Quote:
Originally Posted by LouisVanDerWright
Firstly the number of threatening/hazardous creatures in Midwestern freshwater is near zero. Instead of alligators, sharks, stinging jellies, etc, the worst we can serve up is bitey turtles and leeches, neither of which you will encounter unless you are wading around in mud. The river my cottage is on has an all sand and gravel bottom, the biggest beasts in that water are Sturgeon which grow up to 7 or 8 feet and couldn't harm you if they wanted to. The worst they could do is give your toes (maybe your whole foot) a good gumming.
The river is often in excess of 80 degree F in the summer and makes for excellent swimming. Most midwestern lakes are this way, many of them are crystal clear water. The only time lake and river temps drop in the summertime is if you get a torrential rain that cools them off by flooding them with cold rainwater runoff.
Then there's the natural beauty and fertility of it all. The river I'm located on is one of the best fisheries in the world and literally teaming with walleye, white bass, sturgeon, etc. It runs over a hundred miles and drains much of the North Woods of Wisconsin, well over 95% of the riverbank is natural and that approaches 100% the further north you go. To the South of my cabin the river also becomes 100% natural for many miles as it drains into a series of massive freshwater lakes. About 5 minutes downstream of me you will be in the middle of a marsh that you could mistake for the everglades with 8' reeds in all directions as far as you can see. This swamp is also know as one of the best birding spots in North America as it lies directly in the middle of the migratory bird flyway along Lake Michigan's West coast. The swamp is full of channels going to this landing or that fishing hole or some hillbilly bar half a mile down the canal that's an absolute riot every night of the week.
The river connects together multiple lakes that are suitable for speedboating and swimming and it's easily deep and wide enough to accommodate the largest yachts you see on the Great Lakes. The biggest annoyance in summer is actually the floatillas of 40+' cigarette boats and cabin cruisers that rip up and down the river at 50+ MPH like a racetrack. The poweryachts of course are going to one of dozens of waterfront bars and supper clubs to party. Each one of these bars has their own flair, some trashier than others, some with better food, etc. They all have killer views like the one I posted above and most have horseshoe pits or beach volleyball or their own private beach and swimming hole. You motor on up to the dock, tie up the boat, and belly up to the bar for a brandy old fashioned sweet while you wait for your perch or walleye fishfry that was just pulled out of the river a day or two before to be served.
You can enjoy the fishing, enjoy the boating, enjoy the swimming, whatever you want. Cruise up the river, grab a couple drinks at the bar and then slowly float with the current back down, then stop at a sandbar when you get too hot (there's many secret swimming holes too that you only know about if you know the back channels, oftentimes you are the only people out there) and take a dip. If you are up for it stop at one of the lakes and go water skiing or tubing. Oh and if you wipe out on the tube or faceplant on skis, you don't get a salty blast up your nostrils, but sweet refreshing freshwater. Your paper cut doesn't burn, your fish don't taste like ocean, you don't see weird creepy crawlies dead on the beach.
Then there's the cheese factory. It's a mile down the road and has been making cheese by hand since the 1870's. The same family for six or seven generations at this point. One of the last places in the United States where cheese is still hand made from beginning to end and you can roll in at 8AM and eat fresh curds right out of the vat. They are so fresh that they are still warm and squeak so loudly that they'll practically deafen you. When curds are that fresh, before they've been put in any sort of packaging, they even have a slight brine crust on all the edges which comes from the saltwater they were washed in crystallizing on them leaving an every so slightly crunchy crust that just adds a whole new level to the experience. That's all the brine I ever want to deal with.
Here's what a true slice of paradise looks like, screw Miami Beach or Santa Barbara:
That's Gill's Landing Wisconsin, a bar that's been at the intersection of the river and the railway since before there were even roads. The bar used to serve lumberjacks riding floats of logs down from the North Woods to the Fox Valley lumber and paper mills. The train would stop on the bridge and stock up the bar with booze and the lumberjacks would hop of their log floes and pop in for a beer or shot of whiskey. Still open as a bar today, but now it's yahoos on yachts or fishermen on boats.
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Sounds very nice. Thanks for the descriptive account of summer leisure -- it no doubt sounds like a great place that I would like very much.
As someone who grew up on the Great Lakes and smaller lakes throughout the PA/NY/Ontario region, I have a tremendous appreciation for the activites you describe. My grandfather was a boatbuilder who built and delivered these boats (anyone who has spent time on the Lakes has more than likely seen his work)...
... and I was fortunate to accompany him and my father on maiden voyage deliveries of these vessels throughout the Great Lakes, down the Mississippi and up the Ohio to places like Louisville and Pittsburgh, and through the St. Lawrence and down the Atlantic Coast. All this to say, I grew up on freshwater from a very young age and certainly appreciate your love for freshwater bounty in all its forms.
But once I moved to Florida and to the Caribbean and to Brazil, I definitely gained quite a different perspective. I wish I could say that "yeah, swimming in the ocean in Cuba is okay, but
'it's not really pleasant compared to swimming in Midwestern freshwater'"... yet, I just could not seriously claim that after spending a single minute in the waters off Cayo Guillermo... or swimming between islands in the Costa Verde in Brazil... or even after snorkeling off Key Largo on a November day. To each his own, and if you're scared of sea life and are irritated by saltwater, then I guess I can understand your preference. But let's not kid ourselves into thinking that the majority of humans would likely prefer to swim in ocean waters given the choice.
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