Bayfield, Wisconsin

Good morning, my friends. We find ourselves in Bayfield, Wisconsin today...or Whiskerconsin, if you ask the kitties. We had a relatively short day of driving yesterday at 140 miles. It ended up being a little longer, I think, because we had to cross over Lake Superior at a different point than originally planned. The exit we wanted was closed, and so we had to detour to the next bridge (second time this trip).

We took our time leaving Silver Bay yesterday. There is some coordination between check-out times and check-in times on short driving days. Just after leaving we drove through a tunnel...and you know we get all excited about tunnels. This one was short.

Within about a mile, however, we passed through another longer one. This one is kind of impressive having been blasted out of the cliffside as it was. (Sorry about the filthy windshield.)

We weren't able to see Lake Superior until we reached the other side.

As we approached Duluth, we started seeing more signs of commerce on the lake.

And then we detoured across Lake Superior on this tangled bridge system.

Up and over, and we found ourselves in Superior, Wisconsin.

I never saw a Welcome to Wisconsin sign, but I did capture this fence at the University of Wisconsin, Superior campus.

A little careful photo editing, and I made it work. If you don't like it, then I'll give you this one, recycled from our trip here in 2014.

Had we crossed the first bridge, we might have seen it.

There isn't much to say about yesterday's drive. We didn't even see many barns. The ones I could see were usually hidden behind houses or trees, but I did capture this one.

 

With our detour, we ended up approaching Bayfield from the south, rather than the north, as before. There was more to see on the northerly route. If you're interested, you can see my post from 2014 right here. There was a quilt shop here on our last visit too, but it has since closed. There was a story associated with its closing. Sadly, the owner of Orchard's Edge passed away after our visit there and the shop closed. On a brighter note, the owner's son opened another shop in Ashland, Wisconsin. The article about it has been removed from the internet. Just now I did a search for the shop in Ashland, Wisconsin, just about 25 miles down the road. It has a web presence, and so I'm thinking it's still open. We'll be visiting Ashland while we're here, and so I'll look for it.

Since we were only here one night on our last visit, Mike hadn't actually seen the town. It's very cute...touristy...but with some beautiful homes that have been turned into places for lodging, and some wonderful gift shops. We decided to drive into town for dinner last night. We selected a rooftop bar/restaurant. This was the view from our table.

Mike had fish and chips, and I had fish tacos. With so much fresh fish available, it seems a shame to order anything else. After dinner, we walked out on the dock and looked at the boats. Looking across the bay, we could see a marina.

We don't have a lot planned for this part of our trip. We have four nights here...maybe the longest stay for this trip. I believe I gave us some extra time in order to reach Munising, in Michigan's upper peninsula, for a weekday boat tour of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Between now and then, we'll be taking a boat tour of the Apostle Island National Lakeshore right here in Bayfield. Then, we'll spend a night up in Mohawk, Michigan, to see the Copper Harbor Lighthouse before moving on to Munising. It's going to be a busy week ahead.

Today we may make the drive into Ashland, or we may spend the day strolling around Bayfield. The day's activities have yet to reveal themselves. For now, I'll do a little slow-stitching, and then we'll figure out what's next.