Great Escapes 2008: Madeline Island

ON BEACH & LAND
Big Bay Beach, spanning Big Bay Town Park and Big Bay State Park, is a crescent of soft white sand with verdant dunes, fringed by fir forest. Capped by sandstone cliffs on either end, it’s perfect for beach sports, picnics, and long, solitary walks. Town Park, seven miles from town, is free; the state park charges an hourly or day fee. Both have camping facilities.

Closer to town, Joni’s Beach, less than a mile from the ferry, is smaller and busier; here kayakers set in and boats anchor near shore. Two miles farther out, past the marina, is Grant’s Point, with a small public beach facing Long Island, which is connected to Ashland, Wisconsin, by an isthmus visible when the water is low. A large sandbar, within swimming distance, hosts owls and eagles.

A hike along the cliffs of Big Bay State Park offers spectacular views of the other islands across the lake. Head back through Town Park–along the lagoon–home to birds, turtles, lily pads, and wildflowers. The Madeline Island Wilderness Preserve’s hikes and lectures address bird migration, wild flowers, the bogs, and edible and medicinal plants.

The Robert Trent Jones–designed Madeline Island Golf Club course is open to the public for a fee. Public tennis courts, right downtown, are almost always available.

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
The arts and humanities are alive and well. Madeline Island Music Camp presents chamber music concerts early in the season. The new Madeline Island School of the Arts, located in a big red barn outside of town, offers classes in photography, watercolor, and fiber arts. The LaPointe Center Art Guild and Gallery shows local artists with special openings.

Beyond its well-stocked stacks, the Madeline Island Public Library hosts lectures, films, discussions, talent shows, children’s story hour, and community gigs. Social, political, and spiritual matters are addressed by speakers at St. John’s Church.

The best entertainment, though, is just outside Bayfield. Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua is the huge blue tent at the base of Mount Ashwabay ski area. This year’s headliners include Willie Nelson and Greg Brown; throughout the summer, Big Top’s Lost Nation String Band presents variety shows based on area history (Keeper of the Light; Riding the Wind). To get to the tent, catch the shuttle bus from the ferry.

In town, Tom’s Burned Down Café, to some an eyesore, to others, a landmark–its roof razed by an arson fire a decade back–hosts bands under its canvas top. Political slogans and tie-dye-era poetry bedeck the walls. Still, “something is happening here.”

HISTORY
Start with the Madeline Island Museum–housed in the only remaining American Fur Company building–which includes an old barn, village jail, and sailor’s home. It’s loaded with artifacts of native Ojibway, voyageurs, trappers, fur traders, missionaries, lighthouse keepers, and summer folk.

Lakeview School (circa 1905), just up the road, is an interpretive site near the library (1872). The Indian Burial Ground, past the marina, is easy to miss. Some 2,000 to 4,000 Ojibway lived here before the voyageurs arrived in the 1600s and their story of ravage and displacement is recounted in the museum.

Enjoy the island’s scenic trails

Take the self-guided walking tour, available right at the ferry office, or the Madeline Island Bus Tour, a two-hour narrated ride round the island’s beautiful beaches, sandstone formations, scenic trails, and historic landmarks. Tour guides are conversant in history and ecology, the nature of the lake, ghost stories, shipwreck tales, and terrific gossip about island characters, dead and alive.

FOOD & DRINK
Lotta’s is an island bistro serving nice wines and local fare–whitefish, walleye, game, vegetables, and berries in season. White-tablecloth casual, big-city prices, reservations are suggested in high season. The Pub draws yachtsmen and sailors who tie up to the marina next door–the steak and martini set. The Beach Club, right off the ferry dock, has the best views and the best fried whitefish sandwiches around. Just across the street, Grandpa Tony’s offers pizza, subs, and ice cream. Behind that, The Bell Street Tavern, a cavernous dining space and busy bar with pretty good food (fish and steaks), is the most reasonable in town. Its real draw is the bar with TVs that get all sporting events, from German soccer matches to NCAA lacrosse. Buy a beer, and you can watch them here. Mission Hill Coffee House serves lattes, breakfast treats, and sandwiches and soups, plus gourmet gifts and wine are sold at its shop next door.

Provisions are pricey, and those staying a week or more stock up on the mainland. Seeking local organic vegetables? Check out the farmers’ market, right behind Maggies, on Saturdays or North Wind Organic Farm, both in Bayfield. Last year, an organic farmer set up a stand near the ferry on Thursday mornings (most of the time). Bets are he’ll return again this year. At either of the two groceries in town–Island Store and Lori’s Store–you can find most staples: alcoholic beverages, picnic supplies, breakfast fare, and the rest, as well as smoked meat and fish. Island carries fresh meat (cut to order) and deli fare, plus house-cooked barbecue ribs and rotisserie chicken. Heads up: If you want The New York Times, place an order here a week ahead.