Madeline Island, Part 1 - "How do I get there?!"

Tell me you've heard of Madeline Island - you haven't!?!?!?! That's ok, until I moved to MN and got to know some folks over the first few years, I had never heard of it either. But it's a shame now that I've gone - I should have gone much much sooner than last weekend. It sure seemed like a wonderful place to me.

First though, you have to get to Madeline Island. I mean, they don't put "island" in the name for nothing. It's an island in the middle of Lake Superior, part of the 22-island Apostle Island chain, that actually has no road access. And you're thinking, "No road goes to it? That's crazy in this day and age!" Well, it might very well be, but I think it suits the two towns and people involved just fine. Those two towns are Bayfield and La Pointe, WI, by the way.

Here's where we start:

You kind of get in your car and aim for the upper arm-pit-like corner of Wisconsin. Of course, this area of the country, as a recreation destination, is anything but the arm pit. Simply put, it's a beautiful part of the US. Perhaps one of those "last remaining, unspoiled" deals and all that.

Now, once you make your way to the small hamlet of Bayfield, WI, you need to get down to the docks. "Why?", you ask. Well, to get the ferry over to Madeline Island of course. You didn't think we chartered you a plane, did you?

This simple port greets pedestrians, bikers, and autos using the ferries:

I didn't find it too intimidating, or hard to find, but it doesn't hurt if I tell you how it works before you go. Next, get your round-trip or one-way ticket for the ferry:

I purchased the round-trip, with car, for one. (that's actually my little gas-sipper in the pic above).

Then, you wait until the crew tells you to drive your car on the ferry. Yes, you get to drive right onto the ferry for the ride over. It was pretty easy. If you can park a car in a tight garage space, you can do this. I don't have great pics of this as I was doing the driving, onto a ferry, not a good time to snap selfies. But, here's some of the layout on the craft:

Pretty little maids, all in a row... to save my life if the ship goes below...

Yes, sit in the guest lounge if you find it too windy for the main deck. But, on the deck you can see the lake, from all angles, as you make the 20 minute ride over to Madeline Island (aka La Pointe, WI). Don't blink, you might miss something:

You glide into "Mad Isle" and come to a safe stop. Of course, once the gate is down, you can drive your car right off onto the island (or walk, or ride your bike). Get ready to explore!

Welcome to serenity... Madeline Island, Part 2 soon...

"Barn Again", Tennessen Farm Fundraiser, Catawba, WI (pop. 108)

Imagine for a moment that your family has owned a farm in roughly the middle of Wisconsin for almost 100 years. During this farm's lifetime, a barn was built on it in 1936. That's 78 years ago now - do you even know anyone older than that? Well, as sometimes happens to barns, about 16 years ago this barn was in disrepair after a storm and rather than tear it down, the decision was made to rebuild it with the help of the community, through a fundraising event now known as "Barn Again". The farm would host a pot-luck event, get some drinks, offer hay rides, a bonfire, some local entertainment, and an evening of fun raffling with both silent and tin-can raffles. Don't know what a tin-can raffle is? Keep reading.

As you may have noticed, the barn is standing and in good condition. So why do they still host the fundraiser now? Well, they use the funds from the event to give scholarships to one male and one female high school graduate each year. They have helped many local students with their education. and what a great way to keep this cool event going. 

 Much to my delight, there is a schedule to the evening, and they stuck to it like clock work...

Once we had procured some tin-can raffle tickets, we then found drinks and the appetizer table. There were some really great apps, and everything was brought in from the community. We realized one half of the first floor of the barn was set-up with the silent auction items, and the other half was set-up with the tin-can raffle items. 

A tin-can raffle is like a silent auction, but different. You place your raffle tickets in tin-cans sitting next to the item you'd like to win. If a lot of people put their tickets in, your chances go down... unless you stuff all your raffle tickets into one can. It was a unique way to raffle items and also fairly self-serve, so the Tennessen family could mingle with guests and make sure everything else was running smoothly. Here, it looks like this...

Once people have had a chance to get drinks, mingle, have an appetizer, and according to the schedule, we are then invited to the second floor of the barn for a sit-down pot luck dinner. Though if someone had asked me point-blank if barns had more than on floor, I might have said "yes". However, I was not prepared for how nice and spacious this barn's second floor is. It looks a lot like the inside of a church, in my opinion, though not usually made with such nice materials. Don't believe me? Have a look at our "dining room" for the night...

So, you fill your plate with small portions from dozens of dinner items. Then, once you're stuffed, you fill a smaller plate with dessert items. Everything was delicious. After dinner, a north woods based barbershop chorus provided entertainment for all. Though no one would call their songs "current music" selections, the ones they chose showcased their musical talents and seemed to fit the audience perfectly (a lot of 50's classics). Everyone seemed to enjoy their performance a great deal. I believe they are officially known as the Lakeland Barbershop Chorus... ah, yes, that's what the schedule above lists them as...

After dinner and dessert, and the second portion of the chorus' program for the evening, our hosts got to the good stuff - who won the raffles?! This roll-call of winners didn't take too long, which was good because about 8:45pm a loud crack of thunder was heard by all and the rain started to come down. Cool winds began whipping around this 2nd floor of the barn and people began to speed everything up. 

I went home with a great sense of WI community, an appreciation for the Tennessen family, a unique look at American farm life, a great view of a classic barn, a very full belly, and a pair of handmade book ends, from the tin-can raffle item pictured above. I didn't want the Farve books (Da Bears!), so I gave them back to the Tennessen family to divvy up.

WinMan Trail System, Winchester, WI

Did you know silent sports are a big deal pretty much anyplace that has woods and measurable snowfall each year? Well, it's true. And now, tucked into the north woods of WI, between Winchester and Manitowish Waters, they've created a modest and very fun trail system. Depending on the time of year, it can accommodate mountain biking, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiles.

I went up in the early fall, so mountain biking was on tap. They had just spent the summer grooming existing trails and building new ones. This was my first visit, but it sure was fun.

The trails reminded me of a big pump track, but with pedaling thrown in from time to time so you feel like you're actually getting a workout. It's a modest parcel of private land with a whole network of intersecting and crisscrossing trails, made by trail-builders, so they look like they stay in good shape and last.

Many of the trails come up and down small bowls or "hollers", which gives great views of the terrain. There are berms that beg to be ridden up to the lip, bridges to balance over, and table tops to slow speed and get some air on.

As I hope you can see, and if you're in the area or want to find a new place to bring the family, I think it's worth a ride.

"Dude, got some 'shrooms?!"

I was most impressed with the variety of funky fungus littering the trail at the North Lakeland Discovery Center. I could not believe how many different kinds were in plain view, so I decided to take some pics so all could share in the 'shroomey goodness. Enjoy.

I only tasted a few of them - delicious! Does anyone know why my liver hurts now?

I think this one eats vegetation...

Can mushrooms be cute? Yes, if they're miniature.

I'm not going to lie, these "wet ones" creeped me out, and were definitely a new one too

North Lakeland Discovery Center, Manitowish Waters, WI

A four-day weekend trip afforded me the opportunity to visit Manitowish Water's own North Lakeland Discovery Center (right off of Highway W). One of the big/bog/bug draws for the center is their hiking trails. They have a number of different and intersecting loops around a small lake, plus areas for events (weddings, parties, etc.), kayaking, a fitness course, cabins for campers... it's a legit nature center in my book.

I went out on a 3 mile loop and saw some great fall colors, but since mosquitoes are very attracted to me for some reason, I also wound up with a half dozen or so bug bites. I'll live. Here are some highlights of the trails and grounds:

CoV, Wayzata, MN

This place has been open for a few months as I write this, and though I wanted to check it out at face value, being a new spot, I'd also recently heard that a favorite bartender (see Sidebar below) from BLVD Kitchen is now employed at this spot. I also mistakenly presumed the people that own BLVD own CoV, but this seems to be wrong. CoV is part of the same brain that brought us all the Champps and Redstone locations. I will say, just walking up to the place, it's nothing like Champps (thank god!) and has a new feel that is fresher than Redstone. This is likely a very conscious decision as Wayzata is known to be on the ritzier side of local areas... whatever, I just like going to new places.

 The space is appropriately different than the former tenant, Sunsets. It is now a 210 seat restaurant with raw bar, drinking bar, and many many seats. It has a light and airy look (think New England shoreline), but to me also felt a bit crowded. I don't know if it's the table layout or the fact that they must have had 36 employees working on a Sunday around lunchtime. Now, the only part of the restaurant business I know is that of a patron, having never been a bartender, bar back, waiter, server, chef or cook... but quick math tells us they have 1 employee for every 5-8 guests. To me that means they have one person for every 1-2 tables. Is that efficient? No matter, to me it made the place feel very very busy with the hustle and bustle of all these servers, hostesses, and managers... to the point of detracting from the serene design and lake views.

I sat myself at the bar, had a Arnie Palmer and ordered, with advice of the bartender, the edamame and black bean cakes (think of a vegetarian crab cake). The cakes came out in speedy fashion and were very fresh, tasty and light. Not only that, but they might have been the cheapest dish on the menu at only $12. Of course, you can't think you'll find cheap food next to the lake in Wayzata, but they seem to have tacked $2-4 on each menu item, just for the view I suppose.

Will I go back? Yes. I would like to try other dishes, maybe sit at a table and see if all the hustle and bustle seems less so, and say hello to the bartender that I know. They also have an inviting-during-nice-weather patio, which should prove enjoyable during the warmer months.

Sidebar (pun intended): You may be asking, "Who has favorite bartenders?" Well, he's really the only bartender in all of the Twin Cities that seems to recognize people by sight,  including me, so by default he's my favorite bartender. He also has a great way with people, an interesting story when you get to talk to him, and an energy that fits social settings perfectly and makes people want to go back... all great qualities to have when trying to make your bar popular.

White Bear Lake, MN

With a normal thought process of trying to collect "firsts" during each year, I decided to head out to White Bear Lake (WBL) to meet a friend (who in this post will be called, "the woman"). I'd never been to WBL before and it sounded like a nice way to spend an almost-end-of-summer Thursday night. WBL is about 20 miles northeast of the Twin Cities. In rush hour traffic, it's not a fun drive and takes about an hour or so, but the good news is that by late evening, the commute trims down to 30-40 minutes.

I began solo, milling about the lake front before meeting up with the woman who'd invited me out. This seemed like as good a start as any in WBL...

...a unique pair of spots, one called Tally's Lakeside and one called C.G. Hooks. They provide dock support, boat rides, food, drinks, and ice cream to locals and visitors alike... sort of a jack-of-all-trades on WBL. They had a very BBQ-heavy menu with some really good looking options (if you like meat, smoked meat, BBQ'd meat, and bacon... who doesn't?). They had tons of kitsch and cold beer too. Right off the bat, I like the relaxed vibe of the lake, Tally's, and WBL as a whole.

Once the woman and I had met-up, we quickly decided to head out for a lakeside walk. The city has paths around much, but not all, of the lake. They were easy to access, and with my tour guide by my side, we set out. The path is not challenging, but gives great views of the lakeside homes and the lake itself. Here's a couple "house faces" I snapped along the way...

I feel like this house's awning makes a good "mustache"

On the leg out, we walked ~1.75 miles in a relatively short time and at a relatively brisk pace. It was a hot, humid night, so this added even more to the "exercise" we were earning. As we turned around to go back, we decided to walk through downtown. We wound up down a short between-buildings alley to find Big Wood Brewery. I was happy to head down into this local basement brewery and sit for a spell. By this point, I was damp with sweat from walking in the hot humid air and needed a break. Big Wood seemed and literally felt pretty cool, but only four gulps into my procured custom wheat beer did the woman mention that she wasn't feeling well and it would probably be best if we got moving. What can you say to a lady in distress but, "Ok"? So, I did. We got out of there and wound our way back to our starting point of the docks.

She was feeling better by this time and we decided to get some ice cream (also part of C.G. Hooks offerings), sit on the boat slips that fill up this end of the lake, and dip our feet in. And we did just that...

"sittin' on the dock of the bay..."

...as we sat, we finished our ice cream and talked about how nice a quick dip in the lake could feel after a long, hot walk, on this stormy summer night, now lit with the waxing gibbous moon and stars. And you maybe wondering, "Why are you just talking about taking a dip, why not do it?!"

Well, the common sense response was three fold:
1. We had no swim suits
2. We were on the boat docks, not a public swimming beach or landing
3. Even if we went in, we had no way of drying off afterwards and still had to drive home
And it could be four-fold if you listen to your mothers:
4. We had not waited an hour after eating our ice cream to go swimming

However, I think much more common, common sense took hold over the next 30-45 minutes of general chit-chat and discussion (which was not all about the swim potential literally in front of us). In essence, the MN summer is a very short season, and despite the somewhat minor issues listed above, swimming in the summer, in a local lake, with one other person, plus an added element of danger or incarceration, is just plain ole fun.

By about 9pm, the woman went in. Mind you, this isn't as scandalous as it could have been as she was mostly clothed. She jumped in in her maxi skirt and camisole top. I still hadn't convinced myself at this point, and I also thought being a "lookout" on the dry dock might be a wise decision. It turned out to be so, and I was also able to help pull her out of the water and back onto the dock once she'd had enough (maybe 15 minutes of lake time). Once out, she had to begin the process of wringing out as much of the water as she could and start to warm up. So, we sat and talked a bit more.

Of course, once she was out, I began to see this as a challenge to my manhood. How could I let her go in and but remain dry myself? I finally broke down and said to her, "The only reason I want to go in now is because you already did." She laughed. Then I started taking off my clothes. Again, this was not a full Monty as I kept my boxers on. Who needs a swimming and public indecency fine?

Once down to my skivvies, I slipped from the dock into the water. Boy oh boy, I have no real way to tell how cold all bodies of water are in MN. This lake was not as cold as Lake Superior late summer, but it was not as refreshing as I'd hoped, it was downright cold. I tread water in hopes of my body becoming accustomed to the cold (read, going numb), but it didn't seem to help. Then, a good-sized sailboat began coming back into the slip near me. So, I decided I'd better get out and start drying off before the drive home. I was able to sit on the dock and let the boat pass us, with them seemingly none-the-wiser about our late-night water pursuits.

Once out, it was clear the cooling but humid September summer air wasn't going to keep me warm or dry me off that fast. We had to get dressed and get moving. Faced with the prospect of driving home in wet boxers with jeans, I decided I needed to 86 the boxers right there and just commando home in my jeans. She was nice enough to turn around and block the rest of the dock view, while I mooned the whole lake. Boy oh boy, did the dry clothes feel good and start to bring up my body temp.

We walked coyly past the boat crew that had come in and made our way to our dry, warm cars. Not a bad way to meet a new someone, a new someplace, and a new some lake.

WBL, C.G. Hooks, Tally's Dockside, Big Wood - I will be back!