Kenosha, WI

    Willie Dawes spent two full weeks in Kenosha at the very quiet Simmons Island Marina.  Kenosha was the birthplace and headquarters of American Motors, Simmons mattresses, several Brass foundries, LeBlanc musical instrument manufacturing, and Jockey clothing.  So much industrial history!  Now only Jockey remains - headquarters only, as the clothing is manufactured elsewhere.  It’s a vibrant small city, and most of the downtown area still features the beautiful Roman, Victorian, and neo-classical architecture. Kenosha also has the oldest working velodrome (short track bicycle racing) in the US.  

         It is the city where I was born. I lived here until I was nearly seven.  (I remember seeing bicycle races on Tuesday nights in the summer.)  My paternal grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great grandparents lived here, as did many aunts, uncles, and cousins.  The remaining clan (is it a clan if you’re German?) has scattered, but there are a few distant cousins still here.  My sister Terry came down from Milwaukee to drive us around to gawk at the homes where we had lived, and the one where our grandparents had lived.  

Dan and I thoroughly enjoyed the Kenosha Historical Museum, with its exhibits on the motor car industry.  My maternal grandparents - who lived west of the city - both worked for AMC.  The blocks-long factory buildings have all been raised now, and there are plans to build condos and a charter school on that land, but the area surrounding it still contains the many bars and pool halls that once catered to the three shifts of workers.  

Dan left for Maine on Friday (Oct 13) and I was alone for the following week.  I explored the cemetery where my ancestors are buried, stumbled upon the church they belonged to (and where their funerals were), visited the Dinosaur Museum and the Kenosha Public Museum, and visited all the shops of the downtown, and even took the bus a couple times to outlying shops.  My brother John came down to spend a day with me and Terry visited me three more times.  During one of those trips she and I did a little research on our grandfather Barney.  He was the city’s Finance Manager for many years, and one year was also the acting City Manager.  

        We were a little puzzled by childhood memories of a large ravine behind our grandparents’ house - what happened to it?  As we stood on the sidewalk outside that house, we could see nothing but a beautiful landscaped park behind it, through which bike trails ran.  We know things look different when you’re an adult - property is smaller, playground equipment is not as high as you think, eg - but there was definitely a deep ravine behind the house.  Our cousin Jean in New York confirmed this.  It was not a public park back in the 1960s!  Through some sleuthing at the Historical Museum, we discovered that Pike Creek (which is English for the native American ‘Kenosha’) meandered from the harbor on Lake Michigan through the downtown area and to the north.  Due to all the industry on its shores it was a toxic dump and public health hazard.  Plans began in the 1950s to channel the water underground and fill in its banks.  The area behind our grandfather’s house was the last segment of the creek to be dealt with.  The town first treated it as a big dump for appliances and other large objects and then eventually filled it in.  The public park opened in the early 2000s.  Mystery solved!  

We met some very nice people during our stay in Kenosha and I was very happy to have spent so much time going down memory lane with my sister.  

Dan came home yesterday (Sat, Oct 21) and this morning, we untied the lines and headed south toward Chicago.  The wind and waves weren’t conducive for us cruising the entire thirty miles to Chicago harbor, so we only went over the border to North Point Marina in Winthrop Harbor, Illinois.  It’s a huge marina, and must be jumping with activities in the summer time, but it’s very quiet this time of year and we are the only liveaboards on our entire dock.  The marina is surrounded by a nature park and is about a twenty minute walk from town.  We’ll go check that out tomorrow.  

Tommie is very happy to have Dan back on the boat!   Dan will write a separate blog about his time in Maine.