We went straight to the Kewaunee Pierhead Light, which marks the outflow of the Kewaunee River into Lake Michigan. The light was located at the end of an icy concrete pier, but we enjoyed the slow walk out and back without any wind. We saw flocks of Canada geese and Common goldeneye (ducks), and a lot of open water (i.e., very little ice).
Kewaunee Pierhead Light, Lake Michigan
After the lighthouse, we visited Parallel 44 Vineyard & Winery a few miles inland for a tasting. The name Parallel 44 comes from the latitude where the winery is located, which is interestingly shared with Bordeaux, France and Tuscany, Italy. All of the wines were great and it was quiet there since the Packers played on Sunday afternoon. We got home in time to catch the second half of the game...it was a sad night in Packerland.
Since Monday was a holiday for Scott, we decided to head "Up North" along the western shore of Green Bay to check out the town of Marinette, WI- directly across the river from Menominee, MI (the first town in Upper Penninsula Michigan). The UP is going to deserve a lot more of our attention once the weather clears- while winter sports are popular up there, many of the small museums and other attractions are closed for the winter. Menominee, Michigan is about halfway up on the west shore of Green Bay, and is only about 50 miles north of the City of Green Bay. Bonus: we were excited to see a Bald Eagle perched on a utility pole along the highway on the trip up- a real treat!
Display honoring the lumbering history of Marinette- logs from the North Woods were floated down the Menominee River, processed at mills in Menominee/Marinette, and shipped to their destination via Lake Michigan
We crossed the bridge into Pure Michigan (as the welcome sign stated) and had the Menominee North Pier Light to ourselves. The concrete pier was much less icy than Kewaunee, but the likely reason for this was that Green Bay and the Menominee River were completely iced in as far as we could see. It was neat to see all that ice (and a couple of ice fishermen out), but it did make for a stronger wind across what felt like a real arctic tundra. After visiting the light, we crossed the bridge back into Marinette (WI) and visited the Rail House Restaurant & Brewpub for beers and sandwiches (delicious!), and then Forgotten Fire Winery for a wine tasting. We had a private wine tasting (and in fact were the only visitors to the winery all day), and luckily had the opportunity to let the bartender know that there are in fact mountains and it does in fact snow in Virginia (who knew?). They had a lot of fruity and sweet wines, which were all very good, especially the cranberry.
Menominee North Pier Light, Menominee, Michigan on a frozen Green Bay
The name Forgotten Fire refers to the Great Peshtigo Fire of 1871. It actually occurred on the same night as the Great Chicago Fire (October 8, 1871), but ironically receives little to no attention outside of Wisconsin since it was overshadowed by the devastation of the fires in Chicago. Nonetheless, 1,500-2,500 people were killed as a result of the Peshtigo fire, and it altered the landscape over 1,800 square miles of northeastern Wisconsin. The fire was so intense that it even jumped over the Bay of Green Bay to Door Peninsula (check out the link above to see a range map of the fire). Unfortunately, the Peshtigo Fire Museum was closed for the season, so we will have to check that out another time.
We have been in this freeze and thaw weather pattern for the last week or so- we get one day in the 30s which melts most of the snow, and then it gets replaced by the next Alberta clipper system (i.e., quick blast that comes from Canada, hence the name). I actually saw some grass over the weekend. Winter sports enthusiasts aren't too happy about that, but Teddy sure appreciates it!
