Turtle Tales: Day 44 - Say "Cheese"

"The best made plans of mice and men....." Our intent was to get up this morning and head to Oshkosh to view the lighthouses in that area. Little did we know that there would be road construction that detoured us out of the way of the lighthouse path, so we reverted to Plan B and headed to Bailey's Harbor which will be our "home away from home" for the next few days. We will determine an alternate route to view the lighthouses we missed tomorrow. We arrived at the RV park around 2:00 PM, and were out looking for lighthouses by 2:30 PM.

Our trip today was very interesting as we finally got off the interstate and traveled back roads through some very quaint and wonderful towns! We even went through an Amish area and saw Amish horse and buggies as well as Amish farms/homesteads.. The Amish are very private people for the most part, so when we tried to take pictures of them, they shyed away from us. Lesson learned.

Wisconsin is a beautiful state! I have really been drawn to its' diversity. This morning we saw cranberry bogs (contracted to Ocean Spray) followed by dairy farm after dairy farm in all sizes and variation of colors that you can imagine! (Some of them were contracted to Land O'Lakes Butter) This afternoon we saw quaint lakeshore communtities that had the most amazing homes, restaurants and specialty shops!

Today we saw five lighthouses"

1. Bailey's Harbor Front Range - which looks like a chess piece.
2. Bailey's Harbor Rear Range - Which looks like a school house and is now used as a Nature Center
3, The original Baileys Harbor Lighthouse, located on a small private island.
4. Cana Island Lighthouse - located in the Canna Island State Park
5. Eagle Bluff Lighthouse - Located in the Pennisula State Park

It is sad to see the condition of some of the lighthouses. Unfortunately, with lighthouses being replaced by more modern technology, the fate of Americas Lights is grim. There are many organizations that are working hard to restore many of the lighthouses that are in need of attention, but it is a slow and tedious process.

Tonight we decided to go to a local "Pub" for dinner. It was very busy as it was one of two places open in town as this part of the country is just now thawing out from winter and preparing for the upcoming tourist season which actually begins for them Memorial Day weekend. I had a local fish (Walleye) dish, and it was delicious. Jim had pizza - he's not a big fish eater - as the menu had primarily fish entrees.

Tomorrow we will travel south along the coast and hopefully view seven lighthouses!

I know there are a lot of pictures today - but I want our followers to get a real feel for the diversity and beauty of the state! Enjoy!

Cranberry Bog