Day 80 & 81 September 8 and 9, 2022

Day 80 Thursday September 8, 2022

Port Washington WI to Milwaukee Wisconsin

We left Port Washington Marina at 8am expecting a great travel day.  We were not disappointed.  It would have been nice to check out more of the town but we needed to take advantage of the weather.  The following 2 days were promising to be ugly.   

 Lake Michigan is so blue! Think Carribean.

The Wisconsin shoreline is more industrial than Michigan. 

McKinley Marina is HUGE with 1,126 boat slips and a mooring field; the dock hands get around with golf carts. 

 

 

 Usually we can radio the marina, get our slip assignment, head to our slip, and go register once settled.  McKinley requires you to tie to the fuel dock, register with the office, and then go to your slip.  Makes sense when you need a map to find your slip!  Poor dockmaster -- we invaded. Five boats at once and he was alone, trying to fuel boats and register them -- Tug Bussle, The Grand Wazoo, Phil-N-Wild, Her Idea, and us.  Our slip was next to Janet and Russ but The Grand Wazoo was pretty far away.

First thing -- the ladies Ubered to the Metro Mart grocery store.  The driver gave us a short tour of the area on the way.  Grocery shopping was quite productive for all.  I still have a hard time seeing wine and alcohol in a grocery store.  Table Six and Beyond also traveled to Milwaukee and ended up next to us.  Lake conditions were starting to deteriorate by the time they arrived.  We all enjoyed docktails. 

We spent a fun evening with Rachel and Don from Beyond at Jack's American Pub watching the Buffalo Bills football game. We stayed until half-time; the music was way too loud, even for the youngsters. We watched the rest of the game back at the boat -- Buffalo's season is off to a great start.

Looking forward to adventures tomorrow.

Screen shot of one of the marinas.  Checkout the huge outer and inner breakwaters that protect the marina from Lake Michigan.

Day 81 Friday September 9, 2022

Harley-Davison Museum here we come!  Too far to walk, we Ubered to the museum with Joe and Laura.  Very interesting and educational.  I had no idea that the company started in a shed in the backyard and was inspired by a need for Harley and Davison to get to their favorite fishing spot more quickly! That's when they started experimenting with motorizing their bicycles. 

Harley-Davidson played a huge part in WWI and WWII, supplying over 90,000 motorcycles towards the war efforts.  They even trained soldiers on riding, maintenance and repair of the bikes.  Their success pivoted on their ability to market the product, train dealers and mechanics, and respond to the changing needs of  the country.  

 Motorcycles designed for mail delivery

 Motorcycle could be towed behind a car to make car deliveries more efficient, requiring only one man to make the delivery.

 Owner customized.

After lunch at La Masa (awesome empanadas and jicama slaw) Laura and I walked back to the boats.  Jerry and Joe caught an Uber to Walmart.  Jerry has been on the hunt for more oil.  Twelve dollar Uber there and $26 dollar back -- 3 gallons of oil was $45.  Transportation was almost as much as the oil!

Lots more to see and do in Milwaukee; we had hoped to visit the art museum and an old church but we need to travel tomorrow. Our original departure day would have us leaving in horrible winds so leave tomorrow we must.