Floating on the Highway
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Day 3: July 29, 2025 Floating on the Highway Comment via blog |
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Breakfast was at Ludington Harbor Cafe right on US-10. No fancy French
toast for me today. Just good ol' bacon and
eggs I'm sure there were plenty of other visitors in the cafe, it was
definitely a popular spot with locals. A round table near the door was
empty when I walked in but, as I ate, it slowly filled with the cast of
what was obviously a "Liar's Table" of long standing.
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The cafe was directly on the route to the ferry, but I took a short detour
to grab this picture of the awaiting "SS Badger".
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Even with my short side trip, I was back on US-10 about an hour before
departure. Once a car has been approved by an explosive sniffing dog,
passengers are directed to a nearby area near this sign (the other side is
here where bags and packs are examined. The walk
from there to the boat provides a good view of the Badger's retired sister
ship, the "SS Spartan". Four-wheeled vehicles are driven aboard
by professionals while motorcycles are driven aboard by their owners in
groups.
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I had time before departure to walk around the officially designated
National Historic Landmark (read the plaque
here and checkout the real deck chairs on a
real deck. Then it was time to cast off to float past several groups of
waving well wishers and ultimately the lighthouse.
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I've explained how it was Christine Henry's 2019 SCA presentation that
first got me interested in traveling on the "US Badger". I've
learned/remembered that she later gave a Zoom version of the presentation
(which had issues with being recorded) and wrote an article about it for
an issue of the SCA Journal (which is missing from my collection). When I
asked about the Zoom recording, I was put in touch with Christine who
graciously supplied me with a copy of the article. The article
informed/reminded me that the 2019 presentation was not actually the first
time I had heard of the "SS Badger". Although it was not yet
officially part of US-10 (that would happen in 2015), William Least
Heat-Moon rode the Badger as part of the trip that resulted in the book
"Blue Highways". Henry tells how Heat-Moon wondered whether both
shorelines were ever simultaneously out of sight during the crossing, but
was distracted from finding out by an interesting conversation with a
fellow passenger.
Regarding the shoreline question, I had two advantages over Heat-Moon. One was that I had a phone with GPS (Note the middle of the lake US-10 marker in the screen capture.) that let me see when we were near the mid-point. The other was that all the passengers had successfully avoided saying anything interesting to me although I've no doubt many could have. So here are photos aft and forward showing the absence of shoreline to the/my naked eye. The last shot should also satisfy those who come here to see the many through-the-windshield straight-down-the-highway photos I take. That's US-10 straight ahead. Shortly after the GPS indicated the state line had been crossed, I purchased one of Wisconsin's celebrated beverages, Spotted Cow. I did this after entering Wisconsin but before my phone had registered the time change. This means I was drinking beer as noon approached instead of barely past 10:00 AM. |
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The first picture is of the Wisconsin shoreline as we get near. The second
shows the aft pilothouse, which is empty during the crossing, being used
to back the ferry into the Manitowoc slip.
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Once ashore, passengers wait for their cars to be driven off the ferry and
parked in a holding area. Once you spot your car, you simply walk to it
and move out. There is no ticket checking or any other security like you
might see at an airport baggage claim area. No cars were stolen and no
loose items went missing. Are ferry patrons inherently more trustworthy
than folks who fly? I'm guessing no, but suitcases are easier to carry
than Hondas.
I was instantly back on the paved portion of US-10. |
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I had one point of interest marked in Manitowoc. It's just a few blocks
off of the current US-10, and I believe it was directly on one of the
highway's former alignments. It is the spot where a piece of
Sputnik IV landed in 1960. A steel ring marks the spot
and a plaque
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Although I don't include many of them, I do often visit breweries on my
trips. There were, in fact, two I'd hoped to visit in Manitowoc but one
would not be open for more than four hours and the other would not be open
for a day. As I approached Stevens Point, WI, I naturally had thoughts of
Stevens Point
beer, and the brewery was marked in my GPS. Although there had been
little of interest there when I stopped by in
2021, I decided to
drive by and was well rewarded for it. A tap room opened in a former
distribution building just over a year ago. I walked in thinking I'd have
a Stevens Point Special for old times sake but was met with a bunch of new
varsities and couldn't resist a Coconut Rum
Stout. Specifically, this one.
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