Happy Friday!

In today’s UpNorthNewsletter…

Facebook Turns 20: How a Wisconsin woman is using the social media site to find real friends.
Book Today: Now’s the time to make your Valentine’s reservations, and we found the state’s most “romantic” restaurants!
Social Security Turns 84: But will it live to see its 100th birthday?

Christina Lorey,

Community Editor, UpNorthNews

Using Facebook to find real friends

Julia Otis has moved 25 times in her 24 years on Earth. After landing in Texas in 2019, she once again found herself in a familiar situation: living in a new city, lonely, and looking to make friends. So, she opened Facebook and found a group offering exactly what she was looking for!

Now that she’s back in Wisconsin, Julia decided to start a similar community here. Called the “Wisconsin Girls Group”, the Facebook group–now 3,500+ ladies strong–is open to women 18 years and up across the entire state.

Click here to read our Q&A with Julia about how to join and what kind of events to expect.

FUN FACT: This Sunday marks 20 years since Facebook first launched as a Harvard-only social site called "TheFacebook"!

REMEMBER WHEN: Facebook Then & Now (in Photos)

Credit: Flickr

AROUND THE STATE IN 60 🔄

INSIDE THE REALMS - Lake Geneva’s popular Ice Castles are back with a new name: Winter Realms. And with temps much more comfortable than last weekend, it’s the perfect time to check them out! Here’s a video tour inside the immersive attraction.

YOU DECIDE - Where should Madison's new Amtrak station go? As city leaders consider eight specific locations — ranging from downtown on the isthmus to the old Oscar Mayer plant — for the new line to the Twin Cities, Milwaukee, and Chicago, they're asking for your input. Learn more here.

COMING SOON - A bigger scoreboard, a new scoreboard, and additional (local) food vendors are among the changes you can expect at AmFam Field this baseball season. This week, the Brewers announced some major upgrades. Click here to learn (& see) more.

Book Now! Why you should make your V-Day reservations today

Valentine’s Day is less than two weeks away, and according to the reservation app Resy, now is the time to book your table! Booking six to 10 days in advance of a major “dining-out” holiday is a good rule of thumb when it comes to securing your seat.

Now for the question of where to go…

Last year, Yelp turned heads — and even caught late night host Seth Meyer’s attention (watch here) — when it gave a restaurant named “Grampa’s” the title of Wisconsin’s most romantic restaurant.

FULL LIST: The Most Romantic Restaurant in Every State

While we can attest that Grampa’s does have great food (we recommend the Jabroni pizza, which has a blended pesto-tomato sauce as its base!), our state is definitively home to more romantic restaurants.

Here are 5 Diners’ Choice winners from OpenTable:

(Click on the underlined text to check out each restaurant’s online menu!)

Muse at Sentry in Stevens Point

Known For: Handmade pastas, fresh seafood, wet- and dry-aged steaks, and seasonal dishes made with local ingredients.

Walnut Room in Green Bay

Known For: Its extensive wine list of 200+ varieties, plus hand-crafted cocktails and ten drafts from around the world.

Opus at The Belfry House in Lake Geneva

Known For: A unique mix of Asian and French cuisine, showcased through its 5 or 7 course tasting menus.

Fleming’s in Brookfield

Known For: Hors d’oeuvres, prime steak, plant-based farm-to-table dishes, wine, and a long list of made-in-house desserts.

The Waterfront Restaurant & Tavern in La Crosse

Known For: USDA Prime beef and fresh day-boat seafood served along the picturesque banks of the Mississippi.

FULL LIST: The Most Romantic Restaurants in Wisconsin, According to OpenTable

Credit: The Pepperoni, Grampa's Pizza

News and commentary from

Founding Editor Pat Kreitlow

Happy Birthday, Social Security!

It was 84 years ago this week that the first Social Security check was delivered to Ms. Ida May Fuller of Ludlow, Vermont. Because of Social Security, she was able to retire from her job as a legal secretary at age 65 and not worry about falling into poverty in her senior years.

Despite eight decades of providing American workers with a retirement that’s free from the fear of growing destitute, Social Security remains in the crosshairs of some who want the program slashed or eliminated altogether—even as others work to strengthen the program and keep it reliable for today’s generation of workers.

As Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin campaigns for reelection this year, expect to see her draw a distinction between her support of Social Security and the views of her likely Republican challenger, businessman Eric Hovde, who frequently refers to programs like Social Security and Medicare as “entitlements” rather than earned benefits Americans paid into throughout their working lives.

Last time Hovde ran for Senate, he talked repeatedly about the need to put Social Security benefits further out of reach from many Americans by moving the retirement age.

“If you’re under 50, you’re gonna add two years to retirement age,” Hovde told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial board at the time. “If you’re under 40, you’re gonna add two more years, and if you’re under 30, you’re probably gonna have to add another year.” The Social Security retirement age today for many Americans is 67.

Baldwin, meanwhile, has proposed strengthening Social Security in ways that include raising the payroll tax cap on millionaires and billionaires and making it harder to privatize Social Security accounts.

Want the Max $4,873 Social Security Benefit? Here's the Salary You Need

Thanks for reading. This newsletter was written by Christina Lorey. UpNorthNews is happily free to read for everyone. Your financial support means a lot to us. Donate here.

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