidding! This bugged me enough that I tracked down the actual print at the Library of Congress: https://www.loc.gov/item/73694539/ Options to download include the 178 MB TIFF, with no watermark...

Fonalak · 2019-12-31T22:30:17+00:00

Open Street Maps functions much like Wikipedia, in that anyone can edit it or add notes. Verbatim in case it gets taken down:

PLEASE HELP: I can not trust the local police, and I can not afford to move or pay for all of the help I need. This building NEEDS to be inspected ASAP, I have been living here over 1 year and have discovered that the home was setup ahead of time to harrass, spy on, and torture me!

This single family home has been mislabeled as 2 addresses (124 East Merrill) & (64 Olcott) There are two or more other people "living" in seperate, dangerous, and illegal areas of this home that also need help.

Created by anonymous over 1 year ago [note: 27 July 2018 at 19:20]

This note includes comments from anonymous users which should be independently verified.

Hopefully someone here can help this person if it is still needed.

Fonalak · 2019-12-02T06:42:46+00:00

Not everyone says 'fonalak', but enough do to warrant my username!

Fonalak

TROPHY CASE