Playing Hookey

We left the rally with Marvin and Trudy and spent several hours in the lovely resort town of St. Joseph on Lake Michigan. St. Jo is a great holiday destination, a bit of Monterey, a touch of Hawaii, sprinkled with pieces of a sculpture garden. The streets are currently lined with “Hot Diggity Dogs,” 34 painted pooches. We found many of them and were charmed. Favorites included Watch Dog and Dog House.




There are also sculptures throughout the town. They are an outdoor extension of the Krasl Art Center which is small but has some nice art also.

The day was hot and we enjoyed walking near the beautiful beach, watching adults and children play in the huge water fountain with its shooting sprays.

We all enjoyed our lunch at the Pumphouse Grill and then our ice cream treats, including the flavor moose tracks (any guesses as to the ingredients? no offensive suggestions please).
Back at the fair ground, we gathered with our dinner group from American Bistro to bbq and talk. We found the best part of the rally was being with our old and new friends. Tomorrow we all head off in different directions but look forward to meeting on the road in the future.

GLASS

We are not alone. There are hundreds of motorcoaches all around us at the Great Lakes Area Regional Rally (GLASS) in Berrigan Springs, MI. A rally is a gathering of motorcoaches where seminars, vendor displays, food and entertainment all center around traveling or living in a motorhome. This is a regional rally so most of the attendees are from the greater Great Lakes area including Canada. We seem to be the only Californians.
Jerry has spent his time doing guy things like learning about mechanical parts of the motorhome. Anna Lee has concentrated on learning to use the washer/dryer, travel sessions, and just relaxing.
As mentioned, we are not alone. We met Andie and Steve (friends from two caravans detailed on previous blogs) and Marvin and Trudy, new friends. We all gathered at a Walmart and drove in line so that we could park next to each other during the rally. This enables us to enjoy wine, snacks, shmoozing, and seeing the area together. Yes, shmoozing (talking). We all belong CHAI, a subchapter of a national motorhome owner organization. This group’s membership is Jewish or has some affiliation (marriage or such) with a Jewish RVer.
Our group went to the American Bistro in St. Joseph, on Lake Michigan, for a very good dinner. We were joined by Goldie and Bill who are vendors at the rally and new friends to us.

Some of us went wine tasting at Lemon Creek Winery. Poor wine but a very nice craft fair. We have been having some problems with our new CRV and decided we had to trade it in on this vehicle from the craft fair.

Andie and Anna Lee show their matching jewelry acquired when they first traveled together in the Southwest.

Gone Wisconsin

It was great to take a few hours to relax in the woods but we had to return to reality in Milwaukee. There we enjoyed replenishing supplies at the Public Market, an upscale Faniel (sp) Hall, full of wonderful choices for lunch and booths with spices, fish, meat, and chocolate. Anna Lee enjoyed the wonderful Middle Eastern vendor with several flavors of hummus, baba ganoush (sp), salads, and curried chicken. She bought enough for lunches for the next several days. Jerry opted for a salad which he really liked and rewarded himself with herring for later in the week.

Oh yes, there was the bakery that insisted we buy a cookie.....each.

After such good food we needed to work it off so we took our first volkswalk of the trip in Port Washington. We walked for 5k along Lake Michigan and through the old seaport. The walk included 85 steps up and back down to see the relocated lighthouse; we opted out and chose to drive there after the walk instead.


The day was perfect for walking and the air was filled with the scent coming from white, light and dark lilacs.

Because we were so virtuous, we went out to dinner at a very good sushi restaurant, quite upscale with personal service. The choices included some rolls we were unfamiliar with and enjoyed very much.

In the morning we headed out of state toward Michigan. We took a break at the Joliet, Il History Museum. We learned that the town is famous for better things than a prison. It was known for its limestone and steel and was the junction of the Lincoln Highway and Route 66.

The town does a nice job of boasting about itself at the museum. We wished we had more time to view the exhibits, but we had four states to travel through before we could stop for the night.

Lions and Tigers and Cranes and Trains

Decades ago, when she was a teenager, Anna Lee spent three weeks in August at a summer camp in Wisconsin. During those three weeks three seasons passed. First, it was so hot the girls wore as little as decency allowed. Then it was warm and lovely. Each night of the last week, the campers piled on all the clothes they could, layers of socks, pants over pajamas, coats over sweaters over pajamas. That introduction to Wisconsin weather did not deter her from wanting to return to this beautiful state. Well, we have experienced a similar season switch in only three days, from sweatshirts, to shorts sleeves, to sweating.

But the weather has kept us neither in nor down. There are two animal rescue facilities in the Baraboo area. The International Crane Foundation has built a habitat for the eighteen cranes of the world. This is a breeding and training facility. For the all-but-gone whooping crane, they have built acres of prairie. Our outstanding guide explained both the natural habitat of these beautiful birds and the role foundation is playing in reestablishing at risk and endangered species.

The most amazing story is how they used people dressed as and acting as cranes and an ultralight plane to teach cranes to migrate because their original path had been destroyed by civilization. We saw the movie on this at Horicon Marsh and further appreciated what we were seeing. We even saw crane "threat behavior" like this.


The Wisconsin Big Cat Rescue lacks the funds and reputation of the Crane Foundation but they have succeeded in providing comfort and refuge to lions and tigers rescued from small zoos and from circuses. On our hot-day visit the cats were just trying to stay in the shade.


The Mid-Continent Railway Museum has an excellent collection of restored stock including a huge railway snowplow. We enjoyed waving to the families off on their train trip.



Our RV friend Louise told us about the Wisconsin Dells. They are a combination of Disneyland and the shores of Niagara Falls on steroids accented by the wonders of nature. Our boat trip on the Upper Dells through the sandstone walls left by glaciers and erosion was lovely. Our guides explained the formation of these rock structures and their human history along with some okay jokes. We truly enjoyed our two hour trip.



The town itself is a massive amusement park with rides and games and entertainment like we have never seen before. One place did get our attention, The White House. We wondered during whose administration this calamity occurred.



Our accommodations in the Baraboo area have been as opposite as can be. For the first nights, a very busy camping weekend, we stayed (for free) at the Ho-Chunk Casino (Ho-Chunk is the Winnebagos name for their tribe). When everyone left town, we moved to Mirror Lake State Park. We walked to the beach and marina, drank wine under the pines, and woke to the call of birds, ahhh.

A day at the Circus

Once upon a time a rather flamboyant man traveled from Hungary to Wisconsin to promote free thinking and plant a vineyard. For some reason he left Wisconsin to relocate in Sonoma, California where he is credited with founding the wine industry. While Agoston Haraszthy’s Buena Vista Winery continues, the one back in Wisconsin fell into ruin. In the 1970's Wollersheim Winery took over his old land and the winery produces very nice wines, some of which are now in the motor home.

For those of us of a certain age who grew up east of the Rockies, one of the most exciting times we had was when the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus came to town, trains, tents, animals, high wire and all. The tents are gone but the early days of the circus are remembered in Baraboo, Wisconsin at the Circus Museum. For some reason (ideas please) Wisconsin was home to more than half the hundreds of circuses that entertained at the turn of the last century. Eventually, one circus dominated.
Baraboo was home to the Ringling Bros./ Barnum and Bailey Circus and the museum pays tribute to the circuses of a hundred years ago. They have restored beautiful wagons used for animals, wardrobe, tents, and in parades. European performers entertain under the big top (no longer canvass).



Our favorite was a clown with great comic routines who told us she attended school at Humboldt State (which explains a lot).



This was opening day at the museum so local volunteers put on a Buffalo Bill show. As a trip down nostalgia lane, the museum did not succeed but as an introduction for children to the idea of animal, clown, juggling and balancing acts it was a lot of fun.

Mad about Madison

We have spent the past few days running madly about in Madison, Wisconsin. What a treat this college town/state capital is; and, it is a treat that costs practically nothing. The museums and gardens are basically free to all visitors, donations requested, except for the $1 (not a typo) for the conservatory. And to alter an old adage, you get more than you pay for.

Our favorite museum was the Veterans Museum. Staffed by vets, this museum leads visitors through displays starting with the Wisconsin Brigade at the battle of Antietam, and progressing through each conflict up to today.

The story told was informative and the displays excellent. Photographer Matthew Brady is credited with bringing the blood of battle to public awareness. Local product Harley-Davidson showed up in the WWI display.

Even Vietnam and the protests were presented.

The Wisconsin History Museum tells what we find is the history of most states: the arrival of Europeans, displacement of Native Americans, and industrialization. The “Odd Wisconsin” exhibit was a delightful change, showing inventions, cons, and quirks.


The Geology Museum is small but the displays are beautiful and the duckbill dinosaur formidable.


The exterior of the state capitol of the Badger State is beautiful.
The interior however exceeds expectations.















This is a view of the Supreme Court's Courtroom

















Madison has two art museums. The Olbrich on the campus of UW has small, but good quality, collections from the Egyptians to contemporary. The Contemporary Art Museum is part of the Ovation Theater. It has a limited permanent collection but interesting temporary displays. The walk up the four flight glass staircase leads to a garden roof top and restaurant, both with good views of the city.


For a city with a long winter, there’s a lot of wonderful things to enjoy outside, including many parks and five lakes. We visited the two major parks. The Arboretum is a 1200-acre escape from civilization. The only sounds heard were from parents guarding their nests. Walking the trails feels like being out in the wilderness.



More civilized and colorful and planned is the Olbrich Botanical Gardens. The sixteen acres are divided into specialty gardens. Now is the time for peonies of many hues. The Thai Pavilion, a gift from Thailand and dedicated immediately after 9/11, is adorned with stone symbols of Thai Buddhism. The main focal point is a gilded royal pavilion. Unlike the conservatory in Milwaukee, this one, though small, was filled with many lovely tropical plants and a few birds.


The gift shop also got Anna Lee’s attention. As mentioned earlier, all this nature and art cost virtually nothing to visit. The citizens of Madison are most fortunate in their cultural options.

They also have some good and interesting restaurants. We got a kick out of Ella’s Deli where toys are in the tables, overhead, and all around. The food is good too.

Ocean Grille offers a three-appetizer dinner that was one item too many but tasty. Jerry enjoyed his fish wrapped in a thin slice of potato (an idea Anna Lee would like to create). The farmers market overflowed with flower stands and some hot house vegetables. The asparagus and sweet onions we bought were yummy.

Milwaukee has all kinds of art

The sun came out and we wanted to see plants and flowers so we headed to the Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory or The Domes. There are three domes, Tropical, Desert and Show. They were okay, but too familiar.

Many of the plants are in our own yard; the others are well known. We did learn a bit and saw a couple of new plants but decided to find a more exciting venue.

We succeeded at the Milwaukee Art Museum. Anna Lee had read about this beautiful building by Santiago Calatrava (the Spanish architect who designed the bridge in Redding, CA) and had it on her “To Do.” Soaring out from the roof, the Burke Brise Soleil, white wings, open and close at indeterminate times (depending on whom you ask).








In addition to a Chihuly and a Calder right at the entrance, its thirty-plus rooms have outstanding art from Egyptian to modern times. Each section is small, well presented, and well labeled. Jerry found ideas in the design furniture section including Anna Lee’s new desk.



Anna Lee felt tiny in the Infinity Box with its lights on all sides, top and bottom going on forever. However, a “janitor” was seen just hanging around one room.












We did see two Thiebauds, Sacramento’s most famous artist. This museum well deserves its top rating and we wish we had more time to enjoy it.

The Milwaukee City Hall was built in 1893 and recently restored. It is a beautiful building with narrow and long floors open to the atrium. The iron grille work along the halls date to an early, decorative time. We were pleased to learn that local Gladding McBean did the restored architectural terra cotta.












The saying goes, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” For those whose beauty comes in chrome with loud, roaring engines, our tour of both a Harley Davidson plant and the separate museum offer great beauty. Jerry certainly got more out of the plant tour but Anna Lee still enjoyed it. The museum’s restaurant was a delicious place to stoke up before touring.
The featured exhibit was "No. 1". This is actually the first motorcycle made by Harley Davidson

The “hawgs” were great to look it at but what we found most interesting was the excellent business plan that got dealers, police forces and the army to buy HDs. A video presented the near demise of the company in the 1980s and its subsequent resurgence as the only motorcycle manufacturer in the USA. At the end of the tour, we got to try on Harley’s. We decided to trade in the motor home and take to the road on our new bikes.

Happy Birthday

We have been virtually alone in campgrounds, no surprise with the weather and school still being in session. Well, it’s over. The campground in Eden, WI looked like a box of popcorn had exploded, white trailers and campers everywhere. The kids were have a bouncing good time.


Jerry thought a big party for my insignificant birthday would be a lot of fun. We really missed your not being with us. The gang had a great time, consumed lots of beer, and laughed loudly.


Since Milwaukee is a beer town, we obliged by touring Lakeside Brewery, a local boutique brewer. To say we were the oldest on the tour would be only a slight exaggeration. Our guide, a special ed teacher during the week, was hilarious with double entendre jokes that fit the beer drinking crowd.


Feeling rather guilty about drinking all that beer, we then went to church. The Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It is a circular building with a blue interior under a gold colored domed ceiling. The stained glass and metal gates make worship a beautiful experience.


Feeling virtuous after the church, we continued the party down in “Nawlins,” aka Milwaukee, where we dined at Crawdad’s. This is one of the few restaurants claiming cuisine of another place that gets it right. Jerry had the waitress give me my present, a large gold necklace with a lovely plaster fob hanging from it. His seafood chowder was hearty and spicy. His haddock stuffed with crab and Anna Lee’s breaded cod and crawfish over fried sweet and regular potatoes probably were sinful. We know the celebration Chocolate Beyond Reason cake will require atonement.