Kenosha Lighthouse

Last week we had to take a drive up to Kenosha, Wisconsin to look at a possible remodeling job.  And you know me, the first question I always ask is "Can we stop and grab a few geocaches?"

I always like it when our geocaching adventures are somehow tied into history, so the Kenosha Lighthouse fit the bill. 

First we walked around the lighthouse and then Louie made quick work of finding the geocache. 

I always enjoy walking around harbors and checking out the boats and docks....

The day we were up there it was extremely cold and windy.  We walked along the shoreline and found another cache hidden among the rocks.  But believe me, we didn't linger there long!

We were actually in this same area a year and a half ago when I did a blog post on the Kenosha Civil War Museum.  You may be interested in going back and checking out that post to see the difference in how we were dressed in August versus January.  I definitely prefer the temperatures in August!

Caching in Wisc. Part 2

After our morning of geocaching and delicious lunch at The Brat Stop, we drove over to Kenosha, Wisc. to The Civil War Museum .  I've been wanting to go there since we spied it on a caching expedition earlier this year.

It's located right on the lake front so first we walked over to the walkway.  It was a beautiful, clear day, and  it was extremely windy.

They have a special exhibit set up inside honoring the soldiers from each of America's various wars.  The statues were life size and very nicely carved.  The only thing I didn't like was that the room was extremely dark (for dramatic effect maybe??) and it was really hard to see the statues.  I tried taking some pictures but they didn't turn out very well.  It's a shame because the statues were fantastic.

I like looking at the mock ups of the old newspaper headlines...

Another room was set up with Civil War artifacts in glass cases.  The items were all in excellent condition.

I liked seeing the different outfits that the women wore and the different styles of the time.

 Isn't this dress pretty?  I would have loved to wear something like this.

It was interesting to see this real cannon...

My favorite part of the museum was the period clothes that we could dress up in and then take pictures.  That was really a lot of fun!

More newspaper headlines.....

The museum had a large, rooftop terrace so when we were finished with the tour, we walked outside to enjoy the view...

Lake Michigan sure was pretty that day!

How to Walk on a Fish Hook and Survive!

Ok, now that I've gotten your attention, let me explain that I don't mean a fishing hook.  This fish hook is actually a breakwater wall in Kenosha, Wisconsin that is shaped like a fish hook.  It goes wayyyyy out into Lake Michigan and today we did a geocache that was hidden out on the end of it.  Go here to see a copy of the geocache page:  http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?guid=6026342b-bb23-4690-b9bf-22aa516a0f23

Here's Lou and Chablis as we started the hike out to the point...

This geocache has a rating of 3 out of 5 for difficulty and 4 out of 5 for terrain.  I'll tell you one thing - these are some serious rocks out there....

Once we reached the correct location, which we found using our GPS unit, we had to climb down into the rocks to find the cache....

It was like a cave in there....

It was a perfect day to be at the lake - warm, sunny, light breeze....

Afterwards we wandered around the Kenosha Marina and enjoyed the sights...

We walked around the lakefront and grabbed a couple of more caches.  Can you identify them here?

Ok, that last one was kind of easy!  They are really re-vitalizing the lake front area of Kenosha and it is really pretty.  We saw this fountain that I just fell in love with...

We found another fountain dedicated to Christopher Columbus....

And of course we didn't miss a phooning opportunity!

An old time electric bus went flying by!  Believe it or not, this is similiar to the type of bus I rode in Chicago when I was a kid.  See the wires above the bus and the bar connecting the bus to the wires?  That's how they were powered.

We also checked out this beautiful flower garden...

Check out this gorgeous 1972 GTO - the girl posing next to it is pretty gorgeous too!  I want that car!!

This area of Kenosha is really nice.  I have to go back again some time soon because as we were leaving I spotted a Civil War Museum that I didn't know was there.

By then it was lunch time and we were starving, so we headed over to The Brat Stop....

The Brat Stop is famous in these parts for, what else???  Brats!!!  I had mine with red cabbage and american potato salad...  And a nice icy cold beer.

It was OUTSTANDING!
So that was how we spent our day - now isn't that an interesting way to walk on a fish hook?