Simply Norma

As we traveled through Minnesota past the town of Brainerd, we stopped at the Crow Wing State Park.

We were really impressed with this park as it was clean and has been kept up very well. It meanders along the Mississipi River and has a lot of cultural history. The Crow River and the Mississippi River merge together at this location.

We started our walk down the Historic Trail and then headed down the Red River Trail for a bit.

It is believed  that the origin of the name Crow Wing comes from the island formed as the river splits before emptying into the Mississippi.

“Although the Red River Trails served all types of travelers, they primarily carried trade between St. Paul and Red River settlements near Winnipeg and Pembina. This section was known as the Woods Trail.”  It went through the forest, steep hills and boggy lowlands.

We found signs for both a Catholic and a Lutheran mission church. The church below is a memorial in honor of Father Francis Xavier Pierz who established the first Catholic mission in 1852 in North Central Minnesota. It sits on the original site of the old mission church.

“Crow Wing was then a very hard place; composed of three classes of people; Indians, Half Breeds and some Lumber-men. Whisky flowed like water … it was one of the most wicked places there has ever been in Minnesota, or in the North-west.” — Rev. E. Steele Peake

The memorial above was in memory of Father Lautishar. He was born in Austria in 1820 and arrived in Crow Wing in June 1858 to assist Father Pierz. He froze to death while crossing the Red Lake. He was buried in St. Francis Cemetery in Crow Wing and his body was later moved to Duluth.

Here are a couple more pictures of the area.

Very pretty state park. Next time we’ll take the longer trail.

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Traveling along Highway 2 heading west, we decided to see some waterfalls along the way. The first one — well, I won’t even mention it as there was nothing there. The road gave us 4 different directions to go with no signs so we headed to our second waterfall.

The second waterfall is Saxon Waterfalls which is on the Montreal River.

We drove up to see the following sign

We knew there was a boat ramp in this area as we saw a sign for it so we kept poking around until we found something.

We found the dam (with no water) and the lake by driving around to the other side.

We know there are falls somewhere around here. The sign says so!

There’s the boat ramp … and the lake …

Oh — wait. Here they are. They are so small. Tee hee …

Unfortunately, we did not have the privilege of having internet directions to get us to the actual 90 foot falls. (Click here to read about them) These falls are not visitor friendly.

Time to head to the next waterfall — the Superior Falls. I don’t know what is going on in Wisconsin with the signs for the waterfalls — unless they don’t want people to check out the falls. This is the highway sign — we almost missed the turn.

Superior Falls is located on the Montreal River just a few hundred yards from Lake Superior.

There is a hydro plant next to the falls.

We didn’t think we were going to be able to see the falls because of this large fence.

We were rewarded for being diligent in finding these waterfalls. Very beautiful!

From these waterfalls we headed west in Wisconsin towards Duluth. We stopped at a scenic bypass that overlooked Lake Superior and the Apostle Islands but they couldn’t be seen very well from here.

We then stopped in the city of Ashland, Wisconsin at Bayview Park to stretch our legs.

Because of the beautiful day, we also saw a beautiful view.

Our choice now was whether to stay on Highway 2 or head north along Lake Superior on Highway 13. We chose Highway 13 — mainly because we weren’t sure we were going to be this way again so we decided to take this opportunity.

The first few miles were rather boring. For most of Highway 13, you really can’t see the lake although when you look at a map it appears that you will be right next to the lake. Overall, it was scenic — just not “lake” scenic.

We made our way westward to Duluth. This town of almost 90,000 people reminded me of Seattle. The town is built on a hill that faces Lake Superior. It has steep hills very similar to Seattle. It seems more condensed though. I didn’t like the feel of the city — it didn’t flow to me.

Rather than spend the night in Duluth, we continued west and stopped at a rest stop called Thompson Hill Travel Information Center. The Center sits atop a hill and has a beautiful view of the valley and of Duluth.

We really wanted to stop for the evening before the sun set and finally stopped in a small town called McGregor which is on Highway 210. At first we weren’t sure we were going to be able to find lodging but we did locate a hotel called the Country Meadows Inn.

We were a little hesitant to stay at this Inn. First, it was 5:30 in the evening and the parking lot was totally empty. Then, when we walked inside, the place smelled like the swimming pool which means they are using too much solution in the pool.

A shriek from a little girl was soon hushed by one of the females behind the counter. We’re sure this Inn is run by an Indian family.

Well, we thought, why not? The man behind the counter checked us in and we headed to our room. Since I have allergies to strong smells, I had specifically asked him if they used Downy or fragrances on their sheets or towels. No, he said, just some on the carpet. The “some” turned out to be a lot and I had to open a window to breathe.

The room was clean although they use cheaper furnishings and toiletries. The towels are thin. A plunger in the bathroom made me think we would have problems but we didn’t.

After going out to dinner, we came back and the room smelled a little better. The small refrigerator was unplugged and had a cup inside filled with white “stuff” and a note that said “baking soda.” Pretty tacky.

The Inn has free Wi-fi available. Unfortunately, their internet has a virus. When you do a search on the internet, you are directed to an ip address in Ukraine. The sites that came up were sites with advertising on them. This happened with each site that I visited. After I searched for the site a second time, it directed me to the correct place.

I’m not sure the Inn knows that they have a virus and will be sending them an email to let them know they should have someone check it.

Night time came quickly enough. Next — on to Brainerd!

 

Every vacation must come to an end. Ours is ending in Door County but will continue as we travel through Wisconsin and Minnesota.

We woke up to a rather bleary looking day. Rain is coming – we’re sure of it.

We had considered trying the White Gull Inn Restaurant for dinner earlier in the week but when we went they only had fish boils for dinner so we went elsewhere. (To read more on fish boils, click here.)

This morning we went there for breakfast. It’s quite a busy place even for a Tuesday morning at 10 a.m.

The White Gull Inn is a bed and breakfast in Fish Creek, Wisconsin. Their entry is very inviting — clean and with beautiful flowers.

For breakfast, we had the cranberry muffin (yummy but a little dry), the Nice Guy Hash ( homemade hash brown potatoes, cooked with onions, peppers and mushrooms, topped with melted Wisconsin cheddar and a dollop of sour cream) and apple pancakes. The hash was pretty good. The apple slices you see on top tasted old. The presentation could have been a little better also.

I think if we would have ordered something with cherry (like the cherry pancakes or cherry french toast) everything would have been perfect as it appears that that is their specialty.

Overall, it wasn’t a great breakfast but it was a good one. We’ll have to head back there when we return to Door County.

After breakfast, we started our journey to the most northwest tip of Michigan — Ironwood.

We passed through Sturgeon Bay on the way out of Door County and were glad that we stayed further north on the peninsula. It seemed a little busy for us.

Rain pelted us as we left and continued almost all the way to Michigan. Once we reached Wausau, WI, we took Highway 51 directly north.

We knew we were in the “country” when the radio station announced the noon obituaries for the area. Then, we passed a truck with about 4-5 dead deer in the back. He pulled over to collect another dead one. We have been fortunate not to hit any.

About this time, I started getting a migraine again so asked my husband to drive. I seem to be getting the “start” of them more often and am not sure what is bringing them on.

Most of the small towns we passed seemed very nice with cafes, lodging, gas stations and a few knick knack-type stores.

Then we reached Hurley, Wisconsin. Directly across from it is Ironwood, Michigan. For some reason, I thought that we would be travelling onto a large bridge to cross over but I had to laugh when my husband passed over a tiny creek and said “We’re in Ironwood.”

The town is really small although when you read about it, it boasts that it’s “the major city in the area with a population of over 6,000 – the shopping, cultural, and recreational center serving 50,000 people within a fifty mile radius.”

Uh — okay. We thought we had missed something and ran into the Wisconsin Visitor Center which is in Hurley, Wisconsin directly across the Montreal River.

Inside the visitor center was a large statue in tribute to all the people who have mined in the area. I thought it was quite impressive.

By now we were getting tired so decided to find a place to stay. We chose the AmericInn in Ironwood and we were happy with our decision. The room was more like a suite and everything smelled clean without the smell of fragrances. They also had 2 TV’s in the room — one in the bedroom and one in the sitting area. Homemade cookies were waiting for us in the lobby area once we returned from dinner.

For dinner, we went to the Ironwood Maplewood Steakhouse. We were greeted by the manager — very nice man. When seated, the waitress brought over a bowl of peanuts. How fun!

For dinner, I had a chicken salad although I had meant to order the nutty chicken salad with craisins and pecans. Oh well … my salad was good just the same.

The Maplewood Steakhouse is a very nice restaurant and bar combined. It wasn’t rowdy though. There were TV’s everywhere but they weren’t turned up really loud.

Then — finally, bedtime! Tomorrow we head to Duluth, Minnesota!

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Day 3 (continued)

After having breakfast at the Village Cafe in Egg Harbor, we headed over to the eastern part of the peninsula to the Whitefish Dunes State Park.

Another beautiful day meant that the drive was relaxing and peaceful. The entrance fee for one day was $10. Once that was paid, we put drinks in our backpack and headed to the Red Trail which was recommended to us by the park ranger.

We decided to start our walk on the beach with a beautiful view of Lake Michigan.

The sound of the waves lapping up on the shore — well, what can I say? I enjoy being around water. It brings great peace to my soul.

It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a sky so blue and crisp. The smell of the water and the blue sky — perfection!

The Red Trail is an hour long walk. From the beach, we took a boardwalk for a little ways to an observation deck.

It was a long way up but well worth the walk as we were able to see the lake and the valley view from the platform.

The rest of the walk on the Red Trail was very pretty. Some of the trail was tree-lined while other parts were open fields.

At the end of the trail a big sign warned of poison ivy and pointed down to where we could see what it looked like.

The ranger came over and explained to us that the oil on the plant is what causes the skin to react with itchiness. Even when the plant has no leaves, the root and the berries of the plant can still cause an allergic reaction.

We took a little longer than an hour for our walk since the day was so beautiful.

In the afternoon we went to the Cherry Hut for a couple of pieces of cherry pie. For dinner, we went to Cooper’s Corner in Fish Creek. Swimming in the evening completed our day.

Time for a good night’s sleep.

 

Day 3

We are staying at the Landmark Resort in Egg Harbor, Wisconsin. The location is central to both the north and south ends of the peninsula although we have spent most of our time at the north end.

The Landmark Resort sits on 40 acres and has 4-5 buildings that are not connected to each other. Each building has its own name — the name of ours is the Navigator. There are both indoor and outdoor swimming pools. This time of year, only the indoor pool is open. For adults, the pool is open 24/7 and is located in the main building where you check in.

There are driveways to each of the buildings at the resort.

The resort is off the main highway that goes through the peninsula — Highway 42. Since we arrived on a Saturday, there were no “view” rooms available. They did tell us the room we would be staying in had a view but the view was of trees and the parking lot so I went back to clarify my understanding of the “water” view we were interested in.

On Sunday, we moved to a water view room. We were thankful we did. The view was stupendous and is of the Green Bay.

The resort is a timeshare that has condominiums. The rooms are basically all the same on the inside except for the view. They all have kitchenettes. Our room has a bedroom and a sleeper sofa in the living room. There are no fireplaces — gas or otherwise.

During our stay, the place was pretty quiet as most everyone left Sunday morning. The daily rate for the resort was $91 for the Green Bay view.

We found out from one of the locals that most of the shops will close for the winter the last weekend in October. Once it starts snowing, quite a few shops and restaurants close their doors for the winter.

(Day 3 to be continued)

 

Day 2

We woke up to a cool morning with an expectation of rain later in the day. After eating breakfast, we took a drive to Ellison Bluff County Park in Ellison Bay. The drive was picturesque. Absolutely beautiful! The leaves on the trees are still turning colors.

Once inside, the road got narrower and the leaves turned more yellow.

The park has a wooded bluff that overlooks the Green Bay. Steps lead you to a lookout.

The overlook sits high up on the bluff and looks out at the Green Bay.

Looking down, you can see algae growing in the water.

A very nice drive and lookout.

From here, we drove and stopped at a small coffeehouse called the Brew. They had one of the best hot chocolates I’ve ever had — made from ghirardelli chocolate. The coffeehouse had ample seating and wi-fi but we took ours “to go.”

From here we went to an Asian craft store called Linden’s of Ellison Bay. There were many things from China in this store. Most of the items were very pricey and it was hard for me to gauge whether they truly were worth what the asking price was.

I did notice one large chest of drawers which was very beautiful. The outside had recently been re-finished but when you opened a drawer it felt like it was falling apart. When working with antiques, I’ve learned that you’re not supposed to re-finish the item but leave it as it is in order for it to keep it’s antique status.

Oh — there was a cemetery in the back yard also.

There are lots of shops with crafts and art. A lot of the crafts are from local artists.

At the northernmost tip of Door County one can take a ferry that goes over to Washington Island.  The island is located 6 miles off the tip of the peninsula. The ferry accommodates both cars and walk-on passengers.

We walked through an area (forested) that was not well-kept up although it had at least one trail. Unfortunately, we did not feel comfortable walking the trail as it was right next to the edge of a bluff and the hikers who were returning cautioned us to be very careful. Since we did not have hiking boots we decided to skip this hike.

Our day ended with dinner at Gibraltar Restaurant in Fish Creek. The food and restaurant was excellent. When we arrived, it was a tad bit chilly but the waiter turned the heat on when I mentioned it. We would definitely go back to this place.

 

A few days of vacation led me and my husband on a trip to Door County in eastern Wisconsin.

Day One

We stopped at a friend’s family cemetery in Gilman, Wisconsin, a very small town of less than 500 people. The cemetery was a little hard to find as we weren’t sure which way to go and our GPS did not work in the area.

The chiming of church bells led us to a funeral at the local church. A long line of cars  led the way to a cemetery. Could it be this was the cemetery we were looking for? In a town this small, we decided that we would follow the long line of cars and see if this was Meadow Brook Cemetery. Indeed it was.

Not having been to too many cemeteries during a funeral without actually attending the funeral, I wondered if it would be okay to walk around and look for the headstones of the family name of Brothers. Since the funeral was on the other end of the cemetery, I decided it should be okay so my husband and I started our hunt for the headstones.

We were fortunate to find them right away. I took pictures so that I could send prints to my friend. This way, he can have a remembrance as he is 79 and will not be able to head back to Wisconsin again.

Sounds a little odd that I’d be at a cemetery looking up people who I don’t know, doesn’t it? The way I look at it is that I get to know the person I know a little bit better because of the stories they tell me about themselves. The cemetery made their stories more real. Unfortunately, we were not able to find the actual town where my friend lives, Polley, Wisconsin.

The area is really pretty and is definitely a farming community.

In addition, we saw signs warning us of Amish buggies that might be on the road. The clue to most of the farms that were owned by the Amish were that there were no cars in the driveways. And — I saw this Amish farming plowing his field.

I wanted so badly to knock on this farmer’s door, introduce myself and see if they would tell me a little bit about their beliefs and culture. But, my more practical husband decided it would be a bit much for him. So we continued eastward to our destination, Door County.

After checking into the resort where we’re staying, we headed off to dinner at The English Inn in Fish Creek, Wisconsin. We made reservations for 7:30 p.m. but had to wait a half hour in order to be seated.

The entryway has two cool “knights in shining armor.”

This was my date. (No, just kidding. This mannequin was standing in the entryway.)

The service was great. Unfortunately, my meal was not very good. I had the Pistachio Encrusted Whitefish but it was doused in too much butter and had too many pistachios on top. I could not finish eating it.

I ordered scalloped potatoes which I thought would be a “side” on my dish but I got a side platter instead which included a LOT of potatoes.

Again, the service was great once we were seated but we don’t intend on returning to this restaurant. For the price of the food (expensive) it should have tasted a lot better.

 

I found this video rather interesting … but, no minority women?

500 years of women in art —