Madeline Island 2022 - Got In a Lot of Great Stuff Today

Friday, July 29, 2022

Slept pretty deeply last night. Coffee on the porch with Dale. 

Worked a lot on genealogy stuff while Dale went to work. 

Susan and Bruce are having us over for dinner at their place tonight so we decided to pick up some wine at Lori's. Turns out they're closed for a few days due to some staffing issues which continues to be a problem in the post-lockdown world. Dale says it's too bad as Lori's has been better stocked than the Island Store this season. 

Anyway we went to the Island Store (which was pretty busy due to Lori's being closed) and picked up some wine. 

We also went to the candle store to pick up some gifts for Mom and Warren who are watching Sylvester back home. 

After dropping our purchases off at the car we went to the Beach Club for lunch. We both got fish sandwiches. Dale got grilled white fish for his and I got fried trout for mine. So delicious. Oh, and I got an old fashioned too. 

After lunch we stopped at Mission Hill Coffee to get some of Marie's most marvelous blueberry muffins. So delicious. 

After we got home we decided to take a walk on the Capser Trail. Dale's only been walking it for the past couple years although he's been aware of it for longer. This was my first time. We both found ourselves asking why we hadn't taken advantage of it sooner. 

To walk it is about a two mile round trip. 

It's one thing to be walking or driving "in" the woods on a wide highway but it's another to walk through on a narrow path and be completely surrounded by the forest. 

It was so incredibly beautiful. 

There's a turn-off on the trail where you can access a boardwalk that goes through a marsh.

Again, just beautiful.

This sign tells the story of the massive beaver dams that used to be there.

On the return trip to the car we ran into a couple of Islanders sitting on a bench and said hello. They asked if we had seen the little mini village of castles that someone is mysteriously building. We informed them we hadn't so they told us where the turn-off for it is in the path at the other end of the trail. We told them we'd be sure to look for it next time. 

Dinner tonight at Susan and Bruce's. Dale's been to their place before but it was the first time for me. It's beautiful and the view from their deck is incredible. 

Dale and Susan had a chance to catch up on some work related stuff. Susan and Bruce were very curious to know how my school year ended up. I told them how hard the extended year due to the strike was on teachers, families, and students. Their interest and concern were touching. 

Anyway, it had been a work day for Susan and she had worked until five when she threw together a whitefish and lettuce salad which was absolutely DIVINE. It was so delicious and what made it even more impressive is that we arrived at 6:00 and that she improvised and made up the recipe as she went along. 

Madeline 2021 - First Trip: Muffins, Cigars, and More! (Monday)

Monday, June 28, 2021

I slept like a rock last night and woke up very slowly. Mondays are so much more tolerable when you don’t have to work. 

After Dale left for work and I finished breakfast I took a nice walk into town.

The morning was glorious with blue skies and fluffy clouds although we’re supposed to get a little rain by late morning. 

I picked up a muffin at Mission Hill Coffee but saved it for after I got home. Heavenly as always. 

Rain moved in around 11 a.m. so I read for a while and had lunch. I was hoping to do a cigar early afternoon so the rain was a drag. However, around 1:20 it subsided and the sun came out. I jumped at the chance to light up. 

Sadly, only part of the sky, the part visible from the window, was clear and there was a rain cloud right above me and it started to sprinkle. I couldn’t go inside so instead I grabbed Dale’s umbrella. Thankfully the rain didn’t turn to anything more than a sprinkle and it quit about 20 minutes later. 

Above is my view from under the umbrella I'm holding in the photo previous to this one. The storm was literally right over my head. 

After my cigar I thought I’d grab an Old Fashioned at the Beach Club. When I got there I found it to be closed having forgotten that they’re not open on Monday and Tuesday due to post pandemic issues. The Pub has limited hours as does Grandpa Tony’s and the Farm Table. Cafe Seiche isn’t even open except for take out on the weekend. My understand is that it’s mostly due to post pandemic staffing problems. 

Anyway, after my unsuccessful Beach Club run I noticed Grandpa Tony’s was open so I thought an ice cream cone could work instead of a cocktail. However, as I approached I realized the line was to the door and decided I didn’t want ice cream that badly. 

The candle shop was open so I got a couple of lilac scented ones. 

Dale and I took a nice walk when he got home from work. But when we got home he had to go back to work. One of the things we talked about on our walk is what a drag it is that he has to work so much up here. 

In other news, I saw these sleeping ducks when down by the lake earlier today. Very cute.

Madeline 2021 - First Trip: Muffins, Motorcycles, and More! (Saturday)

Saturday, June 26, 2021

After yesterday’s unsuccessful attempt to obtain one of Marie’s marvelous muffins at Mission Hill Coffee I gave it another go today. Success! Muffins happen.

On my morning walk I noticed how overgrown the Madeline Island putt putt golf course is looking. 

It’s like a ghost town. 

Could it be a Covid-19 business fatality?

Dale got home from work around 12:30 p.m. We went to the Beach Club for lunch and were able to have a nice talk about all the stress in our lives.

After lunch Dale had to go back to work. I sat on the deck and lit up a cigar. By the way, he’s back in his old apartment which he hasn’t been in since 2018. In 2019 he was in a cabin on the lake and in 2020 there was no camp due to Covid. That brings us up to the present day. 

Dale came home around 4:00 and took a bike ride while I took a nice walk. While out and about I happened upon a bejeweled car outside Tommy’s Burned Down Bar.

I’m guessing they’ll use it as a float in the 4th of July parade. Here’s a view of the back.

And a slightly more close up version of the front. 

Also, there’s some kind of motorcycle gathering this weekend so motorcycles are parked everywhere.

Dale had to go back to work at 6:30.

While he was gone I got some more walking in and then got cleaned up.

Dale didn’t get home until late. We had a late dinner of pizza and watched Family Guy.

Madeline Island 2020 - Muffin Time

Saturday, August 22, 2020

Dale and I took a nice walk this morning. I stopped by Mission Hill Coffee to get a couple of their awesome blueberry muffins. Heaven. 

Madeline Island June 2019 - Day 3: A Full Day

Thursday, June 27, 2019

Coffee on the porch with Dale and then some general putzing around after he left for work

Went in to town around 11:30. My first stop was a blueberry muffin from Marie at Mission Hill Coffee.

Second stop was a Bloody Mary at the Beach Club. I noticed the guy adjacent to me at the bar salting his beer. I've never seen that done before. When the man left I asked the bartender about it who said that, yes, people do indeed salt their beer. The woman next to me said she had never heard of this either. I asked the bartender why folks might do this. He said he wasn't sure but that he noticed it tends to happen more often when people drink light beer. I googled it and told the bartender that the top answer had to do with killing the taste of bad beer. Other answers included keeping it from bubbling too much and also the replenishing of salt by people drinking beer in pubs after hard manual labor. Hmmm. Now we know.

After the Beach Club I was off to Grandpa Tony's for a Hawaiian pizza. 

Next stop was Madeline Island Candles where I picked up a couple of vanilla candles and a pumpkin one for fall. Finally, before heading home, a stop at the Island Store for more broccoli. Dale and I ate it tonight with chili left over from last night. 

Watched round 2 of the Democratic debates on Dale's iPad after dinner was all cleaned up. Kamala and Pete were awesome.