July 7: en route from St. Paul to Ladysmith, Wisconsin
It was our last day in St. Paul, and I was awake early, stripping my bed, getting packed and stowing everything in its proper place, and having one last breakfast with our hostess before “setting out” on new sites. We started out on Interstate 94, but pretty soon left for more rural roads, taking us north to Route 8 and then through the towns of Barron, Cameron, Weyerhauser, and finally Ladysmith. On the way we saw lots of farms, silos, waving stands of corn, soybeans, and potatoes. Wisconsin being known for its cheese, we stopped off at a cheese manufactory and bought gouda, Pepper Jack, Havarti with dill, and milk curds to be enjoyed with crackers. Finally by about 12:30 we arrived at the home of Wayne and Karen Tappan in Ladysmith.
Ladysmith was founded in 1885 at the intersection of the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad with the Flambeau River. It was originally named “Flambeau Falls” after the Ojibwa name for the area. Robert Corbett, a logging and lumbering entrepreneur, who was a strong influence on the city in its early years, renamed it “Corbett” and the “Warner” in 1891, and then Ladysmith on July 1, 1900, after the bride of Charles Smith, head of the Menasha Wooden Ware Company.
Wayne and Karen Tappan are good friends of Maureen ever since she lived in Ladysmith for 20 years. After a lovely lunch of rice salad and and a lovely rhubarb dessert prepared with just-harvested rhubarb from the garden, we stowed our luggage, temporarily said goodbye to the lovely terrace, the garden below, the flowers blooming everywhere, and the copse of trees in back of us. We got in the Tappans’ trunk, and Maureen was given a detailed tour of the town and a report as to what had happened to those she had once known in the town. We also went out in the country and saw the Tappans’ garden of vegetables, the water well they had dug, their cabin for R&R, and the Finnish sauna they had built for them. Perfect place to write. It was a lovely tour. From there we drove back home and prepared dinner—Bratwurst, potato salad, baked beans, and incredible corn on the cob. For dessert we had root beer floats, which was like consuming ambrosia!
Before dinner, Maureen sang and Karen played piano, and afterwards, Wayne played the violin. A quieter day today, and an immediate slow-down of pace in this more rural atmosphere. Tomorrow, there will be church, and all of us will probably go to the Lutheran Church. Whatever else we will do remains to be seen. Tomorrow is Maureen’s day—she has contacted several former friends and colleagues in Ladysmith to meet her for coffee and/or a meal tomorrow. Whether I will accompany her there is to be seen. She is so happy to be here once again, and finally, all her stories of life in Ladysmith, with over 3,150 inhabitants to its name, will all be substantiated and fleshed out as she carries out what is an important pilgrimage. I am glad to be on this odyssey with her! As ever, SV
Ladysmith was founded in 1885 at the intersection of the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad with the Flambeau River. It was originally named “Flambeau Falls” after the Ojibwa name for the area. Robert Corbett, a logging and lumbering entrepreneur, who was a strong influence on the city in its early years, renamed it “Corbett” and the “Warner” in 1891, and then Ladysmith on July 1, 1900, after the bride of Charles Smith, head of the Menasha Wooden Ware Company.
Wayne and Karen Tappan are good friends of Maureen ever since she lived in Ladysmith for 20 years. After a lovely lunch of rice salad and and a lovely rhubarb dessert prepared with just-harvested rhubarb from the garden, we stowed our luggage, temporarily said goodbye to the lovely terrace, the garden below, the flowers blooming everywhere, and the copse of trees in back of us. We got in the Tappans’ trunk, and Maureen was given a detailed tour of the town and a report as to what had happened to those she had once known in the town. We also went out in the country and saw the Tappans’ garden of vegetables, the water well they had dug, their cabin for R&R, and the Finnish sauna they had built for them. Perfect place to write. It was a lovely tour. From there we drove back home and prepared dinner—Bratwurst, potato salad, baked beans, and incredible corn on the cob. For dessert we had root beer floats, which was like consuming ambrosia!
Before dinner, Maureen sang and Karen played piano, and afterwards, Wayne played the violin. A quieter day today, and an immediate slow-down of pace in this more rural atmosphere. Tomorrow, there will be church, and all of us will probably go to the Lutheran Church. Whatever else we will do remains to be seen. Tomorrow is Maureen’s day—she has contacted several former friends and colleagues in Ladysmith to meet her for coffee and/or a meal tomorrow. Whether I will accompany her there is to be seen. She is so happy to be here once again, and finally, all her stories of life in Ladysmith, with over 3,150 inhabitants to its name, will all be substantiated and fleshed out as she carries out what is an important pilgrimage. I am glad to be on this odyssey with her! As ever, SV
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