Our Day Out In Eagle River, Wisconsin

Going To Town

When we are Up North in Watersmeet, we plan our days and outings around necessary errands we have to run. We planned on Wednesday to go to Eagle River, Wisconsin which is about 3o minutes from our house. Eagle River is where the Ace Hardware is, Tractor Supply as well as some grocery stores and other “city” type places we do not have in Watersmeet. The reason for going to Eagle River was because we were out of dog food. Our plan for the day was as follows:

• Go to Tractor Supply and get dog food and look around, there’s always fun things to look at in Tractor Supply
• Go to Ace Hardware, this is where we get our frozen raw dog food made by Stella and Chewy
• See the town Ice Castle that was built this week
• Stop at a new to me Italian Deli called Aiello’s to try their food

Tractor Supply

Tractor Supply is out go to spot for getting canned dog food, dog treats, dry dog food and bird food. We love to feed the birds, especially in the Winter. Tractor Supply is a fun store to also walk around in and look at all the things. They have tools, clothes, farm equipment and other things that help with rural living. When you have been in the woods for many days in a row it is a fun store to walk around and peruse. I especially like looking at the horse supplies and clothing.

Our Tractor Supply Haul

We got lots of dog treats, canned dog food, dry dog food, some dog toys and a new collar for my dog Daisy. We like to use the Taste of the Wild Dry Dog food and the Merrick Canned Dog Food.

The Ice Castle

The Eagle Rover Fire Department has been building an ice castle in downtown Eagle River since the late 1920’s. It is usually built close to the New Year’s weekend but this is always contingent on weather. There hasn’t been an ice castle since 2018 because the lake they harvest the ice from hasn’t been frozen enough the past couple of years. This is truly a labor of love by the Eagle River Fire Department and it brings so much joy to the locals. The process of building the castle is a several day process:

• Day 1 the ice is scored and cut from a local lake, you can watch a video process of this by going to the Eagle River Fire Department Facebook Page
• Day 2, they cut over 2500 block of ice from the lake and transported over to the building site in downtown Eagle River.
• Day 3 through 5 the ice castle is built by 20 to 30 volunteers for about 10 hours a day.

It was somewhat emotional to see this year’s ice castle. We haven’t been able to have one since 2018 and it was nice to finally have this tradition back. It has been a different couple of years for all of us and this was nice to have something normal back.

What’s For Lunch

A new Italian Deli opened in Eagle River, WI called Aiello’s on Wall Street. I think it opened about a year ago. I have been trying to get there to try the food for quite some time but it never worked out with my schedule. I have had a lot of followers message me about how great the food is and I was excited to try it out for myself. Here is what we ordered:

• Meatball Bomber which is a meatball sub, they use a sub roll, remove some of the extra bread and push the meatballs into the roll with cheese and marinara.
• The NYC Sandwich which was a pastrami and corned beef sandwich on marbled bread, Swiss and a grainy mustard.
• Pasta Salad which was FULL of veggies, olives, Italian meats and a delicious dressing with the pasta.

We really enjoyed our food from Aiello’s, I definitely recommend trying this place out if you’re in Eagle River. It is so nice to have more ethnic food options close by. For me it can be hard coming from Chicago with so many options to coming up North and not having been a lot of variety in the past. I am so happy to see so many new businesses bringing gourmet options to the Northwoods.

A Good Day Out

It is sometimes hard for me to get up and get out when we are on the “compound” . It is often so much easier to stay home, especially in the Winter. Once I get myself out the door, I am always glad I went. It was really fun to see the castle, and get some new treats and toys for the dogs. I also really enjoyed my lunch from Aiello’s. The meatball bomber was one of the best sandwiches I ever had. My Mom also enjoyed her NYC sandwich.

What’s Coming Up

This weekend I am presenting at the Wisconsin Maple Syrup Producer Winter Workshop in Marshfield, Wisconsin. They asked me to come and present about social media as well as doing a cooking demo using some maple syrup in the recipes. I am very excited because they booked me a hotel in a quaint little hotel. I will be driving 2.5 hours from Watersmeet, MI to this town in Wisconsin. I am currently narrowing down the recipes I am going to use. Last year I did a cooking demo at the local Maple Syrup Festival. I made these delicious Columbian Street Food inspired hot dogs. You can get the recipe here

I hope you enjoyed reading about my day in Eagle River, WI. I will be back in the kitchen next week creating some new recipes. I have enjoyed my little hiatus from cooking for the last two weeks, but I miss it. If you have any recipe requests you would like me to make, please leave me a comment below. I would also love to hear about any foodie recommendations you have for the Northwoods or the Western Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Have a great day!