According to their Chamber of Commerce, Bayfield is one of USA Today's Best Coastal Small Towns, Wisconsin's Smallest City, the Berry Capital of the State, and the Gateway to the Apostle Islands. That’s a lot for a place with a population of only around 500. the town was named in 1856 for Henry Bayfield, a British admiral and topographic engineer who explored the region in the 1820s.Lumber and fishing were the big industries in the early days and Bayfield also served as a port city. You can tell from some of the beautiful Victorian homes in town that at least a few people made their fortunes here. I found Bayfield to be a charming place with beautiful architecture and wonderful views out over the lake. It was my jumping-off point to both Madeline Island and Apostle Islands National Lakeshore. If you visit, be sure you try the local delicacy of whitefish livers which was one of the tastiest dishes I’ve had in a long time. I hope you enjoy these photos from this wonderful lakefront city.
Madeline Island is the largest of the Apostle Islands which sit just off the coast of Wisconsin’s Lake Superior shoreline. It is the only one of the Apostles which isn’t a part of Apostle Island National Lakeshore and the only one open to development. The permanent population of the island hovers around 300 but grows considerably during the summer months. The island is named after Madeline Cadotte, an Ojibwe woman and the daughter of Chief White Crane who married a white fur trader and lived on the island in the 19th century.
The island is important to the Ojibwe as a spiritual center and was also the home of Chief Buffalo, the man responsible for negotiating the Treaty of 1854 which helped create a permanent Reservation on the Lake Superior coast.
Madeline Island was a major fur trading post for many years and later industries included commercial fishing, logging and tourism. Both Father Marquette and Bishop Baraga (the “Snowshoe Priest”) visited the island and helped establish missions there.
I had a great visit to Madeline Island. The ferry only took about 20 minutes to make the crossing and I brought my van with me and stayed at wonderful Big Bay State Park on the far side of the island. The ferry docks at La Pointe, the island’s only town which has several restaurants, bars and shops. It’s also where I found Tom’s Burned Down Cafe, one of the coolest bars I went to in the state. I enjoyed hiking in the state park and a long drive around the island on a very well maintained dirt road. I was sorry that the museum was closed when I was there, but I’m sure it had some interesting artifacts in it. Sunset over Lake Superior looking back at the mainland was magical. I hope you enjoy these photos from my time on beautiful Madeline Island.
Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is a beautiful park which stretches along Wisconsin’s Lake Superior coastline. The park extends over 21 of the 22 islands in the area with only Madeline Island being outside its boundary. In addition to the islands themselves, the park extends to the historic fishing area at Little Sand Bay and the beautiful coastline and sea caves at Myers Beach. Nobody is quite sure who gave the islands their names, but French maps referred to them as the Apostle Islands as early as the 1700s. The National Lakeshore was established in 1970, having been proposed by Wisconsin’s Senator Gaylord Nelson who is also considered the founder of Earth Day.
During my time in the park, I enjoyed a scenic cruise around the islands with Apostle Island Cruises. Our 2.5 hour journey took us around most of the islands with special attention paid to the beautiful, outer Devil’s Island and the historic lighthouse at Raspberry Island. Unfortunately, the islands were closed to camping during my stay so I wasn’t able to spend the night out there which I really would have enjoyed. Beyond the cruise, I spent some time learning about the history of the area at the outdoor museum at Little Sand Bay (which was also a wonderful place to watch the sunset). There were also recorded stories from rangers, historians and Native Americans in this section to listen to. On my last morning in the park I visited the Myers Beach section to hike the Lakeshore Trail to The Bowl to view the amazing sea caves and beautiful coastline. I was also pleasantly surprised by the number and variety of mushrooms I experienced along this trail. I had a wonderful visit to the Apostle Islands and hope you enjoy these photos from my stay.
Hello Everyone! It’s hard to believe that September has come and gone so quickly. We’re still a solid week or two from peak fall foliage here thanks to the lakes, but the weather has cooled and it definitely feels like fall. I’ve had a wonderful week on the road as I wound up my time here in Wisconsin with a visit to the Apostle Islands, spent a day with the Red Cliff Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa and a quiet night on Madeline Island before following Lake Superior to the Minnesota border. It’s been great to be back on the banks of this greatest of the Great Lakes. As much as I’ve loved my time in Wisconsin, I missed sitting on the shores of one or another Great Lake as I went. I did get two sad messages this week that I wanted to share with you. Way back when I had just begun this blog, I visited McDowell County in southern West Virginia and met a wonderful lady named Orbie Campbell who ran a tiny coffee shop in the town of War. Ms. Orbie passed away this week at the age of 76. She will be greatly missed in War for her kind spirit and welcoming demeanor. I also got word this week that Nancy, who ran the bar and kitchen at Teddy’s Juke Joint in Zachary, Louisiana (and was married to Teddy for over 40 years) passed away this month as well. Nancy was a kind soul who always had a cold beer and a good story waiting for me when I walked in the door. She will also be truly missed. May Ms. Orbie and Ms. Nancy both rest in peace.
After I finished this post last Wednesday, my new friend Russ and I did indeed do some kayaking. We loaded up his kayaks and headed out to Black River Lake and had the whole place to ourselves. It was a great time and a beautiful day to be there. We had one bald eagle and two swans for company and spent a couple of hours paddling around the lake under sunny skies with a pleasant breeze. Afterwards we went and shot some pool at the American Legion before calling it a night.
Thursday I took off from Bessemer and headed deeper into Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to spend the day in the Porcupine Mountains. I decided to skip this far corner of the U.P. when I was up there last month, knowing I would be much closer when I came north through Wisconsin and imagining it would be more beautiful in the fall. It really was a beautiful day and the park didn’t disappoint. I spent the morning in the Presque Island side of the park, wandering the coast and then up the Presque River to a couple of waterfalls. Then I headed around the park to the other side to visit the stunning Lake of the Clouds. Lake of the Clouds is one of Michigan’s most well-known natural features, and its reputation is well deserved. The lake is nestled in a hilly basin just up from the shores of Lake Superior, but it feels much more isolated when you are there. The best views were from the overlook, but I enjoyed a hike down to lake level as well. Fall colors aren’t quite at their peak, but I definitely think what color was there added to the scenery. It was a beautiful stop. From there I headed back to Wakefield where I stopped at the Randall Bakery for a delicious pasty (when in Rome, right?) before boogying back to Wisconsin. I pretty much made a beeline for Ashland as the day was wearing on and I wanted to get there before dark. Russ had gone kayaking in the Apostle Island sea caves that day, so he met me for a beer at the brewery before he headed back to Bessemer. I really enjoyed hanging out with him for a few days – we had a really good time.
Friday morning I headed to the Ashland Historical Museum. It was a typical small town collection of bric-a-brac, but I enjoyed poking around and the people there were nice. I took a stroll around downtown to check out Ashland’s beautiful murals and then ducked into the library right as it started to rain. I wanted to start to wind up my time in Wisconsin and look ahead towards Minnesota. When the rain started to let up, I made my way out to the beach for a while. It was a little chilly for a swim, but I enjoyed my dinner with a view out over Lake Superior. That night I enjoyed listening to the local high school team, the Ashland Oredockers, play Friday night football on the radio. I had a couple of beers in a few different places, but they were all pretty quiet so I called it a night.
