Vacation, Day 1 and 2

Jane and I set off for our annual week in the cabin on Friday, July 18. We wanted to try a new spot for lunch. For 20-some years we have been making this drive and smiling at each other when we passed the billboard for the Pine Cone Restaurant with its slogan, “Start Smiling.” Yet we had never eaten there. Today would be the day.

The Pine Cone Restaurant--Start Smiling!

 

We got to the Pine Cone at 11:30. Jane had once had a fantasy of this place as a Wisconsin supper club. It is really just a truck stop, except that it has a bakery that turns out the most enormous cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls, cream puffs, chocolate éclairs, and doughnuts I have ever seen. Brightly-lit shelves on two sides of the cash register displayed the goods by the entrance.

 Following my usual rule about restaurants that serve breakfast all day, we ordered breakfast. I had a Denver scramble. Jane opted for corned beef hash. I hoped that the toast would be made with bread baked on-site. It was just regular whole wheat from a bag. It was adequately soaked in butter, however. The scramble was okay. It was a circle of eggs with ham, green pepper, and onion cooked in it and a slice of American cheese melted over the top. Jane found her corned beef hash to be woefully deficient in corned beef. The hash browns were brown and crispy on the outside yet had no structure on the inside. It was like fried mashed potatoes. Mash browns.

Denver scramble with mash browns under the toast

We were under the gun to get to the Chippewa Moraine Ice Age Trail Visitor Center before it closed at 4:00. We wanted to ask if anything had been done to the property formerly known as Camp Pokonokah Hills, which was sold to the Wisconsin DNR a couple years ago. Accordingly, we cancelled our traditional stop at Leinie’s Lodge and elected to have Olson’s ice cream cones to go rather than hot fudge sundaes with pecans at a table.

We got to the Ice Age Trail Visitor Center with 10 minutes to spare. We admired the aquaria with baby snapping, softshell, and painted turtles. There were two painted turtles. The smaller one had hatched this year. It’s shell was the diameter of a quarter. So cute!

A very short woman was working as ranger that afternoon. She told us that nothing had been done to Pokonokah yet. We all lamented the state of youth today, with all their electronics and no ability to sit quietly and watch the natural world.

The ranger, seeing me staring at the numerous hummingbirds at the feeders outside, invited us to turn the benches around so we could sit and watch the action. We went out to the porch and did just that. After a few minutes, it occurred to me that I should get my camera and try to video the birds. Jane tried to count how many there were. She thought maybe 7. She’d read that there were usually four times as many hummingbirds as you could count. They looked like a swarm of flies, zip, zip, chatter, as they darted around the feeders and faced off over positions at the perches. It was awesome.

Male hummingbird at feeder

 

The ranger lady was busy with her end-of-day chores.  I was taking pictures of the restore prairie when she brought out a ladder to fill a bird feeder that had to be 12 feet off the ground. I helped her by holding the ladder; Jane helped by volunteering to call 911 if she fell. The ranger lady gave us each a pint of red raspberries that she hadn’t sold during the day. Jane asked if we could pay for them, but she said it was enough that we’d helped her. I knew the drill from my gardening experience. It’s the end of the day. You have more raspberries than you know what to do with at home. Just get rid of them.

We took a drive past the old camp. The only change was that the Pokonokah sign was gone, and a new sign had been put up.  We continued our drive all the way around Long Lake. We went to Two Acres Supper Club for not spectacular shrimp. Friday is fish fry night, but I’m not a fan of fish.

Entrance sign to the property formerly known as Camp Pokonokah Hills. Now it just says "Old Girl Scout Camp."

When we got to the Days Inn in Rice Lake, the jerk working at the desk said that Jane did not have a reservation, and there were no rooms. After far too long enduring his abysmal customer service, he called the Westin Inn, where we were able to get a room and were treated very nicely indeed. Last time we ever need to book at the Days Inn, let me tell you.

We weren’t in a particular hurry on Saturday. We had a nice breakfast at the Westin Inn. We had lunch in Two Harbors, as usual, but not at Culver’s. We drove off the highway a bit and found a charming little place called Louise’s where we were able to get sandwiches piled high with meat (the ham was better than the turkey), cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes plus chips and pickle slices for $5.95. Much better than fast food. We ate lunch nearby at a lighthouse.



Louise's Place

The lighthouse near where we ate lunch

 

We got to Grand Marais in good time. We had frozen custard at Sydneys, which now has not only indoor dining, but a restroom! We sat outside on our usual bench because it was a nice day. We got our groceries, including the traditional WondeRoast chicken, and headed up the Gunflint Trail, arriving at the cabin at 5:00.

Dave greeted us and told us Cabin 1 was ready. I unloaded the car while Jane unpacked the coolers and organized the food for supper. I had packed some unbaked, frozen cream scones, the recipe for which is the perfect combination of easy and awesome. I baked two of them to have with some of the raspberries for dessert.

Scones with raspberries