Books on Mars?

The Real Cheese

If you've ever driven north from Chicago to Milwaukee on Route 94, you've surely noticed the venerable Mars' Cheese Castle just off the Kenosha exit onto Route 142. If you HAVE missed it, look again! This has been a mainstay for decades now, and serves up one of, if not THE pride of Wisconsin: cheese! It's a store with many faces. You can get varieties of cheeses, cheese curds, and cheese heads (Wisconsinites know what I'm talking about). But you can get snacks of all types: sweet sugary candies, maple syrupy delights, chips, salsa, sausage snacks, and more. You can also get lunch or buy some souvenir.

Now the "books on Mars" part of our piece today refers to a stand of popular history books, which can be found in many Americana kitsch displays. See above, in front of the milk cow! Below, cheese heads and other "knick knacks."

My biblio-travels were paused momentarily to take in the local comestibles: liverwurst sandwich and yellow potato salad washed down with truckers' coffee--mmmmmmm! an American classic!

What else could one ask for!? So maybe the "bookishness" wasn't so grand here, but there was a slight hint of it for the kitsch-meister in me. But the rest of this store is a grand ol' place. And from what I hear, they're in the process of expanding into a far greater space, right behind the present location. So maybe some more books...? And certainly more cheese.