A Trip to Two Rivers and Manitowoc

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Chris' grandparents had lived in Two Rivers which is maybe 30 miles north or Sheboygan. The day we had gone to Sheboygan, we ran out of time to head here. But it's only a little over an hours drive from our current campground. Of course, an hours drive turns into a 3 plus hour drive for geocachers.

It was a pretty drive along the coast of Lake Michigan although the day itself was mostly overcast and gloomy. We stopped in the little town of Algoma. It has a nice beach area and a boardwalk all along it for nearly a mile. Only a few people were out on the beach looking for shells, so finding the nearby geocaches was no real problem.

Another stop along the way was Point Beach State Forest. Another pay facility, so our annual pass we bought is getting well used. There is a neat looking light house, but apparently it is also the residence of the keeper so is off limits.

Impressive Residence and Light House

We eventually get down to Two Rivers mid-afternoon. Our first stop is a virtual cache (one where there is no physical container) celebrating Two Rivers' fame of being where the first ice cream sundae was created.

We walked around town a bit with Chris not recognizing much since it had grown a lot. We decided that even though it was not the warmest of days, it seemed appropriate that we honor the town by getting a sundae. Turns out we had parked right next to the building that is the museum for the sundae, but not just a museum, but also an ice cream parlor. So in we went.

This place was loaded with memorabilia from back in the day. The main room had an elaborate copper ceiling. Two older gents were manning the place and the first asked if we wanted a tour. We declined and said we had a mission for a sundae. The second man dished up my sundae in a special souvenir dish - plastic that changes color when cold. Pretty sure that wasn't part of the original sundae experience.

While we were enjoying the ice cream, the one guy told us that we really should look around and if we don't have time to see the whole place, we should at least go upstairs and check out the old ballroom. We admittedly weren't that interested, but decided we should at least make him feel good by heading upstairs. I will admit the room was pretty intense with murals on the ceiling, ornate moldings and all sorts of period pieces and art work.

One Corner of the Ballroom

As I wandered one way, Chris checked out another wall only to gasp when hanging on the wall was one of Alpha Wilsman's water color paintings of some birch trees. Alpha was Chris' grandmother and we had several of her paintings in our house. I'm pretty sure their must have been some divine intervention for us to have been directed to the one room with this piece of art. It truly made her day!

Painting by Alpha Wilsman

Next we drove to where her grandparents had lived. Good thing Chris still had her old address book because I doubt we would have found it. There was a house at that address, but it was not their original home. What Chris remembered most was a playground across the street which is now a series of condominiums.

We still had some time and energy, so we headed just one town further south - Manitowoc. One of the virtual caches we did there, had us go to several locations. One was past the huge Budweiser plant right on the water and the second stop was to a pier of sorts out to a small lighthouse for the channel. We needed to know how many steps were on the lighthouse. It was just too far to tell from shore so off we went.

It was a very windy day so the waves off Lake Michigan were crashing over the walkway. I carefully walked the nearly quarter mile to the structure and stood in the shadow of the building to get out of the wind's force. When I look back Chris was not there! But instead of being blown off the walkway, she had decided to stay put on the other side and watch me do the dirty work.

Looking Back to Shore

Chris' View the Whole Time

With the answer needed we headed to the final spot which is the location where a piece of Sputnik IV had crashed on September 6, 1962. We do learn some interesting things by way of geocaching. The spot is next to a neat museum that was closed for the day but did have a nice piece of art out front. A man with flowers on a bicycle entitled Late For a Date.