Two Rivers, WI and the Manitowoc Car show and Ferry

We decided to head a bit south toward the lakeshore town of Manitowoc, WI. On the way, we passed through the city of Two Rivers, WI which is right on the shore of Lake Michigan. Driving by, we saw these seagulls - by the thousands! This is only a small portion of the vast flock which covered the beach. Wow!

Two Rivers was also the home of this huge factory, which had clearly seen better days in the past. This is the home of Hamilton Mfg, which made printer's furnishings for newspapers, printers, etc. They specialized in special cabinets to hold type and print plates -- some of the cases might be 20' long! Apparently, the company is still producing some various products, but it is clearly a mere shadow of its former self. To think that an Ipad can now do all the type setting that used to require many highly trained workers and expensive, dedicated equipment.

Two Rivers is still involved in some commercial fishing, although it must be a small fraction of years ago. Still, it was fun to see these lake fishing boats still in action.

We arrived in Manitowoc and as luck would have it (Rick said Yeah, Orinda said Oh brother!) we drove right by a great car show! Naturally, Rick had to stop. Fortunately, Orinda did not seem to mind too much and enjoyed seeing some of the excellent cars on display, such as this vintage Corvette.

Rick was enthralled with the old cars, such as these Ford Model A's. Dating from the early 1930's, these were quite the car in their day.

How about this 1951 Buick Special! Featuring the straight 8 engine and side-tilt hood, this was state or the art 60 years ago. This car is made of REAL metal!

We were very surprised to see the number and quality of true classics at this show, including this 1936 Plymouth that Orinda liked. There was quite a bit of effort involved in the restoration of this one and it looked like it just rolled out of the showroom.

Here is a very unusual car -- a 1925 Nash Speedster. This car was apparently built right here in Wisconsin (Kenosha) and is spectacular. This is the first one of these we have ever seen -- can't be many of these running around.

Orinda thought this was more like it -- a 1930 Chrysler Dual Cowl Phaeton. This car is magnificent and looked new. Imagine driving around in this car in 1930 -- you sure would not blend in with the common cars of the era!

We thought we had seem some amazing, old cars -- but, as they say, Wait -- there is more! How about this one -- an original 1910 De Dion Bouton! And it runs! In fact right after I snapped this picture, the owner came over and with a quick spring of the front crank, fired it right up. The one cylinder engine chugged nicely, the same as it did over 100 years ago when it was made. Pretty cool!

Here is one that Rick could identify with -- in fact, Rick and this Chevy are the same age as both were "built" in 1952. I am not sure who is in better shape, but they both appear to be using only original equipment.

Rick also liked the VW bugs as he has restored a couple of these from the floor pan up. It is alot of fun to rebuild something like this and then actually drive it down the road.

Finally, as we were leaving Manitowoc, we saw the car ferry Badger getting ready to dock after a trip from Luddington, MI across the lake. The 410' Badger is the only coal fired ship still in commercial service in the US and has been providing ferry service for over 50 years. It was fun to watch the Captain ease the ship backwards to dock so the cars could be off loaded.