Hello everyone, we’re back from our adventures in northern Wisconsin! For the week, we rented a little vacation cottage in the woods far north in the state, about a 6 – 7 hour drive away. It was the perfect time, just after Labor Day when the masses were leaving and we were just arriving. I mean literally, they were driving home as we were getting there. This was a look at the road as we approached the Northwoods on Labor Day!
(And yes by the way, I realize I’m posting photos of this trip before our UK trip from May/June. I know, I know. I swear I will rectify this situation soon.)
We love the chances we get to enjoy nature. One of the nice things about where we bought our house is that it’s near forest preserves and also a short day trip away from plenty of other places for small hikes and walks, but we particularly like getting out further flung when we can.
Where we stayed was near the Wisconsin River, which seems to meander around and around because you’re always crossing it!
One of the days we took a little road trip into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, to an area where there are a large amount of waterfalls. Ahead of time (because there was no wifi where we stayed!) I planned for us to go to Bond Falls. The area was beautiful, but I got really excited when we parked because I could hear the waterfall, even though I couldn’t see it yet.
Because look at how big this is!
It was unbelievable. I really felt like I was out west, not in the midwest. Pia and I are just at one corner of the bottom of the falls here!
It was so picturesque!
This was my typical outfit for a lot of the trip. A long-sleeved shirt or sweatshirt and jeans to keep away the mosquitoes, a scarf to keep ticks out of my hair, and moccasins unless we were hiking. (We didn’t see any ticks by the way, but were warned by numerous people about the ticks this time of year up there.)
Okay seriously, how amazing is this vista?!
We also did a little bit of thrifting in the town closest to where we stayed, St. Germain. I managed to unearth a few vintage knitting booklets and two antique crochet booklets from 1915 and 1916…! All for 50 cents a piece. In another nearby town, Eagle River, we went antiquing. These Luckyday buttons didn’t come home with me, but don’t you love the card?
The antique mall had just a staggering assortment of vintage young adult mysteries, all for much more money than I was willing to pay. However I kept finding cover after amazing cover, so soon I’ll do a post just of the books I looked at. Gems like this!
Three of them did come home with me, however. Norma Kent of the WACS and Sally Scott of the WAVES to start. Both were published in 1943. I’m pretty sure my eyes nearly fell out of my head when I saw them! At $8 each they were still much cheaper than most of the books I looked at, so it was an easy splurge. Don’t worry, I’ll share more photos of them soon too!
The last book I picked up was a 1949 copy of a Nancy Drew, The Clue of the Leaning Chimney. I have a fondness for the yellow-covered copies of the 50s and 60s that I grew up hunting for, but this earlier copy was a special addition to my collection.
The town of Eagle River had a cute downtown area with lots of little touristy shops and eateries.
One of the curio shops was formerly a bank, and you could walk right into the vault!
After a tasty lunch we stopped at a soda fountain. While I don’t collect Coca Cola memorabilia I do love it, so I was tickled to sit right by this great array of Coke items.
The soda fountain, Soda Pops, was really a delightful little place.
My indulgence of choice was a hot fudge sundae.
Now I’m sure it comes as no surprise that we love kitschy roadside things, so I loved that smack dab in the middle of St. Germain was a giant statue of Chief St. Germain… who never existed.
I read that it was to honor the early Native Americans in the area, even though this guy is fictional. Right near him there was also a large map of the area.
Wait, that’s not nearly enough inflection for the size of that map. It was one LARGE HONKIN’ MAP OF THE AREA.
Possibly little known fact to the blog world: I am a huge fan of maps. I love looking at them and I love using them. Old maps, new maps, maps of all kind. The first time we pulled through town I told Mel we were taking photos by that map!
All in all, it was a wonderful trip. Plenty of downtime to relax in our cottage, a little antiquing and thrifting, hikes and gorgeous sights seen. I’ll happily return to the Northwoods of Wisconsin or the UP of Michigan any day!!
My family had a cottage in Eagle River- I loved it there! Thanks for sharing the pics and sparking some memories for me today! : )
Your getaway looks lovely! I haven’t taken an outdoors-y vacation in a long time, but looking at your photos reminds me how much I used to enjoy it! We once drove/camped along the scenic byways in Oregon, There are really wonderful trails and plentiful waterfalls there if you get the chance! I’m going to add this WI/ MI trip to my list of things to do next summer.
Wow, what a fun trip! We used to go to northern Wisconsin when I was a kid (like many people from the Chicagoland area) and I loved it so much. I feel so nostalgic looking at these pics!
Did you grow up around here and I didn’t know that?!
Oooh that waterfall is amazing!
I wish Felix and I had set aside time this year to take a vacation; we’ve been hoarding our vacation days like squirrels before hibernation, in hopes we’d use them for fixing up a new house. Ahhh well…
Looks like you and Mel had a great relaxing trip. Cheers!
Beautiful photos!
Oh wow. What stunning views. Looks like a wonderful trip! I love the soda shoppe and mystery novels too. I hope it was all as good as it looks.
What a lovely holiday! The waterfall is so pretty and I love that huge map!
Beautiful place, love the waterfall, really love your outfit too! thanks for taking me on your adventure into the North and the great shops along the way. And, that is one big map, maps are a favorite of mine also.
Oh man, I loved seeing some of these photos on your Instagram, but all of these are almost too much to take! It’s so flippin’ beautiful up there! Can you swim in that water?
I don’t think so, although there were two places at the base of the falls where the path went right up to the water, so maybe people do when it’s warmer out. Wouldn’t that be amazing…!
Your trip looks like it was a lot of fun! And you’re so right about the views; my nature-loving heart is melting!
Beautiful place! I grew up going to the High Sierra’s as a child. Living in the city, it was so wonderful so be around so much nature. I will confess that I got a nostalgic whiff of OFF spray when you were speaking about the bugs!!!
You were in my neck of the woods! My husband and I live not far from Eagle River (he works there) and you happened to go into my favorite antique store…how amazing is that place!? Is it sad that I recognized it by the floor tiles just barely visible in the photo?
The ticks are usually gone this time of year (the heat of August kills them off) so it’s a perfect time to see the sights up here.
Awesome pics!
Small world!! And I totally love that you recognized the antique mall from the floor. lol Someone on Instagram told me they have Bakelite under the counter but I didn’t find out until after we’d left. 😉
Looks like you two had an amazing getaway!! I loved looking at these photos and, of course, you looked totally gorgeous and stylish the whole time. Of course 🙂
You’re so honkin’ cute!!! I’m glad I’m not the only person who says honkin’ (I get it from my mom…) though I realize you usually use it in a sentence about something large, and that you are not lol. God that place looks so beautiful and definitely the kind of place I would stay myself. Awesome!
p.s. are those Nikes vintage? hehehe 😉 😉 Dude someone would make a killing on vintage looking hiking shoes.
Sounds like a lovely retreat! 🙂 I spent Labor Day weekend camping just North of Minocqua, but snuck out late Sunday to avoid that traffic!
That looks like an amazing trip. I don’t know how you were able to restrain yourself with those books, I’d have filled the car boot!
This fantastic post puts me in the happiest and most re-energized of moods, dear Tasha, as we prepare for our own road trip to Calgary this coming Friday. I love the diversity of places you saw, enjoyed and took snaps of, as well as every last thing you both wore. You’ve given me much inspiration when it comes to my own packing (which I’m hoping to start on today) and outfit choices – thank you!!!
♥ Jessica
Looks like you had a great time! I’ve never been to that area, but did enjoy camping up north a few years ago…I’ll have to go back now and check out the Eagle River area. Love this state! I need to venture out of the Milwaukee area more often!
Wow such paradise! I wouldn’t ever want to leave:)
Wow what a gorgeous place to vacation! It would be Frankie’s (the dog) dream to go on hikes around there and it would be my dream to look at all the cute places in town 🙂
This is so beautiful! I’m very jealous of all those pretty lakes!
Also, I love maps too! There’s actually a word for it: mapophile (not sure if my friend and I made this up, but that’s what I say lol)
Now you can feel fancy when you talk about your love of mappy things 🙂
Yay, a fellow map junkie!! Seriously, I can spend hours pouring over maps- it’s just like reading a book, they tell their own tale. And then when you actually get there you find it’s completely different to how you imagined…. two adventures for the price of one- bonus! 😀
this is so lovely, those falls are amazing and you are just too cute for words. lovely to find you in blogworld xxx
I love your blog – just found you by chance on ravelry. Looks like you had a terrific holiday. I’m going to spend the evening reading your older posts. With warmest wishes all the way from Inverness, Scotland!
Looks like you had a wonderful time! I love you waterfall photos.
Oh what a lovely trip! That Soda Fountain is so sweet, and totally reminds me of the St Francis Fountain in San Francisco!
Well, I see we have something in common. I was looking at this post, saw the picture of the Falls and thought, “That looks like Bond Falls.” Sure enough! I lived in Eagle River for 20 years. I went up for a weekend when I was 25 (My parents have had a summer home there since 1962.) and I came back to Illinois when I was 45. It was a good weekend. Looking at the pictures made me homesick in a good way.’
Thank you.