And people come from all over.

Prospect Heights, Ill., northwest of Chicago: >Barb and Ray Zurawski were amazed to see the Ruf's Confectionery store - especially the ceiling. Second on their agenda was to find some cheese curds.

"We like architecture," Barb said.

This was Zurawski's first Cheese Days. They were on their way to Lake Wisconsin to celebrate their 31st anniversary and came 70 miles out of their way to attend Cheese Days, after seeing a large Cheese Days ad in the Daily Herald. The couple used the shuttle bus from ShopKo, because they were pulling a boat.

Rockford, Ill.: >Jeff Smith and his friends made the ride on their three new Harley motorcycles, not that they needed Cheese Days as a reason to ride.

They came to "sample all the food," Smith said. "And now, we're looking for cheese curds."

With a Mountain Dew bottle in his hand, Smith said he had heard they could drink beer on the Square, but "we finished ours up too quickly," he said.

He and John George, with a bottle of water, had eaten lunch Saturday at Baumgartner's, where, like Flanagan's Shenanigans and Bob's Pub, there was standing room only, because the taverns take out their tables for Cheese Days.

George has been to Cheese Days several times. He had the brick cheese and salami sandwich and Huber Bock beer.

"It's is a classic," he said.

Lena, Ill.: >Polka Princess McKenzie Chapman, 10, was on the Square Saturday afternoon with her grandparents Joyce and Don Bates, Orangeville, Ill., looking for a brat.

"We can't find a brat," Joyce Bates said.

Since the age of four, Chapman has been singing and dancing with the Greg Anderson Band, who were performing at the Cheesemaker's Ball at Turner Hall Saturday and again on Sunday.

Chapman was in an accident in early August when the four-wheeler she was driving went over a retaining wall and her head hit on concrete below.

"She was Med-flighted to Rockford Memorial Hospital, and we thought we were going to lose her," Don Bates said. Now she has three plates in her head, "and a whole mess of screws." Chapman's soft bangs covers the only scar still visible on her forehead.

Chapman said she'll eat a beer brat but likes her brats plain.

Pocahontas, Iowa: >Evan Hooper, 17, came to Cheese Days with his family.

"My uncle told me about it, and I was in the area," he said.

Hopper was in Mt. Horeb visiting his dad, Paul, and the UW campus in Madison. His uncle John Hooper is from Union, Ill.

"The cheese tent - that was cool, because I got to taste all those different cheeses," he said.

Limburger, he didn't like, but he did like the chipotle Havarti. He had tried some cheese curds; those were "awesome."

His next stop?

"Find a funnel cake," he said.

• • •

This Cheese Days was a returning to better times for some Wisconsinites.

Fort Atkinson: >Francie Cloute and Gary Hendricks were at Cheese Days celebrating an anniversary, of sorts. They have been dating for three months, but they dated for three years in high school in Beloit - 40 years ago. Then they lost touch.

Cloute found him again after she created a My Space page for a computer class. On a whim, she typed in his name, found a match and sent an inquiring e-mail. They have been dating - again - ever since.

"It was meant to be," Cloute said.

Hendricks created his page at the urging of friends but hadn't looked at it since March 2007. Cloute hasn't been back to her page, either.

Elkhorn: >Friends Courtney Kuzelka and Katlyn Rockwell, both 14, found relief from the 82-degree heat in the shadow of Amcore Bank. They arrived with Kuzelka's parents at about 1:30 p.m. Saturday. An hour later, they had walked around the Square, seen the antique cars and were thinking about finding some cheese curds and lemonade.

"I like it, especially the (antique) cars," Kuzelka said about Cheese Days.

"It's pretty cool. It feels like you're at home," Rockwell said.

"Yeah, it looks like our hometown," Kuzelka added.

Both girls said they felt comfortable talking to anybody on the street - even the motorcyclists who passed by them. Elkhorn has a population of about 7,300.

Monroe: >Long-time resident Dorothy Holloway said she "really enjoys the Swiss music and mixing with people."

"I always buy a souvenir, and my friend likes the cheese curds," she said.

Cheese curds are readily available in Monroe anytime, but she said they taste better at Cheese Days.