On our way back from the Chippewa Moraine Interpretive Center to our campsite at Brunet Island State Park, we decided to find somewhere to grab a delicious late lunch in nearby Cornell, WI.
The quaint and cozy downtown strip in Cornell has a little bit of everything, but our eyes (and tummies) were drawn to Dylan's Dairy.
This place had delicious homemade sandwiches, locally-made ice cream (from Dylan's Dairy), breakfast items and handmade pizza. I was in heaven.
After ordering a prime rib sandwich for me and a mushroom-swiss burger for my trail helper (and mom), we sat back and took in the decor. There was a tiny little shop in the back offering clothing, handmade aprons, jewelry, home decor and other little odds and ends.
Walls were covered with cow and farm motif items that kept us busy looking around for a while. Beautiful french doors opened onto an enclosed patio filled with umbrella-covered tables for outdoor dining, including a water feature for ambiance. The cow-motif continued outside.
One wall inside the cafe caught my attention though. There were a collage of framed pictures and newspaper articles detailing the relatively short history of Dylan's Dairy. All of a sudden, a very personal and tragically beautiful story unfolded while we waited for our lunch.
You can read more here: Dylan's Dairy - Dylan's Story
The food was awesome, the people were so friendly and the reminder of how fleeting our time is on this earth made everything that day a little sweeter. If you find yourself in this neck of the woods, I highly recommend you make time to stop at this little cafe and enjoy a dish of Dylan's Dairy's finest ice cream. And if you're really lucky (like me), they might have fresh apple pie to go along with your ice cream.
...
It was a carpe diem day.
We sucked the marrow out of that 3-day weekend and enjoyed every single drop. I'll be reveling in those memories for days, weeks and years to come. Some pretty spectacular things were seen and precious moments shared between a mother and daughter enjoying our time together. It was an awesome weekend.