Riding With Todd - Sturgeon Bay Day 1
It is a 3 day holiday weekend in the USA. So its time for a road trip. It's Saturday morning, so LoriAnn and I woke up and got on the road right away, meandering East across the Wisconsin country side on the Goldwing. Our first destination for the day is Manitowac Wisconsin, the home of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum.
The Wisconsin Maritime Museum features a restored World War II submarine, a 19th - century shipbuilding town and boat rides on the river. Twenty eight submarines were built in Manitowoc during World War II. The submarine at the museum is the USS Cobia. Although USS Cobia is not one of the 28 submarines built here, she is a National Historic and an International Submariners Memorial.
I kept us on two lane roads as much as possible, barreling across Wisconsin, while keeping an eye on the thermometer as it kept creeping up and up. We new it was going to be a hot day, so we had to keep moving. As we approached Lake Winnebago the thermometer reached 103 degrees. With helmets and warm weather riding jackets on, it was very hot!
At Lake Winnebago we realized that we were running behind schedule to reach the museum before it closed. Because we wanted to take the guided tour thru the submarine, it was important for us to reach the museum by 4 PM. I inched the throttle up a bit more, and felt that we would make it with plenty of time for the last tour of the day. That is when the Department of Transportation stepped in to block our direct path with road construction. A 30 minute detour put us at the counter of the museum 10 minutes late for the tour. After a couple of minutes of begging and pleading, as well as my wife pulling out the 'he used to serve on submarines' card, the lady at the counter hurried us on board the Cobia to catch up with the tour.
Unfortunately for LoriAnn, she has been having trouble entering areas of tight places. As she started down the staircase into the sub, the smell of machinery and oil, as well as the confined space got the best of her. She couldn't go into the sub, but urged me to continue in. I didn't waste a moment and headed down to catch up with the tour. Even though I had been through the USS Cobia before, it was a pleasure to visit. And yes, many memories of my times spent on board the submarine, SSBN George C Marshall, resurfaced. In LoriAnn's defense, she has toured several submarines as well as a lengthy visit on board the active duty SSN Minnesota. She just wasn't able to on this day.
We left Manitowac heading North up along the coast of Lake Michigan, where the temperature dropped to 57 degrees. That was a 46 degrees temperature change! After all the heat we experienced crossing the state, it felt very cold going North. We contemplated stopping to put additional layers of clothing on, but then we turned inland away from the coast and warmed up.
We cruised into the city of Sturgeon Bay about 6:30 PM, and found our motel, Stone Harbor. I have been to Sturgeon Bay numerous times, but this was LoriAnn's first time in this part of Wisconsin. My other times in town we stayed at cheaper motels outside of the downtown area. We had a car on those trips, so it was easier to travel to the restaurants, and bars. This trip I decided to stay at the Stone Harbor because it was right downtown, and I knew it would be in the center of the night life. We may have looked like two ragged motorcyclists when we checked into this upscale place, but after sometime to cool off, and clean up, we fit right in with the crowd. We had dinner at a local restaurant within walking distance. Afterwards we watched a set of storm clouds pass us by that gave us a beautiful sunset.
If you liked this entry, please select follow. Feel free to leave a comment. Come back and read more posts. Total miles for the day was 384.
The Wisconsin Maritime Museum features a restored World War II submarine, a 19th - century shipbuilding town and boat rides on the river. Twenty eight submarines were built in Manitowoc during World War II. The submarine at the museum is the USS Cobia. Although USS Cobia is not one of the 28 submarines built here, she is a National Historic and an International Submariners Memorial.
I kept us on two lane roads as much as possible, barreling across Wisconsin, while keeping an eye on the thermometer as it kept creeping up and up. We new it was going to be a hot day, so we had to keep moving. As we approached Lake Winnebago the thermometer reached 103 degrees. With helmets and warm weather riding jackets on, it was very hot!
At Lake Winnebago we realized that we were running behind schedule to reach the museum before it closed. Because we wanted to take the guided tour thru the submarine, it was important for us to reach the museum by 4 PM. I inched the throttle up a bit more, and felt that we would make it with plenty of time for the last tour of the day. That is when the Department of Transportation stepped in to block our direct path with road construction. A 30 minute detour put us at the counter of the museum 10 minutes late for the tour. After a couple of minutes of begging and pleading, as well as my wife pulling out the 'he used to serve on submarines' card, the lady at the counter hurried us on board the Cobia to catch up with the tour.
Unfortunately for LoriAnn, she has been having trouble entering areas of tight places. As she started down the staircase into the sub, the smell of machinery and oil, as well as the confined space got the best of her. She couldn't go into the sub, but urged me to continue in. I didn't waste a moment and headed down to catch up with the tour. Even though I had been through the USS Cobia before, it was a pleasure to visit. And yes, many memories of my times spent on board the submarine, SSBN George C Marshall, resurfaced. In LoriAnn's defense, she has toured several submarines as well as a lengthy visit on board the active duty SSN Minnesota. She just wasn't able to on this day.
We left Manitowac heading North up along the coast of Lake Michigan, where the temperature dropped to 57 degrees. That was a 46 degrees temperature change! After all the heat we experienced crossing the state, it felt very cold going North. We contemplated stopping to put additional layers of clothing on, but then we turned inland away from the coast and warmed up.
We cruised into the city of Sturgeon Bay about 6:30 PM, and found our motel, Stone Harbor. I have been to Sturgeon Bay numerous times, but this was LoriAnn's first time in this part of Wisconsin. My other times in town we stayed at cheaper motels outside of the downtown area. We had a car on those trips, so it was easier to travel to the restaurants, and bars. This trip I decided to stay at the Stone Harbor because it was right downtown, and I knew it would be in the center of the night life. We may have looked like two ragged motorcyclists when we checked into this upscale place, but after sometime to cool off, and clean up, we fit right in with the crowd. We had dinner at a local restaurant within walking distance. Afterwards we watched a set of storm clouds pass us by that gave us a beautiful sunset.
If you liked this entry, please select follow. Feel free to leave a comment. Come back and read more posts. Total miles for the day was 384.
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