Retracing Our Past Through Travel - Day Nine

     On July 7, we drove all the way from Marinette, WI to Detroit, MI. Before leaving, we decided to eat once again at Schloegels. 

Potato Pancakes

      Driving was going great until we were about 1 mile from the Mackinac Bridge in the UP. Stop and Go! The traffic was backed up for a long ways. We finally made it to the lower peninsula and promptly exited to eat in Mackinac City.

Chef in a Melon

     We ate at the same restaurant that we ate breakfast in a week before. I ordered the Fish and Chips plate. Let me tell you, the fish was fresh and I got 3 huge pieces for under $10. At the salad bar, they had the carved melon shown above.
      After eating, we entered the freeway only to find stop and go driving all the way down to where I-75 and US-23 branches off just south of Flint. What a long drive that was. The good thing is that I averaged 62.8 MPG all the way! More on that in my next blog.



      By the time we got to Flint it was 8 PM so we decided to stop at the Westside Diner on Balenger Highway. They have a burger, malt and fries special so we ordered that. They make the best malts and you get the entire metal cup that they make it in. We ordered one malt and split it. The waitress really outdid herself! That is REAL whipped cream on top.

Our Burgers

     After we got back on the freeway and entered the split, most of the traffice went down US 23 so it was free sailing after that.  We arrived at home around 10:30 PM and we were dead tired.
     So as a recap, we left Detroit on June 30 and hit Mackinac City, Marinette, WI, the cemetery in Marinette, WI, Stillwater, MN, Worthington, MN, the cemetery near Adrian, MN, Sioux Falls, SD, Lamberton, MN, Mankato, MN and then back to Marinette, Mackinac City and Detroit on July 7. Along the way, we buried our Mom, saw many of our relatives, and Retraced Our Past Through Travel.



    

Retracing Our Past Through Travel - Day Three

     Today was a very long day of driving but we managed to see some sights along the way as well. The first stop of the day was at Schloegel's Bay View Restaurant in Menominee, MI. Why? They have the best potato pancakes. Only my Mother-in-Law makes better potato pancakes! Here's a picture of the perfect pancakes...

 

Potato Pancakes

     After breakfast it was off to Minnesota. We drove the back roads all the way and the roads were perfect, unlike the terrible roads around Detroit. As we were driving, we came across quite a few interesting outhouses. A few are shown below.

 

His and Hers Outhouse located near Mountain, WI

     Of course, I had to use the Outhouse and this one had a lot of not so nice writing on the walls. At the same location was an old cabin with a sign on the front "Mountain Log Home Museum". As I took a picture of it I noticed what looked like another old outhouse behind it. Sure enough, it was! Here it is...

Old Outhouse in Mountain, WI

  

 Inside the Old Outhouse

     Driving further West we saw this oddly named bar.

The Schoolhouse Bar - "It's Time for Recess"

    We started driving again and a short time later, we approached Pickerel, Mole Lake and Crandon. We passed an old schoolhouse and I thought I saw something almost completely hidden by large weeds. I turned around to investigate and it was a real find. Almost hidden by tall weeds was a very old outhouse with an unusual pointed roof. I looked around and way on the other side of the school yard was ANOTHER identical outhouse almost hidden by weeds. Back then, there would be an outhouse for the girls and one for the boys so that explains why there were two of them. Here's a picture of one of them.

 Schoolhouse Outhouse

     We began driving again. "Hey, that's a real nice graveyard...Oh, there's a Porta John and I have to go!". Another U-Turn and we stopped yet again. 

     About this time it was beginning to be a longer drive than we thought. I decided to only stop for an emergency. We made it to Stillwater, MN and then drove up to Marine on St. Croix, MN. My great great grandfather once owned the store in that small town so we went to see what was left. The store is still in business!

Marine General Store

     The store still has the original wooden floors and they creak as you walk on them. Next to the store is a museum. This town was really bustling in the day but as many lumber boom towns did, it almost went bust after the boom.

     Back in Stillwater, MN, we came across two of the old Zephyr locomotives that are being rebuilt. 

The Minnesota Zephyr

      My mom actually rode on the Zephyr train all the way to Washington D.C. a long time ago.

      Finally, to finish out the day, we stopped at Nacho Mama's restaurant and had way too much to eat. Here is what I had...a wet burrito filled with everything Mexican along with shredded chicken.

Nacho Mama's Wet Burrito

     Tomorrow is the big day when we bury our mom in SE Minnesota. It will be a very sad day for us. More to come...