Haley of Victor Allen's Coffee Shop on Monroe Street
I think it was the second day, I went to Victor Allen's,  my coffee shop of choice on Monroe Street.  There are several on this terrific street in Madison, which has developed its own unique and attractive culture since the years when I use to ride my bike down to get my haircut at Art's Barber Shop or stop at Rennebohm's Drug Store for a cherry coke at the fountain.  

On this day, I approached the barista to order a cup of coffee and a bagel.  Her name is Haley and she wasted little time asking me about Mackinac Island advertised on the front of my tee shirt.  She said she was going to spend some time there in the near future and wondered what it was like.  This was connection number one.  I proceeded to tell her about my visit there and the enjoyable bike ride I took on the island.  I asked her if she was in college?  She said she had just graduated from high school and was going to attend the UW.  A second connection.  I asked her where she went to High School?  She said Edgewood and now there was a third connection.  At some point, she told me she spent the first 9 or 10 years of her life in western CT, a fourth connection.  She has grandparents in Thomaston and Wilton and lived in Waterbury through Grade 4 when her dad took a job in Madison.  I hope I have all those facts right, but she told me was going to be in Connecticut soon to visit her grandparents.  

Haley, perhaps we will meet on the streets of Danbury or you could try out the Starbuck's in New Fairfield.  At any rate, Haley welcomed me with her great smile many of the subsequent mornings that I stopped at Victor Allen's during the rest of my stay in Madison.  Who would have thought that a bright colored tee shirt with logo could start a conversation.  I will probably never see Haley again, but she is now one of the treasured serendipitous stories I encountered on my trip.

Joe and His Dog on a Walk in Wingra Park
On one of those days when I was sitting and observing activities at Wingra Park, my reverie was interrupted by a dog that ran by my comfortable park bench and sort of surprised me.  When I looked in the direction from where the dog came, I saw a man who looked about my age carrying a leash for the dog.  He walked up the knoll where the bench was located.  We exchanged hellos and he started down the the other side of the knoll.  One of us, I cannot remember who, remarked about how nice the park was.  I told him that I was surprised at how many different activities were happening in the park at that very moment. I said that I used to play a lot of baseball in this park when I was a kid.  He told me his name was Joe K. and I recognized the last name.  He had graduated from Edgewood High School in 1959, I in 1961.  We knew many of the same people and  recalled some of the old ball teams like Sweeney's Shamrocks and the Cuba Club that graced the playing fields at this park so many years ago.  We also shared some information about people we knew in common at Edgewood.  I asked if I could take his photo and told him about this blog. Hope he gets a chance to look at.  I wish I had captured a picture of his dog, but I missed the boat there.  This encounter lasted about five minutes, but it was one more case on this trip when I was lifted up by an unexpected meeting with someone just passing by.

Theresa and Brian of Euclid Ave.

This last story may take a bit longer to tell.  It started with my attendance at 8:00 AM Mass at Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic Church located just a block away from the home where I spent 17 of the first 24 years of my life.  I love returning to this Church of my youth.  I have found that the culture of the Church has developed into a people centered community supporting the kind of openness inspired by the current Pope, Francis.  Its first iteration was constructed in the 1950s and I served many weekdays,  Sundays and holy days on the altar.  In recent years, they renovated the Church by moving the altar from what is today the back of the Church to what is today the front of the church.  My Mom attended this Church all the years that she lived in Westmorland.  She experienced the structural and cultural changes over time and was not reticent about commenting on the changes.  Her funeral was at this Church back in the winter of 2002.  Ironically, she had spent many years singing in the Funeral Choir at the Church.  I have included a photo of the inside of the Church and a photo of Fr. Nolan who said Mass.  It is a contemporary architecture, perhaps ahead of its time in the 50s, but now perhaps fitting the definition of classic contemporary, if such a designation exists.  

So, on this particular, day Mass ended and I walked out to the parking lot.  I decided to drive by my former home just to see if anyone was outside.  In recent visits to Madison, I have always driven by the house a few times, but have never had the courage to go up to the door and introduce myself.  This morning, I saw that the front door was open and because this is the trip where my goal is to initiate conversations with people I have never met, I decided to turn the car around and go back and knock on the door.  As I pulled up, Brian E. was leaving the house on his way to Church.  I walked up to him and introduced myself and said that I had lived in this house for 17 years.  He was very pleasant, but needed to be on his way.  He told me his wife would be happy to talk with me. 

As we were chatting, his wife, Theresa came running out of the house and asked if I was a Voss?  I said yes, and she went on to tell me that they were hoping to meet me or my sister, Lynn, someday.  She told me stories about when they bought the house from my Mom, and how gracious she was to them.  She invited me in and gave me the grand tour and described in great detail what they had remodeled and what they had not changed.  The kitchen was different, but the living, dining, and what my family called, the "Back Room," looked pretty much the same.  She told me that they used the fire place, something we never did in my 17 years of living there.  I was able to see my bedroom and the rest of the upstairs, including my parents' and sister's room.  They had expanded the rather small upstairs bathroom to be a bit larger by borrowing space from my sister's room.  However, the changes still left the majority of the second floor looking as it did when we lived there. 

She showed me the basement where my Dad had done some tiling and painting, a room where our family played a lot of ping pong and where I would sing along with Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison to the 45 records playing on my small record player.  Theresa and Brian had turned the basement into a "Man Cave" dedicated to the Green Bay Packers.  Theresa told me that when they put up the new wall they wrote my Mom's name on the original wall.  She related to me a number of stories that day about my Mom and how much she meant to them when they moved in over 20 years ago.  We took photos in front of the fire place and outside in front of the house.  


It was a thrilling beginning to my last Sunday in Madison.  My sister, Lynn, her husband, Paul, and I joined our cousin Paula for breakfast at the "Egg and I" where I shared the story of this wonderful morning with all of them.  It was a day of family heritage.  Paula has done a lot of work tracing the genealogy of our family, and she gave me some print outs about the Voss and Kunz family that added to the family remembrance of this morning.  I cannot tell you what a thrill all of this was.

The Countryside Apts:  Home for Two Weeks in Madison 
Four years ago, I found the Countryside Apts. on line when I searched for short term lease opportunities in Madison.  I have stayed there three times now and enjoyed each rental.  This year, I rented a two bedroom apartment for around $900 for the two weeks.  That beats any motel I could fine, and the space in the rental provided me with a place to work on this Blog, make my own meals, invite others over for meals, and invite my sister and brother-in-law to stay in the second bedroom for a short visit.  The grounds are beautiful, the pool is well maintained and offers an enjoyable place to sit either in the sun or the shade.  There are plants and flowers on the property and the lawn is well groomed.  Atef and Sam are the two gentlemen who keep the grounds looking so good.  I enjoy spending extended time in Madison on an annual basis.  Countryside provides me with an affordable, spacious home away from home.  Bike trails are nearby, downtown Madison is a mere 10 minutes from my door; and if my desire is to travel on to the highways and byways of Wisconsin, the Beltline leading to those destinations is just a minute from my door.

Friday Evening on the Union Terrace: July 10
The University of Wisconsin Union Terrace at the base of Langdon Street is a great place for people of all ages to gather on a Friday afternoon to listen to some music, experience the ambiance of a vibrant college atmosphere, and to hang out with friends and families.  Here are few shots of what a couple of hours at the Union Terrace means to a visitor and UW alumni.

Annual Art Fair on Capital Square: July 11
It is one thing to visit the Capital Square Farmers' Market on a Saturday morning in July, but when it is moved off the square for a Saturday to make room for a two day juried Art Fair, then you know the place will be rocking with observers, artists and craftsmen, buyers, and interested or not so interested bystanders, and those just looking for another downtown social event in Madison on a summer weekend.  The photos taken here represent just a flavor of what the Art Fair was like.  I experimented with some black and white images of interesting faces that I found in the crowd.  The juried fair on the square was for worldwide artists.  The other juried Art Fair just off the square heading toward Monona Terrace and Lake Monona was for Wisconsin artists only.  For this particular "lover" of the arts, it was way too much.  While my friends, Ann and Sally, stopped and chatted with various artists and craftsmen, I tended to stay in the background with my camera, often just looking for a place to sit and relax my aching feet.  However, I did manage to purchase a couple of glass items for Gina and Joe, which they liked when I gave the pieces to them on my return to Connecticut.   After the Art Fair, Ann took us to the little Wine and Coffee shop on Lakeside Ave. where we enjoyed a pleasant glass of wine and a place to rest our feet with the view of Lake Monona in the distance.

Bike Rides in Madison:  Various Dates
I rode my bike six times in or around Madison during my two week stay.  The bike trails in Madison are second to none and I tried to vary my rides.  However, bike trails intersect and sometimes you end up with similar scenes.  I could have taken many more photos on these rides but I decided to document each of my rides with just few photos in favor of a more rigorous workout on the bike.  You will find that Bike Rides1-4 do a pretty good job of showing you the attributes of Madison, WI.  In particular, Bike Ride 4 gives you a good look at the UW campus and Lake Mendota shore trail.

On Monday, July 20, Ann and I went on what for me was my 5th bike ride in the Madison area.  I did not take many photos.  We started at a little village south of Madison and rode for about 7 miles on the Military Ridge Bike Trail to Mt. Horeb where we  stopped and had a cup of coffee in Fink's Cafe and talked about family and life.  It looked like rain and perhaps a thunderstorm when we left the cafe, so we rode hard and fast back to our car.  We felt a few drops, but nothing of great consequence followed.  Ann and I enjoyed a pleasant lunch at a little coffee and sandwich shop in Verona before heading back to Madison.

I had invited my Badgerino friends (Sally, Ann, Jerry, and Marsha) over for a farewell dinner on Tuesday, July 21.  In the morning, I prepared the meat lasagna, which would serve as the main course for the evening get together.  I had made an Italian salad dressing from scratch the night before.  I owe a thanks to Ree Drummand on the Food Network for both recipes.  I decided to go on a final bike ride before making the tossed salad and doing the final preparations for my guests.  I chose to go on another path that I had traveled before, but not this time in Madison.   It is called the Capital City Trail and has some challenging ups and downs that provided me with a great cardiac workout.  My goal was to ride and not take photos, but I did catch a few bike riders while relaxing at the end of my trip at the bike rest stop near Fitchburg, WI.  It was my starting point for my second bike ride documented previously in this section.

I rode my bike a total of 10 times over the 25 days that I was on the road.  I believe that I had only taken two or three bike rides in CT before I left on this trip.  As many of the photos depict, I saw much of Madison on these small excursions and enjoyed the experience very much. 

Concert in Olbrich Park, July 14: Whiskey Farm Band
My friends, affectionately known as the Badgerinos, a name self dubbed by our fivesome on a  trip to Italy in 2013 where we first met, attended a concert in one of the true gifts in the Madison area, the Olbrich Botanical Gardens.  It is a magnificent place to walk, reflect, and enjoy the beauties of nature within the hustle and bustle of surrounding communities.  Here are some photos from that concert.

The Mallards and the Duck Blind: July 17
Brad and Ann Larson treated us to a night at the Duck Blind where the Mallards of the Summer College Baseball League play their games.  We had special tickets in the Duck Blind where the inhabitants mostly eat and drink the refreshments that come with the ticket (all you can eat and drink) while discussing the issues of the day and rarely watching the game.  It was a lot of fun.  We arrived after the first game of a doubleheader (makeup for the rained out game the previous night) started and left just after the seventh inning of the second game.  In between, we ate, drank, watched the people, and I even took a few photos of the game and of Maynard the Mallard mascot as he traversed the 180 foot zip line.  Maynard's photos are a bit grainy; but then, so was he.  We had a grand old time at the ball park, but I left convinced that the Duck Blind was more a social event than a place to watch the local baseball team.

Paddle and Portage, An Annual Event of Physical Exertion in Madison: July 18
My original intent was to go to James Madison Park around 9 AM to catch the beginning of the Portage and Paddle competition, an event I had never witnessed before.  This competition demands a great deal from the participants, but they appear to have great fun, since the intent of most of the participants is only to finish, not to win.  The officials of the event organize the participants in to various starting groups based on perceived competency.  The "Paddle" part begins on Lake Mendota for about a 1.5 miles, then becomes a portage of the boat, regardless of style, up to Capital Square and down to the shores of Lake Monona near Monona Terrace and concludes with another paddle across Lake Monona to Olin Park and the Finish Line.  The photos below attempt to tell the story of the various stages of the Paddle and Portage Competition.  You will note that many of the participants dress up in costumes as part of the facilities.  Group A began the competition with those folks that really new what they were doing and had the best equipment for moving through the water and placing a lighter burden on the shoulders of the portage during the up to Capital Square and down the hill to Lake Monona.  I will add some captions when it is important, but I hope the photos give the true flavor of this fun event in downtown Madison on a warm, sunny day in July, 2015.

Pride and Prejudice at the American Players Theater: July 18
Sally was the instigator of this event on my calendar of special events in Madison.  After enjoying a delicious dinner of grilled steaks and salad at Sally' place, Ann, Sally, and I drove to Spring Green, famous for accommodating Frank Lloyd Wright's spectacular home and grounds known as Taliesin East.  On the crest of hill along the Wisconsin River just outside of Spring Green is the American Players' Theater, an outdoor drama center that is the home of a marvelous repertoire company called, you guessed it, The American Players Acting Company.  Tonight, they performed a captivating performance of Pride and Prejudice, adapted from the novel by Jane Addams that we all know and remember from our high school and college years.  It was a warm Wisconsin evening, but the actors decked out in their period costumes dealt with the heat of the night and the lights and told a great story of finding love between Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy.  I was not permitted to take photos during the performance even without the use of a flash.  However, I have provided a few photos of the venue and of the faces that were present that evening in the audience.  I tried sneak a forbidden photo, but alas the theater gods intervened with a blurring effect.

After reaffirming my goal of engaging with people that I do not know, I moved on to the next objective for the day, which was to visit St. Mary's College where I went to school the first year out of high school.  in those days, it was a men's college run by the Christian Brothers.  Today, it is still a Christian Brothers' Institution, but is coed and has become a university with many new buildings nestled in among the old and familiar ones.  I arrived around 10:00 AM, found the main receptionist, Johanna, told her that I was a former student for one year, and would like to walk around the campus.  She said fine.  I spent the next 45 minutes or so walking the entire campus, taking photos of places remembered and photos of new facilities never enjoyed in my day.  I wanted to take a photo of the famous rock that juts out of one of the scenic bluffs that surround the south side of the campus, but the rock, still an avid destination point for college hikers was hidden behind the greenery on this pleasant summer day.  The rock at St. Mary's is still one of my three favorite places I list when asked on silly surveys, "What are your three favorite places?"  I spent hours sitting on the edge of the rock contemplating how I should spend my life beyond the first nineteen.  It is there where I concluded that I would leave St. Mary's at the end of my first year and enter a diocesan seminary for training to become a priest.  The next year would be spent at Holy Cross Seminary in LaCrosse, WI located on a backwash of the Mississippi River about 30 miles south of Winona.  You might guess that was the next destination on this day's journey and you would be right.

However, there is more to tell about St. Mary's.  I receive numerous invitations from the St. Mary's Alumni Office to donate to the cause.  I have several places for annual donations and St. Mary's is not one of them.  My thought in stopping was to consider leaving a small donation to the School of Education if I felt so inclined at the end of my walk around the campus.  I decided to take a walk through St. Mary's Hall, the original building on the campus.  I thought I had seen enough several times, but I continued to explore the building including a beautiful area where the president's office resides.  It was there that I encountered Megan and engaged her in conversation about the fact that I was a former student and just stopping by to see how the place had changed.  I mentioned my places that had memories for me, and some of the brothers who were my professors in those days, including one of my favorites, Brother Francis, who used to play football with us.  He was the Dean of Students who made my first days away from home less threatening because of his gracious welcoming attitude toward the new freshmen arriving on campus.  He passed away a short time ago.  Megan and I talked for a few more minutes before we were joined by Audrey,  another person from the alumni office who was also a professor.  I rambled on some more about current travels,  how much I enjoyed my single year at St. Mary's some 43 years earlier, and the changes that had taken place on campus, including the impressive Page Performing Arts building.  We talked for almost a half an hour.  I took their photo at the end and told them about the Website, still having no "business card" to give them.  They gave me two great hugs and I was off with another great episode to tell in my quest to  engage complete strangers in conversation.

Just about 30 miles to the south of Winona and across the Mississippi is the town of LaCrosse, Wisconsin where I spent the 1962-63 school year in the diocesan seminary of Holy Cross.  It is no longer a seminary, but rather the location of Catholic Charities for the LaCrosse Diocese and is the home for some other uses for the Catholic church in this fair city. I knew all of this, but I wanted to spend a few moments visiting this place for the first time in 42 years to see what had changed.  Well, the property no longer was fronted by Hwy. 14 as it was in those days.  Instead there were multiple businesses located on the property where I used to play touch football with my seminary colleagues.  There was still the impressive looking building where I lived in separation from most of the daily life going on beyond the seminary confines.  However, there was the bowling alley across the street where we could go bowling and have a few beers on Wednesday afternoons, but I could not find it.    We were not cloistered in anyway, but my year at the seminary was a year long retreat where I could consider whether a priestly vocation was mine or not.  My Dad died several weeks after I began my studies there and that was devastating for me.  However, I spent the rest of the year at the seminary and to this day, do not regret it.  It was a year of reading and reflection.  There was an old dilapidated boat house located in the backwater marshes of the Mississippi just behind the seminary.  I wanted to see  if it was still there.  Believe it or not, the boat house is another of my three most favorite places.

I really had no interest in looking at the inside of the old seminary building, so I started toward the back wash.  I ran into Bishop Callahan, the current Bishop of LaCrosse, crossing the grounds on his way to his home, I presume for lunch.  We had a short conversation about the seminary, Bishop Tracy of days gone by, and the current uses of the building.  It was a short visit, but at time when I am finding serendipity everywhere, it kind of fit into the scheme of this particular day of remembrance.  I walked down a culvert, somewhat overgrown with vegetation and found no boat house.  Just to the right of this still environmentally preserved area was a housing development where a forest of trees once reigned.   I was thankful that there were remnants of the backwater and marsh still present (see photos), but quite disappointed that I could not climb one more time on to the roof the boat house where, just like the rock at St. Mary's, I had done so much of my reflective thinking during the transition from my teens into my twenties.  I am glad I stopped, but time moves on and not always in ways that you like.

The photos below show the seminary building and the backwater of the Mississippi as they are today.  I cannot find the past represented fully in these photos, but there is a hint of what it was like to spend my 19th and 20th year on these grounds.

Back to the car and a quick drive through the heart of LaCrosse to pick up I-94 and my next stop for the night in Baraboo, Wisconsin.  I planned to meet my daughter's friend Tiffany and her husband at the High Rock Cafe in downtown Wisconsin Dells and I did.  We had a delightful dinner.  It was the first time meeting Patrick and it was good to get to know him a bit.  Tiffany and I went on to the Del Ray Bar, with Patrick's permission of course, for a drink and a little more conversation.  We ran into a friend of Tiffany's behind the bar who had worked at Disney World for awhile, so we included Gina's experience at Disney as part of the discussion of what is like to work at the park.  The traditional visit with Tiffany that has become a part of my treks back to Wisconsin came to an end and I returned to the Clarion Inn in Baraboo looking forward to heading toward Madison the next day and settling in for a two week stay.  My journey was about to slow down and I was ready for that change.

I drove on from Willow River and arrived at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Minneapolis around noon.  I had  plenty of "stuff," including my bike that had to be brought inside.  The hotel attendant told me not to leave anything of value in my car.  So he and his compatriot brought my luggage to my room with little effort.  Believe it or not, I had worried about unloading all of this stuff in the big city compared to all the smaller places I had stayed on the trip, but not to worry.  My iPhone weather App told me that rain was expected on Monday, so if I was going to try out the bike trails of Minneapolis, it would have to be the afternoon of my arrival.  After getting settled, I took my bike for a nice ride through the city to the West River bike trail along the Mississippi.  I have ridden my bike on the railroad bed trails of Connecticut, Cape Cod, and in Madison, but I was not prepared for the great job the Twin Cities have done in making biking a priority form of transportation throughout the busy city.  My Apple Maps led me on the various turns and down the lined bike lanes on the busy streets to the river.  I took my camera with me in hopes of getting some good shots of the river, but the green vegetation that borders the river made clear photos very difficult to find.  I stopped at an old bridge support because there was a limited view of the river and I thought the lines of the support might add some interest to a photo.  I found and older woman edging her way along the rusted metal frame out over the river.  Either her husband or son--could not tell--was lining her up in his camera sights.  I felt relieved, because I wondered if her intentions for crawling out on this structure were for other reasons.  I stopped and took a couple of photos of her with my own camera and rode on.  One of my goals in coming to Minneapolis was to ride to various places that I remembered from my college years on my bike.  The heavy rain on Monday got in the way of more extensive bike riding, but this hour long Sunday afternoon ride gave me a partial sense of accomplishment in meeting the goal.

Gallery: Photos of the Bike Ride and Some Shots of Minneapolis

I was not sure what to do for dinner.  The easiest solution was to eat in the hotel restaurant, which was well reviewed.  However, I decided to take a walk up Nicollet Mall to check out a Pub that I had seen earlier in the day.  Ihad also seen a Jazz Eatery not far from the Pub.  I settled on the Jazz venue because they had some entertainment.  The cover was on the high side for my taste, but I bit the bullet, put down the cash and went inside.  After enjoying a light meal at the bar, I was given a seat facing the stage from the side.
At some point, Terrance and Holly sat down to my left and we struck up one of those spontaneous conversations for about twenty minutes before the concert began.  We talked about Tanglewood in Massachusetts; and I recommended the Red Lion Inn to them, should they ever travel in that direction.  They were life long residents of the twin cities; but we shared some travel stories, including a bit about my adventure across the northern midwest.  It was one more instance where a simple question can engender a pleasant conversation between people who have never met and will never meet again.  It was a nice introduction to the haunting music we were about to hear.

The theater setting in this venue is quite intimate.  People sit at tables arranged in very close proximity to each other.  My sense was that no matter where you sat, you felt in very close contact with the singer.   His name is Vinicius Cantuaria.  His instrument is the acoustic guitar.  His expertise is Brazilian music. His focus for the evening was to recreate the songs of Antonio Carlos Jobim.  I took a few grainy photos of him with my iPhone that hopefully convey an image of how special the mood was that he created it with his guitar and soft, melodic voice giving great expression to the Portuguese lyrics.  I felt the songs regardless of my inability to understand the language.  He sang non-stop and with very little commentary for well over an hour.  It was delightful.  Just like finding the Peggy Sue Cafe earlier in the day, I felt that my random choices were resulting in some of the best moments on my trip.  Here I was at the Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant by pure chance, enjoying conversation with two new acquaintances and the music of an exceptional talent.  Who cared if it was supposed to rain tomorrow.

Gallery: Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant

It rained all morning and into the afternoon on the next day.  I worked on this blog for a good part of the morning.  I went out to find some wine and cheese to bring to Steve and Trish who had invited me to their home for dinner Monday evening.  I, of course, did not take an umbrella and suffered the consequences of shopping for these items in a torrential rainfall.  I checked the radar on my iPhone and saw a window of opportunity to hustle back to the hotel in a lighter rainfall.  Those few minutes arrived, and I made a dash for the hotel.  I was wet when I got there, but it could have been worse.  I went for a swim in the beautiful pool where I was the only one enjoying its soothing effects on my rain soaked body.  

The sun came out later in the afternoon, but with a foggy haze that was due to smoke moving south from forest fires in Canada.  I took a drive past Lake Hiawatha and Lake Nakomis in the car rather than on my bike and took a few photos of these two well placed lakes in the middle of Minneapolis.  I crossed one of the several bridges that span the Mississippi River into St. Paul where Steve and Trish have lived for over 40 years.  Although we have exchanged Christmas cards over the years and met for dinner once when they took a trip to New England, we had seen very little of each other over the years.  Steve and I were close friends from early elementary school all the way through college.  I was the best man at their wedding those many years ago.  Steve is struggling with some health issues now which hamper is getting around with ease, but that did not stop us from having a terrific meal prepared by Trish and sharing stories about our families as well as recalling some great moments from our past.  I left about them around 8:30 after a thoroughly enjoyable evening.  It was tough to see my friend Steve facing his own challenges of growing older, but he has a marvelous sense of rye humor that kept the evening light and quite rewarding for me.
It was a very meaningful way to end my short stay in Minneapolis.  The next day, my trusty Ford Escape would face south, heading toward Madison with a few stops along the way.

Madeline Island and the Gaelic Storm

The next morning (Friday), I took a chance and locked the door again as I unhinged by bike and wandered across the street to the Ferry for the 8:45 departure to Madeline Island.  Now, you should know Madeline Island is no Mackinac Island.  It is quiet and peaceful and offered me the opportunity for a solid workout on my bike as I did about a 14 mile journey out to the State Park at the center of the island and then returned to the port by an alternative route.  It was a pleasant ride, quite flat, which permitted me to get my heart rate up to a good steady pace.  When I arrived at the park, largely for campers, I was told by the park attendant that I could ride by bike on the paved areas in the park, but that I was welcomed to hike  any trails that I wished.  There was no charge for entry into the park, so I decided to explore whatever part of the park I could on my bike.   I found the lookout point and took some photos there, including some shots of some young campers exploring some of the small cliffs protecting the shoreline from Lake Superior.  I then went on another paved roadway to the small beach in the camping park.  There was no one there, but I found some driftwood with interesting shapes that I thought might work for black and white photos.

I then headed back to the harbor village of La Pointe and went in search of an ice cream cone.  I could not find one.  I should have asked, but did not.  There may have ice cream on Madeline Island, but my inability to stop and ask someone the ice cream question once again limited my exposure to the island.  I returned to Bayfield around noon time and this time went to the Pier Plaza for the Bayfield version of a Philly Cheesesteak, appropriately called the Wisconsin Cheese steak. It was served with homemade potato chips, which I have come to enjoy the few times that I have had them.

I needed a short nap after these morning and noontime experiences.  I was looking forward to seeing Gaelic Storm at the Big Top Chautauqua Tent.  The afternoon went by slowly and about 45 minutes before I was to meet a the Shuttle pick-up, I stopped and had a Spotted Cow and some onion rings at Gruenke's, the ancient restaurant and lodge in the heart of Bayfield.  I felt guilty about ordering one more fried snack, but I discovered I could limit my fried intake by taking a single bite out of the ring and then securing the internal onion in my teeth and pulling it out for the nice sweet onion taste.  Needless to say, my plate looked like I did not eat any of the rings, but I felt good about self control.  I tried to talk with the bartender a little, but was unsuccessful. It was a very busy place.   When the shuttle arrived there were too many of us and so the driver said he would return for the left overs in a few minutes.  Three of us were left and we struck up  a nice conversation.  I had seen this couple on the boat the night before, but now we had a little time to talk.  They were from England, but worked in the Minneapolis area.  I suppose they will go back to England soon, but they spend a lot of time traveling when not working.  This was their first time in Bayfield too.
Our driver returned and left us off at the Big Top Tent in plenty of time.  My seat was in the middle and except for the big fellow in front of me for the first half of the show,  I could see fairly well.  I took many photos with my Canon Camera and although the photos are silent representations of a moment in time in the concert, I hope you get a sense of the energy Gaelic Storm put into its show.   We saw a group of five: Steve Twigger on guitar; Patrick Murphy, accordion, lead singer, and comic; Ryan Lacy on various drums: Peter Purvis on a mean whistle; and Kiana Weber with a vibrant fiddle, a beautiful face, and a graceful ability to transverse the stage engaging with other members of the group.  She reminded me of the fiddle player in the Celtic Women.  There are some solo shots of the group below with identification captions.   It was a fun evening.  They promote genuine crowd participation and communicate a happy and rollicking form of traditional Irish music and more contemporary rock.  I never had to move from my seat to snap my photos.   If I had moved from my seat, I would have been stopped by friendly but tenacious security guards. Staying in one place did not hinder me from taking shots with the terrific zoom capability of my camera.  In addition, I became a participant in the concert by clapping my hands and moving my musically inspired body with the tunes.  Ah, what a sight.  The show ended about 9:30, we caught the first round of shuttles to take us back to Bayfield.  I was in a very good mood and was rewarded with the best night of sleep I have had had on my trip.

Photos of Madeline Island and the Gaelic Storm

Golf and the 4th of July Fireworks

Somewhere in the middle of the concert, I decided to play golf on the scenic Apostle Islands Golf course the next day.  I went early, got on the course immediately and finished in two and half hours.  No one was in front of me or beind me, the whole way.  I played fairly well for me, but the golf tees (we call them senior tees)  were up closer than what I  am use to.  At any rate, I scored around an 86.  I say around because  it was probably higher.  At any rate, I hit some good shorts and captured a few ideas for how to improve this older guy's game in the future.  

Before I went in search of a place for breakfast I returned to my room and for the first time was unable after what seemed a lifetime of trying to get the key to work.  I asked the lady who cleans he rooms, If she could get me in.  She took out her master key and to my chagrin, easily opened the door.  From that moment on, I did not lock my door for the rest of my stay.

Because I was back in Bayfield by 9:45,  I went to breakfast at the Egg Toss.  My Wisconsin Omelet was to die for and if I was a frequent visitor to Bayfield, I would be there often in the early morning.   I tried to do some shopping, but that is a non-motivating activity for me and ended up buying a single tee shirt.  The rest of the day was a rather lazy one.  I sat for awhile on a park bench looking at the harbor and sucking on another ice cream cone.  I went for a walk on the Brownstone Path that borders the Lake for several miles.  I did not follow it all of the way, but I did capture some shots of waters and flowers along the way.  I walked up the rather steep hill to attend Mass at Holy Family Church.  I always like to go to new churches when I travel.  Nothing in the building wowed me, but you could tell that the regulars were a committed congregation.  How does one know?   They sing the hymns.  I went back for another round of whitefish, this time at the Pier Plaza where I chose a glass of red for a change over a glass of beer.  It was 6 PM with almost four hours to go before the fireworks.  I spent some of the time sitting with Bob from Sheybogan, Wisconsin, on the porch of the Harbor's Edge Motel.  His family has been coming to the Harbor's Edge Motel for many years, renting as many as two or three rooms for a visit.  I was suffering from a lack of family on this holiday, even feeling bit of melancholy during my bench sitting at the park earlier in the day.  However, having a nice conversation with Bob and his wife Rue relieved some of those down feelings.  As it grew darker, I moved around shooting scenes of people waiting for the big bangs.  I even tried to capture a group of kayakers approaching the safety border near the barge from where the missiles were about to be launched.   I will probably include a photo of one or two kayakers, though I anticipate grainy results.  Once the fireworks began on a barge just off the Bayfield Harbor Pier, I tried to shoot some stills, but with little success.  I switched to the movie mode and captured a few minutes of the spectacular displays.  It was impressive, particularly because of another fireworks display on Madeline Island in the background.  Bayfield visitors get a good show and they showed their appreciation.  

I was planning an early start for Minneapolis the next day and I had already put some of my stuff in the car. My time in Bayfield was coming to a close, but I felt good about choosing to spend time in this old fishing, but now tourist town of the far Wisconsin north.  I particularly thank my friend Ann in Madison for her enthusiastic recommendation several months ago.  Little did I know that my talk with Bob and Rue had started the process of addressing one of my goals for the trip: To  engage  people I do not know in conversation.  My Sunday drive to Minneapolis was filled with little serendipitous engaging conversations that I will share in the next section. Can you hardly wait?

Bayfield on the 4th:  Note I may be able to post a maximum of 15 seconds of the fireworks on this page, but I have some work to do before I can add the movie to the post.