Forget that big fiberglass muskie, go to the Moccasin Bar! You might even get a line from a camo-clad local such as, "Do you know what a wood cock is?"... the answer is, "the evidence" !!
Photo captions welcome!
About Me
- e6c1r8
- Archaeologists are not unlike truckers. Exploring Minnesota and Wisconsin's oddities, scenery, culture, back roads, and eateries helps keep me sane.
29 September 2009
Another Northern Gem
Where else can you see world-record sized muskies and genius dioramas of woodland taxidermy but northern Wisconsin?
Forget that big fiberglass muskie, go to the Moccasin Bar! You might even get a line from a camo-clad local such as, "Do you know what a wood cock is?"... the answer is, "the evidence" !!
Photo captions welcome!
Forget that big fiberglass muskie, go to the Moccasin Bar! You might even get a line from a camo-clad local such as, "Do you know what a wood cock is?"... the answer is, "the evidence" !!
Photo captions welcome!
12 August 2009
History is Offensive
We're currently working in Superior, which I consider one of Wisconsin's armpits. Sorry Superior, you could really do so much better! The best thing about Superior is its proximity to Duluth, one of my favorite Midwest cities. Superior does have a high quantity of retro neon signs though, those are fun to look at. I'd go downtown to take some photos of them tonight, but downtown Superior is shady enough in the daylight. Okay, enough Superior bashing! Props to the Osaugie trail along the waterfront. It kicked my ass on a run today, but kept me going with enough stuff to look at.
While up here for work, we were given an interesting mission on the side... a sort of scavenger hunt. Word got back to the museum in Madison that there are a series of t-shirts for sale in northern Wisconsin (and Minnesota), that are pretty offensive to Native American peoples. Since every history has a dark side, we attempted to find some of these t-shirts to give to the museum to document a harsher part of Wisconsin's history.
Click here to see the particular t-shirts we were looking for.
Superior is a bit too close to the source of fire, so I'm not sure we'll have much luck here. There's still one day left to complete this mission. If we don't succeed, at least we got to laugh at a lot of other offensive t-shirts for sale. Below are a few I photo'd before my camera batteries ran out. Hopefully there will me more to post tomorrow! And here are some lovely suggestions from my Facebook friends, which may or may not be worthy of documenting as history:
"Purchasing Managers Do It By the Book"
"This isn't a beer belly, it's a gas tank for a sex machine." (worn by a rumored sex offender - ew!
An image depicting two unicorns humping under a rainbow. Brilliant!
"I will gouge out your eyeballs and skull fuck you!"
One with the silhouette of a car on it that says, "my other ride is your boyfriend"
"This isn't a beer belly....it's a blood reservoir for my penis"
"Swallow or it's going in your eye."
"If the heat doesn't kill the elderly, I will" t-shirt.
"My other car is up my nose."
While up here for work, we were given an interesting mission on the side... a sort of scavenger hunt. Word got back to the museum in Madison that there are a series of t-shirts for sale in northern Wisconsin (and Minnesota), that are pretty offensive to Native American peoples. Since every history has a dark side, we attempted to find some of these t-shirts to give to the museum to document a harsher part of Wisconsin's history.
Click here to see the particular t-shirts we were looking for.
Superior is a bit too close to the source of fire, so I'm not sure we'll have much luck here. There's still one day left to complete this mission. If we don't succeed, at least we got to laugh at a lot of other offensive t-shirts for sale. Below are a few I photo'd before my camera batteries ran out. Hopefully there will me more to post tomorrow! And here are some lovely suggestions from my Facebook friends, which may or may not be worthy of documenting as history:
"Purchasing Managers Do It By the Book"
"This isn't a beer belly, it's a gas tank for a sex machine." (worn by a rumored sex offender - ew!
An image depicting two unicorns humping under a rainbow. Brilliant!
"I will gouge out your eyeballs and skull fuck you!"
One with the silhouette of a car on it that says, "my other ride is your boyfriend"
"This isn't a beer belly....it's a blood reservoir for my penis"
"Swallow or it's going in your eye."
"If the heat doesn't kill the elderly, I will" t-shirt.
"My other car is up my nose."
10 August 2009
What a Shame!
It's been two months to the day since I've blogged. I wasn't lying when I said I wasn't prolific. To my defense though, the field season has been fairly redundant. Burnett County was my second home from the end of May through mid-July. I returned briefly to Hwy 60 in Richland County, with a move and selling nearly all of my possessions in between. So let's recap the past two months!
So, Siren isn't a bad place to be stuck for a while, but any place for a while gets a bit dull. It was a bit far from the project area, which made for really long days when we kept hitting sites and finding artifacts. Too much work to do, wasting too much time driving. One of the local property owners told us of a place down the road, and regretfully, it took us a couple weeks to check it out. Now, the Heartwood Conference Center is definitely one of my most favorite places in Wisconsin to stay. It's in the middle of nowhere. It's surrounded by 700 acres of nature and has a private lake/sandy beach with free canoes, kayaks, and rowboats to use. There are trails to bike or hike, athletic fields with all the gear you'd need, a great internet connection, and best of all -- bad cell phone reception! We'll be up here for just about all the rest of the field season, hopefully staying in a cabin where we can cook and actually feel domestic for once. I'm hoping a bear comes strolling through at some point. There are frequently deer on the dirt road in, and I even saw one nibbling on some grass outside of my hotel room's patio door. Only downside = other vacationers. My work time/home life, their "vacation, let the kids loose to scream and run around so their out of the way" time. Yeah, I'm that grumpy chick who's been scowling at your loud children.
Because of an overload of work and a very small crew, I can't recall many shenanigans to write about. We've kayaked, jumped on the water trampoline, cooked and stuffed each other silly, and spent a lot of time just hanging by the lake. There have been a couple outings to Hayward, to remind us what an actual town is like (but not too often). A favorite with the crew is the Angry Minnow brewery and restaurant. I concur, fabulous beer! We strolled around Hayward one day. There are some great shops, but way overpriced and too many people. How much fudge can people eat? Answer - A LOT. I ran out of the candy store as fast as I ran into it, and with no purchases!
Another outing was to the Forts Folle Avione between Webster and Danbury, on the Yellow River. It a nice little museum and a historic fort with FANTASTIC guides!! A Native Mille Lacs man took us through the reconstructed Woodland village, which was mainly reconstructed by him - by hand. So impressive. Then a self-professed "half-breed" aka half Native/half French woman guided us through the French fur trade era trading posts. She was incredibly enthusiastic, which I was really entertained by, although some of my coworkers though she was a bit much. No way man, turn up the enthusiasm whenever possible! And to top it off, we finally saw a black bear there. After 6 or 7 weeks of being told by property owners about all the bears, a little guy was hanging around the park trying to steal food from campers. Not gonna lie, I probably would've fed him (I know, I know!).
And that about sums up a month and a half of "up nort" living. Yeah, the cultural interaction is pretty minimal. Less woods, more people, more serenity. Maybe we'll get a bit more rowdy and explore when the excavations start this fall. Or maybe I'll just keep taking ridiculously beautiful nature photos and stay peaceful.
So, Siren isn't a bad place to be stuck for a while, but any place for a while gets a bit dull. It was a bit far from the project area, which made for really long days when we kept hitting sites and finding artifacts. Too much work to do, wasting too much time driving. One of the local property owners told us of a place down the road, and regretfully, it took us a couple weeks to check it out. Now, the Heartwood Conference Center is definitely one of my most favorite places in Wisconsin to stay. It's in the middle of nowhere. It's surrounded by 700 acres of nature and has a private lake/sandy beach with free canoes, kayaks, and rowboats to use. There are trails to bike or hike, athletic fields with all the gear you'd need, a great internet connection, and best of all -- bad cell phone reception! We'll be up here for just about all the rest of the field season, hopefully staying in a cabin where we can cook and actually feel domestic for once. I'm hoping a bear comes strolling through at some point. There are frequently deer on the dirt road in, and I even saw one nibbling on some grass outside of my hotel room's patio door. Only downside = other vacationers. My work time/home life, their "vacation, let the kids loose to scream and run around so their out of the way" time. Yeah, I'm that grumpy chick who's been scowling at your loud children.
Because of an overload of work and a very small crew, I can't recall many shenanigans to write about. We've kayaked, jumped on the water trampoline, cooked and stuffed each other silly, and spent a lot of time just hanging by the lake. There have been a couple outings to Hayward, to remind us what an actual town is like (but not too often). A favorite with the crew is the Angry Minnow brewery and restaurant. I concur, fabulous beer! We strolled around Hayward one day. There are some great shops, but way overpriced and too many people. How much fudge can people eat? Answer - A LOT. I ran out of the candy store as fast as I ran into it, and with no purchases!
Another outing was to the Forts Folle Avione between Webster and Danbury, on the Yellow River. It a nice little museum and a historic fort with FANTASTIC guides!! A Native Mille Lacs man took us through the reconstructed Woodland village, which was mainly reconstructed by him - by hand. So impressive. Then a self-professed "half-breed" aka half Native/half French woman guided us through the French fur trade era trading posts. She was incredibly enthusiastic, which I was really entertained by, although some of my coworkers though she was a bit much. No way man, turn up the enthusiasm whenever possible! And to top it off, we finally saw a black bear there. After 6 or 7 weeks of being told by property owners about all the bears, a little guy was hanging around the park trying to steal food from campers. Not gonna lie, I probably would've fed him (I know, I know!).
And that about sums up a month and a half of "up nort" living. Yeah, the cultural interaction is pretty minimal. Less woods, more people, more serenity. Maybe we'll get a bit more rowdy and explore when the excavations start this fall. Or maybe I'll just keep taking ridiculously beautiful nature photos and stay peaceful.
10 June 2009
This One's for You, Owen.
The past two weeks have been spent in the Northwoods, and this probably won't change any time soon since we're still going strong in Siren/Burnett County. I started off in Siren last week, got shipped four hours east to the Eagle River area, and came back to Siren on Monday. I felt like a trucker, logging over 800 miles last week alone! The scenery is worth it though, the drive from northern Burnett County to Eagle River, mainly on Hwy 77, ran through large sections of the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest. If only it wasn't all work and no play! No time for photos or exploring the lakes we drove by, but it was definitely enough of a taste to make me want to return on my off-time. Our work took us north of Eagle River to Phelps, just miles short of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It really looks like Finland in this area, and now I want property here! It almost seemed like punishment to have so much work to do and so little time to explore, but I'm glad I got to see it. Here are the few photos I took, from a great little Italian place, Nero's, and from my hotel window.
We stayed at the Settle Inn, which is -- by far -- my favorite hotel I've been in for work. AMAZING beds, like a cloud, you won't know what hit you. And a complimentary hot breakfast, served up by Gloria. Homemade french toast and all, but don't forget your breakfast coupon, she won't serve you and she don't play!
On the drive from Eagle River back to Madison, I finally got to stop in Rhinelander. Last year, we excavated the boyhood home of Eugene Shepard near New London, WI. Eugene Shepard went down in Wisconsin and Folklore history with his infamous HODAG hoax. The city of Rhinelander has since adopted the Hodag as their mascot, and there are sculptures all around town to prove it. I have to say, I feel much more like a true Wisconsinite now that I've been to Rhinelander to see a Hodag!
Back in Siren, we've been hitting lots of artifact clusters. Yay for real archaeology! Projectile points, rim sherds, debitage and all, it's a nice change of pace! Some really great property owners allowed us to expand search beyond the project area to define our site boundaries. One in particular was Owen. He's a retiree from the Twin Cities and has been coming to his cottage on the lake for years. I explained to him what we were looking for, and even though the project didn't extend onto his property, he was more than willing to let us have a look. He asked if I like Native American art, and my answer was, of course! He said he'd like to show me some of his own collection and invited me into his lakeside cabin to have a look. I was in absolute awe of his collection, he's obviously spent years on it. Carvings, paintings, masks, dolls, bead work, quivers, prints - WOW! It was really, really touching to be shown this stuff. His favorite artist is a man called Norvel Morriseau, a Canadian Ojibwe. This man's paintings are unearthly and stunning, definitely something I never expected to encounter during a 'normal day on the job'. Do a Google image search of him, seriously. Or check out more of his work here. To see these paintings real and up close was an absolute treat. It is obvious that Owen appreciates, reveres, and has an emotional investment in the objects he collects.
Right before lunch, I decide to place a couple of shovel tests along the very southern edge of Owen's property and call it quits for that part of the site area. What do you know, there's a small arrowhead in one of the holes! A chalcedony Madison Triangular, yippee!! Owen immediately says that the museum can have it, even though I explain to him that the property owners can have them sent back after analysis. All of the other property owners want to keep everything, but he wants to give it to the museum. Of course, he's the sweetest man ever. Later that day, the neighbor came up to me and asked if I would talk to Owen again and emphasize that he can keep the arrowhead. He said that Owen is a giver, who would never ask, but it is something he would definitely be touched to have. He's spent a lot of his life collecting Native American art, and he doesn't think twice about giving away something found in his own lawn. As if he needed to convince me further (never was necessary, I whole-heartedly agreed Owen should keep it), he said that Owen had cancer and would likely donate the arrowhead back to the museum after his passing, because he's just that kind of a nice guy. Talk about tugging on my heart strings! One of the best parts of my job is getting to talk to great property owners like these guys by the lake. They have great stories, great insight, and great interest. They don't make many like Owen anymore. I'm definitely gonna make sure he gets that arrowhead.
And now for some scenery. Lovely, lovely Burnett County.
We stayed at the Settle Inn, which is -- by far -- my favorite hotel I've been in for work. AMAZING beds, like a cloud, you won't know what hit you. And a complimentary hot breakfast, served up by Gloria. Homemade french toast and all, but don't forget your breakfast coupon, she won't serve you and she don't play!
On the drive from Eagle River back to Madison, I finally got to stop in Rhinelander. Last year, we excavated the boyhood home of Eugene Shepard near New London, WI. Eugene Shepard went down in Wisconsin and Folklore history with his infamous HODAG hoax. The city of Rhinelander has since adopted the Hodag as their mascot, and there are sculptures all around town to prove it. I have to say, I feel much more like a true Wisconsinite now that I've been to Rhinelander to see a Hodag!
Back in Siren, we've been hitting lots of artifact clusters. Yay for real archaeology! Projectile points, rim sherds, debitage and all, it's a nice change of pace! Some really great property owners allowed us to expand search beyond the project area to define our site boundaries. One in particular was Owen. He's a retiree from the Twin Cities and has been coming to his cottage on the lake for years. I explained to him what we were looking for, and even though the project didn't extend onto his property, he was more than willing to let us have a look. He asked if I like Native American art, and my answer was, of course! He said he'd like to show me some of his own collection and invited me into his lakeside cabin to have a look. I was in absolute awe of his collection, he's obviously spent years on it. Carvings, paintings, masks, dolls, bead work, quivers, prints - WOW! It was really, really touching to be shown this stuff. His favorite artist is a man called Norvel Morriseau, a Canadian Ojibwe. This man's paintings are unearthly and stunning, definitely something I never expected to encounter during a 'normal day on the job'. Do a Google image search of him, seriously. Or check out more of his work here. To see these paintings real and up close was an absolute treat. It is obvious that Owen appreciates, reveres, and has an emotional investment in the objects he collects. Right before lunch, I decide to place a couple of shovel tests along the very southern edge of Owen's property and call it quits for that part of the site area. What do you know, there's a small arrowhead in one of the holes! A chalcedony Madison Triangular, yippee!! Owen immediately says that the museum can have it, even though I explain to him that the property owners can have them sent back after analysis. All of the other property owners want to keep everything, but he wants to give it to the museum. Of course, he's the sweetest man ever. Later that day, the neighbor came up to me and asked if I would talk to Owen again and emphasize that he can keep the arrowhead. He said that Owen is a giver, who would never ask, but it is something he would definitely be touched to have. He's spent a lot of his life collecting Native American art, and he doesn't think twice about giving away something found in his own lawn. As if he needed to convince me further (never was necessary, I whole-heartedly agreed Owen should keep it), he said that Owen had cancer and would likely donate the arrowhead back to the museum after his passing, because he's just that kind of a nice guy. Talk about tugging on my heart strings! One of the best parts of my job is getting to talk to great property owners like these guys by the lake. They have great stories, great insight, and great interest. They don't make many like Owen anymore. I'm definitely gonna make sure he gets that arrowhead.
And now for some scenery. Lovely, lovely Burnett County.
31 May 2009
Blowing the Horn About Siren
Siren, Wisconsin was half wiped out by a bad ass tornado back in 2001. On my birthday, and even more particularly, the first day I began professional work as an Archaeologist. I'm still trying to figure out if that's a good or bad coincidence.
I've been working in Siren on and off since 2006. I'm pretty fond of this project, the sites, the roads, the middle-of-nowhere bar-n-grills... However, I'm not getting to "live-up" Siren as fully as I'd like to. Siren's a long drive from Madison, and we've yet to spend a whole week here. On top of that, I got nailed with the flu. Fuck the Swine Flu, what was with that media hype? This flu hit a lot of people hard, and I gotta say, it was NO FUN.
So, this is an entry using a post-flu, partially post-Memorial Day memory.
Any trip to Northwestern Wisconsin warrants a trip to the Norske Nook for PIE, yeah, OLE!! That's "Oh-lee" not "Oh-lay" for you non-Scandinavian heritage folks). We're fond of the Osseo location. Just stop in. I-94, Exit 88, follow the signs. Eat pie. It's award-winning gooooooood. I have to remember to get the Root Beer Float pie next time I see it on the menu, nothing has topped that yet! Here's some White Chocolate Strawberry pie for you to drool over.
There's a place in Siren called Yah Butz that we've had our eyes on for the past few field seasons, but the darn place never seemed to be open. The shop reads 'BBQ and ice cream', has to be good, right? Well, turns out they're open Thursday-Sunday (don't quote me on that). We finally made it in, only there's no cooked food! They sell "take and heat" ribs and their homemade BBQ sauce, amongst some other things including delicious, delicious ice cream. You can sample the sauce. I bought some, only I don't usually grill on my own, so who's up for grilling with some Big Butz?
By the way, what IS that thing?
When in Siren, we usually stay at the Lodge at Crooked Lake. It's very lodgey. Big rooms, lots of taxidermy, some nice common areas to hang out in, a bonfire pit and BBQ, and a great view of the marsh from the north-facing rooms. The rooms have fun names. The first week, I was in "Lumberjack". Last week, it was "Bear Paw". There's also "Dancing Wolf", "Ruffed Grouse"... you get the picture.
Tuesday was Chelsea's first day back for the field season. Our crew may now possibly be at full capacity for the field season. After dinner and having enough of the desserts, we girls took a walk on the Gandy Dancer State Trail that hooks up behind the hotel. We didn't get too far because of mosquitoes, twilight, and the front desk clerk's warning of bears, but it was cool. The beavers love this trail. Check it out, they're trying to impale bikers who fly over the handles...
There was a CD on the beaver lodge. I wonder what album it was?
And finally, this his how we rock it. With a game of LIFE, missing half the pieces.
I've been working in Siren on and off since 2006. I'm pretty fond of this project, the sites, the roads, the middle-of-nowhere bar-n-grills... However, I'm not getting to "live-up" Siren as fully as I'd like to. Siren's a long drive from Madison, and we've yet to spend a whole week here. On top of that, I got nailed with the flu. Fuck the Swine Flu, what was with that media hype? This flu hit a lot of people hard, and I gotta say, it was NO FUN.
So, this is an entry using a post-flu, partially post-Memorial Day memory.
Any trip to Northwestern Wisconsin warrants a trip to the Norske Nook for PIE, yeah, OLE!! That's "Oh-lee" not "Oh-lay" for you non-Scandinavian heritage folks). We're fond of the Osseo location. Just stop in. I-94, Exit 88, follow the signs. Eat pie. It's award-winning gooooooood. I have to remember to get the Root Beer Float pie next time I see it on the menu, nothing has topped that yet! Here's some White Chocolate Strawberry pie for you to drool over.
There's a place in Siren called Yah Butz that we've had our eyes on for the past few field seasons, but the darn place never seemed to be open. The shop reads 'BBQ and ice cream', has to be good, right? Well, turns out they're open Thursday-Sunday (don't quote me on that). We finally made it in, only there's no cooked food! They sell "take and heat" ribs and their homemade BBQ sauce, amongst some other things including delicious, delicious ice cream. You can sample the sauce. I bought some, only I don't usually grill on my own, so who's up for grilling with some Big Butz?
By the way, what IS that thing?
When in Siren, we usually stay at the Lodge at Crooked Lake. It's very lodgey. Big rooms, lots of taxidermy, some nice common areas to hang out in, a bonfire pit and BBQ, and a great view of the marsh from the north-facing rooms. The rooms have fun names. The first week, I was in "Lumberjack". Last week, it was "Bear Paw". There's also "Dancing Wolf", "Ruffed Grouse"... you get the picture.
Tuesday was Chelsea's first day back for the field season. Our crew may now possibly be at full capacity for the field season. After dinner and having enough of the desserts, we girls took a walk on the Gandy Dancer State Trail that hooks up behind the hotel. We didn't get too far because of mosquitoes, twilight, and the front desk clerk's warning of bears, but it was cool. The beavers love this trail. Check it out, they're trying to impale bikers who fly over the handles...
There was a CD on the beaver lodge. I wonder what album it was?
And finally, this his how we rock it. With a game of LIFE, missing half the pieces.
21 May 2009
Herman Rusch Deserves His Own Post, Part 2
Before leaving Buffalo County, we stopped by a Weird Wisconsin destination, the Prairie Moon Sculpture Garden, just off of Hwy 35 near Cochrane. Herman Rusch, in his idle retirement, rented and then bought this property and began to create large sculptures out of concrete and other random materials. I had seen some of his stuff at a folk art exhibit at the Kohler Art Center in Sheboygan a couple of years ago (stop by if you're in the area, it's pretty spectacular!). It was cool to finally get to Prairie Moon.
Not to be a bore, but I've typed a lot tonight! Tuesday night was spent in Menomonie, WI, after a long and winding drive through the country highways and rolling hills of western Wisconsin. Not a bad place, but nothing exciting. Wednesday brought us to Siren, WI, in Burnett County. There are a few adventures to be had up in this part of the Northwoods, but I'll be back here next week. Until then...
Oh, I just noticed that my weekly tallies have fallen by the wayside. Maybe I'll have more energy and more to tally next week? This week was just one big whirlwind!
Whirlwind tours of Western Wisconsin: 1
Not to be a bore, but I've typed a lot tonight! Tuesday night was spent in Menomonie, WI, after a long and winding drive through the country highways and rolling hills of western Wisconsin. Not a bad place, but nothing exciting. Wednesday brought us to Siren, WI, in Burnett County. There are a few adventures to be had up in this part of the Northwoods, but I'll be back here next week. Until then...
Oh, I just noticed that my weekly tallies have fallen by the wayside. Maybe I'll have more energy and more to tally next week? This week was just one big whirlwind!
Whirlwind tours of Western Wisconsin: 1
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