Reunion Voyage: Sturgeon Bay to Manitowoc, WI

Lake Michigan was kind to us today – sunny, a nice breeze and waves only about 1 foot high so it was smooth sailing all the way to Manitowoc. The QuoVadimus was just ahead of us and helped catch our lines when we came into the Manitowoc Marina. This is one of my favorite Wisconsin towns. Everything is within walking distance including some very interesting spots.

We took a walk to Sputnik Fest at the Rahr Art Museum lawn. Over 50 years ago when the Russian space ship Sputnik broke up in space and fell to earth, a chunk of it landed in Manitowoc, and that has been enough reason to hold a festival every year. It included free admission to the museum (got to see a replica of the chunk of Sputnik – the real chunk went back to Russia, even though they didn’t really want it.) Then we enjoyed the costume contest and the “Miss Space Debris” pageant. There were 4 serious contestants. The winner was “Algae Luna” from a watery planet. She even sang and danced for the talent competition – swaying like algae and singing like an alien. You can’t make this stuff up people – you see really strange and unique things on the loop.

For dinner we came back to the marina where they were throwing a fish boil for customer appreciation day – it was delicious. We ran into Loopers we had spent time with in the Florida Keys. They are Anita and Don from “Limelight. Manitowoc is their home port and they finished the loop just a few days ago.

To finish off the evening we walked to Beerentsen’s candy store and soda fountain, just because it is nearby and it is the coolest old -ashioned candy store ever. Anywhere.