Wimpy and WaterWorks

Spring is here to stay, and even the fountain in downtown Lake Geneva is turned back on and celebrating the warm days.

In Marinette where the Menominee River divides Wisconsin from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan two carved youths take the plunge, but I'm guessing the water is way too cold to swim in for live people.

Crossing into the U.P. there is less art to see, but besides lots of trees and big lake views you can catch Wimpy from Popeye hanging out on the corner in Escanaba.

This is my second trip up to Yooper country in the last two weeks, and yesterday afternoon I finished up appointments in Marquette and headed to Manistique for the night with a hiking stop along the way.  I busted out my Canon 70D and put on my hiking shoes for the first time in many months and have real photos to share tomorrow and a whole day off to explore today!

Lighthouse in Manistique, Michigan

Manistique Water Works

Roadside Finds in the Northern Highlands

Way up north in Wisconsin earlier this month there was still some snow hanging around.

Seen in St. Germain

When I motored into Woodruff I stumbled across the World's Largest Penny which commemorates a 1953 fund-raising stunt. Dr. Kate Pelham Newcomb (known locally as "The Angel On Snowshoes") implored local school children to save their pennies so that Woodruff could build a hospital. TV picked up on the story and pennies were soon pouring in from all over the country - 1.7 million in all.

Woodruff got its hospital, and the schoolchildren of 1953 are just about ready to enter the new assisted living facility behind the penny.

Minocqua's Hallman-Lindsay Paint store has a collection of colorful cows that were so detailed even their backsides were on display.

In 1893, newspapers reported the discovery of a hodag in Rhinelander, Wisconsin. It had "the head of a frog, the grinning face of a giant elephant, thick short legs set off by huge claws, the back of a dinosaur, and a long tail with spears at the end". The reports were instigated by well-known Wisconsin land surveyor, timber cruiser and prankster Eugene Shepard, who rounded up a group of local people to capture the animal. The group reported that they needed to use dynamite to kill the beast. (from Wikipedia)

A photograph of the remains of the charred beast was released to the media. It was "the fiercest, strangest, most frightening monster ever to set razor sharp claws on the earth. It became extinct after its main food source, all white bulldogs, became scarce in the area."

The hoax got more elaborate, with Shepard capturing a "live" Hodag and showing it at the Oneida County Fair.  Once The Smithsonian announced their impending visit to inspect the discovery the game was over.  But the Hodag remains the symbol of Rhineland to this day and replicas can be found around downtown.  What else will I find on the roads of Wisconsin, I wonder?

City of Sculptures - Waupun

The city of Waupun was first settled in 1838 and the meaning of the word is "the early light of day" and is of Indian origin.  By 1857 the city was incorporated and the Chicago Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad had come to town.

 

 Today Waupun has one of the highest concentrations of public art per capita in the United States, the bronze sculptures all over town were created by Clarence Shaler.

 

Over the decades Waupun has seen a lot of industry come and go including manufacturing of shoes, umbrellas, carriages, windmill manufacturing and a mill for knitting concerns. 

 

The town has also been home to a state prison since 1851 and is still a large presence right smack in the middle of downtown today.  So strange since usually the prisons you pass on out in the fields.  The picture above is of City Hall, much more pleasant.

 

My favorite sculpture was called "Dawn of Day" and is right in front of City Hall.  What do you think?

 

Waupun's most famous sculpture is in a nice little city park next to the local cemetery.

 

The original model of “The End of the Trail” was created by James Earl Fraser in 1894 when he was 17 years old.  It’s completed size was only 18 inches tall.  Fraser was asked to replicate his masterpiece in plaster for the 1914 Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco which was where Shaler first beheld the work of art.  The child of pioneer farmers, Shaler had contact with Native Americans living around nearby Lake Emily and was saddened by their disappearance over the years.  As a tribute to the Native Americans he commissioned James Earl Fraser to cast the statue in bronze as a gift to the City of Waupun.

"The End of the Trail"

 It took two years to complete at a cost of $50,000 and was unveiled at its present site on June 23, 1929.  In 1975, the statue become a Wisconsin landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Sites.  While maybe not a destination, Waupun is a fun little side trip just minutes from Horicon Marsh if you are in the area.

Springing into Town

Spring has been slow to come to Wisconsin, as it does every year.  I've been putting miles behind me almost every day, though I haven't been singing along to the radio because it makes my voice hoarse and it's hard to sell those frames with magnetic clips if no one can hear me.

 

In Hobart I met some great Opticians who work at the health department building for the Oneida Nation.  If you are in the area stop in and check out their art displays in the public areas.

 

If you are in Oconto you must stop at Wayne's Family Restaurant for some pie.  They are the 25 time blue ribbon winner at the American Pie Council competition.  I had the blueberry...it was okay.  We've had other varieties there that were better though so don't hold that against them.

 

I still haven't gone inside, but I did finally stumble across the Oconto County Courthouse.

In Appleton I saw a mural depicting the history of the Hmong which was a surprise.

 

A side trip into Belgium is always in order so I can see Lake Michigan at Harrington Beach State Park.  I also got to see some deer enjoying one of our few lovely sunny days.  Look hard!

 

And here is a selfie of the new glasses.  These are the Easyclip ones with the magnetic clip which have been a lifesaver as I drive around and the sun plays hide and seek.  My mom got a pair too and she told me yesterday that she loves them!

 

Of course I will have more eyewear to model soon, I'm picking out some Adidas sunglass frames for myself today and I still have a shipment of some funky styles from DiValdi yet to arrive.  It's a good thing I'm gone on the road all the time or the UPS driver would tire of seeing me at the end of the driveway with a hopeful look on my face!

 

And I'll end this post with a frog on a bench in Cedarburg.  More on Cedarburg another day, it's a lovely town to visit, but I'll wait for a sunny day to highlight it's charms.  Maybe I'll even bask on the bench with the frog, stranger things have happened.

Mayville Post Office Mural

Still not a lot of time for adventures, though I have been able to cut down from working 2 jobs 7 days a week to working 2 jobs 6 days a week.  A few more weeks to train a new hire and I will be cutting the apron strings with my old job...I swear!

 

While driving from Waupun to Mayville the other day I saw this great old truck in someone's front yard.

 

Even better was the dinosaur duo who apprehended the Easter Bunny.

 

Look carefully and you will see me reflected in the doors of the Mayville Post Office.

 

I had to stop in and see the Post Office mural that I missed when Wayne and I checked out the town back in 2013. 

 

I have to admit I don't remember what town I saw this mural in, but it is an especially nice one so I included it even though I can't credit it. I have a few posts to write and will get them up over the next few days, now that I only work 6 days a week and all.  Linking up to Monday Mural.