Browsing downtown shopping areas has become one of my favorite things to do when visiting a resort town. Along with souvenir and t-shirt shops, I’ll often find unique gift shops, wine tasting rooms, specialty food stores and boutiques. Inevitably I pick up a treat or two. Hayward, a resort town in Wisconsin’s Northwoods, is one of those towns. We spent an entire afternoon shopping and sampling our way through Hayward on our trip there last summer.
We started out tasting wine at Hook Stone Winery (10588 North Main Street), where for a few bucks we sampled all 13 of their wines, which are made from juice from Napa.
The Namekagon General Store (10519 Dakota Avenue) is a leather goods store, with many of the goods handmade right in the shop. I found stick barrettes, braided bracelets and ponytail holders that seemed like a throwback to the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. I couldn’t resist the buy-two-get-one-free deal on the barrettes and bracelets.
I got my cheese popcorn fix at the Hayward Main Street Gourmet Popcorn shop (10546 Main Street). The shop also sells sweet coated popcorn, flavorings and toppings.
Tremblay’s Sweet Shop (10569 Main Street) makes chocolates, caramels, brittles and other fine chocolates from scratch. They also sell old-fashioned penny candy displayed in barrels.
It’s hard to pass up ice cream on a summer afternoon, and West Dairy (15848 West Second Street), in business since 1954, had lots of flavors to choose from.
The treats in Sophie’s Dog Bakery (10554 South Main Street) looked really good. For a moment I was tempted to try one myself.
We checked out several others shops and boutiques before ending our afternoon with margaritas in the beer garden of Anglers Bar & Grill (10547 South Main Street).
As usual, I overdid it on the sweet treat purchases, stocking up with enough to last until our next resort town visit.
Disclosure: Our visit to Hayward, Wisconsin, was hosted by the Wisconsin Department of Tourism, but any opinions expressed in this post are my own.
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I love candy shops with that, they are so reminiscent of youth. Lots of great places to visit here!
I love candy shops too, and always end up buying a little something. I’m not sure if it’s to satisfy my sweet tooth or if I buy it for the nostalgia.
It was fun finding your site, especially about Tremblay’s Sweet Shop. They are my cousins and their fudge is amazing!!! My Mom’s family is from Hayward and I lived there for almost 3 years as a child. My grandparents owned the “Cabins at Smith Lake” and a few of my family members still live close to the original house. (I’m also related to the HS principal, owner of the Ben Franklin, attorney…etc. ) It is probably one of the most amazing places to live as a child and also raise a family. I’m going back to visit in 4 weeks and I can’t wait. Again, thank you for your wonderful review on such an amazing town!!! (by the way, don’t forget to grab a couple of bags of cheese curds to snack on!!)
How fun that your cousins own Tremblay’s Sweet Shop and that you have so many close ties to a fun resort town. I always pick up cheese curds when I’m in Wisconsin. And to think that a few years ago I didn’t even know what they were. They really do squeak.
Looking for a framed picture store in downtown Hayward, framed scenes, plus sports, animals and regular north wood scenes
Hi Louis,
I’ve passed your inquiry on to the folks at the Hayward Lakes Visitors & Convention Bureau and copied you on the message. They will be better able to answer your question.
— Connie