Saturday September 2, 2017

Last Nights Lodging

We wake up and look outside. The wind is blowing pretty good and there are some fairly good size waves smacking the rocks below our deck. We leave our packs by the door as the lodge delivers them to the boat. Then a short brisk walk to the boat and we wait to board. They are expecting 7-10-foot waves for the ride across the lake and as we board, it is obvious that we are in for a bumpy ride. Inside the harbor, the water is stirring but not too bad. We depart on time and sail past our room and then out into open water.

What’s in the Bag?

I waste no time in setting up my, distract myself from the motion, strategy. It entails putting on my MP3 player and listening to music and closing my eyes. It seems to work as the hours pass by and the ship bobs up and down like a tossed bottle at sea. I also get up once or twice for some fresh air but mostly sit while I try and sing in my head and not think about the tossing and turning. Carol seems to be doing okay and we only have about 45 more minutes before we reach the river and calmer water for our last hour of sailing. Unfortunately, when we are about a half hour from smooth sailing, she grabs me and says give me a bag. I frantically reach for our food bag and dump it on my lap as she starts to lose her cookies. Some goes on the floor, the rest in the bag until we realize that it has holes in the bottom causing a frantic emptying of another bag by me. As she continues her problematic cleansing, I am trying to get the food that fell on the floor up before the small stream of vomit reaches it. The girl behind us gets up and walks away but I can not escape and have to try not to let this become a chain reaction. She finally stops spewing and is able to bring the bag to a trash can while I gather what is clean into my day pack.

Entering Calm Water

I can’t believe that she went 4 and a half hours without losing it and with the calmness in sight, lets it all out in front of me. The funny part of the whole thing is that I tell her she is the only one who threw up and she says no I’m not, people have been puking for the whole trip. I guess my listening to music with my eyes closed was a great strategy as I remained blissfully unaware of the disgusting events going on around me. It is really amazing how rough the great lakes can be considering there are no tides and it is all caused by the winds in the open water. We finally pass the large buoy marking our entrance into the river and smooth sailing. The final hour is uneventful and we make the most of our remaining sail time by calling our family.  We dock on time at 3:00 P.M. and load our packs into the RAV. We are driving about an hour and a half to Ironwood, Michigan for the night. This gets us closer to tomorrows trip to the Apostle Islands. After the boat ride, my driving seems especially easygoing to Carol. We arrive in Ironwood and check into our hotel. We scour for a place to eat and decide on Italian food. The first place we go to in Ironwood does not appeal to us, so we decide to take a drive to a different one we had found that is nearby.

Town History

We did not know that it was in another state as we enter the town of Hurley, Wisconsin. The GPS guides us and as we approach the Iron Nugget Restaurant, we find that there is a festival going on. The main street is closed, so we park on a nearby side street and walk to the restaurant. It is crowded but they seat us without a delay. There are old articles and artifacts from the areas earlier days lining the walls. This makes for interesting reading about the lumber and coal mining industries that were here. The waitress comes to take our orders. Carol orders a half broasted chicken and I get Penne Rustica. The menu says that broasting is pressure fried which seals in all the juices. We shall see.

Marching By Our Table

  We ask the waitress what the festival is and it is an Italian Festival. Apparently, there is a large Italian population here, so we have picked the right town to eat Italian food in. While we are waiting for our meal a marching band enters the restaurant and plays several songs and picking up a few beers while they are at it. Fun times. After the band leaves, our food arrives and we dig in as we are hungry. The broasted chicken is indeed juicy and flavorful, while my pasta is phenomenal with fresh tomatoes, roasted garlic and herbs in a white wine sauce. I now believe that there are actually some real Italians here in Wisconsin. After dinner, we walk around the festival enjoying the sights and sounds of the event.

Cold Iron Black IPA…Tasty

Then we make the drive back to Michigan (5 minutes) and decide to check out the only micro-brewery in Ironwood. Cold Iron Brewery has only been open about 4 months and we enter the large warehouse building that it is in. The décor is minimalistic but the large space is divided into several different areas. There is an area with pool and ping pong tables, another with board game tables, an area with couches, tables and sports TVs, and the bar area. We sit at the bar and try a few beers before ordering a black IPA. The beer is very good and the people are friendly. It is a nice relaxing way to end our day and Carol does not even remember the earlier food dispersal that occurred. Tomorrow, we will leave Michigan for good and go back into Wisconsin.