How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?

Day 106  |  Racine

The weather has not been kind to the Lake Michigan area over the last two weeks. Last night brought an intense line of thunderstorms that began at dusk and continued throughout the overnight hours. We awoke this morning to thick fog and more drizzle. The suspended mist highlighted all the spider webs that still cover the docks. Its close, but I think I now dislike this fog and rain more than the ever-present Great Lakes spiders.

  

It stopped raining at 12:45 and everyone stranded in this 900-slip marina seemed to hit the docks at once. Out first were the folks being dragged by a canine on a string to the small grassy spot just beyond the gate. Next were the ones down for the holiday weekend, hauling their coolers and bags back to their car in the parking lot. Then there was us -- the transients who were going stir crazy and getting stiffer by the hour -- who just needed to get out and walk. The radar showed we had about an hour and a half before the next batch of foul weather would be upon us. We had our route planned and were off.

We walked up to Main Street and headed south, past the Post Office which was built in 1931 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Six massive two-story columns dominated the front elevation of this classical-revival building. Across the street was St. Luke's Episcopal Church, with its bell tower entrance right in the pointed corner of the block. The sidewalk diamonds depicting Racine heritage were a nice touch. We walked as far west as the Paul Harris Plaza featuring the town clock. Harris was born in Racine and is notable as the founder of Rotary International.

Throughout town we noticed statues of German Shepherds in storefront windows. Piecing together clues from a few notes and later Google research we learned that they are the K-9 Heroes of Racine County -- Downtown Racine's art project. Twenty five life-sized German shepherds have been placed throughout the retail area, decorated to either resemble actual service dogs or in a custom artistic interpretation. All are being auctioned off and can be seen here. We passed by the Firehouse 3 Museum and peaked into the windows to see an 1882 steamer and a 1930s pumper before making our way back to Monument Square on Main Street. The sculpted pot of metal sunflowers tried to brighten up the dreary afternoon.

The most prominent monument was erected and dedicated to the area's Civil War veterans. A monument was placed in honor of Jerome Case, a thresher manufacturer whose company evolved into Case International Harvester and has a production facility in Racine. He also founded two banks, was a state senator, and was a two-time mayor of Racine. The final monument was the Joshua Glover Commemorative Marker in recognition of this man's journey to Racine via the Underground Railroad. I was disappointed when I didn't see a monument to Racine native Ellen Corby who is best known as Grandma Esther on The Waltons (and also portrayed Mrs. Lesh who sold Barney Fife his first car on the Andy Griffith Show). Thunder echoed in the distance and we headed back to Crossroads. Just inside the gate and at 2:00, it began to rain ... hard ... again.

Rain prevented us from seeing any of the five Frank Lloyd Wright structures in Racine up close. We drove by three of them earlier in the week, getting a quick glimpse. The best known of Wright's local designs is the Racine headquarters of SC Johnson & Son. It is the oldest family-run business in the United States and has the well-known brands Windex, Fantastik, Ziploc, Glade, OFF!, Pledge, Shout and others.

We will be leaving here in the morning and heading to Chicago, hoping to run out from under this dreary weather.