10 Reasons You Need to Attend Cheese Days

Saturday morning, after spending a Friday night in; binge watching Sons of Anarchy, I woke up feeling refreshed and ready for the day. The sun was shining, there was a slight breeze in the air and my schedule was wide open. Don't you love weekends like that? When you have no plans?

Like a lot of of people, I checked my social media accounts to see what was going on, and a lot of people were mentioning "Cheese Days." Cheese Days? I'd never been and obviously with a name like that, and the fact that it was in Wisconsin, there was no chance this was going to stink (like really bad cheese). My curiosity was peaked and when I told my boyfriend we should go, I didn't get any push back. It didn't take long for him to fire up the motorcycle and before we knew it, we were on our way.

I had no idea what to expect. I'd been to Monroe before but all I knew about the town was that it had a brewery and distillery. I had no idea that it had so much character, charm and most importantly- delicious food and ice cold beer.

If you've never been to Cheese Days, which is every two years (it really should be every year in my opinion), then here's reasons for you to make sure you don't miss out in 2018.

1. The best dang cheese curds in the world.

These are the best cheese curds I've ever eaten; I guarantee you won't find better anywhere. To give you an idea as to how awesome they are, the line was over three blocks long; but everyone assured me they were worth the wait, and they were. The only mistake I made was sharing them. Get your own.

2. Beer, so much beer.

This is the best place to enjoy and try new beers from all over Wisconsin and northern Illinois. They had all the local favorites and then some. I bet I tried three or four different beers that I'd never heard of that night.

3. Live music.

No matter what your taste in music is, there is something for everyone. I counted four stages. There was polka music, rock, top 40 and country. A couple of bands that I really enjoyed were the Love Monkeys and Boogie and the YoYoz; who have an amazing female singer that sings "Sweet Child of Mine" better than Axl Rose.

4. Be a part of their Heritage.

People from Monroe really embrace their Swiss heritage. Step into any of their restaurants or bars and you'll feel like you're chilling on the slopes of the Swiss Alps; they even sell t-shirts that say, "Swiss Lives Matter."

5. It's not just about drinking beer.

Cheese Days is fun for the entire family with rides, games and vendors.

6. The people.

You won't meet nicer people than the people at Cheese Days. It's probably the beer and cheese, but people from Monroe are so nice. I wanted to move there by the end of the night. We had people offer us a place to say, let us cut in line for cheese curds and everyone was just so helpful and polite.

7. The food.

It's not all about cheese. There were so many food vendors and food trucks that we had no idea where to start or what to eat; we wanted it all. There's paninis, roasted corn, food on sticks and amazing BBQ, like smoked meat so good you don't need sauce.

8. Shopping

Not only do they have several vendors selling any and everything having to do with cheese and beer, but downtown Monroe has one of the cutest squares filled with Swiss shops, consignment stores and more.

9. Minhas Brewery and Distillery

If you've never been on one of their tours, this is the best time to do it. They even offer a tour of their brewery, distillery and new winery as part of one tour known as the "Minhas Trifecta."

10. Great people watching.

Men dressed in drag, people dressed up like cheese, cute kids, drunk people, you name it. People from all walks of life, from all over, come to cheese days. There was never a dull moment as you sat down with your cheese curds and watched all the interesting people walk by.

Are you excited? Can you taste the beer and the cheese already? If you've been to Cheese Days before, what is your favorite part?