4961. Walk the Fox Trot Trail in Appleton

 One day while at the farmer's market or something, Danielle and I noticed blue paw prints on the sidewalk in downtown Appleton. It turns out, they are there to guide on the Fox Trot Trail. I decided I wanted to to follow this trail. This was several years ago and I kept putting it off because I didn't want to deal with parking. Heather and I had time to kill while downtown and decided to go for it.

The Fox Trot Trail is a two mile loop through downtown and the riverfront that highlights the area history. You can pick up a guide at Paper Valley Hotel or just go to the Fox Trot Trail website to download one. Since I forgot my guide at home, I just googled Fox Trot Trail and downloaded the guide to my phone.

There are 16 points of interest that the guide talks about. It starts at Houdini Plaza and continues east on College Ave. Stops along College Ave include The Zuelke Building, History Museum at the Castle, Lawrence University Main Hall, and Lawrence Memorial Chapel.

Then the route has you head south on Lawe Street. This is the start of the river are. Stops along Lawe Street include

The Vulcan Plant Replica -- the first hydroelectric plant and the industrials flats.

Once you cross the river and train tracks, the trail heads down the Newberry Trail where you can see the Lock Tender's House, Lock #2, and between the locks building.

Then you head up Olde Oneida Street to Trolley Square, The Dam Tender's House, and the Fox River Mills Apartments.

From there you go past Rocky Blair Run and end in Jones Park.

We only lost the paw prints once when it crossed the street on Lawe Street since there was sidewalk ony only on one side.

I did talk about some of the places at first but by the time we got to Olde Oneida Street, it wasn't that interesting anymore.

The walk was fun. I would suggest doing it when you have an hour or so to kill downtown. There are hills but it was not as bad as I thought it would be. There is a ramp or stairs to get you from Jones Park on the river back to Lawrence Street. Going down isn't bad, it's always going back up. 

4915. See the Little White Schoolhouse in Ripon

Earlier in the year Stacy and I had planned on doing Rockford/Beloit for the girls weekend. Then COVID hit. We decided to do a girls day instead. After bouncing a few ideas around, we decided to head to Ripon since there were several bucket list items we could cross off while social distancing.

Our first was the Little White Schoolhouse which was the birthplace of the Republican party. I really am not really political or have ties to either party but I wanted to see an important place in our county's history.

The Little White Schoolhouse is a one room schoolhouse in the middle of Ripon. When we got there we could either look around ourselves or get a guided tour. I didn't think we needed a tour as I didn't care of the too much of the history of the schoolhouse, which I kind of regret now. I really regret not actually caring about the history of the place. I gravitated towards the toys.

You can learn the history of the Republic Party and what life in a one room schoolhouse was like by reading the walls and looking at the display cases.

You can also put on the dunce hat in a stand or sit in the corner.

It is not a huge place but it is a piece of history that is worth visiting especially since it's free. The hubby has never been there so I feel a repeat trip may be in the future. I would definitely read and learn the history of the schoolhouse instead of just going to it.

A Quick Stop at a Civil War Camp

While scouring Google and various other websites trying to find something to do today, I randomly came across something that mentioned a Civil War Camp in Kenosha. Camp Harvey was located where Green Ridge Cemetery is today. Since we were in Kenosha anyways, we might as well make a quick stop to check out the Memorial Marker of Camp Harvey.

The Marker is pretty easy to find thanks to an Eagle Scout who constructed a shelter over it. Stacy and I headed towards the shelter. It was so much easier than trying to find circus clown markers in a cemetery when we had no clue where to start.

There is not much to see except an engraved boulder that marks the location of Camp Harvey. If I didn't stumble across an article or webpage about it, I would never had known of Camp Harvey. Well maybe I would if we actual spent some time researching at the Civil War Museum yesterday.

Unless you are really into cemeteries, the Civil War, or even history in general this might not be your cup of tea. It was interesting to learn a small piece of history that is almost forgotten (not the war itself but Camp Harvey). However if you are a history buff with nothing better to do in Kenosha, go check out the Camp Harvey marker in Green Ridge Cemetery.

#105 Go to Mount Vernon

When the hubby told me we were going to Virginia for vacation, I started studying the bucket list and seeing what was on the list that would:
    a. Interest the hubby
    b. Be on the way home or not completely out of the way

Since we've gone east for the last couple of years, the things left on the original bucket list for the East Coast is dwindling fast. We didn't have many options but Mount Vernon was doable. I've always wanted to see Mount Vernon when I've been in DC but never had the opportunity.

Mount Vernon is George Washington's Estate. It is located in Mount Vernon, VA which is about 1.5 from Richmond or 30 minutes outside of DC. Since we were headed to Baltimore, this was actually a good stop.

Our admission ($18/person online) allowed us not only to see the Mansion but the out buildings, George and Martha's Graves, the grounds, the Pioneer Farm, the Museum and Educational Center, and the distillery down the road. One could spend one or more days here. There is a lot to see. If it wasn't so hot, we would have probably have seen more than we did.

When you get your tickets (online or in person), you either pick a time to tour the mansion or are assigned a time. Everything else is self-guided. There is a trolley and shuttle to take you to the lower parts of the grounds.

While we waited to tour the mansion, we saw the gardens and several of the out buildings. Many of the out buildings were where Washington's slaves worked and lived. To run a farm of this size, he needed a lot of help. It was very interesting to see how the slaves lived and worked.

Once it was time for our tour, we got in line for the tour. You can't the line before you assigned time and there is still usually a 5-10 minute minimum to get inside the mansion. They only allow about a dozen or so people in each group. There are no pictures allowed in the mansion and each room has its own tour guide. They give you a short spiel about the room and Washington before they direct you to the next room/building. I would have preferred one tour guide for the whole thing with smaller groups. The mansion was very neat to see.

We then headed down the hill to the Washington Tomb. A few people were ahead of us visiting the tomb. The original burial site was a short walk from the tomb.

On the way back to the car, we stopped in the museum to see more of Washington's history and artifacts. Somewhere along the lines we did watch a movie about Washington crossing the Delaware.

I'm glad I got to see Mount Vernon. Would I go back, probably not without the right group of people. It's one of those been there done that for me. If I were to have kids, I would take them here to show them this part of our history. It is something everyone should see at least one.. history buff or not. M non-history loving hubby even enjoyed it. My only disappointment is that Mount Vernon is not part of the National Park Service, so no passport stamp.

3827. Go to the Grignon Mansion in Kaukauna

When I was looking for something for Stacy and I to do when she came up for cookie baking, I started going through the events on Facebook. I found the Grignon Mansion was doing Christmas at the Mansion from 1-7 on Saturday and Menasha was had a Christmas event downtown from 5-8. Based on the forecast, I decided to go Christmas at the Mansion, especially since I've never been in the mansion. The hubby took me by it once.

The Grignon Mansion was built in 1837 by Charles Grignon as a wedding gift to his wife. It became known as the Mansion in the Woods. The Mansion is normally open in Summer on weekends for tours. This is the first time in years that they did Christmas at the Mansion.

The Mansion was simply decorated for Christmas as it would have been in 1948. There were no trees, boughs of holly, or other decorations except for stockings hung by the bed. It wasn't until after the German settlers started to arrived did the Christmas tree make an appearance. Christmas in 1948 was a time for visiting and sharing a holiday meal.

The Grignon Mansion did not have electricity, except for the basement, and our tour was conducted by candlelight. We were met in the parlor and a re-enactor lead us through live in the parlor room and shown 2 guest rooms. From there we continued our tour upstairs where we saw the 3 bedrooms before heading down to the dining room and kitchen. By the end of the tour, it was quite difficult to see the script the guides were reading from by candlelight.

After the tour, Stacy and I made our way down to the basement where we enjoyed cookies and eggnog while making paper stars. For the 2nd time this year, I made a paper craft that actually turned out. We thought about making a wooden snowflake but even though basket weaving skills were required, it wasn't a real basket and it didn't meet the criteria of weave a basket.

Once we finished our crafts and snacks, we headed out to the blacksmith shop. We watched as the blacksmiths made a pair of tongs. Usually blacksmiths make shepherd hooks or horseshoes, so it was nice to see them trying to make something different.

Then we headed over to the trolley for a trolley ride through Kaukauna to see the Christmas Lights. It seemed as a very unorganized and random trolley ride but it was still cool to see the North Pole and other lights in Kaukauna.

The Grignon Mansion is a National Historic Site.  Stacy made a comment that maybe there is a list of all the National Historic Sites. I guess I will have to look for one and add all of them to the bucket list.

I enjoyed our visit to the Mansion. After looking the website, I see they have other events throughout the year including a Model A Car show and a Civil War Reenactment. I may have to keep my eye out for other events. It's a nice hidden gem and I'm glad I was able to visit it.

A Historical Bike Ride

I don’t remember where I first read about the Library Bike Ride. However, I wasn’t too keen on going at first because helmets were required. I don’t own a bike helmet…I barely have a bicycle. Then at book club last month, Angela our moderator, was telling us she had to go on the bike ride this year and the cool places they went last year. This really got my interest piqued and I set off on trying to find a helmet. Luckily, my nephew’s fit me. When the night of the ride rolled around, I dusted off the cobwebs off the hubby’s bicycle, loaded it in the escape, and headed to Little Chute.

The way the bike ride was planned, we would ride to 5 different historical spots in Little Chute or Kimberly where the head curator from the History Museum at the Castle would tell us the history of the location. In all we would bike about 5 miles. It didn’t seem to bad and really wasn’t except for the few hills.

Our first stop was the site of the Treaty of Cedars on the edge of Little Chute. This is the approximate site of where the Indians and the US Government signed a treaty where the Menominee Indians ceded much of the northeastern part of the state to the US Government. The 4,000,000 acres included the present day cities Marinette and Wausau to the north, Stevens Point and Wisconsin Rapids to the West, and Appleton and Oshkosh to the South. It was called the Treaty of Cedars because the spot on the Fox River had Cedar Trees.

Our second stop was the War Memorial in front of the Village Hall in Little Chute. Here we learned about Jacob Coppus and how he lost his life in WWI. Jacob was part of the All Kansas Unit that fought a hard battle on Halloween across in Germany. Many lives were lost some to friendly fire because of all the rounds being shot. I probably should have taken notes to get the entire story but I didn’t even think of it.

Our third stop was Island Park and the start of the Heritage Parkway Trail in Little Chute. Here we learned about Arnold Verstagen who was a Dutch settler that built a mill along the Fox River almost directly across the river from where we were standing. Arnold wrote letters to his father-in-law describing his initial impression of the area once he settled here as well as his plans for the mill. We were told all of his letters are for sale in the Windmill in town.

While at this stop we also learned about the bridge standoff between Outagamie County and the Village of Little Chute. During the 1950s, Outagamie County and Little Chute were at odds at who was supposed to operate the draw bridge over the Fox River. There were several industrial sites that relied on the bridge to get trucks to and from the businesses. The county said Little Chute was responsible and the Little Chute said the County was responsible. The bridge was left in the down position stalling several tug boats while they figured it out. Neither side would budge and eventually they went to court to determine who was to operate the bridge. It was determined that Little Chute would operate the bridge. Both the mill and the bridge are long gone but the historical society had pictures of both that they passed around.

Our fourth stop brought us into Kimberly. After a bit of an adventure crossing the street, we stopped at a random parking lot on xxx street. Here we learned about the company town. Although Kimberly didn’t quite fit the exact definition of a company town, it was built for Kimberly-Clark workers. They could rent or build a house to company standards. We saw a picture of all the houses being one of two designs. On
xxx Street, one of the houses still resembles the old style. Although there wasn’t much to see, it was interesting to learn how and why Kimberly was founded.

Our last stop of the evening took us to Holy Name Catholic Church which is celebrating it’s 110th Anniversary. The Church itself was built in the 1950s by the same architect who build Valley Fair Mall but the parish was around much longer. It was established as part of the company town. It would have been interesting to go inside.

It was a nice night for a bike ride. I wish the stops were a little more interesting. I like history but bike to stops and talk about things that are no longer there wasn’t overly thrilling. I want to be able to see what you are talking about it. I know the History Museum has other walks and bike rides, I may check out another one besides the asylum walk in November that I am already going on. Hopefully they do this again next year so I can learn more about these little communities.

And the best part of this ride it was FREE!!! Gotta love free programs from the library. And who said libraries aren’t needed anymore?