18 Sep - Lighthouse Tour at Milwaukee and Racine, Dutch Oven Pizza at the Campground

18 Sep
We started out the morning wishing our Grandson Daniel Jr a happy 7th birthday and also the United States Air Force turned 70 today!

This is lighthouse tour day 1.  After breakfast we headed into Milwaukee and first visited the North Point Lighthouse.  It's location was chosen to mark the north point of the Milwaukee Bay.  It was built in 1887 and first lit in 1888.  It replaced one that was built too close to the eroding bluff.  The keepers house was built at the same time.  It's height was extended, almost doubled, in 1912 and this placed the light about 154 feet above Lake Michigan allowing it to be seen nearly 20 miles away.  This light was decommissioned in 1994 and in 2003 it was transferred to Milwaukee County.  Unfortunately we could not tour the lighthouse as it is open only on the weekends.

Doreen in front of the lighthouse

A beautiful lighthouse and keepers house

There is a nice park adjacent to the lighthouse

Concrete lions guard the pathway

 Next stop was Milwaukee Pierhead Light, which is located near the Summerfest area.  We walked out in a short pier to a bright red metal lighthouse.  There were several fisherman there casting lures into the water and also a bicyclist taking a siesta there.

The Milwaukee Pierhead Light was established in 1872.  It consists of steel rings.  

Interstate 794 bridge over the Kinnickinnic River

A view of the Summerfest skyline

Several ducks cruising along the shore

A view of the Milwaukee Pierhead Light (right) and the Milwaukee Breakwater Light (very small, on the left)

The Milwaukee Breakwater Light is not accessible from land, but with the appropriate lens I was able to zoom in on it a bit!  It was built in 1926.  It is a steel frame two story building.  It is 53 ft tall.

We then got back on I-94 and headed south to Racine WI.  After a quick stop at Burlington RV, we headed into town and the Racine harbor area.  The GPS got lost, but we figured it out and found an access point to the Racine Breakwater,  After a several hundred yard walk out onto the breakwater, we approached the Racine Breakwater Light.  In 1846 it was 600 ft long and then in 1857 another 220 ft was added.  The lighthouse was built in 1845.  I am surprised we were able to get to it, but the breakwater was solid and fairly wide.

The walk out onto the dogleg-shaped Racine Breakwater.  The lighthouse is located at the end of this, visible on the far right

The water is very clear and was calm today

Doreen in front of the Racine Breakwater Light

The fog horn ports (round holes) can be seen here

Looking back into the Racine Harbor 

Some fools gold shimmering in the granite rock

A look down Racine beach

The Racine Yacht Club

Doreen was startled by a critter looking just like this that scurried across the breakwater.  She swears it "hissed" at her on the way out.

There was also the Racine Reef Lighthouse visible from the breakwater, but quite a ways out.  I captured a picture of it with the telephoto lens:

Last stop was the Racine Harbor Lighthouse.  It was built in 1839 and had a 34 ft tower.  It was situated on a bluff and was too far from the water, so it's usefulness was gone and it was decommissioned in 1865.  The lens was moved to the current Racine Harbor Lighthouse.  The structure is privately owned now and inaccessible.  We were able to catch a few pictures from a distance and through the fence.

This picture was actually taken from the Racine Breakwater with the telephoto lens.  

This is as close as we could get

Look at the concertina wire at the top of the fence.  They definitely don't want anyone in there.  There was also signs posted to beware of dog.

 That was a full day of lighthouse touring even though we did not set foot in one!  We headed back to the campground and made dutch oven pizza for supper.

Doreen creating the pizza in our 12" dutch oven.

I grilled some asparagus wrapped in bacon and also grilled the remainder of the bacon to be used for breakfasts.  Both will be reheated in the microwave as needed.  Yum! 

The pizza came out very well using regular charcoal this time.  Nothing burned.

Tomorrow we plan to head down to Chicago and visit the Great Lakes Naval Base.  They have a campground there that we want to check out for future use.   We may also catch a couple more lighthouses and will also go to Michelle's tomorrow evening for dinner.

Note:  I still owe you blog updates for 10 & 11 Sep from our Michigan UP visit.  Not having Internet access up there really screwed things up for me.  Maybe tomorrow...