Family Fun At Cedarburg Wisconsin

A few weeks ago I shared a travel post of our Mother's Day weekend in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.  To keep the post from becoming too long, I only included pictures of the city in that post.  Today, I'm sharing a more personal side of our visit to Cedarburg by including all the family photos and the stories behind them.

This photo was taken in a church garden.  It was our first stop on the historic street and Alethea was in the stroller for all of five minutes.  The second she saw the river behind the church she kept repeating "out, out!"  So we let her out of the stroller and would you believe she walked the entire historic district, both sides of the street?  She loves to explore, and never went back in the stroller till the very end of our day.  The stroller still came in use to carry all our bags! 

Even though I warned all my kids to eat a hearty breakfast before they came,  my 5'9 135 lb son started lamenting how hungry he was the second we got there.  So my husband caved and bought him a slice of pizza.  He ate it walking down the street, and we all were so envious of that pizza that we went back there for lunch.  Jordan then had a second slice of pizza at lunch time!

We had a good laugh because there were two candy stores in town (actually I think there were more than two, but we only bought candy from two of them) and one was named "Ashley's Confectionery" and the other "Amy's Candy Kitchen".  Of the two stores, we thought "Amy's" was better.  They had the most amazing caramel apples.  My husband bought Ashley and I a chocolate covered strawberry for Mother's Day!  They were so good!

Of course we had to have our pictures taken in front of our namesakes!  

And here is my very pregnant daughter Ashley in front of her candy store.

The historic district has many vintage homes that have been turned into stores.  We didn't go in many of them because of Alethea and the stroller, but I sure enjoyed looking at the outside of the pretty houses.

Ashley and I both received a flower, tote bag, and chocolate for Mother's Day.  Alethea claimed the flower as her own, and clung on to it for the rest of the day.  She was so upset when she broke the stem off, but she still clung to the blossom with her tiny fist.

The pedestrian bridge over the river was just beautiful.  There's another view of this bridge shown from the side on my previous Cedarburg post.

I have this tradition going with Alethea that every time I see her I bring her cheese curds from Wisconsin.  She absolutely loves them!  Here she is with a cheese curd in each fist.

Alethea loves to practice walking up and down steps.  The old mill was perfect for her, because there were lots of steps to walk up and down on.  Grandpa stayed on the first floor with the stroller while we explored the old mill.  He didn't mind, as he enjoyed listening to the local musicians playing in the lobby.

Alethea was so excited to explore this garden.  When she saw the rooster at the top of the steps at this shed, she couldn't wait to check him out.

There were so many fun garden statues in this garden for kids to enjoy.  Alethea loved the giraffe!

Many of the businesses had chairs in front of their stores.  I think Alethea had to stop and sit in every single chair.  Her favorite one was this over sized rocker she shared with her uncle Jordan.

We loved this mural of Cedarburg highlighting all the famous buildings of the town.  Alethea is now at the age when she closes her eyes when smiling at the camera.  So adorable!

Here is one of the entire family, minus me of course.   I was the photographer that day.

Alethea found another chair to test out.  This one is more her size.

I loved this old door to the mill.  I asked my son to stand next to it for a size perspective.  He was like "Why are you taking a picture of a door?"

Sweet Alethea when she first got her Mother's Day flower.

This time Alethea got to sit in a chair shaped like an ice cream cone.  Grandpa shared his turtle chocolate that he bought at "Ashley's Confectionery" with Alethea.  She liked that.

This is the pizza place where we had lunch:  Sals.  You can buy pizza by the slice (which is what we did).  The pizza was delicious but what I really loved was the garlic roll that came with it.  The bread literally melted in my mouth!

I always have to have a cup of coffee or tea after lunch.  There were many nice coffee houses to choose from.  I chose this one:  Java House, Cedarburg's first coffee house.  I loved the ambiance of the place, and the coffee was delicious!   Jordan enjoyed coming in out of the cold and warming himself up.

After checking in at a hotel in the area we had fun playing with Alethea in the swimming pool.  Sorry,  I don't have any pictures of that as I left the camera in our room.  Later that evening we went out to dinner at Water Street Brewery.  Oh my gosh, what a great place!  The food and atmosphere was amazing!

 They offer both inside and outside dining, but it was too cold to eat outside.

Alethea was such a good girl at the restaurant.  She loved sitting next to Grandpa.

Thanks for visiting my blog today!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

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A Visit To Cedarburg Wisconsin

On Mother's Day weekend my husband and I met the kids for a little "staycation" in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.  It was a four hour drive for us, but only two hours for the kids.  Even though it was a cool, cloudy day we had a lot of fun exploring this old village.  I took a ton of pictures, and decided to do two separate posts of our visit to Cedarburg:  a travel post (today's post) and a family/lifestyle post (soon to come!).

This  beautiful mural highlights all the main attractions of this charming town.

The guide at the Visitor Center told us most people come to Cedarburg to visit this old mill, now a building filled with shops, restaurants, and a spot for entertainment.

The mill is located right along the banks of  Cedar Creek.  

We did go inside to explore a little, but it was hard with a little one and a stroller.  The spaces are tight and small, with no elevators, so it's definitely not handicap, elderly, or family friendly.  Hubby was happy to stay on the main level and listen to a local band play, while I quickly ran through the mill to snap pictures.  The main level had gift shops and a restaurant, while the upper floors sold antiques and art work.

The thick plaster and stone walls amazed me.  You could tell how thick they were by how deep the window wells were.

This is a street view of the award winning winery, restaurant, and pottery shop also located on the grounds.

I thought the mannequin on the roof was such a fun idea.

This was a fun place for us to enjoy...I think Alethea especially loved walking through it and seeing all the unique creations.  I can't wait to show you pictures of her exploring this garden.

I thought the skeleton on the tractor was hysterical.

 I absolutely LOVED these metal goats and had to restrain myself from buying one and bringing it home with me.  Isn't this just the cutest display?

The large rooster at the entrance to the potting shed was perhaps the most impressive of all.  Alethea was so excited to see him!

This is a side view of the same potting shed...don't you just love it?

The historic district is made up of limestone cream colored buildings on Washington St.  A lot of them are houses that are now used as businesses.

We didn't go inside many of the businesses because we had a stroller and Alethea, but we sure enjoyed looking at the historic homes and all the amazing architecture.

This is the Stage Coach Inn.  It is currently a  bed and breakfast. It was built in 1853 as a stage coach stop between Milwaukee Wisconsin and Green Bay Wisconsin.  

Of course I was tickled pink to see there was a candy shop named after me!  But would you believe there was also a candy shop named after my daughter?   I kid you not!  I will share pictures and tell you more about our visit to those candy shops in my next post.

There were several nice coffee shops to choose from, but we picked this one...Cedarburg's original coffee shop!  And I'm glad we did as the coffee was delicious and so cute inside!

I think I oohed and ahh'd at ever single old house!  This beautiful home is the largest mansion in Cedarburg. It was built in 1898 for the daughter of the Wittenburg Mill owner.

I love the vintage, 40's glam look of this old theater!

Built in 1908, the current city hall use to be Cedarburg High School.

I think Cedarburg would be a fun place to spend a day when the weather warms up.  I would love to eat outside at one of their charming patio restaurants.

Another cute coffee shop.

They had at least three stunning old churches in town.  I think this one was my favorite!

This church has a pretty side garden and gorgeous views of the river behind it.

This pedestrian bridge and the creek are located right behind the church pictured above.  It was so picturesque!

It's always hard to get a good street view of historic towns, but here you can get an idea of the limestone cream colored buildings in the village.  It's very pretty isn't it?

This is the Cedarburg Mill and considered to be the most iconic building in town.  I must say, it really catches your eye.  It's right across from the Visitor Center so it was one of the first buildings we saw when we entered town.  Built in 1855 some interesting facts are that it's walls are 32 inches thick and five stories high.  It's now a feed and grain store.

The unique red and white building in front of it is "Wadhams Oil and Grease Filling Station".  A Milwaukee based company built around 20 of these "Japanese Tea House" style filling stations in the area in the 1920's.

I hope you enjoyed my tour of Cedarburg Wisconsin!  I'll be back soon with more personal pictures showing how my family and I enjoyed spending our day here!

Have A Great Day! Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!