Time to get out of the “Splorin’tine zone”. The Wisconsin State Supreme Court struck down the #SaferAtHome orders of the Wisconsin Governor. Like it or not, this means that some thing were going to start opening back up. Hopefully with care and proper procedures put in place, some people will be able to get their livelihoods back and we will hopefully be able to get back to some semblance of #SplorinSaturdays. We will continue to go splorin’ early in the day and avoid places that may get crowded, be as self contained as we can, only stop for gas if needed and practice social distancing. This is how we will move forward.
Our next destination was Governor Thompson State Park in Crivitz, WI — a LONG 3.5 hours away. The last time we were in Crivitz was for our dear friends, Colleen and Greg’s, wedding 30 yrs ago and we certainly didn’t have time for splorin’ then. But, armed with our trusty portable toilet we were up for the challenge!! Mike did a lot of researching and found two restaurants that we felt comfortable stopping at for breakfast and #SupperClubSaturday.
Two Angels Family Restaurant in Antigo, WI was our breakfast stop. Mike read that they were taking precautions for proper distancing and cleaning so we felt comfortable stopping there to eat. It was glorious. Walking in there were few people there and they were all spread out across the dining room. There were THREE groups of older gentleman coffee klatches going on. We think they have missed being able to do this too!!! Breakfast was typical “meat” omelet for Mike and “veggie” omelet for Tammy — it was awesome!!! Our waitress was really funny — she commented on how things had changed and they really were glad to open back up or they would not be able to remain open. Tammy was in angel heaven — they were displayed everywhere. She really wanted to ask about the history of the place but decided that lingering and vistiting still probably should wait for awhile.
We were off for the state park. Arriving we were surprised to see someone in the office, but the signs were still up saying everything was closed. We made our way to the first parking lot to get ready for our first real Splorin’ in a long time.
Since were are getting further into Spring we knew bugs would be an issue and we had heard this park was especially brutal with wood ticks. We already had our Picaridin from last year and Mike found out that Permethrin was very effective against ticks. This is a chemical that you spray on your clothes and it kills ticks for up to six weeks (even through clothes’ laundering). So, we got some and Mike treated our hiking clothes with it the night before. After our entire day hiking we found TWO ticks. One on Mike’s leg that was dead and one on his sock and it didn’t look to healthy. Other people at the park mentioned multiple ticks in much less time than we were there. So — whether it was the Picaridin or Permethrin we don’t care — it kept the bugs away!!! And not one mosquito bite either! We have learned a lot in a year.
Now, back to the actual hiking. We started on the Otter Trail and found the trails to be very wide and made of long grass — we see where the ticks would come from.
We encountered quite a few flowers along the way (it is Spring after all 😉 ).
Tammy loves her Trilliums!!!
As we made our way along and almost to the campground, it finally happened. Mike was busy looking off into the trees for deer or a fawn and he hears Tammy whisper those three magical words: “There’s a bear!”. Up the trail, about 50 yards away and right in the middle of our path is a smallish black bear. It was probably a yearling — way too big to be a cub from this year, but certainly not full grown. It ran up the trail 5 or 10 yards and then darted off into the trees. We made our way up to where it went into the woods but Mike couldn’t find where it went at all. (believe me he tried!) No picture of it, but I guess that will be our next challenge: to see and get a picture of a bear!
We continued on the trail and there were so many pretty views that it was mesmerizing. So after our first hike of 7.74 miles we saw 0 humans and 1 bear — it was going to be a good day!!!!
Near the tail end of the first hike we encountered a location where there were thousands of white birch trees. It was strange when seen from one point of view it looked like water through the trees. It wasn’t until we got along side this stand of Birch trees that we could see the “forest for the trees”.
Whew, 7.74 miles is a long hike. We didn’t bring water with us on the hike (even though Tammy keeps saying we should) so we sucked quite a bit down once we got back to the car. Then we were ready to take on the rest of the park. We drove to the boat landing and found a secluded spot so we would be out of the way when we returned to get ready for the return of #SupperclubSaturday.
The next set of trails had the first real hills of the day. Along these trails we saw even more ferns and some that were pretty photogenic.
As we neared the end of the hike we found an “overlook”. Having been down many overlooks that were completely grown over and you couldn’t see anything it was nice to see that this overlook of “Thunder Mountain” was open so you could see it very clearly above the lake.
The state park was gorgeous and we would love to go back and perhaps camp there someday — the campgrounds look awesome!! But we are now ready to move on to the feature of the day that we were so looking for to.
#SupperClubSaturday
It has been two months since we were able to partake in this portion of the day. Mike found a supper club in Antigo that was open: Swartzendruber’s Supper Club. This was EXACTLY the kind of place that we wanted to return to once we could. Mike called to get reservations just in case and the lady taking the reservation said we could get there whatever time we wanted and could have a drink at the bar until the dining room was open and ready to take seating.
When we arrived, there was only one other car in the parking lot. Mike was hoping for a couple — not too many, but more than what may end up just being us inside. When we went inside there was an elderly couple sitting at the bar and a very delightful bartender greeting us. We grabbed a couple of “socially distanced” bar stools and ordered a drink. Why was this our perfect place? We had been there about five minutes and the phone rang. The bar tender picked up and said “Hi Grandpa!!”, turned out the call was for her dad — the owner of the supper club. So — perfect family run business. We had a very delightful conversation with the bartender where she explained how they had the difficult choice to open or stay just doing take out meals. It was her comment of “just doing take-out and delivery doesn’t pay the bills” that really kind of struck home.
They were doing things “right:” barstools were spaced out. Tables were spaced out and when others were seated it was very deliberate to keep that space. Our server had gloves on when she was serving items to our table. Salt and pepper shakers were brought to each table not just still sitting there, etc. Overall they seemed to be being very cautious and concerned with our health and safety, as well as their own. We were glad to be there to help support this local place
Now the food — it was WONDROUS!!! While at the bar we heard that the elderly couple order mushrooms as an appetizer but we did not see them on the menu. So we asked our waitress and she said they could make some up for us if we wanted — yes, thank you very much, we did. They were fabulous – beer battered, but not overly greasy or overly battered. Unfortunately they did not have the scallops Tammy wanted, so she got the tenderloin with mushrooms and onions, but Mike was able to get his prime rib!!! Both were amazingly good. It was one of the better prime ribs that Mike has had. That could be because of two months of going without, but he thinks it still ranked up there very high on the list.
We then had an enjoyable 2.5 hour drive home where we saw deer, turkeys and some Amish people!
A VERY GOOD SPLORIN’ SATURDAY!!! Let’s hope this continues.
Splorin' Saturday 