Manitowoc & Sheboygan
Big Ship...Fun Ports Part II
You
might be wondering what to do having disembarked from the S.S.
Badger... We had
visited Manitowoc on one other occasion just less than two years ago,
so at least we had a pretty good feel for the layout of the town. The
Executive Director of the Manitowoc Convention and Visitors Bureau,
Kathleen Galas – our contact for the Manitowoc portion of the trip –
suggested that for lunch we try a small restaurant downtown called
Garnishes. Run by two close friends, Rudy Baumann and Tom Gray,
Garnishes is a great place to get excellent soups, salads and
sandwiches at extremely reasonable prices. Heidi had the Ham &
Mushroom Soup, a small Caesar Salad and a Tuna Salad Sandwich on whole
grain bread, while I decided to try the Tomato Florentine soup with a
Roast Beef Sandwich and a small Caesar Salad. Rudy and Tom are both
easy going and make great partners. They took some time out to visit
with us and describe their passion for the business. Garnishes is
successful in its catering as well as in the restaurant portion of the
business. It was a fine lunch and a friendly atmosphere, and I highly
recommend that you stop in on your next visit to Manitowoc.
It was already
past 2:00, but there was still time to check out some shops in
downtown Manitowoc. Cooks Corner – a great place to shop for just
about anything for the kitchen, Beernsten’s – the place to go for a
marvelous selection of home made chocolates, Natural Ovens, The Rahr-West
Art Museum, several places at which to purchase incredibly good
cheeses and ice cream cones (especially Pine River Dairy) are just a
few of our favorites. My all time favorite place however, is the
Wisconsin Maritime Museum. It is an absolute must see in
Manitowoc. There are plenty of things there for the children to see
and do – including lots of hands on stuff – and many wonderful
exhibits involving the vast maritime history of Manitowoc, not the
least of which is the fact that Manitowoc produced 28 submarines for
the United States during World War II. Visitors can also tour the USS
Cobia. Although the Cobia was not built in Manitowoc, it is an
absolutely incredible tour, since most of the things on board still
function. You just gotta go see it!
We checked in to
a great room and excellent accommodations at the Holiday Inn at about
4:00 and took a brief respite before heading back into town for dinner
at Newey’s Restaurant. Newey’s specializes in Thai food. Heidi had
the Sweet-Sour Chicken (cucumber,golden pineapple, onion and
red bell peppers served with jasmine rice) and I had the Pad Thai
(pan-fried noodles with beef, topped with fresh bean sprouts, fresh
basil and a sprinkle of peanuts). Now, believe it or not, prior to
this particular evening, I had never eaten Thai food, but our dinners
were absolutely wonderful… and the portions were more than two of us
could have eaten! We also had the opportunity to speak with
owner-chef Mr. Newey. A native of Thailand, Mr. Newey has been here
for over eight years and has, I’m sure brought much joy to diners
every time he prepares them dinner. Newey’s is also a place that I
highly recommend you try for dinner when in Manitowoc. We took a
short stroll down to the river after dinner and marveled at how clean
the city was.
We had saved the
visit to the Wisconsin Maritime Museum and submarine tour for Sunday
morning, when we virtually had the place to ourselves, and thoroughly
enjoyed the visit before heading south to Sheboygan. According to
Denny Moyer, our CVB contact in Sheboygan, a must see was the John
Michael Kohler Art Museum. We followed his advice and indeed, the
museum was well worth the stop. There is some excellent “Kohler Art”
there as well… I will only tease you and say that you will just have
to see it for yourself. We also had some time to walk along the
waterfront and watch the boats as they sailed or motored up the
river. This is an area that seems to be in the process of development
and appears as if it will be a super place when totally finished. We
didn’t have as much time in Sheboygan as I had hoped, but there are
at least three places that you should not pass up when you visit
Sheboygan. The first of these is a fish market called Schwarz’s,
which is right on the river front walkway. We purchased some of the
finest and freshest fish (lake perch) and tastiest fish dip that I
have ever had. I also recommend that you take some time to locate
Meisfeld’s market on the north end of town, just west of Route 43.
They have, without a doubt, some of the finest meats I have ever
tasted.
Sunday night we
stayed at a wonderful venue right on the lake called the Blue Harbor
Resort. We had a room that overlooked the Lake and really enjoyed the
sunrise on Monday Morning. The resort boasts a 43,000 square foot
water park with 7 water slides and 12 fountains (for the kids in all
of us), a spa for spoiling, and four restaurants for a variety of
taste preferences. We thoroughly enjoyed both lunch and dinner at the
resort and had a wonderfully relaxing stay.
All too soon,
our excursion had come to an end, and we headed back south… and back
to work again. Keep one thing in mind though: it is not just
Michiganders who should “see what’s on the other side.” Ludington,
Michigan and sister city Manitowoc and Sheboygan, Wisconsin are all
great places to which you can go for any occasion. Just don’t forget
that The SS Badger is there, ready and willing to take passengers and
their vehicles from any state, safely from one side of the lake to the
other. It sure beats the trip driving around the bottom of the
lake!
Special Thanks to
the following people:
Donna from the
Ludington Pier House in Ludington, Michigan
Captain Dean Hodds
& Crew of the SS Badger
Rudy & Tom, Garnishes Restaurant in Manitowoc
Mr. Newey from Newey’s Restaurant in Manitowoc
Pat Riley, General Mgr. and Staff, Holiday Inn in Manitowoc
Josef Haas, General Mgr, and Staff, Blue Harbor Resort, Sheboygan
Lynda Dauigherty, Director of Media Relations, SS Badger
Kathleen Galas, Executive Director, Manitowoc Convention and Visitors
Bureau
Denny Moyer, Sheboygan Convention and Visitors Bureau
Gary Knowles, without whose help, nothing would be possible…
R. Karl
rkarl@onthelake.net
