Twin Rivers – Manitowoc, Wisconsin – June 24, 2016

We woke this morning to a bright sunny, crisp 51 degrees and lots of plans for the day.  First a trip to the State Park to check out one of the three lighthouses in the area, and then to walk the Ice Age Trail.  A short walk from the park service parking lot revealed the Rawley Point Lighthouse.  A short walk and not open to the public, but still interesting to see because it is one of the largest and brightest on the Great Lakes and is visible up to 19 miles away.  Because of this light, there have been no shipwrecks since 1912 compared to its pre-lighthouse history of 26 schooners, barges, steamers, and brigs.

Rawley Point Lighthouse, Two Rivers, WI

The name of the trail just intrigued me, and I needed to see and know more.  As it turns out, of all the places impacted by the Ice Age, Wisconsin was impacted the most and much of the formations found on this trail were the result of the advancing and retreating of the ice engulfed around rocks and debris it picked up along its journey.  We started hiking down the trail but there is just too much city-slicker in me to handle the ferocious mosquitoes seemingly oblivious to the bug spray we were covered with.  Oh well, maybe I’ll buy a book about it.

Then off to Manitowoc which is a slightly larger city south of Two Rivers.  We decided on the Fat Seagull for lunch just because of the name.  Although Trip Advisor gave it a 4 star rating there was nothing to write about so off we sent to the Wisconsin Maritime Museum and a tour of the USS Cobia.

The Cobia is a World War II submarine just like the 28 built right here in Manitowoc during the war.  It was decommissioned in the mid 1950’s and sent here and through the efforts of this museum it is 80% restored to it full working condition.

I had no idea that submarine duty was strictly voluntary during WWII and was considered so dangerous the men received hazardous pay of $120 per month as opposed to the $30 per month a G.I. received.  Here’s another tidbit I picked up:  Although the temperature in the sub was usually between 95 to 120 degrees, most of the 72 member crew never saw sunshine for the entire 90 day trip,  the shifts were 4 hours work and 8 hours off but not enough beds on board for each man so they shared beds called “hot sheeting” (when one got up the next man got in bed to the already hot sheets), the US subs were considered the Cadillac of subs by the other countries whose men endured much worse hardships on their submarines.  After the 45 minute tour through the sub, we walked the remainder of the museum and headed north towards the”West of the Lake Garden” located in Manitowoc also. .

Before we got to the garden, we spotted another of the three lighthouses so off we went trying to track down the starting point of the walkway to it.  My guess is the walkway was a mile or 1 1/2 miles from where we parked the truck.  I do know that my Fitbit logged over 11,000 steps for me at the end of the day and this walk was a major part of it.

Pond at West Gardens

The West of the Lake Gardens was begun by John and Ruth West  in 1934, who were ship builders and given the contract to build the submarines here in Manitowoc in 1942.  The grounds are maintained by a Foundation and are free to public to walk and enjoy at their leisure.  The pictures of the roses don’t give you the perspective of size but these blooms were 5 to 6 inches in diameter.  A great way to top off our day.

We ended with dinner next to our RV Park having a Friday Night Fish Fry and had fresh Lake Perch, cole slaw without mayo and a potato option. Again, not one of our best meals, but got the job done.

Just so you know, my cold is better.  I still cough like a seal, but not as often.  Tomorrow we move 80 miles north into Dorr County.