Our next major stop was Lake City, MN for projects at the Zugay House; however, we were running too early for the agreed arrival date. To bide our time, we found a decent park in the small Village of Dorchester, WI (population 876), which sat quietly in the middle of Wisconsin dairy farms. The town boasted about its large 45-acre park, so we camped there having had previously good experiences staying in city parks. It was rural, roomy, cost effective, and more than met our basic needs.
Those needs of course included finding a good coffeeshop and breakfast restaurant. The only coffee nearby was at the local CENEX gas station. Uhhhh, no! We eventually drove 10 miles north to Medford (population 4,349) and discovered Uncommon Ground and later trekked 40 miles east to the village of Rothschild (population 5,567) to a place called Clean Slate. Distance is never a barrier to satifying our caffeine habit. When I googled breakfast, it showed Medo’s Family Style Restaurant on W. Fourth St. less than a mile from our campsite. However, when I tried to find it during my morning hike, there was no restaurant, only residences at that address. Confused, we searched again and found a restaurant with the same name and at the exact same N. Fourth St. address 3 miles south in Abbotsford (population 2,275). Turned out to be a great breakfast spot.
I hiked a little over 3 miles each morning and saw nearly every street and corner in town. The people I met were midwest friendly, residences were well maintained, but in general the pace of life ran like molasses. My hikes usually included the 1-mile paths around and through the City Park, and there I came across the S.S. Dorchester Monument. She was a civilian ship built in 1926 but was converted to an Army troop carrier in 1942. On its sixth mission while transporting 902 soldiers, seamen, and civilians, she was tragically torpedoed by German submarine, U-223, in the north atlantic. The Dorchester sunk in just 20 minutes. 672 troops and passengers died while two companion ships in the convoy were fortunately able to save 230.
The memorial also honored the heroic actions of four chaplains who were on board when the Dorchester sank. Lt. George L. Fox, Methodist; Lt. Alexander D. Goode, Jewish; Lt. John P. Washington, Roman Catholic; and Lt. Clark V. Poling, Dutch Reformed helped calm the ensuing pandemonium and handed out life jackets until stores were depleted. At that point, they each removed their life-jackets and gave them away. Eye-witnesses reported the chaplains locked arms, prayed aloud, and went down with the ship. Each were awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and Purple Heart posthumously. The Chaplains were nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor, but it was not approved. So instead in 1960, Congress authorized a one-time award of the Four Chaplains Medal.
For a change of pace, we drove 40 miles east to Wausau (population 39,994) on several occasions just to check things out. A 4-mile long ridge called Rib Mountain was a prominent geological feature visible from 20 miles away. We visited the State Park on top, seeing and learning as much as we could. It is the fourth highest point in WI, missing by only 30′ from being number one. Nonetheless, it is the tallest mountain rising 740′ above the valley floor. This made the north face perfect for developing Wisconsin’s largest ski resort known as Granite Peak. The resort featured 5 lifts and 60 runs, some of which we viewed from a beautiful park overlook. We also got a good perspective of the Wausau skyline and Wisconsin River.
We drove to the top of the mountain where a nature trail took us through some of the ancient rock formations and to the 60′ observation tower. The views were spectacular but hard to capture with an iPhone.
After a week of relaxation, we moved on to see the Zugay’s. I thought this sunset brought our stay to a fitting end, “Red sky at night, sailors delight.”
