Days 90 - 92

Kewaunee, WI - Manitowoc

• Start 8:47 AM
• End 11:17 AM
• Underway 2:34 Hours
• Distance 26 miles
• Total Miles on Trip 1682
• Av Speed 9.9 knots
• Weather Partly Cloudy 70 Degrees winds S 3 Knots

Another short ride. We were expecting fairly calm seas, but once again the forecast was wrong. What should have been 1' to 2' seas ended up being 3'-4' with an occasional 5' just for fun. We were fortunate that the seas were coming directly on the bow and smooth slow rollers. If had been choppy it would have been very uncomfortable.

Manitowoc was a very good stop with plenty of things to do and see. We had a very fun packed three days.

We started by having lunch at the Waterfront Wine Bar, it was mediocre but in a very good location. After lunch we went to the Wisconsin Maritime Museum and the submarine USS Cobia. As we travel the Great Locks, we have been surprised at the number of shipyards that build or built naval vessel. The Manitowoc Shipyard was primarily building ferries and ore carriers. During WWII they switched to building submarines. The submarines built here were built the fastest and the most trouble free submarines built during the war.

Thursday we took our ventured out to the Manitowoc County Fair. The fair was a five mile bike ride from the marina. One of the "fun" parts of exploring these towns, is picking the best bike route to get somewhere. Google Maps, gives us the option of "bike route" which is always a gamble. You never know if the route is truly bike friendly. This trip was definitely not. We were on a dirt and gravel path for at least 2 miles. It also took us past the local Potter's Field, and County Hospital Cemetery. These burial grounds were used from 1918 to 1974. In 1995 local concerned citizens, cleaned up both and restored all of the headstones.

The county fair was a blast! Watching the cow showings brought back memories of Rebecca showing cows at Delaware Valley College. And yes these cows were as stubborn as the hers. It was also neat to see the cows being milked as neither one of us had seen that before. It was strange to see the vegetables and produce that had been judged. (What makes one potatoe first place and the next one second place, or one bunch of hay first place and the next second?) Then of course we had to have lunch from the food vendors.

Thursday evening we meet up with several other Loopers back at the Waterfront Wine Bar for appetizer's and drinks. War Eagle, Das Boot, Betty Gail, and Irrational Exuberance were there.

Friday was a low key day, we had hoped to move on, but the forecast was not good for traveling. We biked to the local zoo, that claimed they had 200 animals on exhibit. It was very sad to see most of the exhibits were empty and looked like they had been that way for some time. I think when they counted the 200 animals they included the squirrels that were running around.

Our next stop is either going to be Sheboygan or Port Washington.