|
|
Travel, History & Culture in America's Dairyland |
| Golden Valleys, Mauve Chairs |
|
||||||||||||||
| Jim
& Linda's Supper Club -- Pipe, Wisc.
State Highway 151 and 55 along the eastern shores of Lake Winnebago might be the most under-appreciated scenic route in state. The road is cut into the side of the Niagara escarpment, traversing farm fields that sweep down from the ledge to the lakeshore, and when the sun is in the western sky -- late afternoon and early evening -- the place becomes a golden valley beside a glistening sea. And glistening-wise, nothing glistens like the fish being slung in supper clubs located around the mother of all inland Wisconsin lakes. Summertime and the living is greasy! Jim & Linda cared enough to post a hand-painted sign shaped like an arrow along the highway. The sign said, “Jim & Linda’s.” This touched classicwisconsin deeply, as hand painted signs for supper clubs often do. Nothing says, “Eat our fish, fisheaters, and drink our drinks, drinking fisheaters” than a homemade sign shaped like an arrow inviting you into (insert name here) & (insert name here) Supper Club. You just know the drinks will be served in buckets, the décor will be Menards chic, and the waitstaff will be slinging fish like Favre throws pigskin. What classicwisconsin did not anticipate was seeing a middle-aged woman in a sleeveless shirt casually sniffing her armpits while she sat at the bar. More cool things about driving along the east rim of Lake Winnebago: Peebles, Pipe, Calumetville, Brothertown, Quinney, Stockbridge – the unincorporated towns along the road. North of Fond du Lac you’ll pass Taycheedah women’s prison, former home of “Bambi” Bambeneck. The farm country east of Lake Winnebago is called Wisconsin’s “Holy Land,” home to Mt. Calvary, St. Cloud, St. Anna, Marytown, St. John, St. Nazianz, and Jericho. Fridays during Lent are like national holidays around here. Following 7 a.m. mass, everybody goes to the taverns. Jim & Linda’s is located near Pipe. Take County Road W west from SH 151; (920) 795-4116. The supper club sits about 25 feet from Lake Winnebago, next door to the Columbia Park observation tower. The tower is especially nice for spotting boats that have been capsized by rogue sturgeon, a frequent occurrence on Lake Winnebago. If the swamped boaters can swim to Jim & Linda’s without losing life or limb to the attacking sturgeon, the survivors get a free ice cream cocktail, which, on the night classicwisconsin visited, appeared to be the dessert of choice. Mounted inside Jim & Linda’s is a 77 inch, 115 pound sturgeon, speared on March 1, 1988, by a lady fisherperson, Edwina Freund. The other fish, perch, come in ½, full and double portions on your plate. The talented Arielle, wearing monogrammed Jim & Linda’s leisure shirt uniform, recommended twice-baked tators and promised to substitute hashbrowns if the twice-baked did not meet classicwisconsin’s expectations. Can you beat that? Can you? And when classicwisconsin finished a cup of chowder, Arielle was all set to bring another. The tators were yee haw good, the perch de-lish, the toddies toddelicious, the waitstaff monogrammed, the view second to none, the chairs mauve, the plants fake. Perfect. A golden valley beside a glistening sea. |
|
||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||
 |
|||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
||||||||||||||
|
Home | The Book | Fish Frys | Archives | Links Copyright 2002-2009, Michael Bie (Classic Wisconsin) |
|
Site by Shadow 5 Productions |
classicwisconsin was driving around looking for a fish fry, because that’s what classicwisconsin does, drives around looking for fish frys, when the Pontiac pointed all eight cylinders toward Calumet County. It was summer scene for the ages, dear subscribers, the kind FIBS dream about after they’ve pissed away their retirement savings in Wisconsin Dells.