Tag Archive | Lake Michigan

Manitowoc – Wisconsin Harbor Town

1997 to Present

Manitowoc is a city of 33,736 located on the shores of Lake Michigan, 7 miles south of Two Rivers. It is also the county seat of Manitowoc County. My husband Al grew up near here in the suburb of Branch and I have grown to love this city by the lake. A great resource to learn about this city and county is the Wisconsin Historical Society. Here you can find historical markers and museums in this county and all the others in the state. Be sure to stop at the Visitor’s Center to pick up all the info you need about the area, and much more!.

Manitowoc is the gateway to fun on Lake Michigan and beyond! This sign is located near the S.S. Badger Car Ferry, taking passengers to Ludington, Michigan and back. We finally took the voyage to Ludington on June 20, 2016. Read more about our visit here. Take the trip with us here.

When we were visiting on 8-19-16 we saw a lot of activity in the port. It was being dredged with the job expected to be completed in September before conditions get more challenging. We were also lucky enough to see the S.S. Badger depart!

Manitowoc County Airport for those wanting to fly-in on their private plane.

Once you get here, the fun continues! Enjoy the historic downtown and view the many landmarks there. This one is a favorite!

The Courthouse across the street. You can eat at the Courthouse Pub.

The Manitowoc Savings Bank building with its beautiful clock on the corner.

The Capitol Civic Center downtown.

We even saw a one-room schoolhouse building. School District 4, 1891.

If you are here on a Saturday from May-Oct., stop by the Farmers Market.

Stop by the Lincoln Park Zoo too.

lincoln-park-zoo-achway

This restaurant no longer exists, this picture is from 2010. It was demolished 11-19-12. The Penguin was a place my husband went to with friends when he was a teen. Too bad it couldn’t be saved.

We discovered more buildings on the chopping block when we came back 8-7-14. It was the Alf Muchin Furniture House in 1930.

Also the former Mirro cookware company factory is coming down. They moved overseas, many jobs lost. In 2016 it’s still not completely demolished.

Now back to the history that has been preserved. There are many museums in Manitowoc. The one we have been to most is the Maritime Museum. This museum is a fun place to visit, and you learn about Manitowoc’s rich heritage on the lake, and in WW II. Permanently docked is the Cobia sub, whose crew defended our country in the war. You can take a tour of the sub too with one of the museum guides!

On 8-19-16 we were back for a final visit for the year and were able to view the annual Balloon Glow festival across from the Maritime Museum. We were attending an event on the rooftop and we had a great view!

Another place is the Rahr-West Art Museum near downtown.

We had a great time at the Pinecrest Historical Village, a lot of great history here. There also is a historic marker for a bridge there. And a train too! We had fun posing next to it.

For a great walk or bike ride, the Mariners Trail is worth the time. It is 7 miles long and goes between Manitowoc and Two Rivers.

All that exploring can sure work up an appetite! We have eaten at Four Season’s Family Restaurant a few times, good food there.

Friar Tuck’s is also a great place to eat.

Late’s is also a very popular place in Manitowoc.

To get away from the hubbub of the city, Silver Creek Park offers a quiet retreat. You can get some food at Late’s which is nearby and enjoy it there.

We also paid a visit to West of the Lake Gardens, also accessible on the Mariners Trail. Peaceful views of Lake Michigan in many spots.

We have enjoyed all our visits here together and discover something new each time we come.

Dive into History at the Manitowoc Maritime Museum

Manitowoc is one Wisconsin’s largest Harbor Towns with rich maritime history. Located on 75 Maritime Drive, its hard to miss! Here is the museum from across the water, the sub USS Cobia docked alongside. It is nearly as long as the museum! With your admission you also get a tour inside the Cobia! First some history on a couple of markers outside.

There are a great many exhibits inside, showing the rich maritime history of the Manitowoc-Two Rivers area. Even what it may have looked like as a small fishing village long ago.

After walking through the museum on our own, it was time for our guided tour of the submarine USS Cobia docked outside.

We had our picture taken in front of the bell before descending.

We had a great time here. There is a lot to see so give yourself plenty of time. We have visited several times already and due for another visit, our last one was in 2010.

Related Sites and Articles

* Wisconsin Maritime Museum

* Shipbuilding in Manitowoc

* Nav Source Online – USS Cobia

* Manitowoc-Two Rivers travel info

* MyTripJournal.com

Kenosha – Wisconsin Harbor Town

12-1-12

Kenosha is a bustling city of 100,000 located on the shores of Lake Michigan with a lot for their citizens and visitors to do the year around. We had a full day planned and arrived by 9 AM. Our first stop was Harbor Park by the lake, with great views of the two lighthouses there. The red one is the North Pier Light and the stone one is the Southport. We also had the great luck of watching a Coast Guard boat head out to the lake, passing by the Southport lighthouse.

Harbor Park also has lots of great sculptures to look at too along the harbor walk. This called, “Rotating Through the Universe” by Paul Bobrowitz, Jr.

You also get around downtown on the Kenosha Streetcar for a small fee.

After the Harbor Walk we went to take a closer took at the Southport Lighthouse on Simmons Island, constructed in 1866.

It was noon and we were ready for lunch! Nearby was the Boathouse Pub and Eatery with a view lakeside.

We had a great lunch here and will come back again. There were a couple more hours before the main event we came here for, so we then headed to the Kenosha Public Museum to enjoy their free public holiday celebration. The Museum is a must-see place in Kenosha.

The Sons of Norway provides live music, singing traditional Christmas Carols.

The best part of all, we managed to get on Kenosha TV via their Public TV station, KTV. They had a TV camera set, recording people sending their holiday greetings to Kenosha. We had to join the fun! Here is a screencap of the video. In honor of Bob and Doug McKenzie of the Great White North, I made our picture look like theirs.

And NOW, for the main event. At about 2:30 we arrived at Diver Dan’s Scuba and Aquatic Center for our Underwater Santa Christmas photo. They have a warm-water pool on site. This event benefits a local charity, you donate something in exchange for the photo which they put on Facebook.

Happy Holidays from Kenosha!

Lake Michigan Shortcut- The Manitowoc Carferry

From our location in Wisconsin, it’s a long car ride to our neighboring state of Michigan. We do have a shortcut, taking the Manitowoc Carferry out of Manitowoc. It’s port-of-call in Michigan is the city of Ludington, and the trip is only 4 hours. The ferry is only operational in the summer months, when Lake Michigan is calmest. We have not yet had the chance to take the journey ourselves yet, but we have had fun just watching the ship come into port from Ludington.

The ship starts out as a black speck on the horizon, slowly growing larger. Before you know it, it’s coming in! You can see the lighthouse and people on it watching the ferry, a favorite past time of the locals here.

It is quite the show watching the ship ease its way into the dock. It has to turn around and back in. A very skilled Quartermaster indeed! After the ship docked, the largest cargo was unloaded first. I believe these were parts of wind turbines.

I heard some clapping near the ticket building and a celebration was going on.

Badger was celebrating their 2.5 millionth customer. How nice of them to throw a party for them.

Passengers waiting to disembark..

We had a great time watching this great ship come in. Someday, we will take a voyage on the S.S. Badger!

US judge in Mich. OKs deal over coal ash dumping (host.madison.com)
Ferries in Wisconsin
Visit Manitowoc

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