Jon Osburn takes The Spirit to the ‘kringle capital of the world’

August 10, 2018

Land Line Staff

|

With a three-stop tour of Wisconsin before him, Jon Osburn, skipper of OOIDA’s touring tractor-trailer, leaves Ohio behind.

The Spirit of the American Trucker is scheduled to be at the Petro travel center in Racine, Wis., on Sunday and Monday, Aug. 12-13. The Racine Petro is at I-94 and Highway 20, at Exit 333.

The Racine Petro has been owned since 1946 by the Willkomm family.


Racine is on the shore of Lake Michigan, about 25 mile south of Milwaukee. The city is known
for a Danish pastry, the kringle.

A kringle is a flaky, oval ring-shaped pastry with fruit or nut filling. It is the official state pastry of Wisconsin, according to StateSymbolsUSA.org, and Racine reigns as the kringle capital of the world.

The stop before Racine was at Truck World in Hubbard, Ohio. He got a hearty sampling of zydeco music and Cajun food at Truck World’s sixth annual Boogaloo Cajun Fest and Driver Appreciation Days. Drivers got free lunches and T-shirts on all three days.

“The food was good, and all of it was cooked there,” Jon said.

It wasn’t all Cajun food for Jon, though. One night he stopped in the Globe Restaurant at Truck World and had prime rib. The server brought him a 2½-inch thick slab of prime rib. When Jon told the server that, no, he wanted the small portion, the server told him that it was the small portion.

Friday night’s concert by Grammy award nominee accordionist Dwayne Dopsie was pretty entertaining, Jon said.

Whenever you see The Spirit tour truck, go say hello to Jon. He enjoys visiting about the Association’s activities and issues. You also can join OOIDA or renew your membership for $10 off the regular price there. Also, you can get vouchers for flu, shingles and pneumonia vaccines from Jon at The Spirit.

 Kringle was originally pretzel-shaped. Racine bakers adopted the easy-to-serve oval shape that contains more delicious filling. An authentic Danish Kringle is 32 layers of flaky dough filled with a variety of fruit and nut fillings. If you want to know more about Racine kringles, click here. (Photo courtesy Racine Danish Kringles)