Don MillerWith my days in Cleveland were winding down so I knew I had better get some visiting while I was still in the neighborhood, relatively speaking. Luckily. Everyone I still need to see was in the same general direction. West. My first stop was to see an old friend from High School. He head out to find his path in pharmacy school, ended up as police officer in tiny little Wauseon, Ohio. He is pretty happy with the outcome, except for maybe the dozens of trains that runs through town every day. Small town life has its downsides too, I guess.
From there I headed out to see my old College friend and Ski buddy in Grand Rapids. We would get together each December for a long weekend ski trip in the Rocky Mountain resorts. At least until I quit the downhill part of snow fun. Since I was last in Grand Rapids they had two kids that are firmly in thei
r teen years now. It was definitely time for a visit.
It was a nice visit and I got a local’s tour of Grand Rapids. Definitely up and coming. Very vibrant downtown, growing craft beer scene and good restaurants. I am sure the hipsters aren’t far behind so visit quickly.
I headed north to Traverse City driving along the Lake Michigan shoreline. It’s a long but pretty drive. I ended up getting into Traverse City after dark. Which was ok because it is a resort town for skiers and boaters. Neither of which were available because the snow base was pretty crappy this winter and nobody boats on Lake Michigan in the winters. Unless they are hoping Gordon Lightfoot is looking for a new lake to write about. Traverse City was resting on its laurels though. For a Sunday night, its main street bars and restaurants were pretty busy.
I was up early to continue my journey north. Didn’t see much because the fog was thick all day. I am pretty sure I crossed the famous Makinac Bridge but that is just because I paid a toll along the road and I ended up in Canada. Couldn’t see anything outside my windows. There wasn’t much going on in Sault Ste. Marie, both Canada and USA versions. I am not surprised since it often competes for coldest city in the US and doesn’t have a whole lot of fun and frivolity infrastructure in place. I was really just hoping to experience one of its famously sub-zero days because you just haven’t lived until you have to mouth breath because your nostrils are frozen shut. Alas, it was just foggy and drizzly. So my experience was less than something to write home about. Now that I think about it, though, I am writing about it here, so I guess that’s something.
After a couple of loops around both versions of Sault Ste. Marie. I headed into the deeply wooded, sparsely populated and rarely seen Upper Peninsula. And I am here to tell you, it is still rarely seen. I was socked in by the fog during the drive and then it got dark. I gave up at a little town at the northern tip of Lake Michigan, got a room and a hoagie from the grocery store. That was my experience with the U.P.
The Weather got a bit better so I headed up to the little town of Marquette. It is a nice little town on the southern shores of Lake Superior. Far more active at the extremes of Winter and Summer weather. Today wasn’t either. Time to move on to Wisconsin. snow sports and summer.
I rolled into Green Bay in mid afternoon. Got a bit lost looking for down town. Then I realized that I was downtown. No tall buildings. I think Lambeau Field where the Green Bay Packers play football is the tallest building in town, and it is a couple of miles away from downtown. There is one main street with a few bars and restaurants but definitely far less than I was expecting. I almost thought about staying just because I was tired but decided to head on for a bit longer.
I ended up having dinner at a “Fridays” in Appleton Wisconsin. I don’t generally go to “Fridays” style restaurants but ran out of time and definitely out of options. It was fine but didn’t change by opinion of the “Fridays” style of restaurant chain.
I really wanted to check out Madison Wisconsin though so I was up early on the road. I got there in time for lunch. I walked around the large University District full of 20 year old Hillary supporters still reeling from the election. So there was angst in the air. It looked like any other college town. Bars restaurants and sundry shops lining the street. I do wonder how the bars stay in business in College towns since the drinking age seems to be strictly enforced and hopefully, college kids are mostly under 21 for the bulk of their time there.
My parking meter time was up so I drove around town a bit. It is a nice place with big old houses and tree lined streets. It lies on a narrow stretch of land between two lakes so it is a water town. Except today, and most days really, when the ice fisherman were busy freezing their butts off trying to catch some dinner.
I stuck around for a nighttime stroll around the Capitol with its own bar and restaurant scene. Quite a bit more upscale than the college section at the other end of the street. I had some happy hour food for dinner but got bored and headed back to the room. I woke up to 6 inches of snow, finally. But I needed to start heading back to Cleveland. I made it as far as Toledo.
I had never been to Toledo in all my time growing up in Ohio. As much good publicity as it was given by Klinger in the TV show Mash, its the town that never took off. Not sure why. It has a core of high rise office buildings, an entertainment district and the world famous Toledo Mudhens Minor league baseball team. It just doesn’t have any energy. Coming from a guy that grew up in Cleveland, that says a lot.
Next day, a pleasant drive along Lake Erie and I was back in Cleveland. Ready to pack it up and head out.
