This year's trip is a bit earlier than normal. Between Iowa Football home games and a wedding, free weekends are hard to come by. The weekend of September 26-27 looked like the best time to catch the fall colors. My wife Sue was able to get the 28th off, so we made it a 3 day trip. Having just finished about 30 days of no rain, and beautiful weather in August and September, would the weather cooperate!?!
DAY 1 - September 26th, 2009
After 2 days of considerable rain, saturday morning arrived to sunshine! We were off by 7am and heading north. This year, we headed up 63, and then across NE Iowa (Decorah) and SE Minnesota to La Crosse, WI. When arriving in La Crosse, it was BUSY! We thought it must be a "football Saturday". But when the main road thru town was barricaded, and we soon began to see people dressed in Lederhosen, and other dragging coolers, obviously a major weekend party was about to begin. Sure enough, it was "Octoberfest USA". Unfortunately, we were on a "mission to the North", and kept driving.
Stop #1 on the travel itinerary was in Chippewa Falls, WI, at the "Leiney Lodge" - the Leinenkugel Brewery. A great stop to break up the driving.
The new lodge had an ample "beer sampling" area, tons of interesting Leinenkugel artifacts, and of course a huge selection of Leinenkugel apparel and gifts. No retail beer sales - they encourage you to visit your preferred retail outlet.Here's an interesting tidbit.... Do you know why the term "shot" is used for a measurement of alcohol? Well, apparently cowboys were frequently short of cash, but always had bullets. The value of a bullet back then was the same as a small glass of whiskey, and it was common to trade a bullet (shot) for a whiskey! Now, you know!
We signed up for a tour, and while waiting our turn, we quickly took advantage of the "free samples"...
(Sue REALLY enjoying the samples!)
The "Octoberfest" and "Summer Shandy" seasonal brews were our favorites. We learned that these special seasonal brews are typically limited to Wisconsin and Minnesota sales only, and the remaining states only get the basic Leinenkugel offerings.
The tour was approximately 45 minutes, and of course, lead by a very friendly young man who obviously enjoys the product he represents. He definitely helped make the tour an adventure.
(our tour... and "enthusiastic" tour guide)
Due to some expansion going on at the factory, getting photos of the older buildings was limited.
(The original portion is where the sign is... the section to the right was added in the last 10 years)
Photos inside the factory were prohibited so exterior shots are all we have are outdoor images
(the original water well used for making beer)
The grounds around the "Leiney Lodge" and factory are really nice... a bridge crosses Duncan Creek, with a great picnic area well shaded with trees.
(looking back toward the "Leiney Lodge" from the picnic area)
Time to head on north.... We still had stops in Cornell and Hayward before arriving in our stop for the day - Ashland, WI. As part of any "Rick Road Trip", you need to check out the more unusual attractions along the way. Our next stop was one of those.
Cornell is a typical small Wisconsin town, and likely not a stopping point, unless you want to check out the last known "Pulpwood Stacker" in existence.
(Old Pulpwood Stacker)
This site was located in the city park, along the Chippewa River. Constructed in 1911-12 by Joors Mfg., this stacker represented a change in the storage and handling of pulp wood.
(photo of stacker while in use)
After the logs were slashed into smaller pieces, this device stacked the pieces until they were floated down a sluice to the grinder room of the paper mill, and reduced to pulp for making paper. This stacker ceased operation in 1971, and the surrounding sluice system and log pond have since been filled in. Time to move on...... Next stop, Hayward.
On the road to Hayward, we had to check out a friend's "vacation escape".... Only one photo was taken, as it appeared that the "cabin" (most of us would call it a HUGE HOME) was occupied. So we only got a shot of the entrance.
This is definitely the way to "escape"! Unfortunately, being an Engineer at John Deere cannot afford this type of vacation retreat... only 3 day weekend driving tours!
Hayward is know for a couple major attractions - the World Lumberjack Championships, and the National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame. The lumberjacking championships have a permanent venue with a "Lumberjack Village" and an arena area with ample bleachers for spectator viewing.
The National Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame has several LARGE freshwater fish statues along with a museum to tour. I know Sue REALLY wanted to visit both these attractions, but due to our remaining travel for the day, I had to tell her "next time"....
The last leg of our travels for the day took us to Ashland, WI. You definitely know you are in Northern Wisconsin, as the roads are lined with trees - mostly evergreens. Population is sparse, with small homes tucked in small tree clearings, and HUGE piles of firewood stacked near the homes. There's something about this remoteness and wilderness area that is intriguing. I can only imagine a winter in this type of environment...
We arrived in Ashland about 5pm. Ashland is located on the south shoreline of Lake Superior, near the head of the Chequamegon Bay. Ashland was once a major port for loading iron ore on Great Lakes ships. The massive "ore docks" are still visible. Click Here for some more history.
(one of the remaining ore docks in Ashland, WI)
The downtown has many original brownstone buildings, many restored to show the beauty of the architecture of that era. One of those buildings was the site of our dinner at the Deep Water Grille. This restored building also had two other establishments within it - The Alley (Italian cuisine), and
The South Shore Brewery.
(The Alley, Deep Water Grille, & South Shore Brewery)
After dinner, we took a brief tour of the downtown area to see the historic district. One of the major attractions is the Hotel Chequamegon. Located on the shore front, this Hotel was built in 1877, Fire destroyed the building 1986, but the hotel was reconstructed to resemble the original.
(Hotel Chequamegon)
The City Hall is an original brownstone building that still stands in Ashland.
Downtown Ashland has several "building murals" which depict the history of Ashland. Here are a
couple....
The sun was setting, the Hawkeyes were playing Penn State on TV, and "old man Rick" was fading fast (only 4 hours of sleep after Friday nite football game), so we headed back to our hotel - The Americinn of Ashland.
(click to see video)Also located on the shore of Lake Superior, this hotel seemed to be a focal point of activity, at least the Saturday nite we were there... It had an indoor water park, and despite being able to buy swim suits in the lobby gift shop, Sue and I passed on an evening dip!
The day was complete, as the Hawkeyes knocked off #6 Penn State at Happy Valley. Unfortunately, only Sue saw the end, as I fell asleep after halftime! Its hell getting old!
Day 2 of our travel adventures will be posted soon...
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