Tips, leads, stories from travelers, plus Roadsideamerica.com Team reports on quirky museums, ironic monuments, and must-see oddities! Trip planning caution: Some tips may not be verified. Over time, attractions change, move, burn down. What's a vacation without a little risk? Submit your own tip.
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Waukesha, Wisconsin - Gertrude Basse the Cow Gertrude Basse the Cow. [Bill Bansemer, 09/10/2009]Gertrude Basse the Cow:
Address: 2101 Delafield St., Waukesha, WI [Show Map]
Directions: Golden Guernsey Dairy Coop. Across the street from the Waukesha County Expo Center and about 1/4 mile from the Crites Field Airport.
Waukesha, Wisconsin - Gertrude Basse the Cow Bassie the Cow is on the property of the Golden Guernsey Dairy Coop. a division of Foremost Farms. It certainly is a big cow looking similar to the Big Cow at the Cedar Crest Specialties in Manitowoc, WI.
According to the company, the Guernsey cow who greets visitors at the GG Golden Guernsey Dairy plant in Waukesha is named Gertrude Basse (pronounced Baaaaaahssy). Gertrude Basse is 12 feet tall, made of fiberglass, weighs 400 to 500 pounds and cost about $3,000 when the company purchased it around 1970. The Wisconsin Guernsey Breeders Association paid for half of the cost.
Basse was vandalized in 1977 when an 18-year-old Waukesha man rammed his car into her and broke off two of her legs. The damage was repaired for $574 by Sculptured Advertising Company in Sparta, Wis., (F.A.S.T. Corporation of Sparta is an outgrowth of Sculptured Advertising -- it has had about three incarnations). [Mark Bertieri, 09/20/2007]
Gertrude Basse the Cow:
Address: 2101 Delafield St., Waukesha, WI [Show Map]
Directions: Golden Guernsey Dairy Coop. Across the street from the Waukesha County Expo Center and about 1/4 mile from the Crites Field Airport.- Waukesha, Wisconsin - Nike Missile Site There has never been a timetable on the Cold War Museum presence on the base and fund-raising has just begun on the $300,000 project. Architectural plans were completed only earlier this year. The Powers/Khrushchev visit was an activity of the Midwest chapter, and both are involved with preservation efforts across the country.
The former mess hall is at the entrance while the museum plans call on the expansion of the "blast building" or CQ further to the right. The water reservoir was built after it was closed down.
The launch area still boasts a building to the right of the entrance as well as lighting. The land will soon again be under city control and turn into a hiking park. [Chris Sturdevant, 09/10/2009]
Nike Missile Base:
Address: Waukesha, WI [Show Map]
Directions: Hillcrest Park is on Davidson Ave. about 1 mile East of the Hwy 164 and E. Main St. interscetion. Nike Battery 74 is located about 1 block East of the Hwy 164 and E. Broadway (Cty Hwy D) intersection. 
Waukesha, Wisconsin - Nike Missile Base From 1956 to 1964 what is now Hillcrest Park was a Nike Command and Control Center. The actual Ajax and Hercules missiles were located about 1 mile to the South (Nike Battery 74). The site is half of the missile system (it was one of eight missile sites that ringed Milwaukee) that defended the heavy manufacturing plants and residents in Milwaukee and Chicago.
Still on the Hillcrest Park site are blast buildings, troop quarters, a circular water reservoir, and a radar tower. There is also a historical marker that was dedicated in 1988.
In 2005 the sons of Francis Gary Powers (Francis Gary Powers Jr.) and Nikita Khrushchev (Sergei Khrushchev) together visited the Hillside Park site to explore the possibility of creating a Cold War Museum there. Unfortunately their visit did not raise enough money to start the museum. As for where the missiles were located, all that is left is an old guard shack at the entrance. The land has been turned over to the city for a park. [Mark Bertieri, 03/11/2008]
Nike Missile Base:
Address: Waukesha, WI [Show Map]
Directions: Hillcrest Park is on Davidson Ave. about 1 mile East of the Hwy 164 and E. Main St. interscetion. Nike Battery 74 is located about 1 block East of the Hwy 164 and E. Broadway (Cty Hwy D) intersection.- Waukesha County, Wisconsin - Giant Chicken A large white chicken stands atop a table in front of the
local Egg Farm on Hwy. 59 west of Waukesha. This chicken looks REAL -- unlike
the much touted Big Chicken of Marietta, Georgia which is rather robot like.
The giant chicken was already there when I first moved to the area in 1976. The egg farm is still in existence. The chicken looks northward across the highway -- wistfully dreaming of that most sought after of havens, a cottage in the northwoods! [Heidi, 11/09/2000]
Giant Chicken:
Address: Waukesha County, WI
Directions: Hwy 59 west out of Waukesha about 4 miles. The chicken is on the left side of the highway-just after crossing Saylesville Creek.
