Friday, December 1, 2023, Claude and I were on the road at 1:00 p.m. for our Mineral Point destination at the Limestone Lodge. We had light rainfall on the way, but nothing heavy.
We were the first to arrive at this massive converted barn that would be our hangout for the first weekend of December.
There would be ample room to accommodate nine of us, (unfortunately, Annika was not feeling well and stayed behind) with a workable kitchen/dining area, two bedrooms on the second floor and a loft with more beds.
There seems to be a lot to keep us amused with a pool table and a hot tub. I shivered just thinking about going out in the cold to climb into it, and then having to go out again, but that didn't seem to phase Colin, Anton, Aleksei and Jay.
We noshed on wine, cheese and crackers and other nibbles while we got our Internet connections and some tried their hands at pool.
We looked over pizza options and Jay picked up a stack of 10" pizzas with an assortment of toppings.
We started one game, but it seemed rather confusing. We settled on another, answering questions about how well we know each other that was a lot of fun. Colin was the game manager and timer with the karaoke mike. We were ready to call it a day, but the hot tub beckoned the tough guys.
Saturday, December 2, 2023
Jay prepared breakfast of blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon and fruit with Laura's cranberry loaf to complete the meal
Our first destination was Orchard Lawn the home of Joseph and Sarah Gundry, early settlers from Cornwall, England.
Our guide Joan started our tour outdoors with the early history of the area and John's attraction to it. He incorporated numerous trees in the landscape that are still present.
The home has been painstakingly preserved by a determined group that formed the Mineral Point Historical Society.
Joan impressed on us Joseph's meticulous record keeping that helped in the restoration. Jay was fascinated by some of the entries, which can be read here: Claude added more information to this blog with John Gundry's burial site.
We next drove to Faith Lutheran Church to support their cookie sale. Brad and Jay were able to view the church before leaving.
We had plenty of food from last night to provide a nice lunch, so we headed back to the lodge instead of a restaurant.
We took about a thirty-mile drive to a train museum in Argyle, WI. Up to that point, that's all I thought it was. We arrived at a very large barn when I learned it was a toy train museum that had hundreds of trains and countless interactive scenes all put together by Buck Guthrie for a span of over twenty years.
By pressing a button, the house starts on fire with emergency vehicles responding.
Buck's wife was also involved and told of Buck's ingenuity, like instead of fixing her printer he turned it into an elevator.
Buck was so very personable, walking around explaining things, asking if we're enjoying ourselves. This display would amuse and entertain all ages.
By this time we're ready to support a local brewery and the GPS found the Commerce Street Brewery. Most of us tried the Quarter Century IPA that hit the spot.
We explored the Main Street where the weekend festivities would take place. There were roasted chestnuts, carolers, and a number of galleries and other shops were open; I was able to purchase the Left-Right-Center game at a Ben Franklin that we can play this evening.
Our dinner reservations were at 6:00 p.m., but hopefully Eliza's Lounge could seat us earlier, which they did. It's a newly restored restaurant from a diner to full service. It had a limited menu, but we found enough to satisfy each appetite. We finished in time to take in the fire works display to top off the evening.
We celebrated Birthdays back at the lodge: Jay's 63rd, Colin's 30th, Anton and Aleksei's 28th and Annika's 24th with Janice's chocolate cake and rounds of "Happy Birthday".
We played Left-Right-Center which was fun and ended up with guessing what others would answer to various questions.
Sunday, December 3, 2023
Snow covered the ground this morning and cars had to be cleared, but not much. Janice made baked oatmeal that we had with fresh fruit and finished with cherry and apple kringles. We tidied up the lodge and gathered our belongings ready for departure.
We took a selfie before heading on our separate ways.
