We climbed out from underneath the weather a bit today. The wind was significantly calmer, there was no rain, and the sun even tried to peek out a time or two. I slept well thanks to modern chemistry and while still stuffed up, the sinus headache was gone. A good change all the way around, so we went out exploring. Walking the waterfront path we passed many cairns crafted on top of the rip rap on the way to the Wisconsin Maritime Museum. The museum gave a slightly different and more personal angle on nautical life than most of the other museums we've stopped at. I could relate to this sign, although with a crew of two its difficult to play cards while underway.
The major exhibit at the museum is the submarine USS Cobia (SS-245), a National Historic Landmark. We joined the 45-minute guided tour that took us through the torpedo room, wardroom, crew's quarters, galley, and engine rooms. The submarine honors the fact that 28 submarines were built here in Manitowac for the WWII effort (although not the Cobia itself). Towards the end of the tour, I was feeling a bit claustrophobic and began checking out all the little restoration details to take my mind off the confined engine room. Turns out, the Cobia has pieces with Virginia roots. We finally made it up the staircase to the topside for some fresh air just in time to see the Badger arrive in port.
Back inside the museum proper we cruised through the rest of the exhibits (including a model of the infamous Edmund Fitzgerald), artifacts, a display on the Great Loop, and the museum gift shop. The Punching Rosie Puppet was an interesting venture into merchandising.
The Cobia sits in the water next to the museum and we walked by it again to get into town. After a few blocks of exploration, we grabbed lunch at Ryan's on York where the Spicy Chicken Bowl was advertised, and the spice did a great job clearing my head.
Back to Crossroads, Barry continued to work on a few electrical projects and made our slip reservations for the next few days. I zonked out for a two-hour nap and then jumped in on my most pressing problem ... a full hard drive on my laptop. Time to back off some photos and delete many others. Its amazing how many bad photos I've taken in 97 days on the Loop. This will be a continuing project, but a least I have enough room to complete today's blog post.
Our one-day weather window seems to be holding for an early morning departure to Port Washington. The weather Monday will again turn sour, so it looks like we'll be there a few nights. We're already checking out "Things to Do in Port Washington." Who knows, we might even get to see a first-run movie during our stay.
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