Well, here we are in the Upper peninsula of Michigan, which is well off the beaten path for most Loopers. The photo at the right shows Lucky Us moored to the wall right in front of the Dock Master's Office, which also contained the bathrooms, which was extremely convenient. On our first Great Loop we went down the east side of Lake Michigan to Ludington, MI about halfway down the east side of Lake Michigan then we crossed the lake over to Milwaukee, WI. We missed this area all together, but we were running out of time as one of our few deadlines on the entire Loop was to be off Lake Michigan around Labor Day when we got to Chicago. This time we started in Chicago so it seems like we have plenty of time to explore, which means that we may be a little rushed at the end of the summer...
After we had docked, I looked across the shore front park, and I could not believe my eyes as it looked like a movie theater in a restored 4 store building. Wow, I thought. However, I was soon to be disappointed when I took Lucky on her obligatory first walk while the Admiral checked us into the marina. When we got so that I could see the marquis, I was very disappointed to see the sign (photo at left). Well, I could have been the eternal optimist since there is one official day left in Spring, but then reality set in. Maybe next time?
For lunch we found a nice old fashioned dinner. It was a step up from a true greasy spoon dinner called the Lighthouse Grill, and I had a great salad with dried cherries and nuts as well as grilled chicken. They also have some interesting variations of my favorite balsamic vinaigrette dressing. We are in cherry country, and I have learned that they serve them in several delicious forms. For example, the dried cherries can range from tart to fairly (artificially?) sweet. The restroom signs (photo at right) for this place were really unique both for the crossed legs and hands symbol and for the mirror backed cutout of the figure.
Well, you can tell from the look on the Admiral's face that she was a satisfied customer. I should also add here that whenever I am not being a satisfactory conversationalist at a meal, she will start taking pictures of us. I guess that I had failed the test yet again...
We had dinner at Murray's Pub and Grille, which for a pseudo-Irish Pub had a pretty good menu. It also had plenty of TVs in the bar section as well as a more real dining room and even an outdoor patio. This is yet another of the many buildings in the downtown that have been very nicely restored. The ones that had a sign were all restored seemingly with private monies.
Along this same waterfront street, we came to several whole blocks that had been "yarn bombed" (two photos above). All of the light poles and trees had been covered for several vertical feet in knitted wraps. We asked several locals who had done this, but apparently the wraps just appeared over night. Beautiful? I think not; however, it certainly is not something that I had ever seen before, and it definitely is eye catching. There were people walking along looking at each one as well as cars stopping to take in the view. I guess that it might have something to do with people being trapped inside during long cold winters???
We also passed some beautiful buildings, such as this church that had been constructed out of local limestone. The irregular shape of most of the stones indicates that they must have had some really good stone masons do the work. Once again, this church seems to have been lovingly restored to its original beauty. Menomonee and its twin city of Marinette across the river have a long heritage of ship building that continues today. The Marinette Ship Yard is constructing a whole series of new littoral combat (stealth) ships for the US Navy. In the 19th Century there were as many as eight steam powered saw mills in town, but ultimately they cut all of the hardwoods and the lumber industry moved further north.
A unique feature of this marina was an absolutely great boater's lounge. Most marinas have a boater's lounge, but the décor is more like modern salvation army resale store. They had taken an old water works plant and converted it into a lounge and meeting rooms worthy of an upscale yacht club. They had also prominently placed a sign stating that this had been done entirely using profits from the marina with no public funds involved.
The city had also made its own contributions to the beautification of the waterfront park (photo above). The stainless steel fish wind vane was pretty cool although the shiny surface made it difficult to photograph. The band shell is older, but they have regular concerts scheduled on weekends in the summer.
In the afternoon the three of us walked about a mile inland to a K-Mart, Mighty Pet and Ace Hardware for some supplies for that seemingly never ending stream of projects for the boat as well as a new walking harness. It seems that Lucky recently chewed up her "favorite" harness. The Admiral and I were both very tired after all of our walking today, but Lucky seemed to be going strong until about 8:00pm when she went to bed for good. I did offer to take her for a walk later, but she gave me her look that said don't push it or I'll bite... For once I really wanted to take her for a walk since my destination along the way had been the store in the photo at the left, but such is life. I guess that I will have to wait for an ice cream fix until after our short trip back across Green Bay to Fish Creek, Wisconsin tomorrow.
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