It’s World Goat Day, so we’re heading to a spot in Sister Bay, Wisconsin, where goats are the GOATs.
Why else would they get to go up on the roof?
The roof in question is on top of Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant.
And it became a summer goat lair in the early 1970s.
Back then, Johnson and his friend, Harold “Wink” Larson, would get each other animals as prank birthday presents.
Larson gave Johnson a goat named Oscar, and put it up on the roof of the restaurant.
He said he’d noticed the grass on the establishment’s sign and figured the owner might need an animal to graze on it, just like how some Scandanavian farmers built their houses into hillsides so their animals could eat the roof.
And a tradition was born.
The goats aren’t stuck on the roof; in fact, they’re really only up there during Door County tourist season.
Each morning from late May to October, weather permitting, a pickup truck goes to the Johnson farm, which is the goats’ primary residence.
None of them have to go, but usually like four to six of them do.
They ride about a mile and a half to the restaurant; then the pickup truck pulls up to a spot in the back where there’s like a goat staircase.
And then the goats hang out up there and watch the crowds of people who come to the restaurant for some Swedish food and/or some goat viewing, until they head back to the farm in mid-afternoon.
They do eat some grass, too, but the sod roof is also maintained by human professionals from time to time.
And while you can’t beat the in-person goat experience, there’s also a goat cam so you can check out who’s on the roof virtually.
Today in 2023, the start of a contest to find the laziest citizen in Montenegro!
A resort there holds an annual contest to see who can lay around for the longest.
At least seven contestants made it into day twenty!
Why Are There Goats on the Roof at This Swedish Restaurant in Wisconsin (Thrillist)
Montenegrins vie for record in lying down contest (Reuters)
