Day 3 – 142 miles
Early in the morning (after visit to a gas station to – yes, you guessed it! to pump the tire!) we showed up at the S.S. Badger dock in Ludington, MI. We parked the Prius in the designated area and stood in long but quickly moving line to get onboard. The car itself was parked on the ferry by the attendants. We had a pleasure to watch them at work, parking hundreds of vehicles in under an hour. Super impressive!
At 9AM sharp S.S. Badger honked and took off for a 4 hour voyage.
My fiancé was cruise-enthused till he started suffering from a classic case of seasickness – or, in this case, lakesickness. It was pretty much game over for him, as far as cruise enjoyment goes. I obtained a pair of compression wristbands, a blanket and some coffee. We found a cozy bench on a shady side of the ferry, where he could relax and nap, while I explored the vessel, checking on him from time to time. For me, the cruise on S.S. Badger has been an absolute pleasure. It provided me with necessary time to disconnect and recharge, while looking at the endless horizon and breathing fresh air. It was also a truly interesting experience to explore this historical vessel.
The S.S. Badger is the last coal-fired passenger steamship in operation in the United States. She has provided a fun, reliable and affordable shortcut across beautiful Lake Michigan for more than 60 years and has transported millions of passengers since her re-birth in 1992. In 2016 she received the nation’s highest historic honor when the Department of Interior officially designated the Badger as a National Historic Landmark.
Additionally, the Badger is extremely unique in that she is an NHL that moves. The 410ft. S.S. BADGER can accommodate 600 passengers and 180 vehicles, including; RVs, motorcycles, motor coaches, and commercial trucks during her sailing season. Originally designed primarily to transport railroad cars, this grand ship and the people who serve her have successfully adapted to the changing world since she first entered service in 1953.”
I checked out the museum, where I watched a short movie about Badger’s history and mechanics of steam engine, walked around a bit, drank my coffee and read a magazine. Shortly before the cruise was over my fiancé regained consciousness and got to enjoy the final moments of the ride, free(ier) from the lakesickness. What I truly appreciate about him is how enthusiastically he receives my vacation ideas, even though occasionally he receives the short end of the stick.
As we arrived in the Manitowoc, WI we have seen yet another lighthouse, and then, after a bit of a drive – another one in Sheboygan, WI.
We stopped for early dinner in Inventors Brewpub where I had, hands down, the best blue cheese burger so far. It was moist, delicious, the flavors were well balanced and the blue cheese was not overwhelming the whole thing – which is not easy to achieve.
One more lighthouse in Port Washington, WI and we decided to head to the hotel to get some rest and recharge (after, of course, inflating the tire at a gas station).
I have chosen the hotel a day before, online. It has been located downtown Milwaukee and nothing in the description suggested what we were about to experience. The picture on the website absolutely did not represent the true condition of the hotel – upon arrival it turned out the place is very much under construction. The improvement process, by design, is intended to make things better, so we were not discouraged. The parking lot, however, was very untidy, trash cans overflowing and covered with insects.
Upon entering a very messy lobby we have been welcomed by a representative who seem to have been under influence of some substance – he was singing Adele’s “Hello” and acting a little oddly, while having a phone conversation with his “bro”, promising he will hook him up with a room. The interior was in the state of complete disarray, with boxes and construction elements everywhere. The front desk representative finally finished his phone conversation with “gotta go, bro, have guests waiting”.
After checking in we proceeded to our room and had problems finding it among all the boxes and blocked off hallways. We proceeded through dark and unpleasant looking interiors to find our room which had a distinct smell of cigarettes and marijuana. Most of the lights in the room were not working and it was very cold inside. The fire alarm was sounding constantly. We have returned to the lobby to find a sign that made us even more uncomfortable, announcing: “If you own a Hyundai or a Kia please don’t park behind/side of storage containers. There are no cameras there, we will not be responsible for vandalism. Please park anywhere else in the lot. Thank you, Management”. We do not own a Hyundai or a Kia but this sign didn’t contribute to our sense of safety. We decided that enough is enough and we decided to let the front desk representative (who was singing constantly) know that we are not feeling comfortable staying there.
“It looks like this hotel is very much under construction…” I started but was quickly interrupted by the front desk representative with “Yeah, there is a sign up front that we are under construction”.
“… and that’s OK” I continued “but this place is a total mess, we had problems finding our room, which smells very unpleasantly, and apparently it looks like you have a problem with vandalism as well…”
“What would make you think so?!” the representative seemed genuinely shocked and surprised.
“This sign” I pointed at a sign in front of him.
“Oh, it wasn’t us who put it up” he responded cheerfully, “it was the police who did it”.
(Yeah, that totally changes things…)
“Regardless, we would like to ask for a refund as we don’t feel comfortable staying here” I finished.
It turned out that in order to receive a refund we needed to contact the corporate site where we made the reservation. We left the hotel hearing last sounds of Adele’s “Hello” and a heartbreaking scream “Oh nooooooooo….!!! They are leaving….!!!”.
We found another hotel, which looked and smelled good, and that’s where we spent the night safely. I contacted the corporate site for the previous hotel and indeed received a refund.