Impressions of the Good old USA

Great Lakes

Minnesota

Minneapolis is the closest major American city to us, so we have visited there from time to time.

On the way, and surrounding the city, are a number of casinos. Some hold good memories, and most of them don t. They do break up the trip though. There is relatively decent dinner theatre in nearby Chanhassen too.

One memory was the year we went in mid winter to see ice carvings and snow sculptures. It was the coldest blast of air ever experienced while sitting on a bench made of ice. There is a waterfall in Minnehaha Park, that makes an impressive sight when it s frozen solid.

They actually have a whole ice palace constructed at the Mall of America. (Which is not the best place to shop, however.) They do have an excellent aquarium at the Mall.

Minneapolis is actually two cities, Minneapolis and St Paul. The Twin Cities , sic. Some argue that St. Paul s downtown is the more interesting.

Another interesting part of Minnesota, is the north shore of Lake Superior, from Duluth to Grand Portage, through places like Lutsen ski area, Two Harbours, and Grand Marais, on the way to Thunder Bay, Ontario in Canada. (Avoid the crappy casino in Grand Portage.)

This is Norwegian country, where my wife and I learned the local expression, uff da!

We watched a ladies log rolling contest in Grand Marais during their August long weekend Fishermen s Picnic . Went on many good little hikes to waterfalls along the route.

One of the best lighthouses we ever visited was Split Rock, along the Superior shore. If you re taking the trail to the view shown on the postcards, you ll remember the 200 steps on the stairs.

Duluth is the hard scrabble Great Lakes town where my dad and I were introduced to the inside of separate interview rooms by America s Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms Agency; when he innocently waltzed into the police station asking for a permit to buy a shotgun he saw at the sporting goods store. We learned it s better to shut up and buy the gun, without telling them where you re from. (Never did get the gun.)

They have rich people in Duluth too, as evidenced by the mansions along the north shore, including tours of a castle built by a nineteenth century industrialist.

My wife s favourite memory of Duluth is the day she met Mazie, a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, on the beach at Park Point, where the locals feel free to bring their dogs, build fires, and generally enjoy the weekend. This particular dog had her own stick, and would not stop playing fetch.

Minnesota s Boundary Waters canoe area is adjacent to Canada s Quetico Park, where the voyageur route once taking coureur de bois from the Lakehead to the West, forms the border between the two counties.

And of course, Minnesota is Paul Bunyan country; filled with statues of the iconic character from their folklore.

Wisconsin

Wisconsin has a reputation for cheese, but we re more familiar with the north woods, being along the route we sometimes drive on our way east.

I feel guilty not having much else to say about this state. One day, we ll have to slow down and at least take a picture.

We did detour on one drive thru, to visit the waterpark town of Wisconsin Dells. Looked kind of weird, but I hear kids love it.

Illinois

About the only thing I know about Illinois is O hare Airport, having changed planes there a few times.

The one time we did drive by, was a cloudy miserable day, but we were in a good mood after winning $800 at the casino in Michigan City, in the neighbouring state of Indiana (cruddy town, great casino).

The next day, we bypassed Chicago entirely, but got stuck in traffic on the highway going to .... O hare.

Indiana

Indiana is actually quite beautiful closer to Kentucky. Especially in the Fall. Driving north, the color of the barns seem to change from black and red in Kentucky, to red and white in Indiana, to white by the time you reach Illinois and Iowa.

The drive we took along the northern part of the state occurred on a particularly rainy day though, so somewhere near Notre Dame University, we took in the chocolate factory tour in South Bend. It s the only one we ever visited that allowed us into the actual mixing room, and let us participate a little. (Seem to be a lot of chocolate factory tours in our travels.)

Ohio

Ohio has a bit of a hardscrabble reputation, but the people are down to earth and easy to talk to.

Home of a giant roller coaster park at Sandusky, which is close to a famous lighthouse.

For some reason, we have a memory of a huge restaurant in an old stone mansion with a vast wine cellar. Might even have had a dinner theatre, but maybe it was just the wine.

Michigan

Michigan is composed of two peninsulas: upper and lower. People along South Shore of Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) are often called Yoopers . They even claim to have their own dialect, but we didn t really notice. They do have Cornish pies, called pasties , which are similar to the ones found in Cornwall, England. (An old miner s meal consisting of hearty meat, potatoes, and veggies in a pastry shell... so the workman didn t need plates and utensils to eat on the job. )

We didn t get a good comparison to the ones in Cornwall, because there, a seagull swooped down and stole it from Sue s grasp as she was about to bite.

A bridge over the Straits of Mackinac connect the two peninsulas. From there, we took one of the hydro-jet boats to the resort island of Mackinac, where horse drawn conveyances take the place of cars and the famous Grand Hotel once served as the set for an old Christopher Reeves movie, Somewhere in Time which was my wife s favourite movie until she saw it again years later, and wondered what mood must have caused the nostalgia.

When we got back from the island, we found our car wouldn t start, and our vacation went from fairytale to redneck in a Mackinac minute. We spent the weekend trying to prompt service from George s Garage in St Ignace a place that the locals recommend you avoid.

We didn t let him spoil our impression of the great state.