And good morning, it's 637. Let's say good morning today to Tom and Christy Flick Mattis
all the way from just a Claire on the other side of the state. That's not too far away.
That's where you are, right, O Claire? Yes, that's where we're at. Okay. Now you just
did a whole world tour, you toured Europe. And that's what we're going to talk about today,
but it's just while we're starting out here, you're still exhausted? We're catching up.
We're still waking up on Europe time every morning, right ago. So that's helping, though.
Yeah. It's okay. It's a full time a year to go there. So we're on, we're on
a Claire time now, which is the same I think is received time. So I think we should be
good. Okay, good. Okay. The reason we're
a reason we're
what's that?
Don't confuse us anymore with your time. We're still messed up. Okay. The reason we're talking
is Tom and Christy wrote a book called Secret Wisconsin, a guide to the weird,
wonderful and obscure. Now my wife and I were reading the book and I ever read all
books to me. Every time we get a book, she reads it to me because she's such a
great reader and she doesn't stammer, make mistakes and just keeps reading
and puts a nice inflection into it. So she does all my reading. By the way,
for Christmas, I got her the book Little Women. We're going to read that book too
because we saw like five movie versions of it. Now we're going to read the book
finally. All right. Secret Wisconsin, a guide to the weird, wonderful and obscure.
Before we get to some of the items of the book, why did you write it?
Well, we love working things and we love things that just don't show up
on the first few pages of like a Google search. And we just had a list in
our head of all these things around Wisconsin that people don't know about.
Not, you know, not necessarily. It just doesn't come to the forefront. So,
so we love sharing. We just want to share them with with everyone. Now,
I'm not from here originally, but I have lived here about 45 years. So that's
pretty good. Some of these things I never heard of. Some I did.
Because we visited some of them, but some I've never heard of before.
Let's start off with not John Dillinger, but Al Capone's house in Wisconsin
with machine gun turrets and everything on the house. Let's talk about the Al Capone house.
Oh, that's serious. Yeah, there's. So he lived there and well,
I can, you know, not all the time, but part of time when he came up.
And he wanted the things that we really liked that we found interesting was his property had a
private lake and during prohibition, he would fly his booze in from Canada and on
flocks and flocks can't play. And they would land on his private lake. Then he would
load the trucks, then ship it to Chicago. So we thought that was kind of neat.
And the other thing is nobody, everybody had speculation where his house was.
And for us to write about it, we had to go out and find it and research it because we wanted to make sure
we had the right place. And we found it and we went out there on a really
snowy afternoon. And it was something to see. It was the gates are there.
It's abandoned. And there's no trespassing signs all around it.
We were able to get a nice glimpse of it because our son happens to be a grown pilot.
So that was quite interesting. But who on somebody must own it, though.
Well, supposedly from what I could find in records, the local Native American
reservation owns it. And they haven't done anything with it.
Now, this had you said there was a little thing on the roof for machine guns.
I guess to protect Al from his friends. It was there on the roof, which that's kind of scary.
Now, did you said he had a brother living in Wisconsin as well? It wasn't a gangster.
No, but from what we could understand, he was hiding out.
And he owned and operated the Rex Hotel in Mercer up until the mid 70s.
And then he died. And that was that's quite interesting.
He died in 1970, you said. And well, well, after his brother, his brother, you know,
Al Capone died in his 40s. He wasn't an old guy.
Everything he did, his entire life was done within 20 years of his life because
he started his crime spree in his early 20s. He died in his mid or early 40s.
So everything he did in this entire life, all the chaos was done within a short period of time.
It wasn't that long. And then he just he died. I think it's syphilis.
Right. But his, yeah, that's amazing that all the chaos and he's still in history,
but his brother was well loved in the community. He was a popular guy.
He was, I think he was someone straight compared to Al.
Yeah, he was. He was, but he still, the IRS was still after him for years and years.
Because he never claimed any revenue from the bar in the hotel.
The, yeah, we're all cash. Yeah.
I went to his grave site in Chicago.
It's at the, just had the cemetery in my mind here.
He's buried there with a couple of other mobsters as well.
Al Capone, the whole family is buried there. And people leave little trinkets on his grave,
like little bottles of whiskey and cigars and stuff on his grave site.
I forget. I just can't, I'll remember the truth.
I don't want to think about it. I'll remember the name of the cemetery.
It's just outside Chicago. All right.
Let's talk about one of the greatest rock and roll singers of the 1960s.
Otis Redding. And he died in Madison on Lake Manona.
Let's talk about Otis Redding sitting on the dock of the bay.
Right. So there, there's a memorial stone on top of the.
But I don't care. On, you know, there's a, there's a bar area and right on top.
And there's a overlook, a beautiful overlook on the lake. And there's a memorial there.
And I'm not sure if it's we could see the exact location where the plane crashed from there.
But you, I think most people walk by and don't even know what's there.
They don't even read it. They're probably tripled really because it's right in the middle of the walkway.
Yeah. And he was, he was right to do a concert.
And people at the concert venue, you said, didn't know that he was killed.
And they're waiting for him to take the stage.
But here's the interesting part I read in your book.
The name of the group, the opening act was a group called the Grim Reapers,
who later changed their name to somebody we know, cheap trick.
You know, and that's one of my favorite facts about the order shredding thing.
Yeah, that.
I want to promise that they were called the Grim Reapers at the time.
Yeah. Now, no, no, we're a cheap trick song.
We automatically, you know, have a comment.
I mean, that's a good trivia question. The opening act was the Grim Reapers,
who later changed their name to cheap trick.
Hey, we're talking, uh, we're talking to Tom Manus and Christy Flickmanus.
They wrote the book, Secret Wisconsin, a guy to the weird, wonderful and obscure.
When we get back here on the other side, a very famous president used the bathroom,
an upper Wisconsin.
I can't wait to hear this story.
Uh, we'll tell you who it was and why it's so memorable.
That's coming up at just a moment right here.
Local news, time to say it's a WRJ and WRJ.
And with me this morning, we're talking to Tom Manus and Christy Flickmanus.
They wrote the book, Secret Wisconsin, a guy to the weird, wonderful and obscure.
We're talking about some of the items in the book.
You know, by the way, it's very well written.
And the way it's presented is when you turn to a page, that's it.
You get the left and the right side.
And the next page has another story of the next page has another story.
It's not continued on from page to page.
It's very well written, very well put together.
Let's talk about a very famous president, John F Kennedy,
who was in Northern Wisconsin.
Use the bathroom with his bar and grill.
And now it's a shrine.
Let's talk about that.
It is. Well, first of all, our book is family friendly.
And this is the thing that's probably on the outermost edges of family friendly.
Because it's a dog bark.
I mean, you know, you just can't get around it.
But yeah, he was he was campaigning.
In 1960.
In 1960.
And he was outside on the street campaigning and went in.
Someone bought him a beer and he had to use the restroom.
And now they have a plaque on the restroom.
And I don't think the restroom has changed since then.
It looks like it's still the same, everything's the same in there.
And they have a plaque on the door to go in to see the urinal.
And yes, I have used the same urinal that John F Kennedy has.
Christy hasn't seen goodness.
And then they also have a little display inside of the glass that he drunk his beer with.
And some newspaper articles and I like a little memorial to that too.
So it is quite interesting.
Definitely worth a stop if you're in spooner.
Yeah, that's where it is.
It's in spooner.
Now, you actually have in the book the address of all these places.
I'm not going to read the addresses now.
But if you there's a little.
A little shaded spot in each story.
It tells you the cost.
If it's free to visit where it is, the exact address and if it's still there.
And that's good because if you're doing traveling around the state.
That's what you need to know.
Now, did you ever hear people talk about the six degrees of separation between people in this world?
You've heard of that, right?
Oh, yeah.
Okay.
I am one degree away from John F. Kennedy.
And I'll explain it to you.
There's a frequent guest I have on the show here.
Her name is Nell Minow.
She works for Roger Ebert dot com.
And she also has her own movie reviewing site.
Her dad was appointed commissioner of the federal communications commission.
The chief commissioner and in 1961 when John F. Kennedy took office.
Nell sent me a photo of her as a little girl standing next to John Kennedy on one side.
Her sister and her mom and dad on the other side.
So she shook hands and took a picture with John Kennedy.
So zero degrees away from Nell Minow.
She knew John Kennedy.
That's one degree away from John Kennedy.
How's that?
That's pretty good.
Yeah.
Your urinal story may be a little closer than me, though.
I'm not sure.
I'm not sure who's got that that extra degree of separation.
Let's talk about the pancakes from another world.
I don't know if I buy this story, but it's a good story.
Why don't you want to tell us about it?
It is a good story.
In 1961 Joe Simonson was sitting at his kitchen table when a UFO landed in his backyard.
And curious as he was, he went out to investigate and they opened the door of the UFO and they motioned that they needed water.
Now obviously they didn't speak English and Joe figured out that it was watered.
They wanted and he went and got some water for them, brought it back to them and glanced into the UFO and they were cooking.
And the aliens, if you want to call them that, handed him some pancakes.
Well, thanks, pancakes.
I mean, it just seems so far-fetched.
And then they left.
And Joe called the authorities and they came out and to this day the Air Force still has that case as unfold.
Now they did analyze the pancakes, right?
They did and they did find that they were made of American or earthly materials.
But they still, it's still open.
What is going on that period too?
There was some Air Force plane crashes.
The whole area went without power.
So there was a lot of strange things that were probably coincidence that they were all happening at the same time.
I mean, everybody's got a UFO story, almost everybody.
But this one has a lot of documentation, a lot of government documentation to kind of back it up.
So it's kind of fun.
It is a fun story.
What do you think?
You buy the pancake story?
I don't buy the pancakes as much, but I do buy all the other things that are going on.
And the fact that the Air Force still has it as an open case still makes me wonder a little bit.
Now, callvers is probably nationwide now.
I think they're all over the place.
But they started, I think, in the Deles or Barrabois somewhere around there was the first callvers.
They still get their cheese curds right here in Wisconsin.
Let's start with a cheese curd story.
They do.
There's a small cheese factory.
Look, granders, hillside dairy.
And it's not too far from us, then, we'll clear.
And it's in Stanley.
Yeah, it's in a cinnamon roll nowhere, really.
I mean, there's nothing around, like a lot of good cheese factories.
But they make exclusively make the cheese curds for colvers.
And then they ship those cheese curds off to the breading plant.
And then they ship those to colvers.
But the thing about that is that it's a family owned business.
I think they're on the third, maybe the fourth generation now.
And they also have master cheese makers in the family.
Now, you know that's a big deal because there's only two places in the world where you can obtain a master cheese making certificate,
which is also known as the Ph.D. and cheese.
What's your London Wisconsin?
And so, what they, what they, what they send them out and then colvers repagge them.
So, I got the average weight.
And I calculated the, the, if you were to buy or, you know, a bag of cheese curds, how many bags do we sell?
So, it comes down to, they produce enough cheese curds for 21 million bags of deep fried cheese curds for colvers each year.
One little bag at a time.
But that's crazy, though, because it's, if you see it, it's just a small cheese plant.
But the thing is, too, they also make a lot of other cheese for well-known brands that you know out there, too.
It's a good, it's a good, you know, they have a good mix of stuff.
But a lot of people don't know that, that actually, you know, it is from Wisconsin cheese factory and not like mass produced that, you know, like a global corporation or something.
So, that's good.
And we like to support local as much as we can.
So, my wife and I are reading this last night.
It's about 830 and I said, you know what?
You're still open.
Why don't they run over there and get some cheese curds?
They're talking about it so long.
But before we take the top of the hour break, let's talk about something that's literally right down the block from here.
I can walk to it.
You call it the designed white elephant.
It's the SC Johnson building.
It's right down the block from here.
As I can walk to it, if I wanted to.
Let's talk about that.
Okay, so.
Esther Johnson, I mean, I mean, how many people drive past it every day?
And maybe they don't know the story.
But it's a Frank Lloyd Wright design building.
But it's not used anymore.
And.
It's really difficult to get in to get a tour.
I think.
Can you question humor?
I will take the tour.
I can't remember.
It is fine.
We were there.
You couldn't.
You're talking about the building with the lights, right?
That the tower with the lights.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You were able to get in there when they redid it.
They gave it.
They gave it a whole refurbishing and they allowed tours.
Now a very good friend of mine actually gives tours at SC Johnson.
I have to ask him if you can still get into that building or not.
I see it every morning on the way in.
It's all lit up.
Yeah, it's it's a really cool building and inside and out.
It's just a little bit.
Yeah.
It's just a little bit.
It's just a little bit.
But Frank Lloyd Wright designed it and they're not using it now.
It's just this empty inside.
It's just lit up.
Yeah.
Yeah, they just have lights in it now.
It's a it's just a lit tower.
It's really pretty the look at when you're driving by at night.
And but you're right.
There's no purpose to it other than it's just there.
Right.
And they're just.
You know, keep up.
Keep.
And.
And I guess you just don't want to.
Don't want to get rid of it again.
But it is a cool building.
I wish they would open it up and give.
Give regular tours.
Well, here's a little tip though.
Um, the guy in the gate, the security guard in the gate.
We'll tell you everything you would ever want to know about that building.
I think he's probably been working there forever.
And he's a wealth of information.
Well, a good friend of mine.
He's also the fourth district alderman here in the scene.
I'm going to text him during the break here.
And find out because he gives tours on at SC Johnson.
He gives tours of the whole facility.
But I'm going to see if you can get in there to that lit tower.
Other than just lit up, I don't.
Yeah, you're right.
I don't know what purpose it serves.
But it's there.
I pass it every morning on the way to work.
It's right there.
We are talking to Tom Manus and Christine Flickman as they wrote the book.
Secret Wisconsin.
A guide to the weird, wonderful and obscure.
We talked about some of my favorite stories in there.
Coming up on the other side of the news, we're going to talk about some of your favorite stories.
And we're not going to run out because you got.
I don't know how many I have in this book here, but it seems it's never ending.
There's just a ton of them.
By the way, how do you get the book?
Let's talk about that right now.
Somebody wants to pick it up.
How do they get it?
Because you can get it anywhere.
You know, books a million.
Aren't the normal.
You're local independent bookstore.
Now, we recommend your local independent bookstore.
And if they, if they don't have it in stock, they can order and have it really quick.
So it's, that's not a problem.
But you can.
You can also, you can also get it from our publisher, readiecrest.com.
Right.
Yeah.
They have.
You got it.
It looks like no tax and also a free shipping.
Yeah.
We, I'd like to support local bookstores if I can because, you know, Amazon makes enough
money.
But.
And if you could have, and we have a lot of local bookstores here in the Racine area.
So it's always easy to pick one up.
All right.
So we're talking to Tom and Christy.
We've got more stories to tell you guys.
Take a little five minute break.
Okay.
And get your coffee, relax, sit back, pick out some of your favorite stories.
And we'll have those on the other side.
Again, Tom and Christy talking to us this morning about.
Secret Wisconsin.
A guide to the weird, wonderful and obscure right here in our state all within a day's
driving distance.
Some are closer than others.
So we'll talk more about that coming up.
It's seven o'clock here at WRJ.
I'm local news timeless.
It's.
Pleasant.
Good morning out of Friday.
My guests are Tom Manis and Christy.
Flick Manis.
They wrote the book.
Secret Wisconsin.
A guide to the weird, wonderful and obscure.
We're talking about some of the stories in there.
Before we begin, we talked about the that Frank Lloyd Wright tower at SC Johnson here
in Racine.
And you didn't know if it was open for tours.
Remember that?
Right.
Well, I haven't.
I have an answer for you.
Dave Mack, Dave Mack, who is our fourth district altar.
And he also gives tours of SC Johnson.
He wrote back.
Yes, you can tour it.
The SC Johnson tour consists of the Frank Lloyd Wright Designed Administration Building
and the Research Tower, Third Floor and Third Floor Mezzanine.
And I hope I'm saying this right.
The Fortaleza.
I don't know.
I'm mispronounced in that word hall.
But yes, you can tour it.
So there you go.
We got an answer for you.
Good.
Yeah.
So recall every copy of that book.
And hand right in.
Yes, you can tour it.
I'm going to send my copy back to you.
I want you to fix that.
Anyway, so we're talking about some of the
obscure things around our state.
This is always Johnson.
But before we get to your favorite ones,
and I think we do have 168 stories in this thing.
I think it's a lot.
Something like that.
But there's 84.
And one of the things that we talk about that is that each one comes with at
least one is sometimes up to three color pictures.
Yes.
Because we're big.
Yeah, there were pictures for everything in there.
And my wife was reading it to me last night.
She said, here's a picture.
It was like grammar school when they hold up the book.
And they say, say the picture.
That's funny though, because we're roadtrippers.
That's what we do.
That's what we love.
And but Christie does that.
When we go on a road trip,
usually has a book or two.
And she reached the highlights.
And so we all get to hear it.
You know, my wife.
I was about to say before we have like a quarter of a second delay on
this phone.
That's why we talk over one another.
My wife and I are roadtrippers as well.
And before COVID, we should travel the whole country.
We took a week off and just headed out.
But she planned out every possible moment of the trip.
So instead of going from A to B.
We're from A to B to D to E to after G.
We stopped at all these places.
And there's a lot going on in this country that people don't know about.
And it's a lot of fun things to do.
And if you want to take some day trips or weekend trips,
around Wisconsin.
Here it is.
I got I got to talk to about two more of mine than we could talk about yours.
Let's talk about the bubbler.
Now the reason I bring that up is in 1980 when I first moved to
my daughter was newborn.
And she was sick.
I went to the doctor and they said,
I need a drink of water with your water fountain because the bubbler's
down the hallway.
I said, yeah, but I want the water fountain.
Yeah, the bubbler.
I said, what's a bubbler?
I had no idea what you was talking about.
So let's talk about.
Is that just a Wisconsin thing?
It is.
That's so funny because first of all,
it's from the Madison area.
I am from the South,
but I got here as fast as I could.
And so, but when we met,
we've been married for over 29 years.
But when we met, she was talking about a bubbler.
And I'm just like, what in the world is a bubbler?
Why do you call it that?
It was just the weirdest thing.
I'm like, that is just weird.
So that's funny.
But it's not.
It's not just a Wisconsin.
We would like to think that it is.
But part of Australia used the term bubbler.
And so does Rhode Island.
Well, when I go to Australia, then,
I'll know what they're talking about, right?
That's right.
In the hospital has an old bubbler on their ground.
And I've seen firsthand now,
you know, why I think they call it,
there's a rail ball that the water comes over,
which I've never seen anywhere else in the world.
Well, my first bubbler was at the doctor's office.
And I know what that nurse was talking about.
And I went down the hall when they said,
well, here's the water fountain.
Where's the bubbler?
What is she talking about?
I want to get to this story because my wife and I did a weekend trip
to Door County.
And we're driving by, we see these goats on the roof
of this restaurant.
And I said, what is that?
And now I know because I read it in your book.
Let's talk about the goats on the roof.
Well, that's kind of funny.
You know, a lot of people do know about that.
In Wisconsin.
But we don't see it.
But that's one of the wonderful things about Wisconsin.
Because Wisconsin is quirky.
We have lived all over the country,
and it has been all over the world.
And, you know, Wisconsin has, by far,
has got to be the corkiest state.
So, at Al Jockton, they have the goats on the roof.
They're seasonal.
But they have their own goat squad.
And they send them up.
And, you know, they eat the grass and hang out.
And every day they bring them in and take them out.
But they only work from nine to three.
Time out.
And they're, they're, they're devils.
They're very, very, very,
I don't even know the word for it.
Princesses.
Because they won't work if the weather isn't pristine for them.
Well, they're union.
The union goats.
That's probably it.
Yeah.
They have a union contract with the restaurant.
They can only go up there in certain days.
But you could see, if you go to Dorck County,
and you said it was in what Bay is it?
Sister Bay?
Sister Bay, I think it was.
Yeah.
And you can see them.
You drive by down the street.
And my wife said, look on the roof.
I said, whoa, there's goats up there.
I didn't expect it.
I didn't know what that looked for.
Let's talk about some of your favorite stories in the book.
Secret Wisconsin.
A guide to the weird, wonderful and obscure.
So, you're close to Kenosha.
And, you know, we love that area.
There's a thing in Kenosha.
I don't know if you're familiar with it or not.
But you can get Friday fish fry, but in the morning.
So, Friday morning fish fry.
Oh, no, I didn't know that.
It's at Oliver's bakery.
And starting at 7.30 in the morning,
people actually line up to get their fish and shrimp.
So, you can go and get a donut and your fish fry.
Now, it doesn't come with close-by and fries.
And all of that stuff.
But you can get a side to donut.
Well, you thought that was really, really unique thing.
I've never seen a Friday morning fish fry.
Well, that's good if you're working third shift.
And you just get out from work and you want dinner.
And you've got the fish fry right there in Kenosha.
Well, that's good.
We have the owner, you know, because we're like,
well, how long has this been going on?
And why?
How did it start?
And she said, well, I don't really know.
I've worked here and owned this for over 40 years.
And we've always done it that way.
And most of the fish and shrimp is pre-order.
And so it's taken.
So if you walk in, you might get some, you might not.
You know, but they do a whopping business.
With people lined up out the door every Friday morning.
It's one of those quirky things that we found out about.
No, we have to go check this out.
So we drove down there just to check it out.
And yeah, it's true.
And it's very good.
Well, there's another donut story in your book.
We read last night, the Paul Bunyan Cook Chanty in Wisconsin Dells,
where people come in and just buy the donuts.
Yes.
Because I mean, we've eaten there in the donuts are incredible.
And that's what people know is the donuts.
But the thing that this quirky about that is,
you know, Wisconsin's big ol' lumberjack, you know,
back in the 1800s and early 1900s.
So, but the donuts were a staple of,
so it's true, they were a staple of the lumberjack camp.
Every morning the cooks had donuts.
And sometimes they would even bring it out to the woods,
where the men were working when they brought their watch out.
They would bring donuts too.
So that's why they do it.
And they really are incredible donuts.
Have you had any of those?
I went there years and years ago, my daughter was a little.
But if it's food, I probably had it.
I don't use it.
I don't remember if I had their donuts there.
I did eat breakfast there, though.
I know that.
We're going to take a quick break on the other side.
I know we said we're going to talk about your stories,
but I know I promise that.
We'll talk, we'll get your stories in there.
Do you have anything in the book about that flagpole in Shavoygan?
Did you ever see that flagpole?
It's the tallest flagpole in America.
My wife and I were there.
We stopped by there.
This thing is huge.
The flag weighs over 250 pounds and has to be replaced every three months.
There is, it's a hollow flagpole for men and women who ever work there.
To go up and down to do the flag.
You do it from the inside.
And it's.
I didn't know that.
Yeah, we didn't know that.
Well, you got to look it up.
It's the biggest flagpole in the.
I'll send you pictures.
I'll email them to you.
Text them to you.
The biggest flagpole in America.
And it's in Shavoygan.
It's in a church.
Go ahead.
It's on the.
Is that.
Yes, a charity.
That's it.
That's the one.
The insurance company owns it.
Yep.
Have you seen that the mashed potato or the potato masher yet?
No.
But hold that.
Hold that.
Hold that thought.
Okay.
I know I said it was going to get to your favorite one.
So I promise I will.
We're talking to Tom Manis and Christy Flickmanis wrote the book.
Secret Wisconsin.
A guide to the weird, wonderful and obscure.
And we're talking for next.
Another few minutes or Tom Manis and Christy Flickmanis.
They wrote the book.
Secret Wisconsin.
A guide to the weird, wonderful and obscure.
Now, I did promise you get some of your stories in there.
Give us a couple of yours now.
And I won't bring up any more of mine.
So go ahead.
So we're not really supposed to say they're our favorites.
But this one really is probably my favorite one in the entire book.
In James Cole.
There's the covenants.
It's above an Irish pub.
And let me add to it the before I get into this.
We wrote the book because we want people to get out and see things.
Take a road trip.
And so there's something close to you no matter where you're at the state.
We made sure that we put stuff around the entire state.
So somebody has something close to you.
And so if you want to experience everything in the book,
it will only cost you $64.80.
Because we like cheap and low cost.
Because to be honest, I mean it's expensive for families to get out and do things.
So I don't know that same note.
The cozy and a James roll.
We put, we, we called it the tripling egg rolls because the egg rolls are two-day recipe.
And people will travel when they come back to James roll from all over the country
and they will bring a cooler in their order ahead of time.
30, 40, even 100 egg rolls at a time.
And they will take them back on the plane in a cooler or in the car wherever they're going.
So that got our attention.
We thought that was kind of quirky, right?
But the cozy and started, it's the second oldest Chinese restaurant in the nation
that's been at the same location.
So it's over, it's been there for over 100 years.
And it started when the owner, now owner's mom,
she was a popular Chinese chef at several Milwaukee restaurants
who owned, opened her her own Chinese restaurant.
So not the cozy and a James roll.
And then the son who, having his wife, they run it now.
And it's telling you how old it's been.
It's been there.
They're getting ready to retire soon.
But he grew up there as a kid, having his brother.
But if you go in, it's so cool because it's got the same benches when they open.
It's got an old phone booth from the 20s.
Old wooden phone booths.
People go in there and they still make phone calls because it's so quiet and it's silent.
And of course, you know, you want to get the selfie.
But the other thing about that too is,
the owner's dad was one of the six Chinese survivors from the Titanic.
He was the last rescued from the wreckage.
He was the last person wreckage rescued.
They found them floating on a big piece of wood.
Many say that it was one of the state room doors.
And James Cameron, you know, James Cameron,
who made the movie Titanic.
He made a documentary about the story called the six.
So there's a lot of depth there and there's a lot of things there.
But the egg rolls are important.
And if you want to try an egg roll, it's $2.35.
And it's $2.35.
It comes into play with the entire book to experience the entire book of $64.80.
So yeah.
So if you wanted to do everything in this book, $64.00 and...
$80.00.
That's not bad.
That doesn't include, like, if you want to buy a donut at Oxford Bakery.
But, you know, in donations, most of the stuff in the book is free.
So here's something else for your next book.
Downtown Racine, again, I pass it every day,
is the Racine Art Museum.
It's called the Ram Racine Art Museum.
At one time it was a bank.
And it was a bank that was robbed by John Dillinger.
He took a hostage from the bank.
And in the movie with Johnny Depp,
they even talk about the bank he robbed in Racine.
And it's right.
And the building's still there.
It's the Racine Art Museum today.
Okay.
That's great.
Now, we have...
We'll add it to our list.
We have over 500 things for our second edition,
which we don't know when that's coming yet.
But our next book is...
This work with Johnson Roadside.
It's going to be a release, released on April 1st.
No joke.
No joke.
That's tough to do something on April 1st.
We were going to change the format back in 1991.
Change the format of our FM station here.
And they wanted to do it on April 1st.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
No one's going to believe it.
So do it April 2nd.
Hey, you guys are great.
We're going to have you back.
And your new book is coming on April 1st.
So let me know about that,
because I want to have you back to promote that book as well.
But we're going to have you back.
It's just so much...
You know, 80 smart stories in this book.
And we just did a couple of them.
Not even 10 of them.
Secret Wisconsin.
A guide to the weird, wonderful, and obscure.
Tom Manis and Christy Flickmanis.
Christy's an original Wisconsin native.
And Tom is a transplant from down south.
We're down south.
Asheville, North Carolina.
Oh, I'm sorry.
Outside of Gulf Texas.
Yeah, okay.
Yeah, okay.
I asked you to come down there.
What's that?
I rescued him.
Y'all.
I told people I lived in Atlanta.
Y'all.
Okay.
Hey, guys, hold on the line.
Hold on.
Don't go anywhere.
Okay.
And by the way, you can get this book anywhere you get books.
You get it.
Your local bookstore.
Amazon.
And then you chain bookstore.
You can get it all.
But you guys recommend.
Go to your local bookstore to try to buy it first.
And see if they can get it for you.
Secret Wisconsin.
A guide to the weird, wonderful, and obscure.
Tom Manis and Christy Flickmanis.
