Richie & Michele's Road Trip Chronicles: Welcome to Wisconsin!

Sorry, I couldn't help myself. This 30 foot tall skier is just before the Wisconsin state line at the entrance to Big Powderhorn Mountain, the "Ski Capital of the Midwest."

After some time exploring the Porcupine Mountains, we decided to cross the border and spend the next few days surrounded by the sweet smell of lilies at the Anton-Walsh House in Hurley, Wisconsin.

Gene is the innkeeper - and he reminds me of Carl Fredricksen, the elderly man in Disney Pixar's Up. Not because Gene is old or stubborn by any means, but simply the square face and thick black glasses.

Gene is quite the gentleman with a passion for historic maps, geneology, and cooking. His muffins are amazing! Check out a few of Gene's recipes on the Anton-Walsh homepage.

How do we describe Hurley, Wisconsin...

For this, we look to the Hurley visitor's guide. We couldn't have said it better ourselves.

You're invited up to enjoy our warm yet casual hospitality. We'd roll out the red carpet for you, but we're just not that formal around here. This is a place to relax. Forget rigid protocols. Leave your wrist watch on the night stand. You're not going to find a lot of commercial attractions with set schedules and fees for your vacation in the Hurley Area.

Our waterfalls roar around the clock and admission is free. The sun rises when it does. Our wilderness trails - silent or motorized - never close. You don't need a Blackberry to tell you when to catch a breathtaking sunset over the shimmering waters of Lake Superior. Besides, our blackberries grow in thickets all around the woods. Because we're way up north we get more summer sunlight per day... an hour and a quarter more than Chicago on the first day of summer, for example.
You will find a variety of lodging for you to relax in your way with warm and friendly hosts. You'll discover great restaurants where you can just come as you are for good food, ample portions and remarkably reasonable prices. Friendly folks with deep roots in a community that welcomes visitors is what you will find in Hurley.

Some facts about Hurley...
Population: 1818
Elevation: 1480
Average Annual Snowfall: 204 inches (Eeek!)
Known at Wisconsin's ATV Capital

Gene said Hurley loves festivals and parades - and he's not kidding!
There's at least one a month ranging from an ATV Mud Run and Festival Italiano to a Pumkin ATV Run and a Fireman's Picnic. There are 5k races and many, many more events for the community to get involved and excited about.

At the 2005 ATV rally, a new Guinness World Record was set for the largest ATV parade - 687 participants. Just a side note that Kentucky currently holds the World Longest ATV Parade record with 1,138 participants.

Ironwood County is rich with Native American traditions and history, but also thick with stories of the timber and iron mining industries. Hurley has a colorful gambling and prostitution history and chose to ignore Prohibition. It seems the alcohol tradition continues... fellow guests at the Anton-Walsh House counted 12 bars in a town of 1,818 people.

While at the Anton-Walsh House, we stayed in the Lotta Morgan room. Gene said the murder of Lotta Morgan (we've also seen Lottie Morgan) is probably one of the nation's oldest cold cases. She was a 28-year old "entertainer" whose body was found in an alley a few blocks from the Anton-Walsh House. She was buried on her 29th birthday.

Probably the highlight of our visit in Hurley was just chatting with Gene. He really is a fascinating man with a breadth of life experiences. It was refreshing to meet such an open minded person in such a tiny town. A few days in a row, we found ourselves conversing with him long after breakfast was over. We didn't mind at all.

Gene is really involved in the community (an influential member of the Chamber of Commerce, a key photographer for numerous county brochures, and a devoted member of the Iron County Historical Society - whew!).

One thing we've noticed in these smaller towns is that the local museums have incredible collections of items significant to the area's history. And Hurley's Iron County Historical Society Museum (located in the old Iron County Courthouse) was no different.

There were rooms filled to the brim of items like year books from the Hurley school district (known as the Hurley Midgets) to military uniforms and pharmaceuticals to the evolution of everyday items like knives, eyeglasses, and kitchen appliances. There was a wonderful collection of photographs and shelves and shelves of country records in the old courtroom.

Gene told us about the wonderful ladies who volunteer their time and strength to making hand-woven rag rugs and placemats. We also learned that the sale of these rugs and placemats is the main source of income for the museum... so we picked up two to use as seat covers for Sally the Subaru (since we don't have a floor to put them on). I became fascinated with one lady working on a hand-braided rug - and she was very patient in giving me advice on the technique. I'm excited that this is a project I can try while on the road - and it is made with recycled clothes!

_________________________________

We were sad to leave Hurley, but the road trip must go on!
Gene gave us great directions and suggestions on a good route to a few nearby waterfalls and Lake Superior. So we followed Highway 505, past an artesian well - filled up our water bottles, and viewed Lake Superior from Little Girls Point Park. We ended at Copper Falls State Park in Mellen, Wisconsin. It was rainy the next few days - but we looked at this as an opportunity to play with the tarp. Here is what we came up with!