Tour of eastern Wisconsin Day 7
We got up a little early and drove just a few minutes to Ellison Bluff County Park for a morning hike. The park is only 170 acres so it’s easy to get to and to get around. There is about a mile and an half of shoreline along the bay.
We hiked around the park trails for about an hour, stopping to read information signs along the way. It was very relaxing and quiet except for the birds and the rustle of unknown wildlife. As we were leaving more hikers and joggers started showing up. This park hike was quite enjoyable but it was time for coffee.
We drove into Ellison Bay to The Brew Coffee House. The coffee was very good and as it turned out, they serve coffee roasted by Stone Creek Coffee in Milwaukee, one of our favorites.
We headed south from Ellison Bay and stopped for a quick look at Rowley’s Bay.
The next stop was Cana Island and Lighthouse. To get to the island, and the lighthouse, you had to cross a causeway from the mainland. They have a wagon that you can ride back and forth but on this day, the water was low enough to walk across the path.
Lake Michigan water levels can vary. The walkway in recent years was 5′ underwater, all within normal numbers since the 1880s. The cause of the level changes? Wait for it…weather!We opted to walk across the rocks; the wagon ride looked a little rough and bumpy. We stopped at the Visitors Center and purchased tickets. Walking around the grounds is free but $12.00 allows you to tour the lighthouse and it’s worth it! The steps might be a challenge for some but we made the climb.
The lighthouse was built in 1869 and still in use today although the light is now electric instead of burning lard or kerosene. We also toured the keepers quarters: in use until the 1940s when the light was converted to electricity. Because of the special lens, it uses just a 200 watt bulb. The light can be seen up to twenty miles away,
Our next stop was the Bailey’s Harbor Range Lights. The lights were used to guide the ships into the harbor without running aground. There are two buildings about 1000′ apart built on the line of the best route into the harbor. Each building had a light that as long as the captain kept the two vertically aligned, the ship would make it safely into the bay.
This kind of navigation is still used today in many forms. One such example is glide path lights at airports and on aircraft carriers. “Maverick, you’re at 3/4 of a mile, call the ball.”
The lights currently work and are maintained by staff and volunteers of the the Ridges Sanctuary.
All the exercise made us really hungry so we returned home, cleaned up and headed to Chop in Sister Bay. We ordered the Farmhouse pork chop and Beef Burgundy – both excellent! For dessert, we ordered a piece of carrot cake to share but that turned out to be a little too ambitious. We had it boxed up for carryout. We did have to park down the road a bit – completely worth the effort! Be sure to make reservations.
Before GPS, light houses were painted different colors and patterns so that ships’ captains could identify which light house they were looking at so they could pinpoint their location. What to do at night? The frequency of the strobing, on and off cycles, were different for each one.