Bayfield, WI (July 20-21)

Sunday, July 20th

Today we traveled from Duluth, MN to Bayfield, WI, a very short trip of about 125 miles. We stopped at the Rustic Roost in Iron River, WI for a late breakfast. Then on our way into Bayfield, we stopped at a huge visitors center where we saw some beautiful stained glass stepping stones depicting six lighthouses of the Apostle Islands, which are off of Bayfield. We also viewed some beautiful photography of the area by local photographers.

We are camped at the Apostle Islands View Campground for two nights. When we arrived about 2:00, two of our three campsites were still occupied with no sight of the campers who were supposed to have left at noon which was the checkout time! One of us got set up with the other two pulled off in the field. About 3:30, the campers came back thinking that they could just stay where they were for another night--NOT.

We had dinner at Maggie's Restaurant, which reminded us of Florida with all of its "Flamingos Up North" motif. Click on "Maggie's" above and then click in picture frame to see a slideshow.

Larry & Patty: Sorry you had to miss going to this restaurant with us. You would have loved it!

Here's Jean hugging the Black Bear at the restaurant!

Raspberry Light Stained Glass Stone and the Real Lighthouse

Maggie's Restaurant

Jim's Whitefish Dinner

Maggie's Restaurant Inside with Flamingos Everywhere

Gene and Jean Baldwin Celebrated Their 57th Anniversary this Month!

This evening we went to the Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua (sha-ta-qwa) show called "30th Star" which was about how Wisconsin became a state (the 30th) with old time pictures, narration, music and dance. It is a year round non profit performing arts organization with a rich history. They operate a 900-seat, all-canvas, state-of-the-art tent theater. It was very entertaining and informative. They were celebrating "Lake Superior Day" on the 20th, which was the day that we were there, and we all got pins saying "Go Jump in the Lake".

Monday, July 21st

Today we took the GRAND TOUR boat trip (Apostle Islands Cruise Service) ($37.95 ea) that takes you on a narrated, 55-mile, cruise aboard the ISLAND PRINCESS. We passed Raspberry and Devils Island Lighthouses and several sea caves on Lake Superior. It was kind of gray looking when we left the Bayfield harbor this a.m. and we got into a lot of fog as we went around the islands. The captain even had to blow his fog horn several times. But when we got up close to an island, the fog lifted and we could see the sights. But look at the harbor after we returned to the dock--a beautiful sunny day! I guess we should have taken the afternoon boat trip--but it didn't go to the same places as the a.m. trip! We had a nice lunch at the Pier Plaza restaurant here at the dock and look at what we had for dessert! Fresh strawberry shortcake. Bayfield is known as the Berry Capital of Wisconsin.

Apostle Islands Cruise Ship

Sea Caves, Apostle Island

Harbor View in Afternoon

Fresh Strawberry Shortcake at Harbor Plaza!

Duluth, MN (Jul 17 - 19)

Thursday, July 17th

We traveled to Duluth today with the Campbells and Baldwins for the start of our Michigan trip together. Today's travels were a little over 150 miles and we soon found cooler weather, which we welcomed!

About half way to Duluth, we stopped at Tobies in Hinkley, which is known for their World Famous Carmel Walnut Cinnamon Buns. Sorry, no picture of the buns; they got eaten too fast! But they are pictured on their website. While we were eating, it began to POUR! But just before we got into the Marina campground in Duluth, it stopped.

Before we ate and it began to pour!

We camped at Lakehead Boat Basin ($29/night) with water and electric on blacktop with a spectacular view of downtown Duluth and the harbor. We drove over the aerial lift bridge at Canal Park to Park Point to the marina. This is where all of the ships come into the harbor. It goes up and down often and we had a perfect spot to be able to view all of the huge ships entering the harbor. A "Laker" is a ship that just transits the great Lakes and a "Salty" is an ocean going ship. Each day they publish the Duluth Shipping News that gives a list of the ships that they expect to be entering or departing the harbor and it also gives details about some of the ships. For example:

Friday, July 18

• Canadian Transport; At Midwest Energy to load coal; 730 ft; Flag - Canada
  
• Mesabi Miner; Expected to arrive Duluth around 7:30 pm or later for Midwest Energy waiting to load coat; 1,004 ft; Flag - US She is one of the 13 largest ships on the Great Lakes and can carry 62,336 tons of cargo. She can discharge that cargo at a rate of 10,000 tons per hour!


• Hans Lehmann; At CHS 1 to load grain; 459 ft; Flag - Gibraltar
  
  

Aerial Lift Bridge we drove over to get to the Marina Campground

We had dinner at Grandma’s Saloon & Grill – known for their Famous Chicken Wild Rice Soup and Walleye dishes. We tried the soup and it was DELICIOUS! I also had Walleye cakes which were good too, but not as good as the soup. I should have ordered a big bowl of it!

"Canadian Transport" going out under the Aerial Lift Bridge

Here's how close you can get to the ships as they leave Duluth by Canal Park! Fascinating!

Friday, July 18th

We started the day with a tour of the Irvin, then went on a Vista Harbor Cruise (Senior - $20 ea.) with lunch served and ended the day with a tour of the Coast Guard boat Sundew. We were grateful to have such a warm sunny day to enjoy Duluth! Oh, then we drove up along the Skyline Parkway to get some good pictures of the harbor.

William A. Irvin Ore Boat

For more than 40 yrs, the S.S. William A. Irvin carried ore and coal to Great Lakes Ports. She was the flagship of the U.S. Steel's Great Lakes Fleet, hosting guests and dignitaries in her elegantly appointed staterooms.

Vista Boat We Took for Harbor Lunch Cruise

Waiting for Lunch: Jean, Jim, Lois, Myself and Gene

Hans Lehmann Taking on Grain (Lime Green Bottom)

Sundew Coast Guard Boat
She was launched in duluth in 1944 and served as an ice breaker at seveal ports on Lake Michigan. She conducted countless search and rescue missions.

The Blue Angels are in town and we could see them practicing over the city for their shows on Saturday and Sunday.

Harbor Showing Aerial Lift Bridge and Vista Tour Boat

Our Marina Camping Spot and Vista Cruise Boat

Here's our 4-legged traveling companion Romeo "Rags" Baldwin waiting for his bath

Sat, July 19th -

Two Harbors

We drove up North Shore Scenic Drive from Duluth along Lake Superior to the town of Two Harbors and then up to see the Split Rock lighthouse. The lake was covered with fog just out a short ways from the land so we could still enjoy the sights along the shore. In Two Harbors we went down and saw the Iron Ore Docks. This is where they ship out 10,000,000 tons of taconite or iron ore annually. Taconite is a low-grade iron ore that is used to make pellets. These pellets are shipped from Agate Bay in Two Harbors to blast furnaces on the lower Great Lakes to make steel. The dock is over 1,300 ft long and about seven stories tall. There used to be 6 docks at this site, but there are only 3 left now. Each side of the dock has 112 pockets. The trains, full of taconite or iron ore, move along the top of the dock and down load into hoppers. The chutes along the side will drop down into the hull of the boats to load the taconite or iron ore.

1892 Two Harbor's Lighthouse Station
This lighthouse is the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the North Shore of Lake Superior and is still in operation 24 hours a day.

Agate Bay Ore Docks at Two Harbors

Agate Bay was the site of the first shipment of iron ore from Minnesota in 1884. There were 6 ore docks here, but only 3 remain. Today over 10,000,000 tons of taconite or iron ore are shipped annually. Taconite is a low-grade iron ore that is used to make pellets. These pellets are shipped from here to blast furnaces on the lower Great Lakes to make steel. This dock is over 1,300 feet long and about seven stories tall. Each side of the dock has 112 pockets. The trains, full of taconite or iron ore, move along the top of the dock and down load into hoppers. The chutes along the side will drop down into the hull of the boats to load the taconite or iron ore.

Split Rock Lighthouse

Split Rock Light Station

Stairs & Stairs & Stairs down to Shore for Lighthouse Pictures!

Gene with "Lightkeepers" Checking Pocket Watches

Stained Glass Picture of Split Rock in Gift Shop - About $600

Betty's Pies

We had lunch at Betty’s Pies. Chuck tried a beef pasty but was not impressed and probably won’t have one again. It had very little beef, but was filled with carrots, rutabagas and potatoes and you pour brown gravy over it. I was going to have one with chicken, but they were all out! Most of us enjoyed a piece of Great Lakes Crunch pie ala mode. Oh so good, with all kinds of berries in it.

Beef Pasty (Pass-tee)

I would highly recommend a trip to Duluth, MN. There is so much to see and do there that you need more than 3 days!

Some websites for reference:

www.visitduluth.com/
www.duluthguide.com/
www.vistafleet.com/pages/special_cruises.html
www.discoverourtown.com/MN/local-66668.html
www.northshorestateparks.com/splitrock.htm
www.terrypepper.com/Lights/superior/splitrock/splitrock.htm
www.superiortrails.com/duluth_lake-2b.html
where-rv-now.us/blog/
http://www.decc.org/

www.superiorbyways.com

St. Paul, MN FMCA Convention (Jul 12 - 17)

Sat July 12th—Today about 14 coaches caravanned from Red Wing to St. Paul.

We really got lucky and got parked right across the street from the MN State Fairgrounds where the Family Motor Coach Association (FMCA) Convention is being held. We arrived about 10:00 a.m. this morning. Our friends, the Mertz’ from Fargo, ND have been coming here to the MN State Fair for many years so they know their way around and a few good places to eat. We had Greek Gyros for lunch today at Dino’s restaurant. So good and filling! Tomorrow morning several of us are going to “Hell’s Kitchen” for breakfast. Don’t know if this is where the TV series got started or not but will find out. We have beautiful blue skies here with puffy white clouds, but it is very windy. We are supposed to have nice weather until Thursday with a high of 80 and low humidity. Good thing as the buildings at the Fairgrounds are not air conditioned!

Sun July 13th—Well the wind is with us again today and it’s beginning to get warmer! Turns out that Hell’s Kitchen in down town Minneapolis is not associated with the TV show of the same name. Good thing that the Mertz’ made reservations for the 6 of us. It was very busy. What a gourmet breakfast we had! I should have taken a picture of our dishes before we ate them! The waitresses wore their PJs to serve us and the hostess that seated us was named “Cyn” (sin). The Mertz’ ordered Toasted Sausage Bread for everyone to share—oh so good. It is a dense bread made with bison sausage, spices, currants, pecans and black coffee. I had Bison Benedict, which was a charred bison flank steak topped with two poached eggs and served with a tangerine-jalapeno hollandaise sauce on toast points. I thought it might be a little spicy with the jalapenos, but they just gave it a nice flavor. Chuck had a similar Eggs Benedict except his had sausage.

Here we are entering Hell’s Kitchen

Waitress in PJs and Group

This is the side of the building by the parking lot. Neat, huh!

We spent a few hours at the Mall of America in Bloomington, MN. It is huge! Having the amusement park in the center of the Mall was unusual and here are a few pictures of it.

Roller Coaster Ride in the Middle of the Mall of America

This evening, we went out to dinner at DeGidio’s Italian Restaurant with our Eastern Gourmands Chapter that we had recently . The Campbels’ went with us as our guests. I think there were about 46 people in attendance! We had a great buffet including desert for $8.00 each!

Mon July 14th—Today we attended several seminars. The one I got the most out of was given by Geeks on Tour www.geeksontour.com entitled “Every RVer Needs a Blog”. Now if I could just find more time to take advantage of the things that I learned! I ran into two Crystal Lake friends there too—Nan Cooper and Carol Shafer. Earlier in the day, we sat with Bob Shafer and Rita Durand (Crystal Lake folks) for a seminar about High Speed Internet for RVers given by the same couple. This is the first FMCA Convention that they have attended. This afternoon they opened up the coach displays so that we could walk thru all of the new coaches. We only went into the 3 Discovery coaches that they had there as we kept running into old friends who used to own Discoveries!

Tue July 15th—Today we went on bus trip to Stillwater, MN to see the old Victorian homes there and to learn about the old logging town. We took a paddlewheel boat (replica) trip down the St. Croix River where we had a buffet lunch. It was a VERY hot day and we were grateful for the air conditioning on the bus and boat. We walked the town for a short while going in and out of air conditioned shops and stopped at Lily’s for a milk shake.

Restored Victorian House in Stillwater, MN

Replica Steamboat like the one that we took down the St. Croix River

Wed July 16th—Today we spent roaming thru the vendor booths looking at the Palaster chairs, satellite dishes for RVs, CAT engine display for a few and checking out all of the new coaches. This evening we went to hear the entertainment--Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. They are a band that formed in the late 60's and one of their hits was "Bojangles".

So much to do and so little time!

Red Wing, MN Discovery Rally (July 8 - 11)

We are here at the Hay Creek Valley Campground in Red Wing, MN for a Discovery rally hosted by Vie and Chuck Brock.

Colorful Campground Roosters

Guess who thought he was on Candid Camera when he pulled into a gas station and tried to fill up the Vue in Red Wing and the pump wouldn't work. As he investigated why he wasn't getting any gas, he found out that the hose wasn't connected to the gas pump!! He quickly cancelled that credit card buy!

We experienced Tornado Warnings!!! a couple of times while we were camped in Red Wing. We had high winds, heavy rain and HAIL! One of the ladies in our club, Ev, is a trained tornado spotter so we looked to her for guidance in spotting a wall cloud till it got too dark to see. We did get a couple of indentations on the coach and on the Vue from the hail, but only one that is really noticeable! Others got A/C coil damage.

Ominous Sky!

Perkin's Restaurant

We had dinner at Perkin's one evening and enjoyed the terraced gardens along the hill behind the restaurant. The wind even cooperated so I could capture this shot below.

Red Wing Shoe Factory Tour

The Red Wing Shoe Company celebrated 100 yrs of operation in 2005. We really enjoyed the tour thru the factory and got to walk past the workers cutting, sewing, etc.

Cutting the Leather for Boots

Here's our very informative tour guide explaining how they cut the leather. She just retired after 30+ yrs of working there.

Red Wing Pottery Tour

Here again, this was a very interesting tour of how their pottery is made and we even got to see the Lead Potter making bean pots. Their pottery has a red wing on it.

Lead Potter Making a Bean Pot

Chickadee Cottage Cafe, Lake City

What a great place to have a gourmet lunch and a glass of wine! I even left with a loaf of banana and apricot bread to have for breakfast. If you are ever in the Red Wing, MN part of the country, I'd highly recommend driving over to Lake City and stopping here for lunch!!

Jim and Chuck Heading in for Lunch

The Historic Anderson House, Wabasha

After lunch in Lake City, Jim & Lois and Chuck & I drove over to Wabasha to tour the town. Plans were to have dinner here at the Anderson House, but with more storms expected for this evening, they decided to cancel it so that we would be at our motor homes when the storm came thru. We walked thru the House and saw the rooms that were for rent and also saw the room housing the cats that you could pick from to spend the night with you. A true cat house!

Anderson House Built in 1856

Pick Your Cat!

National Eagle Center, Wabasha

What a great place to see an eagle up close. We got there just in time to sit in on a very informative presentation and feeding of an eagle. After his presentation, the handler had children come up front and get their picture taken with the eagle behind them. Here's one of them:

Wind Whisper West, Wabasha--Here are some pictures of some of the beautiful used kimonos that they had for sale to be used as $600+ wall art:

New Beers for Us

We tried these two, new for us, beers while we were in Red Wing. Both were very good, especially the Honey Weiss!

Redwing and Mississippi River from Bluff Overlooking Town

Walnut Ridge Farm, Woodstock, IL Discovery Rally (July 5 - 7)

Today we left Warren, IN with the Campbells and traveled about 250 west to Woodstock, IL. Our friends, Bob and LaVerne Foerster hosted this Discovery rally on their farm. One evening a friend of theirs came by and went up in his parasail plane and took pictures of the farm with all of our coaches in the old feed lot. At one time the Foersters had milk cows there on their farm. Now it makes a nice place for parking Discovery Motorhomes!

Getting Ready to Fly!

Here he is high up in the air!

Overhead Shot of Coaches

Wally, Lois, Jim, Harry and Linda contemplating what to eat for dinner

The ladies went shopping one day and had lunch at a Tea House. We shared yummy tea sandwiches and different types of tea. I wished I'd had my camera to take a picture of the beautiful sandwiches, but I needed my hands free to be able to SHOP! This was a new experience for me.

All 24 of us went to Joey T’s Italian Restaurant on the Fox River for dinner one evening. What a great meal—we chose either Chicken Parmesan or Chicken Marcela and we had Spumoni ice cream for dessert.

Wally, Bob & LaVerne Foerster and Harry & Mary Condrey waiting for dinner at Joey T's

Rally Group on the bridge over the Fox River after dinner.

One morning, LaVerne took some of us to see the Old Woodstock Opera House where we got an in depth tour including backstage. Woodstock is where the movie “Ground Hog Day” was filmed and the bell tower of this Opera House was featured in the movie.

Woodstock Opera House

After this rally was over, most of us headed to Red Wing, MN for the next Discovery rally. This was a long days drive--but we got there in time for 5:00 Happy Hour!