As I headed out of Ironwood this morning, I passed another venerable old railroad depot.
The Ironwood depot of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad was the town’s transportation hub since it opened in 1892, but the trains stopped coming through in 1970. It’s now a museum and the headquarters for Ironwood’s Chamber of Commerce. It was a few minutes after 7 am when I arrived there, but I found the door unlocked and entered, being greeted by the Chamber of Commerce’s director, Michael Meyer.
Michael spent close to an hour with me, explaining the history of the depot and of the town. He’s a transplant (from Indiana, if I recall correctly), and thus can speak somewhat objectively about the Yoopers. He’s also a great booster for the town. Apparently the economy took a major jolt when the railroads left and mining petered out, but now, to listen to Michael, the town is experiencing a renaissance.
Michael hepped me to a documentary film about Route 2 called “Route 2 Elsewhere.” (I wish I’d thought of that name!) I’ll have to check that out when I get home. He’s the first person I’ve talked to on this trip who even knew that Route 2 spans the entire country.
After we’d talked awhile Michael was called to a meeting of some kind, and I wandered the displays of the museum. It was the usual stuff–interesting to me, but not really worth describing in a blog. With one exception:
The museum has an old telephone switchboard, and on it was this brochure that evidently was provided to all phone customers in 1963. Now, I’m not saying that Ironwood was a little behind the times, but the brochure explains in excruciating detail how to dial a phone. (I realize that some of my younger readers might not understand this concept, either.)
After reviewing these eye-opening displays about my own early childhood, I got back into the rental car (which is a Jeep, for those of you who have asked) and headed into the great state of Wisconsin.
I have to say this about Route 2: It’s really a very reliable, comfortable, friendly road. This is in part due to the fact that it goes through very few big cities; most of the towns you encounter are small villages that aren’t going to ticket you for parking in the wrong spot or prohibit you from turning left. The gas station attendants and restaurant servers are uncommonly friendly, and graffiti is practically unheard of. Moreover, property owners seem to be compelled to communicate with passersby through yard art. A few examples:
There’s something reassuring about people taking the time and making the effort to add some whimsy for the benefits of passersby. I encounter a lot of this kind of thing out on the US highways. If you were to seek out the opposite of a twitter flame war, surely this kind of thing would qualify. God bless these people.
In the town of Mason, Wisconsin a gas station attendant encouraged me to check out an old, abandoned, Wild West theme park that was homemade by a man (recently passed) named Ed Sandor on his farmland. This I did, and it was one of the most enjoyable hours I’ve spent. It deserves its own blog post, which I hope to write in the next day or two. Here’s a photo to whet your appetite:
Eventually I came to my first biggish town on this trip: Duluth, Minnesota (pop: 87,000). While stopping to get a sandwich, I asked the proprietor what Duluth is known for. Without skipping a beat, she said “Dylan.” It turns out that one Robert Allen Zimmerman (aka Bob Dylan) spent his early childhood in a modest home on North Third Avenue. I made the pilgrimage, and offer this humble photo.
While in Dylan’s neighborhood, I passed Duluth’s Central High School. This is a breathtaking gothic building, originally constructed in 1893, and it didn’t close until 1970. And even then it remained open as administrative offices until 2011.
I can’t figure out what’s happening with the property now, but this is a staggeringly-impressive, large, historic property. Clearly it speaks of a day when public buildings were not just respected but revered. I do hope that Duluth’s leaders find a suitable use for this historic property.
I ended the day’s travels in Grand Rapids, Minnesota (pop: 11,000). Based on my experiences as a tourist, Grand Rapids is known for two things. The first is that it sits at the upper navigable end of the Mississippi River. I noted this when I crossed the Mississippi on Route 2–it was nice to see a body of water that wasn’t one of the Great Lakes, after the past few days of Lakes Erie, Michigan, and Superior! I took a few photos of a picturesque, turn-of-the-century railroad bridge, and I noticed that the Mississippi wasn’t as mighty as I remember it from past encounters further south. (Edit: I later learned that this river is only a tributary of the Mississippi–the Prairie River.)
Second, Grand Rapids the birthplace of Judy Garland. Indeed, the hotel in which I’m staying tonight is next door to the Judy Garland museum, which includes the (relocated) home where Judy grew up.
Now, to be clear, I’m not a total fanboy of Judy Garland, but I certainly find her story to be compelling. And I always loved The Wizard of Oz. So the museum (which I toured) intrigued me, with various artifacts from her movies and her (somewhat tragic) life.
Naturally, my primary objective at the Judy Garland museum was to see the ruby slippers. And behold, there they were, just sitting on a pedestal with no barrier separating me from them!
Alas, a sign explained that while this was the “original pedestal” on which the ruby slippers used to sit, the slippers were reproductions. The original slippers were stolen in 2005. A docent (Sheena, pictured below) told me that the slippers were recovered in 2018 in Minneapolis, but they remain in the possession of the FBI, which continues to gather evidence of the crime. What’s worse is that the slippers were just on loan to the museum, so if and when the FBI releases them, they’ll go to the owner, and not to the museum.
Still, the museum contains numerous authentic artifacts, and I recommend it. Meanwhile, when she heard I was driving the length of US Route 2, Sheena encouraged me to visit the headwaters of the Mississippi River, which are a short drive from the highway. This I will do tomorrow. Until then.
BOTD
The Brew of the Day was a “Cocon-Oat and Boat Stout” from Rapids Brewing Co., in Grand Rapids, Minnesota. RBC has only been around for about 3 years, and it looks like your typical modern brewpub with a spacious floor in a warehouse-like building, minimalist industrial-chic decor, and lots of bearded hipsters. But unlike some other such brewpubs that I’ve visited, this place has nailed the food and the staff really makes an old guy like me feel welcome.
As its somewhat-forced name suggests, the “Cocon-Oat” stout is an oatmeal stout brewed with toasted coconut. This won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but it totally worked for me. The toasted coconut isn’t overpowering, but it adds just the right amount of sweetness and interest to the flavor profile. Don’t think Mounds candybar; think macaroon. The oatmeal lends a creamy smoothness, and it has just the right amount of hops. It goes down really easy, but at 5.9 percent ABV, this isn’t going to put you on the floor. I give it 4.5 stars.
PS: The bartender told me that today is Whiskey Wednesday, which means that I get $2 off any bourbon cocktail. So I chased the stout with an Old Fashioned, to which I give 5 stars.
Chasing Phantoms 