Jul 9, 2025

Scenes from Shamrock, Texas

With a nickname like “The Road To Nowhere,” it’s fair to expect the drive on U.S. 83 from Canada to Mexico to be quite boring.  And I can attest that, at times, it is exactly that. 

But the drive also delivers its share of pleasant surprises.  And one of the stops along my drive that I felt most rewarded by was my overnight stay in Shamrock, Texas.


A commoner dines at Baumgartner’s Cheese Store and Tavern, Monroe, Wis.

I wasn’t sure a place existed that could be the perfect representation of Wisconsin life, but then I traveled through Monroe, Wis., one week...