A Morning in Sheboygan

 Last December Stacy and I decided we needed to spend another day in Sheboygan so we could visit Indian Mound Park. It was too cold and windy when we were in Sheboygan in December. It is not worth either us for driving to Sheboygan just to go to a park -- not with the price of gas. So we decided to make a day of it. In usual Amy fashion, I checked the bucket list and figured out how what we could all fit in the time we had. 

Our goal was to see the Marvel exhibit at the Sheboygan County Historical Museum. I planned our route leaving from Meijer and ending up at the museum. We had about 2 hours or so for some Sheboygan Adventures.

Stop #1 -- James Tellen Woodland Sculpture Garden (Bucket List #5170)

James Tellen created sculptures at his summer home from 1942-1957 out of concrete. He created over 30 historic, religious and mythic figures in the woods all out of concrete and similar materials. The sculpture garden is a bit hard to find. It has a small parking lot that you will miss if you're not looking for it.

There is a path in the woods that allows you to view his artwork. As Stacy said, this is even weirder than the creepy pyramid. At least the Concrete Park in Phillips was interesting. This stuff was bizarre. I am still not sure of the man on the door on the volcano.

Some of it was actually interesting. I did like the mythic creatures better than the religious ones.

The saints made sense.

Some mother nature got the better of and they lay in ruins.

You can wander the path past the sculptures but after a bit you are crossing fallen trees and guessing where the path was. Since we had more adventures to go on, we turned around and headed to the next stop.

If you like creepy and bizarre, this definitely worth checking out. If not check out the other Kohler Art Museums in town.

Stop #2 -- Indian Mounds Park (Bucket List #5183)

This was our main reason for going to Sheboygan. We actually past this on way to Sculpture Garden. Again it has a small parking lot. This is exactly what it sounds like. Indian Effigy mounds in a park. 34 mounds were discovered in 1927. By 1958 only 18 remained and in 1960 the land became a park with 16 restored mounds. 

The is a well signed path to follow to view the mounds. Each mound has a sign that tells you what animal the mound is supposed to be. Like usual I was not able to really identify the shape of the mound with or without the sign. The signs were definitely useful.

This is definitely worth checking out when in Sheboygan. The nature trail is great for a quick morning hike.

Stop #3 -- Lottie Cooper Shipwreck  (Bucket List #5173)

Little did I know there was an actual shipwreck in Sheboygan.. not in a museum, not in the water but in a park and you can walk through it. A definite must see and a quick one too.

In April 1894, the Lottie Cooper set anchor to ride out a storm in Lake Michigan near Sheboygan. They never made it and by the next day the ship sank. 5 of 6 crew were rescued though. When constructing the harbor in 1992, the remains of the Lottie Cooper were found and a large portion of her was brought ashore to be put on public display. Unless it is properly preserved, Mother Nature will get the best of her again.

The Lottie Cooper is interesting to see. It is an old wooden schooner. I've seen shipwrecks on the Lake Michigan but this is the first time I was able to get up close and personal with it. 

This is a quick 5 minute detour while headed to other Sheboygan adventures or the beach as the beach is literally right there.

We assessed our time and had to adjust our plans. We grabbed a quick lunch while figuring out our next stop. We had to be in Cascade by 1:20 for a wine tasting so it didn't leave much time for the museum. Since we saw the museum in December and the exhibit was not the artist I thought it was, we opted to skip the museum. With a little time to spare, I made one request on our way to the winery. 

Stop #4 -- Acuity Flagpole (Bucket List #5172)

I wanted to see the World's Largest Free-Flying American Flag. I've driven by it enough. I didn't realize that you could actually go up to it but you can.

On the grounds of Acuity Insurance Headquarters, the World's Largest Free-Flying American Flag is visible from the highway. It is tucked away in the back corner of the grounds where you can drive up and actually see it. 

The World's Largest Free-Flying American Flag is 70 by 140 feet and the flag pole is 400 feet tall. That's quite large. Around the base is a Veteran's Memorial that lists the names of Sheboygan County residents killed in active duty going back to the Civil War. 

After a few pictures it was back in the car so we could go wine tasting. If we didn't have the wine tasting schedule, we probably would have explored Sheboygan some more.

Since there is more on Sheboygan to do list, I will probably need to make another trip or two. Andrea already said I need to come down and go to some art museum. Maybe next time I will spend an afternoon in Sheboygan. What will be on my next Sheboygan adventure? Stay tuned.