Smack dab in the middle of the 90-mile span between Chicago and Milwaukee there is a little place called Kenosha. Actually, a not-so-little place – it’s the fourth largest city in Wisconsin. Like most places in between two bigger places, it’s easy to overlook as you fly by on the interstate, but it holds its own quite well, thankyouverymuch.

There’s the Kenosha that every I-94 passerby knows: The iconic Mars Cheese Castle, for all your interplanetary royal cheese needs. The Brat Stop, for all your, er, bratwurst needs. And, if you want to stretch municipal boundaries a bit, southward in Pleasant Prairie is the Jelly Belly warehouse, which offers free tours and jelly bean samples (note: jelly bean operations have moved to Tennessee, but the store and tours aren't going anywhere).

But what about the rest of Kenosha? The one that us tunnel-visioned travelers never bother to see as we’re rushing from point A to point B?

I was born in downstate Illinois, raised in Wisconsin, and have spent the last 20 years in and around Chicago, so I’ve driven through Kenosha literally 200+ times, but had never stopped or given it a second thought until recently.

Stricken with curiosity and a touch of directionless wanderlust, I set out one late-summer day to get to know Kenosha in earnest. If you find yourself in the area, here are a few destinations to get you and Kenosha better acquainted.

Lakes and Lighthouses

It’s that same Great Lake, but so much more accessible than in those aforementioned bigger cities. Take Highway 158 east for ten quick miles and you will pull up to Harborside Common Grounds, a coffee shop where your caffeine comes al fresco with a beautiful view of Lake Michigan. Street parking is ample and free as can be.

Just beyond the café is the Kenosha North Pier Lighthouse and Simmons Island Park (again with the free parking).

Walk down the pier to the lighthouse. Kick your shoes off. Play in the sand.

Streetcar Hopping

San Francisco’s got nothin’ on Kenosha. Ok, maybe some hills. But still.

For just $1 (50 cents for kids), you can take a two-mile tour of the Kenosha lakefront and downtown area on one of the city’s historic electric trolley cars. They’re clean and colorful and charming as hell.

Dusty Dinosaurs and Wooly Mammoths

Take an hour or so and get on with your Jurassic self.

The Kenosha Public Museum and the Dinosaur Discovery Museum are within walking distance of each other, and both are free. (Again with the free. Kenosha, you temptress.)

While both museums are small, you’ll want to pitch in the suggested donations after seeing the two of the most important wooly mammoth fossils in the world (both discovered in Kenosha County), and the Carthage College lab where actual dinosaur fossils are cleaned after excavation.

The Simple Pleasures

There’s more. A lot more than I could possibly fit into one day.

You could go to Scoops, an old-fashioned ice cream parlor, to eat ice cream for dinner.

You could spend an hour getting lost and drinking loose-leaf tea at Noveltea, a cozy used bookshop.

You could (and should) even stumble across a food truck called De La Rosa that sells walking tacos.

Scoops Ice Cream in Kenosha City Guide via The Midwestival

Walking Taco | Kenosha City Guide via The Midwestival

While my adventure was only a small introduction to Kenosha, this quick day trip was an important reminder to pull off at a new exit and take a look around the next time I’m making that same old drive.