A few snapshots from the trip
As you may have guessed, C and I spent last week in Door County Wisconsin. This is a trip we take every year. We had a very good time and the weather was perfect. I'm pretty sure that this was the best weather we experienced over there.
We are home now. All of the things we bought are spread out all over the dining room. Scamp and Colby gave us a warm welcome on our return. I guess they didn't want to play with the cat sitter who came in once a day to care for them.
I thought I would share a few snapshots from our trip.
We meet lots of interesting people on these trips. We've met a scrimshander, someone who creates works of art on ivory. We met a funeral director from Chicago and his wife. We met a pair of young lawyers, who after spending a lot of time and money on law school, decided that they hated practicing law and wanted to do something else. I'm not sure what the male half wanted to do, but the female half wanted to become a make-up artist.
This year we met Izzy. Izzy is a miniature pig who lives with the owner of a pet accessory shop in Fish Creek. She is about eight weeks old and is being weaned off the bottle and on to solid food. Even at her young age she is very smart. When we came into the shop she was in the process of pulling screw covers off a display using her teeth. C tried to get a picture of her, but she would not be still. She raced around the store pausing only to sniff at things and to scratch her back. Her owner picked her up and tried to hold her,but Izzy squealed and struggled to get out. She came up to both of us and greeted us with a good sniff from her small pink snout and a soft snort. Eventually Izzy went into her playpen and we left the store.
We hiked the Eagle Trail in Peninsula State Park. The last time we were on that train was four year ago when I misread the trail map. The Eagle Trail is an advanced trail and the first time we were not prepared for it. We did make is across obviously, but I remembered it as a treacherous, dangerous expedition. I remember the trail being narrow and slippery, the footing very unsure. I remember a steep drop on the side going right into the cold waters of Green Bay.
This year, I thought we should try it. We were in better shape, it had not rained so the path would be dry and we knew what was coming. C was reluctant, but decided to try.
The trail was not like I thought it was. The footing was rocky, but there was no sheer drop into the water like I imagined and the path was wide enough that another couple going the other direction could pass. The view into the bay was lovely and the small caves in the bluffs were still there. I couldn't get over how much my memory differed from what was really there. It was a fun trail, C took some great pictures.
We went to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay. If you ever played with a train set as a kid or had an interest in them at all go see this museum. There is a collection of all sorts of trains inside and out with information on what they were used for and where they ran. My favourite display is Union Pacific 4017 Big Boy. The enormous engine was designed to move freight from Wyoming over the Wasatch mountains and into Utah. It needed to be able to pull long trains at a good speed over the curving mountain tracks alone. You can go into the cab of 4017 and look at the wall full of controls that it took to drive this massive train safely.
Another display well worth seeing is the one on Pullman Porters. Pullman cars are essentially small bedrooms on wheels where people on long trips could sleep during the night. These cars were tended by porters, usually African American men. A job as a porter meant long hours and until they unionized bad treatment by the company that employed them. It also was a job at a good wage and a chance to travel. The man who started the first successful porter union, A. Philip Randolph, later became a prominent civil rights leader.
On Thursday night before we left, we took at class at a cooking school. Janice, the owner of the school, teaches classes where the students listen to a short lecture and then go into the kitchen where small groups of students work on composing each part of the menu for that evening. The subject of our lesson was sauces and we made several of them. There was a cream dessert sauce and one made with raspberries. There was a sauce to be served with streak or pork, a peanut sauce, a cheese sauce to be used for pasta or as an alternative to red sauce on a pizza. After the sauces were made we watched as the guest chef cooked beef, shrimp,scallops and pasta talking about how to do so while he worked. Then we set tables with linens, flowers and candles and proceeded to eat the fruit of our labors. We sat with a lovely older couple who had taken many classes from the time the school first started. We had a good time and will most likely attend another class next year.
The next morning we packed the car to return home. We always stop in Green Bay at Lambeau Field for lunch at Curly's Pub. The best seats at Curly's are facing the Hutson Center where the Pack practices. It is possible from that area to see the team leaving practice. If nothing else you can have a really good burger to fortify you for the stadium tour which I highly recommend especially if you like football at all.
We stopped off to load up on cheese before we got home. Maybe it is because I grew up on it, but the only really good cheese is found at small factories in the country.
Now we are home, unpacking, cleaning and stowing our purchases. We had a good time. It was a fun trip.
We are home now. All of the things we bought are spread out all over the dining room. Scamp and Colby gave us a warm welcome on our return. I guess they didn't want to play with the cat sitter who came in once a day to care for them.
I thought I would share a few snapshots from our trip.
We meet lots of interesting people on these trips. We've met a scrimshander, someone who creates works of art on ivory. We met a funeral director from Chicago and his wife. We met a pair of young lawyers, who after spending a lot of time and money on law school, decided that they hated practicing law and wanted to do something else. I'm not sure what the male half wanted to do, but the female half wanted to become a make-up artist.
This year we met Izzy. Izzy is a miniature pig who lives with the owner of a pet accessory shop in Fish Creek. She is about eight weeks old and is being weaned off the bottle and on to solid food. Even at her young age she is very smart. When we came into the shop she was in the process of pulling screw covers off a display using her teeth. C tried to get a picture of her, but she would not be still. She raced around the store pausing only to sniff at things and to scratch her back. Her owner picked her up and tried to hold her,but Izzy squealed and struggled to get out. She came up to both of us and greeted us with a good sniff from her small pink snout and a soft snort. Eventually Izzy went into her playpen and we left the store.
We hiked the Eagle Trail in Peninsula State Park. The last time we were on that train was four year ago when I misread the trail map. The Eagle Trail is an advanced trail and the first time we were not prepared for it. We did make is across obviously, but I remembered it as a treacherous, dangerous expedition. I remember the trail being narrow and slippery, the footing very unsure. I remember a steep drop on the side going right into the cold waters of Green Bay.
This year, I thought we should try it. We were in better shape, it had not rained so the path would be dry and we knew what was coming. C was reluctant, but decided to try.
The trail was not like I thought it was. The footing was rocky, but there was no sheer drop into the water like I imagined and the path was wide enough that another couple going the other direction could pass. The view into the bay was lovely and the small caves in the bluffs were still there. I couldn't get over how much my memory differed from what was really there. It was a fun trail, C took some great pictures.
We went to the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay. If you ever played with a train set as a kid or had an interest in them at all go see this museum. There is a collection of all sorts of trains inside and out with information on what they were used for and where they ran. My favourite display is Union Pacific 4017 Big Boy. The enormous engine was designed to move freight from Wyoming over the Wasatch mountains and into Utah. It needed to be able to pull long trains at a good speed over the curving mountain tracks alone. You can go into the cab of 4017 and look at the wall full of controls that it took to drive this massive train safely.
Another display well worth seeing is the one on Pullman Porters. Pullman cars are essentially small bedrooms on wheels where people on long trips could sleep during the night. These cars were tended by porters, usually African American men. A job as a porter meant long hours and until they unionized bad treatment by the company that employed them. It also was a job at a good wage and a chance to travel. The man who started the first successful porter union, A. Philip Randolph, later became a prominent civil rights leader.
On Thursday night before we left, we took at class at a cooking school. Janice, the owner of the school, teaches classes where the students listen to a short lecture and then go into the kitchen where small groups of students work on composing each part of the menu for that evening. The subject of our lesson was sauces and we made several of them. There was a cream dessert sauce and one made with raspberries. There was a sauce to be served with streak or pork, a peanut sauce, a cheese sauce to be used for pasta or as an alternative to red sauce on a pizza. After the sauces were made we watched as the guest chef cooked beef, shrimp,scallops and pasta talking about how to do so while he worked. Then we set tables with linens, flowers and candles and proceeded to eat the fruit of our labors. We sat with a lovely older couple who had taken many classes from the time the school first started. We had a good time and will most likely attend another class next year.
The next morning we packed the car to return home. We always stop in Green Bay at Lambeau Field for lunch at Curly's Pub. The best seats at Curly's are facing the Hutson Center where the Pack practices. It is possible from that area to see the team leaving practice. If nothing else you can have a really good burger to fortify you for the stadium tour which I highly recommend especially if you like football at all.
We stopped off to load up on cheese before we got home. Maybe it is because I grew up on it, but the only really good cheese is found at small factories in the country.
Now we are home, unpacking, cleaning and stowing our purchases. We had a good time. It was a fun trip.
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