I just got back from a week on Washington Island, the remote Wisconsin island about which — once upon a time, in 2008 — I entertained fantasies of writing a book. I spent a long, solitary summer on the island that year only to return home after Labor Day with no book, no money, and … Continued
At some point during the RAFT summit back in March, one Wisconsin orchard-keeper publicly despaired of ever making a profit off of his cider. The number of apples needed to squeeze out a gallon of juice, the labor, and other associated costs, forced the price structure of cider closer to that of wine than beer, … Continued
Chuck Sudo over at Chicagoist picks Island Wheat as his “beer of the week.” I’m with him on the cans thing. Tastes much better in cans than bottles.
Though the grocery store up here carries both the NYT and the Tribune, I’ve been getting most of my news from Wisconsin Public Radio—its “Ideas Network” station is both more reliably interesting than WBEZ and a good white noise cover when the frogs of sunset get too deafening. I caught this interview with Bill Bishop, … Continued
OK. What am I doing here, exactly? It started with a hotel. I first came to Washington Island in 2004, in the thick of winter, to write a travel story about a new hotel and restaurant started by a friend of a friend. It was snowing, I’d never been to Door County before, and as … Continued
So the other day I spammed every friend and relation I could think of announcing that I finally had a freakin website, and a blog that promised to explain “what I’m doing in Wisconsin for the summer, and why I’m doing it.” I realize that, thus far, I’ve failed miserably at this charge and that my … Continued
Every time I come to Washington Island something insane happens back in Chicago. Last time, the paper where I had (mostly) happily worked for years got sold–an event that led, in due time, to me not having a job and, ultimately, to winding up back on Washington Island this summer. This time, the play I’ve been … Continued
Finally. I caught the last boat to Washington Island on Tuesday night. I’m renting a house for the summer from the woman who runs the (surprisingly excellent) bookstore, Islandtime Books, but before I left Chicago she shot me a message saying she was going off island for a few days and to just stop by … Continued