Our daily driving Tour chairs designed some great tours for you!
Tours / Activities
Saturday / Sunday
Tour Check-in was from 12PM-5PM on Saturday at the hotel lobby, and again on Sunday from 8AM-5PM.
Saturday was a great time to visit some of the awesome sites that require more time than we could allot on one of our driving tour dates. We suggest looking into visiting the famous and weird House on the Rock museum and/or the Frank Lloyd Wright Studio/Estate, Taliesin, which in 2019 was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list.
On Sunday, the Tour Book had two at-your-own-pace tours of the Baraboo area laid out for you. The tours introduced you to many of the important businesses you may have needed during your visit. It also stopped at beautiful Devil’s Lake State Park. The Park was founded in 1911 and at one point had 5 resort hotels. Park the T and walk one of the many trails – they range from novice to strenuous! Views from the rocky bluffs surrounding the lake are outstanding!
On Sunday evening we had a kick-off dinner at the host hotel to welcome everyone and provide last minute tour information.
Monday
Monday began with the car show and judging, held on the golf course of the host hotel. At 11:00AM we started to roll out on the tour.
We began by touring to the Dorf Haus Supper Club, in the German-American town of Roxbury, for a button-busting buffet lunch. From there it was on to the Mid-Continent Railway Museum, an outdoor living history museum with an operating railroad. Our last tour stop of the day was at the Wisconsin Big Cat Rescue, home to lions, tigers, leopards, lynx, and liligers (that’s not a typo)!
Monday evening, we conversed and laughed with friends old and new at our ice cream social in the parking lot of the host hotel while we watched the youth participate in a variety of T-related games!
Tuesday
Mostly a driving day, we travelled through the countryside of Sauk County. We stopped at the Museum of Badger Army Ammunition. Then it was off to the Cedar Grove Cheese Factory for Wisconsin cheese tasting. Next, we were on to the town of Lelend for a delicious box lunch. Country roads took us back to Devil’s Head Resort.
Tuesday evening was the Fashion Show, back at the hotel ballroom.
Wednesday
Did you know that Wisconsin was the first State to officially mark and number its State Highways? While the State was busy doing that, the counties of Wisconsin chose letters to designate their own roads using an alphabet soup of single and double letters. Of course, each county used their own letters and so it’s not uncommon to cross a county border and have County B change to County MM below your feet! Our longest tour of the week was a challenge to navigators as we travelled through the largest Amish settlement in Wisconsin, the geographic population center of the State, and Portage – the third oldest settlement in Wisconsin – at the junction of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. Wisconsin bratwurst for lunch? You bet!
Back at the hotel, in the evening, we held adult car games in the parking lot, along with a mini-"parts swap".
The MTFCI Board of Directors held their meeting on Wednesday night at the hotel board room.
Thursday
This tour took you through the rolling hills of the Wisconsin River Valley and Driftless areas of scenic Wisconsin. Some of these roads were steep (for the Midwest!). A box lunch was served at the Wisconsin Riverside Resort, located on the beautiful banks of the Wisconsin River.
Car show awards were presented that evening at the hotel, just before we start the Youth Foundation auction. We raised quite a bit of money for the Youth Foundation!
Friday
Baraboo was the winter home for several circuses over the years and was also the home of the Ringling brothers when they began their circus in 1884. In the 1950’s, Circus World Museum was opened to acquire, preserve, and showcase the history of the circus. The Museum has grown from 1 acre and six old circus wagons to over 64 acres and 30 permanent structures! We toured from the host hotel to the museum to see a number of exhibits as well as some circus shows. After that we had lunch at the facility before closing out our week of touring with some easy country driving and a stop at the Badger Steam and Gas Club's grounds where we saw their collections and enjoyed some homemade ice cream!
Friday evening, we capped off the 66th Annual Tour with our Closing Dinner and Tour Awards while the youth enjoyed a pizza and pool party.
