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Posts Tagged ‘travel’

Michelle’s Most Magnificent Midwest Destinations

24 Aug

Everybody does a top 5 list. Here is mine. Enjoy.

NUMBER ONE : I grew up in South Dakota – so that’s our #1 spot. Specifically the Black Hills. If you haven’t been to the Black Hills, then you don’t love America. History? Check. Fabulous rolling hills and gurgling streams and lakes? Yep. Quaint towns? Sure. It’s absolutely beautiful in the Hills and if you are coming from the East, you wonder – how it is the rest of the state is so flat and barren and here’s a magical spot of towering spruce, pine and cedar trees? Indeed. Fly into Sioux Falls and take the drive across the state on I-90. (BTW, we call it an “interstate” system, not a freeway, not an expressway of whatever you big city people use.) First, stop in Mitchell and visit the Corn Palace. Did you know it was first called the “Cow Palace?” And it actually resided in Plankinton, a town 30 miles to the West on I-90?  Then, stop at Al’s Oasis in Chamberlain for a buffalo burger. They were making buffalo burgers cool way before Mr. Turner even thought of buying one bison.

Ah...Great Faces...Great Places. Photo courtesy of Veritasnoctis

Recommendations: Wall Drug. You know why. The faces.  Crazy Horse – is that going to be finished in our lifetimes? Doubtful.  Drive around Spearfish Canyon. Reptile Gardens – if you are into that thing. Pheasant hunting. SO EASY TO GET THE FAMILY TO DO!! Stay at a cabin for the real “out west” feel for your family.

To avoid: Waterparks. This is the great West, we don’t need to spend time at an indoor waterpark. Unless it’s raining. Then okay. Dancing with the Wolves tour – I’m not a fan of any organized tour. You aren’t in a European Country, people, I think you can figure out how to get around 50 square miles on your own.

NUMBER TWO: Great River Road. I read in Frontier’s Magazine “Wild Yonder” about the Great River Road and they claim to get on in Stillwater and just drive to LaCrosse. WHAT?! There’s still another two-hours of awesomeness beyond that!! Okay, Stillwater is awesome. I want to open up a quaint shop there. It has shops, intimate restaurants, water tours on the Mississippi (they even have a gondola tour!). They used to have this cool dinner train, but I heard it was out of commission. Boo.  BUT – this article says MN DNR is planning on buying the railway for a rec trail. That’s okay.

Jump over to the Wisconsin side to continue on the Great River Road south along the Mississippi (yes, it is on both MN and WI sides).  The whole point of taking this road is to take in the sights and stop at the little villages to visit the shops. There’s everything from a Lavender farm by Pepin to caves to pottery studios. This is a “create your own adventure” route. You can end in Marquette, Iowa where they have a old boat-turned casino.  (I’m not a proponent of gambling, I just like cool places.)

To avoid: Just driving straight-through. Give yourself a whole day to savor ice-cream shops, studios and homemade pie.

NUMBER THREE: Brainerd/Baxter, Minnesota.  This is the iconic “up north” all Illinoisoins talk about. (Most just travel an hour over the border and claim to be “up north.”) You have these historic (but updated) resorts on the lake with top-rated golf and activities for the whole family. I can’t give it justice of how relaxing it is at these reorts surrounded by deciduous trees and snuggling up in your REAL fireplace room (at Madden’s Resort) Most resorts offer comp paddle boats and the like. But don’t forget your local guides, too! Each resorts has a selection of “go to” people.

With miles of snowmobile trails and a hot fire in your room, Brainerd is just as much fun in winter. Photo: Andy54321

Recommendations: Madden’s on Gull Lake or Cragun’s. Madden’s has a shooting range nearby. Both have superb golf courses and activities. Really can’t go wrong with any of the resorts in the area. The towns of Brainerd or Baxter don’t offer much. So I’d just stay on the resorts – bring your bike, kayak and boat and relax!

Avoid: The drive from Twin Cities to Brainerd is a little over 2 hours and IS NOT RELAXING on a Friday evening. Pretty much all of the city dwellers head there for the weekend. So time your trip accordingly.

NUMBER FOUR: Door County, Wisconsin. If you are a golfer or biker, this is a dream spot for you. Stay at a B&B and toodle around the peninsula sipping wine and taking in the scenery. About 3 hours north of Milwaukee, it’s not a bad drive. You can stop at Kohler on the way up and visit their Design Center (prepare to feel sorry for yourself that you won’t be able to afford any of their showrooms – $2000 for ONE spray nozzle? And the shower has 4?) But if you can afford that, then you should definitely play at Whistling Straits course and do the Kohler Spa. You’ll need about $500 for both activities. They offer great rates in the off-season. And be warned the spa INCREASES their prices on the weekends. How thoughtful of them.

Recommendation: Stay at The American Club, where the Kohler immigrants stayed and played back in the day. Do a kayak tour around the peninsula – spray skirt and all – it’s like being on the ocean. Almost. Plenty of public beaches and state parks – so get your park sticker and get out there! Stay at a B&B – there are TONS in Door County. Memorial Day weekend is a fab time to visit Door County – tulips abound!

Sunset in Door County Photo: EdenPictures

Avoid –  Traveling anytime around a Packer game.

NUMBER FIVE: Madison/Wisconsin Dells – So this is really an Illinoisian playground. Wisconsin Dells is about 2.5 hours north of the Illinois border. Waterparks GALORE. And fancy resorts to go with them. But, there are plenty of public beaches along the Wisconsin River and Mirror Lake. Try something most tourists don’t do because they are too busy standing in line at a waterpark: go ziplining, kayaking or rock climbing with Vertical Illusions. The tours will set you back about $100 a person – but the tours are very intimate as its only YOUR CREW on the tour! And their people take care of you. Also, instead of staying at a resort, rent a vacation home on the lake for that true “up north” feeling.

Avoid: the upside down White House – SUPER LAME!!! The feed-the-deer park. What is that teaching? Future bambi-lovers. Avoid all restaurants at 5 pm. Any resort/hotel owned by Mt. Olympus. I’ve stayed at many of their properties and they are horrible rooms. Their newer hotel is all plastic wood floors and that means – no noise control. Who builds a hotel with no carpet?

Do you see the baby grand piano? You have to be on a Duck Tour to see this. Photo: Ashley Dryden

Recommendation: Baraboo Circus Museum (about 20 min away) is getting cred because they loaned the circus wagons for the upcoming movie “Water for Elephants” (Read the book – awesome!) Daily circus acts. Can’t go wrong with that. Food and gas is cheaper here too. Get a state park sticker and travel to Governor Dodge State Park (by Baraboo) for camping and nice beach access. Also superb hiking rails and one-of-a-kind rock climbing.(something about the hardness of the rock, very unique to the area)  But lots of poison ivy right on the trails – so watch for that. Also – eat at High Rock Café downtown Dells. Downtown is kind of fun, so you should get there and check out the tourist traps. Be sure to sit on the second story of the café by the windows for a bird’s eye view of people-watching. (How many people can you count walking around in their swimsuits?)  Oh – and do the Duck Tour. There are two companies in the Dells – both are good and the tours never get old. For an adults-only stay – try the Sundara Inn & Spa.

Have you been to any of these spots? What did you think of them? Did I miss any places at these destinations?

 

 

 

 
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Gavin Harvey, CEO of Sportsman Channel, Patagonia Trip Report

11 Apr

I asked Sportsman Channel’s CEO, Gavin Harvey if he would write a guest blog post for me since I’m getting into this whole “guest blogging” notion (read my guest post “Yoga for Hunters” at The Hunter’s Wife.) He readily agreed and I thought I would see in my inbox some piece on thought-leadership and growing yourself or business. But this is the Sportsman Channel and, well, we practice what we preach. Below is a tale of Gavin’s recent trip to Argentina and the success he found in the hills and valleys of Tipiliuke Ranch. (This is way better than a fussy business piece – thanks Gavin!)

DAGGA BOY JOURNAL

April 7, 2011

Destination: Tipiliuke Ranch; Patagonia, Argentina  

I locked the reticle on the stag I had been dreaming about since my first trip to Patagonia two years ago.  The rut was on in the Southern Hemisphere.  Heavy-beamed with spectacular crowns, the stag was standing sentry over his impressive herd of hinds, occasionally roaring at a distant challenger. The custom McWhorter 6.5 WBY MAG I held has a trigger about as soft as a button on your computer keyboard.  I pressed “send,” the Berger bullet zipped 220 yards, and the stag dropped at the shot.  We called him “El Grande.”

El Grande

I was one hour into the first day of hunting.

There are many great things about hunting at Tipiliuke Ranch, and one of them is that you get to keep hunting after you harvest a world-class trophy.  I went on to hunt hard every day for the rest of my week on the ranch, which generously encourages hunters to cull management stag and “assassins,” which are stag armed with long beams, but missing brow tines; these long daggers are a deadly threat to the well-endowed trophy stag and need to be culled from the gene pool.  I volunteered for the cause, enjoyed several exciting stalks, and harvested three big management stag.  I also took a fierce-looking boar, which are abundant. All the wildlife there is free-range… as free-range gets.

On one such culling trip my guide spotted something, glassed it and suddenly became very excited.  He spoke little English, and I speak no Spanish, but there is a universal language among hunters for “Holy shit, that’s a friggin’ monster!”  I got a glimpse of the antler mass in my Swarovskis and we took off in hot pursuit.

Daniel, my guide, is a master stalker but the wind was terrible, howling at our back.  We were 270 yards when the stag winded us and took off.  Dropping into a painful thorny bush for a rest, I hit the stag at 300 yards, quartering away, when he slowed to start up a steep incline.  This one did not drop at the shot and instead galloped away like Seabiscuit.  We tracked him for over a mile and with each step and passing minute I became increasingly bummed that I would never recover this great animal.  When Daniel exclaimed “Aiee!” – “There!” – I had never heard a more beautiful Spanish word in my life.  “There” was laying a 13-point stag, with a quad crown as well as a triple; heavy-beamed; exquisitely pearled and palmated antlers.  And the most important, and rewarding revelation was that he was ancient.  Alone in the wild without any hinds, teeth worn to the gum, he had spread his incredible genes for a dozen years on this ranch and now was done.  We called him “El Viejo” – The Old Man.

El Viejo

My expedition was arranged by High Adventure Company, an exceptional outfitter with expertise and resources in the best hunting and fishing destinations in America and around the world.  I was met at Tipiliuke Ranch by John Burrell, the President of HAC, whom many Sportsman Channel viewers will recognize as the host and producer of our whitetail hunting series Brush Country Monsters. Tipiliuke hosts only 25 hunters a year, and when John’s guests are there, he makes sure it is the experience of their lives.  If you have invested so much time, money, vacation days and travel to enjoy a world-class experience like Tipiliuke, you don’t want to worry about any logistics or snafus – and High Adventure doesn’t want you to either. 

Tipiliuke Ranch should be on every sportsman’s bucket list. I returned not only for the epic hunting and trout fishing but also because the lodge and amenities are world-class.  Set in vast wilderness, the lodge is like a small boutique hotel where the staff is warm from the start, the dining is simple and outstanding, and non-sporting guests can horseback ride, hike, wildlife watch, picnic by a river, or just read in a hammock.

In Patagonia the rut is waning now and my Stag-a-Palooza is over.  The trip home is long – but the memories are a lot longer.

All photos by Gavin Harvey. You can follow Gavin on Twitter: @daggaboytv

 
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