Yesterday was a down day for both of us. We had been on the go since the first of April and even when we were not traveling, we were touring around, etc. So it was nice to take a day and do nothing. Yesterday’s blog post was one of the shortest I’ve done.

Today was a long day, 7 hours from St Simon Island to Richmond Hill GA. We went 57.6 miles via the Intercoastal Waterway, it would have been faster to go the outside route. Lots of twists and turns on the way.

Wildlife count was way up. We saw two alligators swimming in the water. One was very close to the boat, I thought it was a log and turned so I wouldn’t hit it.

Lots and lots of dolphins, but none wanted to come play. They were all busy feeding. Based on the sea gulls that follow us, I’m guessing that we stir up the bottom (shrimp maybe?) and they are down their munching away.

Today’s dock is Kilkenny Marina, it’s really a fishing camp set up just off the ICW. It’s older floating docks, but they have blistering fast Wi-Fi!

I think it will make it to the blog as the cover shot, the power pole here is very different. Along with the normal 50 and 30 amp twist locks there is also a 50 amp range / dryer and a regular 115 volt 20 amp receptacles. Power for everyone!

Did some minor work on the picture part of the blog, We are struggling with so many pictures and get them all organized has taken time.

Dinner tonight was porkchops, mashed potatoes and fried cabbage with onions in it. One of my favorite meals.

We are watching the tide come in, it runs about 9 feet per cycle, We’ll have some great pictures about that.

http://videos2view.net/stronger-beer.htm

“Foster learns how to be patient”

Today is my grand daughter’s first birthday!!! We can’t be there in person, but we will do a video call with her.

We got off to a good start. We had spent the night at Starved Rock Marina, only a mile north of the Starved Rock Lock. I called at 6:30 and asked about going down. They said 2 ½ to 3 hours and we were to call them at 9. So I called at 9 and they said 2 ½ hours, but they may be able to fit us in. We should come get on one of the “cells” at 10. (A cell is a 20′ diameter pile that the tow’s use to teather to while they wait to lock. So we went the mile and got to the lock at 10 AM

There was a tow there that would need to do a split. That’s where they shove the first two to three barges in the lock, send them down, pull them out, refill the lock and then put the rest of the tow in and send it down.

We sat on the cell until until 12:30 PM and got into the lock with the tow. (So far we’ve been able to share thanks to the Captains.) The tow was going to do a crew change in the lock, but their van was late, so we sat with them in the lock until 1:40. So we had traveled 3 miles of our planned 60.

We reset our plan, new plan was to go as far as Henry, another 30 miles down river. Not a big deal, we have lots of good weather coming up. We will split the 60 mile trip into two much easier 30 mile ones.

This section of the river from mile 231 to mile 196 was very pretty. There were not a lot of barge loading and unloading areas, lots and lots of open river. Two places were loading some kind of grain, another was loading gravel. There is a coal fired power plant, they had a claw picking coal and dumping it into a conveyer belt to feed the plant.

The water was very flat, it was a very nice ride. There were a few thumps from the Asian Carp as we went. We met two up bound tugs, and just before Henry passed the down-bound tug that had gone through the lock before our tow.

Henry marina has two parts, the 100 year old abandoned lock, and a marina with slips. We opted to try to get into one of the slips. With no wind it was easy, but we did find that the water was only 5 feet deep in spots, so we churned a lot of mud up. In the process we also spooked the carp which came flying out around us. We tied to a 40′ dock, there were only 6 other boats so we didn’t think it would make any difference. 5PM, we were docked.

I went to plug in the power and found that there were bee’s nests under the cover. Susan sprayed them and then we got us powered up.

Our dinner plans were for steaks that Susan picked up in Chicago. I paid for the slip at The Landings, if you get a chance you should go. The full rack of ribs is the entire rack, so it overflows the plate on both ends. They looked very good. I got a few beers to go and headed back to the boat.

One of our new dock neighbors came over to talk. He said that most Loopers stay out on the old lock with the 11 feet of water. He said that there were plans next year to do some repairs on it since the top was coming apart in bigger section. He said it was a popular fuel stop with the Loopers.

Dinner was perfectly cooked up two one pound boneless rib-eye steaks, grilled bok choi with soy glaze and rice. So it turns out the best and cheapest way to get good Chicago steaks is to cook them at home. Most of the places we looked at in Chicago, steaks started at $45 and went up. These had lots of marbled fat in them, they were super tender on the plate.

After dinner we went up to the bar for a beer. They had a “Disco Bowling” video game. You slide the plastic puck along the wood surface about 4′. The screen then shows a computer animation of the “ball” rolling the rest of the way down the lane. With her superior video game skills Susan crushed me in the three games we played.

Tuesday will be an easy 30 mile day, so I’ll hit the hardware store and we will Facetime with the birthday girl in the morning.

We had the alternator on the port engine go out on our way to Manitowoc. I was able to look at it on Sunday, it had a broken wire. But the stud was super corroded and I started spraying with WD40 and wiggling the nut back and forth. Problem was that the stud was moving and that creates a problem if I break the stud or it completely unscrews. So in between activities I’d spray and wiggle and let it set.

This morning it was still pretty stuck, so I got a mechanic to come and fiddle with it. He was able to get the stud to back out almost enough space to get a wrench on the locking nut. I suggested cutting the old ring connection off would give him some extra space. With that he was able to tighen the lock nut and force the end nut off. Then it was just a matter of putting a new ring crimp on (I had spares) and heatshrinking them tight. All done in about 20 minuts. (Secret was he had 2 – 10mm wrenches, I only have one. So I need to go get some small sockets to go with the metric set. ) While he was there he also tightened the belts that were on the list for next week. All in all a great job and I have an alternator that now works. Yay Me

We got onto the lake about 9:45 and headed south. They predicted 1-2 for waves early and the 2-4 in the afternoon. At 12:15 PM we were at Sheboygan and since the waves were not bad we would keep going. By 1:30 they were starting to build and by 3PM they were strong 2-4+ waves. But we decided to batter our way through. Plowing the bow of the boat does not bother me. With the waves from the south, there was a point that we would have needed to turn West. This would have brough the waves to the side, “rolling” the boat side to side. So what I did was I went past my destination and then turned so the waves would be at my stern and they would push me not roll me.

That made the ride in much much nicer for the three of us.

Into the harbor was easy and docking was a snap. We are berthed next to a Bayliner 4788, the younger sister to my boat. I hope to meet up with them before we leave.

Dinner was at nice place just off the marina wall. We had a great window see the harbor. Food was good. Dessert for both of us was “Moms Strawberry Schaum Torte” It’s like a Pavlova, but with icecream on top and then covered with Strawberry preserves and whipped cream. Very ummy.

We are off in the morning to go to Milwaukee. The winds are to be light in the morning, so if we get out again by 8 we should be docked before the afternoon winds start.

(Pictures coming soon!)

We got out of Sister Bay early to make the run to Fish Creek. Goats don’t come out until after 9:30, but I did get a picture of First Mate Pig with the trolls that they have outside.

The 9 mile ride was easy, the Quo Vadimis was docked by 10AM. In the slip across the way was the “Quo Vadis”, the tour boat for the Fish Creek Boat Tours. (Quo Vadis is “Where are you going?” vs Quo Vadimus “Where are we going?” )

We headed into town for brunch and ended up at “The Cookery” for eggs and Bloody Mary’s. We then split up to do some shopping.

There is a huge kite shop outside of town so I did the 40 minute walk to see what they had. I got to see a wide variety of kites, but nothing that really struck me as a must own purchase. I did get some back issues of “Kiting” the magazine that is part of the American Kiteflyers organization. Both Dad I used to belong, we even went to the national conventions when they were some place close like Ocean City.

Susan meanwhile hit the shops in the main part of town. Mostly clothing and gift places. She got a great tee shirt to wear that has all the places in Door County listed.

Back at the boat I got caught up on some internet stuff while she took a nap. About 4 PM we headed back into town so I could see some of the shops I had missed. We went to a store that sold flavored olive oil and vinegars, wine, salsa and dips and fudge. We were there for over half an hour and we did get a bottle of wine for and a small box of fudge.

Part of our Looper experience is to do things that are different from what we normally would do and in lots of cases different from what we planned. “Hey, we are going here, wanna go!?!” is most always met with a “Why sure, we’d love to do that.” We are often putty in the hands of others.

We decided to sail the north shore and then down the western shore of Lake Michigan. As we headed across, we asked people, “What should we do in this area?” “Door County Fish Boil!” was the answer.

So tonight we were in Fish Creek and went to Pelletier’s Restaurant & Fish Boil for dinner. Over a wood fire they heat a cauldron with 30 gallons of water to a boil, add 10 lbs of salt, 20 lbs of potatoes and ten minutes later add 10 pounds of onions. That comes to a boil and cooks for about 20 mins. They then add 20 lbs of white fish steaks and bring that to a boil. (The whitefish are caught about 20 miles north of Fish Creek, so they are very fresh fish)

At the 28 minute mark of boiling, they throw 2 cups of kerosene onto the fire (not into the fish!). Huge giant flames bursts around the pot and about 5 feet into the sky. The extra heat brings the cauldron to a rolling boil and then an over boil of the water. The over boil takes all the nasty fish oils over the edge of the cauldron and puts a damper on the fire. Using long poles they then pull the pots of potatoes, onions and fish. In moments its served with coleslaw and fresh bread.

It’s better than Chinese steamed fish. It’s firm but tender, and has a mild fish flavor. All of the fat and oils came off in the boil. The fish shakes right off the bones. Potatoes and onions are perfectly cooked.

After fish dinner you get cherry pie with vanilla ice cream (and coffee if you want).

This made the trip to Door County worth while for us.. The place is pretty, lots of shops ,things to see, things to do. Plus “Boiled Over Fish”. They do ~1,200 pots a year (some days two at a time). The boil-master has been doing this for the last 30 years since he was 17.

And thanks Ben, a guy I met on the dock at Beaver Island for suggesting this. You rock.

On the way home we had a new dock neighbor. The 109′ Sea Quell was at the end of the pier, filling the entire end. The mast had a great set of lights on it, it looked like a sculpture. We did some research, you can charter her for about $40,000 a week. No idea why she was in Fish Creek. Susan was highly amused that while she was out spraying our 45′ for spiders, the Sea Quell crew was also out spraying. Seems there ARE things money can’t buy, and a spider free boat is one of them.

Wednesday it’s off to Sturgeon Bay for a few days. I’ll rent a car to go to Green Bay to see the Packer Hall of fame and the Stadium. On the weekend we will be heading down the west shore to Chicago. But for that we need some nicer weather.

Buying bottled beer was harder since they don’t like to sell single bottles. Some breweries (like Cameron’s) help out by making 4 or 6 pack samplers. I grabbed these whenever possible.

It was interesting that some of the brewers are “silver bullet” cans. They use generic cans and put paper labels on them to cut down on the cost of having custom printed cans made. This has allowed more brewers to offer cans. Cans are also cheaper than bottles, so they can save a few cents that way.

A number of beers on the list came from doing tastings. When we went to Bar Volo in Toronto we tried 10 beers, in a taster 3 oz pour. “Just for the Halibut” had 4 at a time tasters. Some restaurants had different kinds of beers I wanted to try. It really throws the waiter when you switch beers on them. Very few waiters were beer savvy, the waitress at the Embers in Sault Ste Marie was a help as was the waiter at Monique’s in Blind River. The best was Bob at Loplops in Sault Ste Marie. With 3 coolers full of beer I could have stayed a few days tasting.

I was pleased that the new beers kept coming as we moved across Canada, I was able to have a new beer every day while we were there.

The glass at the top of the page has a turtle and a line to show where the 1 pint pour line is.  The glasses come from the brewers to help advertise their beer.  When I would get a second beer, if it was from a different brewery the glass would change to theirs.   The glass shown above would be a bad pour, since the beer does not get to the line.  I was trying to show the turtle, so I poured to get a bigger head.

The beers are listed below in alphabetical order by Brewery.

You may note that Churchkey has three in the top ten. This was the first brew pub and it set the benchmark for the rest of the trip. I was able to get some to take with me, so I’ve re-sampled them across the trip. — last update 21 August 2014 – 82 different beers (plus two that I spazzed on the labels)

Churchkey – Northumberland (#1)
Dieu du Ciel Brewery – Aphrodisiaque Stout(#2)
Churchkey Holy Smoke (#3)
Lake of Bays Brewing – Spark House Red Ale: (#4)
Left Field Brewery – Eepus: An Oatmeal Brown Ale (#5)
Churchkey – Red Pail Ale (Fire company brew)(#6)
Trafalgar Ales and Meads – Irish Ale (#7)
Great Lakes Brewery – Devil’s Pale Ale (#8)
Wellington County Brewery – Imperial Russian Stout (#9)
Grandville Island Brewing – Lion’s Winter Ale (#10)
Cameron’s Brewing – Rye Pale Ale (#11)
Waterloo – Dark (#12)

Alexander Keith’s – Cascade Hop Ale

I’m not a big hoppy beer fan, but this has just enough extra of the Cascade hops to give it a distinctive flavor. I’d drink this again.

Alexander Keith’s – Galaxy Hop Ale

Another of Alexander Keith’s special hop beers. Galaxy hops are from Australia, the have a fruit like flavor and aroma. That carries over to the beer. There is a mild citrus favor that I can just taste. It was good, but given a choice between the three hop ales, I’ll go with the Cascade Hop Ale.

Alexander Keith’s – Hallertauer Hop Ale

Hallertauer hops are from Bavaria, and they have a different flavor from the Cascade Hops used in the beer above. The hops are less pronounced in this beer, but there still is a distinctive hop flavor. It was good, but given a choice between the three hop ales, I’ll go with the Cascade Hop Ale. But this one gets the nod over the Galaxy Hop Ale.

Alexander Keith’s – Honey Brown

I like the Dundee’s Honey Brown (a Genesee Brewery product) and this is very close to that. It has slightly more hops and a touch more bitterness that would give it a nod over the Dundee’s.

Alexander Keith’s – Red Amber Ale

A big red beer fan, this is on my list. Good dark red color, great flavors, good finish.

Alexander Keith’s IPA

Not IPA fan, but I had this with some spicy Thai food and it went very well. It was very mild, bordering on almost a lite beer flavor. Not any bitter taste to the finish.

Amsterdam Brewing Company – Great Lakes X Ale

They say this is a farmhouse ale aged in cider barrels. I could taste the cider / fruit flavors. And since I don’t like fruit beers, it makes the taste seem off.

Arch Brewing – Dinner Jacket O’ Red IPA

Deep red color and a firm head sets this aside from other IPA’s. Very good flavor, I could tell that it was an IPA. But there was lots of complex flavors. Very strong finish, would go great with spicy foods.

Barley Days Brewery – Wind and Sail Ale

Nice crisp ale, not heavy, one of my top 5 in Canada. It had a good rich color and a very nice finish.

Brava Brewery – Brava Premium Lager

Good simple lager, not bitter, just the right level of hops, good finish. With the low price point of less than $2 per can it’s a very good value.

Brick Brewing – Laker Lager

A nice simple lager I had it with fried fish and it was good. It was also on sale for $1.85 a can.

Cameron’s Brewing – Auburn Ale

A west coast style ale. Dark color, hoppy smell. Has a slight fruity flavor and has a defined fruit finish. I’d like to try it again, but sadly there was only one in the sample pack.

Cameron’s Brewing – Deviator Doppelbock

From the bottle Aging six months in Kentucky bourbon barrels creates a smooth, toasted vanilla notes layered upon a complex malty body. Dopplelbocks were Teutonic inspired dark lagers with Germanic malt, and were served by the Bavarian monks during time of fasting as liquid bread. Indeed, this is a very chewy beer. I can taste the slight bourbon flavors. It was very good, but not something I’d drink on a regular basis. I’m thinking it would be better on a cold evening in winter, not a hot summer day in August. ABV is 8.6%

Cameron’s Brewing – Cameron’s Lager

Brewed by a connoisseur not an accountant is on the label. A nice lager, good color, a pale gold, not the normal yellow color for a lager. Great crisp flavor. I’ve only seen it in one place (Parry Sound) and hope that I can find more.

Cameron’s Brewing – Cream Ale

Not sure I’d call this a cream ale from the flavor. Medium amber color, not much of a head. The bottle says UK hops, but I can’t really tell.

Cameron’s Brewing – Rye Pale Ale (#11)

This is an unfiltered brew made with rye rather than barley. The bottle says five malts and seven different hops. The rye taste comes through and to the nose it smells sweet, between a fruit and a flower. Interesting finish with a sweet hop flavor. Another strong ale at 6.6% ABV

Churchkey – Northumberland (#1)

Full body ale without being annoying over hopped. Rich amber color, nice head when you pour. This is Churchkey’s signature brew. This is number one on my list.

Churchkey Small Beer

They take what is left from a Northumberland run and add water and get a second cook out of it. You would think “a lite beer” and you would be 1/2 right, it only has less than 3% alcohol content. Where you would be wrong is on the flavor side. Less than the Northumberland, but much more of the full beer taste.

Churchkey Holy Smoke (#3)

They say it’s made with grains smoked with peat. It has a smokey taste, imagine drinking your favorite porter next to a fire or BBQ smoker. It’s that light smoke taste that adds to the body. This isn’t a beer I could drink lots of, but with a meal it would be great.

Churchkey Red Pail Ale (Fire company brew)(#6)

A fine red ale, great color, very nice ale taste, with the right set of complex favors. I was surprised by it, I’m used to American reds, this was much better.

Collective Arts Brewing – Rhyme and Reason

This is an American Pale Ale beer with a great hoppy smell, but not a heavy hop flavor. No bitterness that I sometimes taste in American Pale Ale styles.

County Durham Brewing Company – Black Katt Stout

Deep full stout flavor, but not the heaviness or sweet flavors of a stout. I would class it more of a porter, but it’s very good.

Creemore Springs Lager

Very nice lager, really reminds me of Victory Lager in Downingtown. Nice flavor profile, not over hopped. A little on the bubbly side.

Creemore Springs Kellerbier

This is an unfiltered German Lager. It’s a little cloudy, but not as much as other unfiltered beers I’ve had (like the Steamwhistle Lager). Light hoppy flavor, not as many bubbles as their Lager.

Dieu du Ciel Brewery – Aphrodisiaque Stout(#2)

A cocoa and vanilla stout, it is very creamy and has a distinct chocolate flavor. Really loved the flavor combinations and the mouth feel. This was number 1 in my Bar Volo experience.

Double Trouble Brewing – Hops and Robbers

A hopped up IPA that I enjoyed. It has a nice golden dark color and a little bit of foam. I can taste the extra hops, they did a good job of managing them during the brewing process.

Double Trouble Brewing – Prison Break Breakout Pilsner

I enjoyed this beer very much. I liked the smooth flavor and the lack of bitterness. This could easily become one of my go to beers if it was made 900 miles closer to home.

Granite Brewery – Peculiar

Strong English Ale with not much up front taste but a great dry finish.

Granville Island (BC)- English Bay Pale Ale

Ugg. I tried two, since I thought the first one had gone off. It has a weird taste that I can’t really place.

Granville Island (BC) – Lions Winter Ale (#10)

A darker ale, color is almost bordering on a red ale. Pronounced wheat nose, with chocolate overtones. You can taste the wheat and barley flavors mixing together, not bitter and not hoppy. A huge happy surprise over the prior Granville Island beer.

Granville Island (BC) Robson Street Hefeweizen

This is an unfiltered wheat ale. It’s an interesting yellow/orange color. The unfiltered adds a depth of color. Nice head. Nice flavor, not really wheatey to me, but it does have an orange fruit finish. The can says to add a lemon wedge, but both the brewmaster and I scoff. It says it’s a breakfast beer, but I had it with Italian sausages and it was a good match.

Great Lakes Brewery – Devil’s Pale Ale (#8)

Really dark pale ale, with a great flavor. It pours with a nice head and has a hoppy smell, but not really an over hopped flavor.

Grolsch Non-Alcoholic

It’s the best NA beer I’ve had, flavor profile is much better than most light beers. I’ve not seen it in the US, so I’m marking it as a Canada Beer.

Hogsback – Vintage Lager

An OK lager, not anything special going on with it. Good balance of flavors, not over hopped. It’s mid priced, and the can looks cool so maybe that is the added value.

Hop City Brewing – Barking Squirrel Lager

Hop City claims “serious attitude” and this beer has it. It boarders on the line between a lager and ale. They did a great job of dialing down the hops and letting the grains come through.

Hop City Brewing – Lawn Chair Classic Weisse

A lightly cloudy gold colored beer. Good head, lots of small bubbles. Wheat flavor with some over tones of fruit. Nice crisp finish.

James Ready Lager

Good to go beer, nothing really special. I’d describe it as the “Budwiser of Canada” but they make Budwiser in Canada.

King Brewery – King Vienna Lager

It is a Vienna Lager style beer, so it has a slightly sweet taste.

Lake of Bays Brewing – Crosswind Pale Ale

Very light color, good ale taste, not too bitter. Again a great summertime sipper. It has a pale color with lots of bubbles.

Lake of Bays Brewing – Top Shelf Classic Lager

A good lager, nice flavors with not any heavy hop bitterness. If I had to pick, I’d drink the Baysville Lager shown below. The can says “Offical Beer of the NHL Alumni Association”, and says purchase of the beer goes to the HHLAA.

Lake of Bays Brewing – Rock Cut Baysville Lager

Very nice lager. Big flavors with a nice color. I’ve been impressed with all the Lake of Bays beers, this is no exception.

Lake of Bays Brewing – Spark House Red Ale

(#4) Wow, this is a great red ale! Nice toasted flavor, deep color, great taste.

Lakeport Brewing – Lakeport Pilsner

Nice taste, pale gold color, not very heavy on the hops. This was also an inexpensive brew, so would make it a good choice as a party beer.

Lakeport Brewing – Lakeport Honey

Golden brown color, with a light head. Not as rich a flavor as some of the honey browns I’ve had. Some bitter, not a lot of hop flavor, an indifferent finish. I’d put this one mid pack with the other honey browns.

Left Field Brewery – Eepus

An Oatmeal Brown Ale (#5) – This was from our side to side tasting and it was Susan and my #1 beer, putting it #4 on my Canada list. Rich brown color, full flavors, almost to the level of being a porter flavor.

Left Field Brewery – Maris* Pale Ale

Roger Maris made history when he beat Babe Ruth’s home run record in 1961. (The star is for the footnote that when Maris played it was a longer season). This is a nice American Pale Ale, lots of hops, but not the bitterness that comes with an IPA.

Left Field Brewery – Sunlight Park Saison

A Belgian style beer. It has fruit undertones in it (and from reading their web site it’s grapefruit zest. I’m not a big Belgian fan, but this beer represents the style well.

McAuslan Brewery – Cream Ale

Very creamy, nice full head, no bitterness. From their web site St-Ambroise Cream Ale boasts a luxurious, thick head thanks to the nitrogen injected into every pint, a mist fine bubbles taking the edge off the harsh carbonation found in many North American draft beers. That silky, long-lasting head caps an irresistibly smooth yet muscular ale. Careful, it’ll give you a telltale moustache! And it did.

Midland Beer Works – Georgian Bay Beer

A light flavor lager, missing some of the deeper beer flavors that I’d expect in a lager. It would be good with light flavor food like fish.

Mill Street Organic Lager

I’ve eating pesticide laced food for so long I’m not sure what Organic really is supposed to taste like. This beer has a good lager flavor, but not really remarkable in any other way.

Mill Street Cobblestone Stout

Rich dark color, creamy head, great mouth feel. It has the full roasted flavor that I like to see in a Stout. Only a few stouts on this list, this is one of the better ones.

Molsen – Carling

Tastes to me a lot like regular Molsen. Good color, nice lager taste. A good middle of the beer list beer. As I recall it was about 25 cents a can cheaper than the other beers on this list. I also recall as a child seeing / hearing “Carling Black Label”. Molsen also is the Canadian Brewer of Coors, maybe this is a recipe from years ago.

Molsen – Old Style Pilsner

Trying to stay away from factory beer, but I got caught up in the can’s artwork. Glad I did, this is a very nice pilsner style. Bitterness and hops were spot on for the style. Now I’m craving schnitzel to go with it.

Moosehead Brewery – Boundary Ale

A very good ale, surprised that it comes from Moosehead. One of the first cans with the full ingredient list and the bitterness (39 IBU) printed. Nice flavor, can taste the cascade hops.

Moosehead Brewery – Cracked Canoe

Mooseheads light beer entry. Pale color, with a pretty decent head and good aroma. Tastes a little like the regular Moosehead beer, but I think it’s light on flavor. On the other hand, it’s one of the better light beers that I’ve had.

Muskoka Brewery – Craft Lager

Nice lager, it’s in the middle of the pack for the lagers I’ve had here.

Muskoka Brewery – Cream Ale

I’ve had this with food (fish tacos) and just as an evening beer hanging out with friends. Both times I though “this is really nice”. It has just that right level of hops to add flavor to the food, but not enough that you think you are chewing them.

Muskoka Brewery – Detour

IPA Session Ale. I can taste the added bitterness of the extra hops they put into it. This was another beer that started me on the road to really liking IPA.

Railway City – Canada Southern Draft

Crisp lager, with a very good flavor. Would be a good go to lager for the summer. Not a big head but has a very nice golden color.

Railway City – Dead Elephant IPA

Tried this as part of a 4 beer taster (3 ales, lager and IPA), and while I’m not a big IPA fan, I did like this one. It’s not as carbonated as others and that may have been a selling point. It was also not as bitter as I’ve found with other IPA’s. If I became an IPA fan, this would be it. – Update, I had it again and I’m starting to drift this one into the top 5 in Canada. Who knows, maybe I’m an IPA fan after all.

Rickard’s – Blond

A light pilsner, with an even flavor. Would be a good beer on a hot day or with light foods.

Rickard’s – Red

Irish Style Ale: I love the flavor in this red, it has bold taste and a great color. Sadly, it does not like me. I ended up giving the other cans away.

Rickard’s – White

Belgian-style wheat ale with lots of complex flavors. I’ve had a few wheat beers that I’ve liked, and I’m adding this one to the list.

Rickard’s Dark

Very nice dark. Border between a dark ale and a porter. Good creamy taste.

Rock Cut Baysville Lager

A nice lager with a slightly sweet taste. Very light hops. One of my best finds on the trip.

Sawdust City Brewery – Lone Pine IPA

American style IPA that is very hoppy, but without the bitterness of an IPA. If you like hopped up beers then this is your best bet.

Sidelaunch Brewing – Wheat

Traditional Wheat Beer, nice flavor a light color. It’s not over hopped so the wheat flavor comes through.

Sleeman Dark

This is a little darker than the honey brown. Nice flavor, the roasted flavor is noticeable. Not hoppy. I had this with roasted chicken, it made a very good counterpoint. Not seeing in the stores which makes me sad.

Sleeman Original Draught

It’s hard to describe this one. It’s very plain, nothing sticks out while I’m drinking it.

Sleeman Honey Brown Lager

One of the nicest Honey Brown’s that I’ve had. On par with the Dundee Honey Brown which is one of my “go to beers”.

Sleeman MacLays

Its from Scotland, but brewed in Ontario, so I’m calling it Canadian. It’s a Pale Ale with a very nice color and flavor.

Sleeman 2.0

Their entry into the low-cal / low alcohol beer. I did this side by side with the “Original Draught” and it has the same family of flavors. If you are going for a light beer, this may make good choice.

Square Nail Pale Ale

Nice IPA, after trying a number of new ones, I’m beginning to not dislike them so much. This one was very crisp. I had it with a cheeseburger and mushrooms and it was able to cut through the thicker taste. I only bought one, and since it’s a Peterborough Brewery, I may not get a chance at another one.

Steamwhistle Pilsner

I’ve had this a few times and in a hot afternoon it’s a great beer. It does not stand up well to the spicy food that I eat. But the smooth taste and that it goes down easy makes it a popular brew.

Trafalgar Ales and Meads – Irish Ale (#7)

A great brown ale, very dark in color with almost a chewy taste. It tastes like they really roasted the grains, but escaped the bitterness that sometimes creeps in.

Waterloo Amber

Love this beer, it would fall in the top five if it was not for the bigger flavored Dark below. This is a great dinner beer, it’s been a good partner with all the meals I’ve had it with.

Waterloo – Dark (#12)

I’m a dark beer drinker, this beer tastes a little heavier than the Waterloo Amber, almost bordering on a porter. For some reason it’s hard to find at the “Beer Store” in cans.

Waterloo – Traditional IPA

Nice IPA, good bitterness, nice hop flavor, good finish. It has a pretty color and a good head. Sadly in the crop of all the other IPA’s it really does not stand out.

Wellington County Brewery – Arkell Best Bitter

This is a session ale and it shows with the light hops flavors. It does taste like a traditional English bitter. It’s 4% ABV moves it towards the light beer category.

Wellington County Brewery – Dark Ale

Deep dark red color, subtile aromas. Very good flavors and a slight chocolate finish. If the Imperial Russian Stout is too much, this is just back a step in richness.

Wellington County Brewery – Imperial Russian Stout (#9)

I love stouts. This one pours into a dark thick head, tiny little bubbles. Rich full taste, chocolate and coffee flavors are very pronounced. Just a slight bitterness to let you know this is a stout. It’s at 8% ABV so one to a customer.

Not really Canadian beers, I got caught by the dual English/French label

Red Strip Brewery Dragon Stout

What a nice creamy stout with nice chocolate and coffee flavors. Just a little fizz to build a small head. I’ll be on the lookout to get more of this: Warning, it comes in a smaller 300ml/10oz bottle, but weighs in at 7.5% ABV.

Another English / French label confusion was Crest Super Lager. This is a dark gold lager with a very nice flavor. Not too hoppy, and a mouth feel that makes it almost seem chewy. It weighs in at 10%ABV so it’s another of those 1 per customer deals.

There are many things to see on Mackinac Island, but two of the standouts are Fort Macinac and The Grand Hotel. Today’s post is about the Grand Hotel.

Mackinac has always been a popular place for summer vacations. From what they can tell even the native Indians came here in what would be the 1500′s. In the early days, there were smaller buildings that would hold a dozen or so guests.

Construction of a grand hotel started in 1886. There was a lot of limestone to clear and building construction didn’t start until 1887. There was a problem, they had booked rooms for the summer in a building that didn’t exist yet. The offered a huge construction bonus if the hotel could be completed in 90 days when the season started. The construction company brought lots of labor in, some of it was skilled. Sadly they missed their bonus, construction took 93 days.

You can read all of it here: http://www.grandhotel.com/aboutgrandhotel/our-story

We walked up to see the hotel and to have lunch at their lunch buffet. There is a $10 charge to see the hotel and walk around the grounds, but you can apply the money to the $45 lunch. (And it turns out that taxes and tips are included in the price, so it wasn’t that bad)

We got to the grounds about 11:30 and paid our fee to get in. We strolled along the “Great Front Porch” (it’s official name) and went into the Parlor. Acres of red carpet and tons of plush stuffed chairs. We found the elevator and creaked to the 4th floor. Up a flight of stairs gets you to the entrance of the Cupola Bar.

It is a very plush room with a wooden bar at one end a panoramic view of the Straits of Mackinac from the other three sides. There is a huge chandelier in the ceiling that comes from the floor above, made from what looks like carnival glass. So we climb another set of stairs (we are now on the “6th floor” and at the top of the Cupola. We get a table where we can see out and admire the view. By this point in the day the rain had ended and there were wisps of fog across the strait. Very pretty.

We ordered Bloody Mary’s. They arrived in large goblet garnished with a pickled asparagus spear and two olives balanced on top of the glass on a bamboo skewer. Tres fancy! We had asked for spicy and the drinks were accompanied with two tiny bottles of Tabasco sauce with the “The Grand Hotel” logo.

We sipped and Susan let out a contented sigh. Her quest for a good Bloody Mary on the trip had ended. After disastrous and disappointing ones across Canada, where the best one came out of a can, she was happy.

Along with the drinks came a cruet filled with a spicy snack mix. It was wonderful. Lots of crackers, nuts, and seeds coated with a spicy, salty coating. We asked the bartender about the mix, she gets it preloaded from the kitchen, so she couldn’t help me get more. (And I spazzed about asking in the gift shop if they had any for sale).

We took pictures and enjoyed the views in the cupola as we sipped our drinks. Very nice.

It was time for lunch, so we got our bill ($16 each, tip included) and headed down to the main dining room. It runs along the front third of the hotel and can easily seat over 1,000 diners. Because we arrived early we were able to snag one of the last window seats.
The buffet is described as over 100 feet long and I believe it.

The first table contains the salad course. Three kinds of lettuce, tomatoes, green peppers, onions, cucumber, carrots, and croutons to make a tossed salad. Coleslaw, potato salad, cantelope wedges with jello points and a macaroni salad round out the table. Of course Foster skipped this table.

The appetizer table had oysters on the half shell, peeled cold shrimp, smoked salmon, smoked trout, 4 kinds of cheese, rolled sliced ham and turkey, quiche, pate, finger sandwiches, marinated artichoke hearts, little bread balls that had been hollowed out and filled with salmon mousse or avocado mousse and finally, lamb lollipops. We both thought this table was our favorite. Susan said the oysters were stale, and when we talked to another looper she said they were “dirty”. I’m going to guess that getting oysters ready for 1000 people would be a daunting task. But everything else was wonderful.

There was a table with about a dozen different kinds of breads, rolls and butter.

For hot food they had a mixed vegetable medley with green beans, Brussel sprouts, red pepper and onions; Asian flavored beef with white rice, pasta with an Alfredo sauce, chicken breasts in gravy and a carving station with pork loin, and lots of sauces, jellies, and chutneys for the various meats and seafood.

Dessert was pecan, cherry or apple pie, cheese cake, lots of different tiny pastries, cookies and bread pudding.

Something for everyone!! Being old hands at buffets we knew to look first to see what was there and to take small portions so we could try as much as possible. But even with skipping the salad table it was three passes through the others.

By the time Foster got to the desserts, the cherry pie was gone. There was a young man putting more pecan pie out when Foster lamented “I waited too long!” The server said not to worry, he would go back to the kitchen and get a slice!! True to his word he was back in a few moments with pie. It was great, with very flaky top and bottom crusts and a great cherry filling. Great service and great pie!

After stuffing ourselves like Thanksgiving turkeys, we waddled to the front porch and sat in a pair of rockers to marvel in the gardens and the front porch. Once revived we toured the rest of the hotel and set off to see Fort Mackinac (covered in another post)

(picture to follow)

One of the things I’ve tried to do is hit smaller pub / brewpub bars in the towns we come through. Some have been wonderful, the benchmark was set at the The Stinking Rose in Campbellford Ontario. In Toronto it was Bar Volo, Sault Ste Marie it was Loplop and here across the river in Michigan it’s The Soo Brewing Company (*)

Like The Stinking Rose,the manager of The Soo Brewing Company is also the brewmaster / owner. Soo had about 9 beers on tap ranging from “The lightest beer you have” to a pair of impressive IPA’s, matched by a great ale named after the University: “Laker Gold”. Oh and a real brewed root beer for the kids.

The place is super family friendly. Long tables with pew benches to sit on. All sorts of games from “Rock’em Sock’em robots, Bananagrams(**), Jenga, checkers, cards, etc to play as you drink the great beer.

No food other than the free pretzel sticks, but “Bring Your own Food” is encouraged. Multiple pizza places deliver, but at Ray’s (the owners) recommendation we had greek food from Zorba’s. We had shrimp and pork souvlaki and paired with my “13 IPA” and Susan’s “Strawberry Forever” it was wonderful.

I wanted a “Soo Brew” shirt, and Ray was wearing one that had the Soo Brewing Company Logo, but had the name of a beer I really liked “Manic Organic Pale Ale” . I asked if they had more, and Ray offered to give “the shirt off his back”, since it was the only one. That’s what I call customer service!! So he went to the back and swapped shirts. (The back story is that he has about 2.3 million shirts and is under an edict to get rid of some of them.) So this was a win / win for both of us. And I’ll wear it proudly (once it gets washed).

We stayed around for a few more beers and a few more rounds of Bananagrams. High score for “Bring your own food” and having great beers to match what customers bring.

(*)Yes, we’ve been to a number of nameless pubs that are in the process of going under, but with the level of beer at Soo Brewing that won’t happen.

(**)And Bananagrams is the first word game that I have a chance against Susan.

The trip from Harbor Vue to the entrance of Baie Fine took about an hour. Once we entered into Baie Fine it was like entering another area of Canada

There were soaring walls of white rock that had pine trees clinging to the faces. The water travels back nine miles. There is a little sub channel that then heads back another two miles and dead-ends into what the locals call “The Pool” We opted to anchor out at the far end of the Baie Fine. Baie Fine is the largest freshwater fjord in the world.

We tried to fish that night, but it was a little too windy, we didn’t catch anything.

My friend Doug from the Bayliner’s Owen Club came over in his skiff and introduced himself. We spoke for quite a while. Doug and his wife Mona have been coming up here for decades. It’s always cool to meet people in person you only know on line.

We had a slight scare overnight. We use an application called Drag Queen. It tells me how much the anchor has dragged and sounds an alarm when the anchor drags too far. I had I set assuming the direction of he wind would not change. Over night the wind went from SE to NW and the boat promptly turned around. And it set the alarm off, so we were on deck trying to figure what happened. A quick check of the GPS showed that we had moved 180 degrees, total distance moved was 200 feet, the length of my anchor chain.

On the other hand it was a great sky show. Lots of stars to see, and I even saw 5 shooting stars go by. The stars are so impressive, it’s a shame that I needed to go so far to get away from all the light pollution.

In the morning we got up and had breakfast. As we were packing up, Doug came by to invite us over for a fresh fish lunch. We set a time and we loaded up in our dink to head to “The Pool” and Topaz Lake. It’s about a 15 minute ride down the small channel. The water was super flat and calm, it was neat riding down.

At “The Pool” there were nine boats anchored in different spots. While I can see the beautiful location, I’m not sure that I want to sit in a place that everywhere you look is another boat. We puttered to the far end to look around the corner into the marsh. Very pretty. A U-turn and back up to the north shoreline where there is a small dock. We tied off and started our trek to Topaz Lake.

The walk starts of easy enough but then the trail becomes the rock strewn bed of a dry stream. The fist sized rocks makes walking interesting. After about half a mile the path turns to the left and goes up through the forest. It’s a pretty strenuous climb for people that spent the last two decades behind desks. I’m glad we did some walking and biking in the weeks before.

We got to the top and Topaz Lake was spread out about 50 feet below us. The promontory we were on gave us some great pictures of the lake and the mountain behind it. It was a steep climb to the rocky ledge at the waters edge. The water was warm and more of an emerald color than topaz.

While we were eating our snacks a group of 5 people came through, two hauling inflatable standup boats. They said they had never heard of anyone trying it, they thought they were the first. A few moments later a group of 6 people came through, one of them hauling a Kevlar canoe. I was amused by this, I had been complaining about the trail and here is a guy with a canoe. They weigh about 50 lbs, but still…. We watched the boarders and the canoe people for awhile before heading back.

On the trail home Susan stopped suddenly and pointed to the right, hissing “deer”. Coming through the trees was a small deer. It crossed the trail behind us and bounded up the hill. It didn’t seem to be concerned by us, I’m guessing that they run into hikers all the time.

We were soon back at the dink and then back to our boat. We changed out of our swimming stuff and headed over to see the crew of the Shannon. We met Mona and their cat. Doug had caught pike in the morning and Mona had lightly breaded the filets and fried them. Grilled white potato slices and salad rounded out our lunch. I’m going to say it was the best fish dinner we’ve had in Canada. Mona told us the secret so once we get to a bigger town we will get the ingredients for the coating.

We spent time talking about boats, and the modifications they made to Shannon to be able to stay out for weeks at a time. They have been boating here for 50 years so we heard about the history of the place and the amazing yachts that came here before fuel costs skyrocketed. They are both interesting people, it was a very pleasant visit. The spot Doug had chosen to anchor gave them a view down the smaller part of Baie Fine, a great vista and not a boat in sight.

Because we had gorged ourselves on fish, the rest of the afternoon was taken up by naps. After naps Susan took her kayak across to a cove, while I fished from the boat. We were both unsuccessful, but it was still fun.

And like the last night, when I got up to check on the anchor, there was a huge star show. Wow!

In the morning, Shannon was gone, they had headed into town for supplies. Susan jumped on the kayak and headed to the spot that Doug had suggested for morning fishing. She was very successful, she had lots of nibbles, caught four and kept the 17” bass and one a little smaller. Fish dinner for us!

Soon after we packed up and headed to Kagawong. I’m really glad that we decided to double back and come to Baie Fine, it is one of the high-points of our trip.

I stopped fishing about 25 years ago, so I was very excited to take it up again on this trip.  I made sure to get us the correct outdoor card plus fishing license that Canada requires. Foster and I shopped for lures, texas worms, and doodads guaranteed to catch (something).  Since it had been so long, I also got some books to help me out on the finer points of jigs, rigs, spoons, crankbait, etc. as well as fish identification.  I wasn’t sure what we were fishing for, just that I wanted to fish again!

Once we hit Canada, we were in the canals for a while and we would both throw out a line at night.  I caught a few very small fish but nothing that anyone would keep for anything but a photo. I knew there were people around us that were catching bigger fish, but they eluded me.  Once we got through the locks into the Georgian Bay area, I started seeing bigger fish, even in the small stuff I was catching, but it was still small – even the little kids were catching bigger fish than I was!

Finally, on our travels, we arrived at a beautiful little bay that was quite deserted and rocky. Someone had set up an inunnguaq – a little rock man that is sometimes used to mark good fishing spots.

I decided to take the kayak out to one of the shores and do a little fishing.  Much to my surprise, I finally caught a decent size fish almost right away.  I was so used to failure I didn’t even have a stringer with me to save the fish, so I had to improvise by cutting a piece off the kayak rope.  I fished for a little while longer with no luck, but that night we were going to have fish for dinner!

I forgot the work that goes into cleaning the fish and found it is also more difficult to hold onto a big fish and chop its head and tail off than the small ones!  We’re anchoring out for a while with a somewhat limited water supply, so I was a bit annoyed at all the water I was using.  I rinsed the fish in several changes of clean water to get the slime off, then soaked it for a few minutes in salt water.  Once I was done with my side dishes (red potatoes and fresh peas), I dredged the fish in flour, salt and pepper, and set it to fry in some olive oil and butter.

I was cooking in the cockpit on my little propane ring because I didn’t want to get the fish cooking smell embedded in the interior of the boat. I had the burner turned up too high, and the fish started to burn a little.  Cooks know, once fried stuff starts to burn it is hard to get it back down in temp to cook it long enough.  As a result, the fish was not cooked all the way through when it came off the ring and I finished it in the microwave.  With that caveat, it turned out to be perfectly cooked once I had it on the table. As intended, the skin and scales came off with the flour crust, and I pulled meat off the bone and served it to us both.  There was enough for seconds, and more left over besides.

Next problem was identifying the fish.  When you’re not used to catching them, it’s pretty hard to tell what you’ve got.  I ruled out trout right away, but thought I had gotten a walleye through comparing the pictures to our pictures of my fish, and the recent memory of what it looked like as I cleaned it, and what was in its stomach (tiny mussel shell and a tiny crawfish claw).  Foster’s son Mike Schucker, who is a fishing maven, corrected me to say it was a small mouth bass.  Looking at the next fish, I agreed with him – because there was a next fish!

The day after our fish dinner, I took the kayak again to another part of the shore and did some more fishing.  I had a fish on the hook within a few minutes, but it jumped off, and numerous other nibbles and sightings in the clear water that morning.  I went back to the boat about 3 hours later and we decided to stay another night so I could continue my fishing spree.  After a little lunch break, I went back to another part of the shore in my kayak.

This time I hit a hot spot.  Within 10 minutes I had a fish on the line and landed it.

It was a bit bigger than the night before, but I thought fish dinner two nights in a row was too much, so I threw it back, after taking a very good picture of it laying in shallow water.  I continued to get more hits, and had three more fish on the line that managed to knock off the hook as they jumped in the air and backtracked into weeds.  It was a great fishing day, overcast and calm.  I spent a couple more hours in that spot, but the fish stopped biting once the sun came out.

I gathered my things and went back to the kayak, and took a little detour through a small channel.  The little detour turned into a two mile kayak ride which took me back out into the deep water of Georgian bay before I came back into our little cove.

All in all it was a great couple of days of fishing, kayaking, and taking some really pretty pictures of our cove.  Here’s a couple.

Rocky Shores

Flowers – water lily and wild roses

The bay