Ten easy steps to three perfect days in Gwinn

Get a room with a view

Sigrid arrived late Sunday night at Sawyer International Airport in Gwinn, Michigan. It required 10 hours and three airports for Sigrid to fly here. About the time it would take to get to Paris.  Probably best to not bring that up.

 Sigrid always plans the best itineraries for our far flung adventures.  She proved to be equally adept at planning a short trip to Big Shag Lake and  Three Perfect Days in Gwinn.

1)  Arrange for the weather to be 70 degrees and sunny during the day, 45 degrees and cool in the night. and make sure it rains only at night.

2) These weather conditions will permit  you to  enjoy spectacular sunrises from your room with a view.

 

3) Your experience will be enhanced by coordinating your visit with the peak fall color change, offering unique photo opportunities.

 4) Hire an experienced captain and crew to be available on demand for private pontoon boat cruises on the lake.

If you can't find an experienced captain, don't worry. Anyone can drive these things.

5) For a cultured evening of musical appreciation, don't miss the Monday night Acoustic Jam at Jack's Hideaway.  Sure it looks like a roadside dive. That's because it is. But when a random group of talented local musicians bring an eclectic mix of instruments just to enjoy themselves and see what happens, you can't go wrong for the cost of a few beers.

 This night Sigrid enjoyed 5 acoustic guitars, 1 electric guitar, 1 bass guitar, two harmonica players, two fiddlers and a mandolin. It was way cooler than it had any right to be.

6) Leave time for quiet contemplation and reading from your private veranda embedded in the north woods canopy.

7) Pack a picnic lunch and enjoy the October sunshine and mild weather for which the UP is famous while relaxing at anchor in a pontoon boat in the middle of the lake with your hired captain and crew.

8 ) Take a photographic safari exploring the Lake Superior shoreline and fall color vistas while enjoying local cuisine.

 

 

Enjoy Yooper smoked fish...

potato sausage and...

 ... cheese curds!

Okay, the last is not really "yooper", but close enough (A special request for Kenosha born loyal Reader Laurie).

 9) Before discharging your pontoon boat captain and crew, take a sunset cruise around the lake.

10) Finish your trip with one of the most spectacular Northern Lights displays in recent memory. Be sure to insist on an aurora borealis that encompasses at least half of the visible sky from directly overhead to at least 180 degrees of the horizon.

A full sky "fish eye" shot of the Oct 2 Northern Lights from professional photographer Shawn Malone:

 Shawn called it "one of the most intense I've ever seen" - which is really saying something considering how long she has been shooting this phenomena in Northern Michigan.

So simply plan to be in the U.P. on clear moonless night when one of these things is happening and your three perfect days in Gwinn will be complete.

Sunday at the Lake House with Jay

After the Saturday festivities extended late into the night, Sunday morning started slow. A mystery chef kicked the day off right with a righteous breakfast, starting with a Chard and Chorizo Fritatta recipe that was improvised with found ingredients into a Spinach and Salami Fritatta masterpiece.

Eager to improve his Nephew Utility Index Score, Number 3 pressed his trusty sidekick Tommy into service cleaning and checking out the new old pontoon boat.

After the cleaning, we settled into some football. BALTs and chips accompanied the expected Bears thrashing of Detroit.

Unfortunately, the game did not go according to script  as Jay Cutler defeated the Bears 40-32.

"DETROIT — All the happy talk over Bears quarterback Jay Cutler's mechanics during his team's 3-0 start overlooked the fact that you can't change his wiring. This is who Cutler is as a quarterback in Chicago, the reason the trains run on time one week and the cause of a derailment the next. You can win often in the NFL with Cutler and occasionally lose because of him, depending on the day. Good luck predicting when those days will come. Several smart football men have lost their jobs trying."

Subsequent to the game, Cutler was also found to be responsible for RGIII's injury and other events:

"CHICAGO— After nearly a century and half of mystery, local historians have discovered that current Bears quarterback Jay Cutler was solely responsible for the 1871 fire that destroyed entire city blocks and claimed the lives of hundreds. “Yup, it was totally his fault,” asserted Chicago Historical Society chairman Bob Chianski during a press conference that coincidentally occurred soon after the Bears loss..."

The second shift work crew departed when it was clear the game was over at halftime.  Nothing more to say at this juncture, except...

Further

Too Many Chefs Are Never Enough + Olive Palooza!

We enjoyed a gathering of the Yooper clan  at camp the lake house on Saturday.  The star of the gathering and center of attention was, of course, Olive. After almost five years of the continuing Olive-Palooza chronicles, we are waiting for some small portion of the adorableness factor to begin to wear off.  We will be waiting another year.

I had the distinct privilege of guiding Miss Olive on her first ever fishing expedition. It was a bit windy, so we motored to the sheltered side of the lake. The plan - bamboo pole, hook, worm and bobber. The challenge -catch a bluegill before we reached the end of a 5 year old's attention span.

Olive held the pole, the worm went on the hook and over the side.  I was still rummaging through the tackle box for a bobber when the line started jumping.  Thirty seconds into her first ever fishing expedition she had her first fish in the boat. A keeper blug. She's a natural.

Olive caught two fish before deciding it was time to head back. I offered instruction on proper Neumann style technique for photographing one's catch...

We gave her the option to let them go or eat them. She takes after her grandfather - pure catch & release

[Editors Note: Video to be added here at some unspecified future date].

Speaking of grandpa, back at the ranch a family feast was taking shape...

MK grills some veggies

Wendy bakes an appetizer

Kris took on Sous Chef responsibility

I pound some fruits de mer into submission

You might think that having four chefs working simultaneously in an antique 10 x 12  kitchen might be a little confusing, chaotic and claustrophobic.  You'd be right. Nevertheless - the dinner was a spectacular success.

Parmesan and grape faccacia, calamari steaks with picatta sauce, grilled chicken, brown rice pilaf, green and orzu salads, grilled veggies, and more. Everyone provided something to the feast. Well - except these guys...

 Brian and Tommy were sent out to shoot a few grouse for appetizers...

Zip. Zero. Nada. Nothing. Epic Fail.

But for the rest - dinner was just too good. 

Olive provided after-dinner entertainment and drawing lessons. 

Of course the only proper finish to a day and dinner like this - Fire by Brian:

Olive agrees.