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"From the Marsh to the Marinas"
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An old war relic sits in a park in Horicon, overlooking the Rock River and the John Deere plant behind it. Horicon cranks out a LOT of tractors, snow blowers and other sundry, handy machinery. Meanwhile, Highway 28 starts on the east side of Horicon, right off Highway 33. After a cruise through some neighborhoods, Horicon Marsh is just around the corner.
Horicon has access to the Wild Goose State Trail and naturally draws on the scenic beauty of the marsh and also maintains a nice park system, particularly along the Rock River, whose headwaters come out of the marsh. Oh, and the high school team nickname? The Marshmen.
Horicon Marsh
Highway 28 skims the southeastern corner of the Horicon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, both a State Wildlife Area and a National Wildlife Refuge. It's a pretty unmistakeable feature as you drive by: it's a vast expanse of flat land that looks like a lake had been drained there. And that's pretty close to how things got to be this way. When the glaciers that once covered this part of the state retreated, a moraine was formed that worked like a dam and created a large lake. The Rock River, which uses the Marsh as its source, gradually drained the natural lake and turned it, well, marshy. People tried manipulating it again twice: from 1846 to 1896, a dam re-created the glacial lake; after it became a marsh again, there was an attempt to drain it from 1910 to 1914 and use the area for farmland. That didn't quite work either, and today the Marsh is preserved and protected to serve as one of the world's largest "rest stops" for migrating birds.
 | The view stretches far and wide along Horicon Marsh, which sprawls to the north from Horicon and Highway 28. This is a prime spot for bird watching, and several areas along the road have turn-outs and side roads where you can set up with some binoculars and plant yourself. |
SPECIAL EXHIBIT NOTE FOR BIRD LOVERS
The Horicon Marsh International Education Center (N7725 Highway 28, 920-387-7860) has a temporary display right now featuring a rare passenger pigeon and will soon add more songbirds and waterfowl. Get details from this article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel here. The Horicon Marsh International Education Center can be found right along Highway 28 just outside of Horicon.
The Horicon Marsh covers about 50 square miles - equivalent to about half of the City of Milwaukee. The southern third of the marsh, around Horicon, is managed mostly by the state; the northern two-thirds (up by Highway 49) is under Federal control by the Fish and Wildlife Service. Over 290 species of our winged friends have been documented in the Marsh, making it a top birding area. It's a favorite layover for over 200,000 migrating Canada geese as they make their way back and forth in spring and fall - think of it as a rest area on the bird migration highway. Horicon Marsh draws nature lovers, bird watchers, hunters, scout groups and naturalists. It can draw mosquitoes too, so bring some repellent. |
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Highway 28 skims along the southeastern edge of the Horicon Marsh for a few miles. On the east edge of the Marsh is a ridge that recently became a huge wind farm. The windier the day, the more action you'll see on over 80 windmills that stretch north towards Brownsville.
Next up on Highway 28 is Mayville (pop. 4,902). Mayville started early; it incorporated as a city in 1845, three years before Wisconsin became a state. Big on manufacturing, Mayville is home to a number of industrial facilities and maintains a pretty steady employment base. One of the old manufacturing buildings, the former Hollenstein Wagon & Carriage Factory, is maintained by the local historical society and offers wagons on display in what is now a museum-like setting. Mayville also sports a very nice "Main Street" downtown; Highway 28 meets up with Highway 67 for the ride through it, past a variety of handsome old structures offering everything from antiques to food to collections of rural pictures in the White Limestone School, right on Main Street.
 | The Audubon Inn is one of Mayville's attractive downtown landmarks, right along Highway 28 on the push through town. |
Highway 28 joins 67 for the ride east into the village of Theresa (pop. 1,252). Theresa holds the distinction of being named after the mother of Solomon Juneau, who'd founded this other place called Milwaukee years earlier, moved out, established Theresa, and therefore was the first European settler to begin urban sprawl in Wisconsin.
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| Above: Solomon Juneau first founded in Milwaukee, then fled in later years to establish Theresa, named after his mother. His final homestead, built in 1848, is along Highway 175 in town, just south of where it meets up with Highway 28. Right: The section of Highway 28 combined with Highway 175 is part of the historic Yellowstone Trail, a trailblazing path through the early days of American driving. Not as early but still becoming a slice of old Americana are the old logos on signs, such as the one for 7Up on this store in Theresa. |   |
 | In Theresa, Highway 28 - as well as 67 - hooks up with Highway 175 and heads north out of town. About a mile later, Highway 28 breaks east; 67 & 175 stay together a few more miles northward to Lomira. Meanwhile, Highway 28 spans the Theresa State Wildlife Area and then has an interchange with U.S. Highway 41 before heading into Washington County. |
Highway 28 meets up with U.S. 45 after a few miles and joins it southward briefly for the ride into Kewaskum (pop. 3,274). Like many communities in the Kettle Moraine vicinity, Kewaskum considers itself the "Gateway to the Kettle Moraine" - at least the Northern Unit - and this is indeed a great launching point for exploring everything from Sunburst Ski Hill (on the south end of town, along U.S. 45) to the multitude of hiking, biking, camping, fishing and more that the rolling hills of Kettle Moraine offer. Highway 28 enters Kewaskum's downtown and then leaves U.S. 45 to head east as Main Street. This is a great spot to take a break and do some for antique shopping, or grab a beer at John's On Main (143 Main Street) or maybe even a hearty meal at Woody's Steakhouse (109 Main Street). You can work it off walking, biking, or even snowmobiling on the new Eisenbahn State Trail, which runs from West Bend northward through downtown Kewaskum and up into Fond du Lac County.
East from Kewaskum, Highway 28 goes right through Kettle Moraine, crossing the Ice Age Trail and eventually hooking up with Highway 144. At that point, Highway 28 breaks northeast with 144. The archeologist in you might like a side jaunt, south on Highway 144 to Lizard Mound County Park. It's a prime example of remaining effigy mounds in Wisconsin, built by Native Americans over 1,000 years ago... some date back about 10,000 years. Effigy mounds were typically built over burial pits and often shaped like mammals, birds or reptiles. Considered one of the best preservations of such ancient mounds (there are about 28 of them), Lizard Mound County Park can be accessed via County A, less than one mile east of Highway 144 and about four miles south of its junction with Highway 28.
The two highways together go through Boltonville (no, it's not named after Michael Bolton - it was named after Harlow Bolton, their first settler) and into Sheboyagan County, where Highway 144 heads east toward Random Lake. Highway 28 continues through the countryside, along the eastern side of the Kettle Moraine area through tiny settlements like Batavia and Cascade before reaching Waldo (pop. 450), a small town that Highway 28 rolls through before hitting Highway 57. You follow 57 for less than half a mile, hopping over the Onion River, before Highway 28 heads northeast again toward the Sheboygan 'burbs.
Sheboygan Falls (pop. 6,772) lies where the Onion and Mullet Rivers merge into the Sheboygan (a few "falls" in the area helped the founders figure out a name.) The downtown area is awesome for shopping, walking and marveling at the restored 19th century buildings, most of which are light colors of brick.
The Ducktona 500 takes place every July, which includes 3,000 plastic ducks racing down the Sheboygan River.
 | Cruiser's is a great place for a burger and a malt while shopping for Harley bikes and gear next door at Route 43 Harley Davidson, right where Highway 28 meets I-43. |
Sheboygan
Sheboygan (pop. 50,792) is the Bratwurst Capital of the World. They make toilets too; it's the circle of life. Large enough to have "suburbs" like aforementioned Kohler and the Sheboygan Falls, the area is home to a number of major companies, including Kohler, Johnsonville Brats, Bemis and Acuity Insurance. Comedian Jackie Mason, basketball coach Rick Majerus, and the Chordettes (the '50s group that sang "Lollipop") all hail from Sheboygan. It had an NBA team called the Sheboygan Redskins back in the '40s. It's also consistently named one of the best places to raise a family and, interestingly enough, one of the best places to retire, in the U.S.
  | The Sheboygan Skyline: the city's tallest building hovers over the downtown strip; meanwhile, the American flag in front of Acuity Insurance's headquarters along I-43, visible from Highway 28, waves from the tallest flagpole in the U.S. at 338 feet high. |
Points of interest are quite plentiful considering the city's size. The John Michael Kohler Arts Center (608 New York Avenue, 920-458-6144) hosts galleries chock full of innovative explorations in the arts. Rather than only showing historical artistic pieces, the center works to foster new concepts and forms of artistic creation. It's definitely worth a stop.
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Left: Charter fishing, pleasure boating and, further out, freshwater surfing are all popular in Sheboygan. The Sheboygan River provides plenty of space for docking and the harbor area is brimming with shops, attractions and new condos. |
Golfing and Surfing in Sheboygan
One of the reasons Sheboygan is considered a good place to retire is the plethora of golf courses. Incredible courses like Whistling Straits bring worldwide acclaim and establish Sheboygan as a premier place for golf. Nestled along a two-mile stretch of Lake Michigan, Whistling Straits reminds most golfers of the classic olde links in Scotland and Ireland. Whistling Straits hosted the PGA Championship in 2004 and will host the U.S. Senior Open this year. It will again host the PGA Championships in 2010 and 2015, as well as the Ryder Cup in 2020.
Surf's Up! Sheboygan's Lake Michigan "surf" is considered among the best in the country. The Dairyland Surf Classic takes place every Labor Day weekend along the Sheboygan beaches and yes, dudes from California even come in for it. From Kohler-Andrae State Park north past downtown to the Whistling Straits course area, Sheboygan makes good use of its lakefront. |
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What else is interesting about Sheboygan? Well, the 338-foot high flagpole in front of Acuity Insurance's headquarters is the tallest flagpole in the United States. The city hosted its first event with the International Federation of Competitive Eating in 2006, when Takeru Kobayashi broke the world bratwurst-eating record by downing 58 brats in 10 minutes against heavy competition. Sales of antacids were massive in town that night.
Highway 28 comes to an end just west of downtown Sheboygan. Actually, it's where three State Trunks come together and end: Highway 23, which runs west from here to Kohler and Fond du Lac and eventually all the way to southwestern Wisconsin near Shullsburg, and Highway 42, which runs north to the tip of Door County, and Highway 28, which started back in Mayville. This is a perfect spot to stop and enjoy Sheboygan, or to get moving on Highway 23 or 42 for more fun 'n adventure!
CONNECTIONS
West Terminus:
Can connect immediately to: Highway 33
Can connect nearby to: Highway 26, about 4 miles west via 33; Highway 67, about 4 miles east; Highway 60, about 7 miles south
East Terminus:
Can connect immediately to: Highway 23; Highway 42
Can connect nearby to: Highway 32, about 7 miles west; Interstate 43, about 4 miles west
Upcoming events in places along Highway 28:
Valentine Candlelight Ski and Hike in Kohler Andrae State Park, Sheboygan, February 13, 2010
JMKAC Family Festival: Caribbean, Sheboygan, April 24, 2010
Points of Interest Quick Links:
Horicon |
