It's All About Nature... and the Road.

My time in the far northwoods of western Wisconsin is finally wrapping up (for now), with an afternoon spent at Shell Lake's beautiful sandy beach and an evening of birthday pizza with the crew. This is my second consecutive birthday in Wisconsin Indianhead Country. It's been a good run! I've hiked miles on the roads up here, digging those little holes that pay the bills. The gorgeous scenery, animals, and quirky roadside attractions will never fail to amaze and amuse me, but absence makes the heart grow fonder -- so bring on the next adventure!!

Getting Crafty in the Up Nort'.

It wouldn't have been a proper stay in Shell Lake without painting pottery at The Potter's Shed. I'm glad we did, it was nice to get out and do something CREATIVE and artsy, which is something hotel life seldom allows. Now, I have a lovely water pitcher to box up at home for a time when I no longer live in hotels. Sigh...

The Potter's Shed looks like a fun place for weekend vacationers too. The back garden is pretty amazing, it'd be so fun to play on that stage. Or sit there with a beer and enjoy the show.

I've Been Working on the Railroad... and Then It Closed Down, So Now There's Just a Museum of Memories

Rain days allow for more exploration of the towns we're sent to for survey projects. The most common rain day activity for archaeology and history enthusiasts (second to sleeping in) -- museums! Unlike the Museum of Woodcarving, the Railroad Memories Museum is much more of a museum and less of a shrine. It's run by retired railroad employees, and our tour guide, Bob, was a hoot. He sure knew his stuff and enjoyed filling us in on many of the commonly overlooked details of the museum, as well as telling us stories from his post-WWII stint with the railroad. The museum was filled to the brim in 12 rooms worth of stuff, ranging from tools and machinery to stoves to tickets and memorabilia, to old telegraph equipment and a video room with Thomas the Train video cassettes to watch. Most of my photos are of the rail yard since taking photos inside wasn't allowed. I snuck one though, but I only feel a little bit bad.

 

 

 

Downtown Spooner is full of other little gems, including a Northwind Book & Fiber, Spooner Outlet (an outdoor surplus/outlet store full of any and all Spooner-embroidered gear you can think of), and a fabulously tasty and cheap bakery. I bought a 6-pack of rosettes for $2.20 and threw in a molasses cookie and macaroon for a grand total of $2.87.

Now go away rain, I want to ride my bike.

I Like the (Spooner) Night Life, Baby!

Foxxy's Bar and Grill

A trip to the Northwoods is not complete without dinner at a supper club. It's Wisconsin tradition! Trying to explain what a supper club is to non-Wisconsinites, I've come up with the following criteria: Friday night fish fry, broasted chicken, and prime rib specials; a salad bar (usually); a lounge just off the restaurant; a rural county road location; a pre-meal packaged bread stick and cracker basket with cheese spread; retro interior; and a tradition of serving food for at least 30 years. Foxxy's had all of the criteria, minus a salad bar on Thursday nights, but they made up for it with a $15.95 steak and shrimp dinner. The view over the lake was outstanding. The waitress said a black bear cub had been eating out of the bird feeders that week, and we waited patiently for it to appear, but no luck. Next time, bear cub, next time...


Big Dick's Buckhorn Inn

Northwoods bars sure love their taxidermy, and Big Dick's is no exception! Check out the freaky two-headed calf! Besides taxidermy, they have all sorts of odds in ends in little shadow boxes along the wall. A lizard knife holder, antiques, military paraphernalia, you name it. Of course, lots of t-shirts, etc., are for sale (Hot Chicks Like Big Dick's! and Good to the Last Swallow!). As if that's not enough entertainment, they have a punching bag bar game, where you feed it dollars so you can prove your manliness by punching the bag and racking up points. One man must have put over $10 in. He was close to the record, but no cigar!


The Stone Pony

Formally the home of the Corral Bar, the Stone Pony is supposedly haunted. We saw the skulls and newspaper article outside and had to have a drink. It wasn't really what we expected on the inside, but it still had a dark energy! The place is now a metal bar, owned by a local tattoo artist. The bartenders were super friendly and entertaining. We honed in on a masking tape penis tucked behind the bar, and the bartender relayed the hilarious story behind it's creation. After the bar was purchased by the new owners, the masking tape penis appeared hanging by fishing line from the sign outside of the bar. Locals got offended and called in the Spooner police. The owner was called in, and the police seemed pissed that he didn't know anything about it. A crowd gathered around the ruckus. Someone went up to cut down the penis. It fell to the pavement and a surprise filling of Barbasol spurted out of the tip, onto a cop's shoes. This was hilarious to everyone except said cop. The owner later found out that it was a friend who pulled the prank on the sly. Why? To prove that they were bigger than Big Dick!

Exploring Shell Lake on Two Wheels, via the Lake Drive Loop.

I decided to stash my bike in the work vehicle this week (shhh...) to take advantage of more of the gorgeous Northwest. If I knew I'd be working here for over a year, I would've just bought a tiny little cottage and a kayak. There's so much to see up here, why waste every Monday and Friday driving, driving, driving...

South shore of Shell Lake.

 

An archaeologist's enemy - the red-winged blackbird!

 

Blackbird in flight.

 

Something I'd like to own one day (minus the annoying frontal garage).

 

Loving the view.
Shell Lake's north shore.

Another beautiful barn.

The home stretch.

"Is Anything Impossible with Divine Help?"

Wow.

I'm not going to write the name of this place, because I totally wasn't allowed to take pictures. But I HAD to! For more info, check out Roadside America.

This place is incredibly fascinating. It is not a museum like they claim it to be. It is, for lack of a better term, a shrine. It encapsulates one man's talent and reverence, complete with a life-size replica of DaVinci's The Last Supper, which he actually began to create after a disembodied voice with a German accent gave him the go ahead. The museum brochure declares that this carving will "outlast Leonardo DaVinci's delicate painting, as it is flaking off the wall in Milan, Italy."

I can't make this shit up, people. This. Is. Wisconsin.

The devil is sad that Jesus has risen.

Judas' hanging.

A procession of different bible passages that began with the Temptation of Adam and Eve and the birth of baby Jesus.

The Last Supper.

And the other half.
To top all of that off, there's a flea market-type assemblage of goodies to buy in the lobby. Old clothes, obscene coffee mugs, blood pressure monitors, wooden postcards of The Last Supper carving, and more. All proceeds for charity, and these people have a long history of generously donating. Respect. I took a photo of this award, just to demonstrate how things have changed since 1968.

Not Quite Minnesota, Too Much Wisconsin Flair.

It’s always great to be shipped to the Hudson area, because it’s basically a suburb/late night alcohol stop of the Twin Cities area, which means I can catch up with old friends who are willing to cross over the St. Croix River while I am caged in Wisconsin. Wisconsin is a great cage to be stuck in though, and there never seems to be enough time to explore the shops, cafes, and river walk in Hudson’s historic downtown. My absolute favorite boutique in the area is the La Rue Marche. Such a gem. Incredible clearance, gorgeous shoes, super helpful staff, and articles of clothing much too trendy and pretty for my dirt throwing, hotel living lifestyle. It’s kind of like a museum to me, so many pretty things to see. I’ll definitely be wearing my finds a lot this summer to get my money’s worth out of them! I also love Lavender & Thyme, right across the street. I got my first pair of Joe’s there and couldn’t believe how long they lasted me after wearing them practically every other day for 3 years. Even more artsy, trendy, and unaffordable to my budget clothes there, but most of the time it’s just fun to window shop. The food is fabulous in Hudson too. The mojitos at the San Pedro Cafe absolutely cannot be beat! But my heart belongs to the Winzer Stube, they do German fare better than any other place I’ve been to in Wisconsin. I guess I’m not the only one who thinks so, because they sign out front let us know they were voted the 17th best German restaurant in America, out of 404. Top 20 German food, mmm… $2.50 German drafts during happy hour, mmm… 50% off schnitzel dinners on Wednesdays, mmm… but alas, I’m still off meat and had incredible schnitzel envy. Nothing to complain about the krautfleckerl though, they’re spaetzle is top notch!


We also got to briefly visit the Minnesota History Center during a visit to the SHPO’s office to see an old friend. What a great facility! Great interactive exhibits, but I didn’t have enough time to explore. The only photo I took of one of their exhibits was of one of Prince’s outfits. If you’re going to take just one photo, this is definitely appropriate. Prince and I are the same height. Let’s go crazy.


Another fabulous, fabulous historical stop is the New Richmond Heritage Center. It was located right behind the hotel and peaked my interest right away. I initially thought it was a house and barn, but the facility actually has several historic buildings over 11 acres including two houses, the barn, a church, general store, school house, blacksmith shop, log cabin, and others. Some of the buildings are original to the site (including the Bell/Tierney Italianate-style house which is on the NRHP), but most have been trucked in and/or reassembled from other locales in northwest Wisconsin. Each building has been restored and set up as it would have looked in the past, but not all of the elements in each building are from an exact time period. A lot of school groups tour the facility, so you can pick up, play with, and explore a lot of the artifacts. Hands-on learning the way it should be!






Since we’re always on the lookout for cheap entertainment, cheap beer, and novelty, we honed in on this little downtown New Richmond gem right away. Seriously? Are they really called Bowlarena? I’m not sure, but the place was fantastic. Chipped up balls, wonky lanes, mechanical errors, and score-your-own bowling. We missed Monday’s $1 games, $1 shoes, $1.50 Miller products, and free juke box night, that mistake will NOT happen again. Regardless, bowling was only $2.50, a full night of laughs amounted about about $6 plus beer. Even though there are no projectors to display the scores, it’s still fun to make up silly bowling names… right, Cupcake?




And to leave you with, a shot of what people always want to know... what do we do? Well, sometimes we walk through plowed fields, stare at the ground, and look for artifacts. Usually with a gorgeous Wisconsin landscape in the background.