Thursday, August 6, 2009

My Trip to Ashland and Bayfield, WI





Recently I took a delightful trip north to the tip of Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Superior to see the Big Top Chautauqua show, an old-time big canvas tent show with modern humor. This one was called "River Pants" and was about fishing with a little bit of Ole and Lena thrown in for all those Norwegian descendants! Picture a troupe of  mainly 50ish year old men (not OLD men) in fishing garb and rubber hip waders - doing "Riverdance"! Yes it was THAT funny!

A special treat and actual surprise for me were the murals of Ashland, WI. A quaint little town that still cherishes it's small but richly alive downtown, Ashland boasts 7 phenomenal large murals in its downtown district. They were painted by 2 women, Kelly Meredith and Susan Prentice Martinsen between 1998 and 2005. The murals depict historical scenes of the pioneers that settled the area with faces based on real people significant to the history of the town. 

The photos here were taken by me of the Aspah Whittlesey Mural depicting the founder of Ashland along with early settlers in front of the Ashland State Bank in 1892. To see the other six amazing murals go to http://www.roadtripamerica.com/murals/Wisconsin-Ashland
Take a look and you will be astounded as I was!

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