Update: I90 and US2 both now open both ways. Still non-ideal conditions but passable. (3/11 @ 10PM)

Stevens Pass is closed both directions just west of Leavenworth. Sadly, this isn't reflected in the official website (which shows all clear). You have to look at the road cams or see the updates on X.
Disappointing to see such critical info only on the X place.

#WADOT #US2 #WAwx

日本が世界に誇る高性能飛行艇「US-2」の1/144スケールプラモデルがアオシマより登場！展示台座付きで飛行／駐機状態を選択可能!!
https://hobby.dengeki.com/news/2606957/

#hobby_dengeki #スケール #プラモデル #航空機 #青島文化教材社 #海上自衛隊 #救難飛行艇 #US2 #水陸両用機

The Sheriff’s House Museum & Historic Site: A Hidden Gem in Devils Lake, North Dakota

The small city of Devils Lake, North Dakota, may be best known for its outdoor adventures. Indeed, some call the lake the perch capital of the world! However, a visit to the city’s Sheriff’s House Museum shows there’s a lot more to this area.

What’s in the Sheriff’s House Museum?

The Sheriff’s House Museum is the original home lived in by all of the Ramsey County Sheriffs from 1910 to 1982. That includes 15 law enforcement officers and their families. Photos of each one cover the wall going up the beautiful wood staircase to the second floor.

Added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978, the historic property is owned and managed by Ramsey County.

The two-story house, attic, and raised basement of rock-faced ashlar limestone blocks are original. However, the furnishings are a collection from the communities served.

Originally, the house had an adjoining two-story cellblock. It consisted of eight cells for men, two women’s cells (with bathroom), cell for the insane, and a cell for juveniles.

So, the sheriff was also responsible for the prison as well as law enforcement! Unfortunately, the jail cell building was demolished in 1974.

As you’d expect in a home designed to welcome the public, there are double parlors on the main floor, plus a sitting room, dining room, pantry and kitchen. Beautiful brick mantelpieces are over the fireplaces in both parlors.

The home has five bedrooms on the second floor. One even has a laundry chute to the basement! As well as bedrooms, there’s also a bathroom with its original pieces, and a beautiful built-in linen cabinet.

Linda’s Pick of the Displays

The Sheriff’s House is an amazing stop if you love old houses like I do. While the parlors were beautiful, I still have to say I found the bedroom set up as a lady’s room the most fascinating.

It featured period dress, including a glass case display of ladies undergarments. The fine fabrics and delicate patterns were quite amazing.

And of course, there was a closet full of various garments and a trunk. I loved the variety of hats, lace-up leather boots, and purses.

The room also featured a quilt made by community members. It showcased many of the historic properties in Devil’s Lake.

Linda’s Road Trip Tips

We spent a couple of nights in Devils Lake, so had lots of time to soak up its history.

The Downtown Devils Lake National Historic District has 47 properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places. You can almost imagine horses and buggies pulled up in front of the brick buildings instead of cars!

This Commercial District takes the shape of a triangle. Historically, commerce centered around Fourth Street and Fourth Avenue. As the rail lines grew, so did the city and its commerce area.

One of our favorite downtown stops was at Black Paws Brewing Company craft brewery. Indeed, David declared their No Joke Blonde Ale was the best beer he’s ever tasted!

The brewery is situated in an historic building dating to 1935.

Owner, Jeb Oehlke, has kept the rustic history by using as many reclaimed materials as possible.

Our first night’s dinner we ate at Mr. J’s and Mrs J’s Restaurant. Prices were excellent, as was the service. While we wouldn’t order the pot roast dinner again (the seasoning was a little different for us), the meat was tender and the gravy hot.

You can also visit the Lake Region Heritage Museum in Devils Lake and Fort Toten Historic Park, 13 miles from the city. We enjoyed them both.

Station No. 1 on the Outlaw Trail: Old West Outlaws

https://www.amazon.com/Station-No-Outlaw-Trail-Outlaws-ebook/dp/B08G6J9V7W?pd_rd_w=OyVdQ&content-id=amzn1.sym.081392b0-c07f-4fc2-8965-84d15d431f0d&pf_rd_p=081392b0-c07f-4fc2-8965-84d15d431f0d&pf_rd_r=722328Y76ZQ717BN5YYV&pd_rd_wg=aPO2M&pd_rd_r=b48f9a1f-927a-4e65-8670-2b4082585c60&pd_rd_i=B08G6J9V7W&psc=1&linkCode=ll1&tag=snowmaga-20&linkId=f67d95ec46424f68fd2f70cf82f5e019&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

Badlands and Outlaws

Kidnapped by Outlaws (Sequel to Badlands and Outlaws)

https://www.amazon.com/Kidnapped-Outlaws-Old-West-Book-ebook/dp/B00OADBFKW?crid=31XORBCADL2ZO&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.Nk7aWaXVlsbODSHzhcgNGr0Gfqz0HyLSrsvDymhxzqjGjHj071QN20LucGBJIEps.6ySDjTxE_BWAXUPXubbSMOhsnjgX_Eqp6WimLnjvKrw&dib_tag=se&keywords=AKSOMITIS&qid=1726088282&s=digital-text&sprefix=aksomitis%2Cdigital-text%2C129&sr=1-1&linkCode=ll1&tag=snowmaga-20&linkId=45623d051ca1f88dea77456687cef5fa&language=en_US&ref_=as_li_ss_tl

Who Should Visit the Sheriff’s House Museum?

The Sheriff’s House Museum provides insights into the demands that must have been made of law enforcement back in the day. As important members of the community, sheriffs had a lot of responsibilities in those days.

We spent about forty-five minutes on our tour. However, for locals or those who know the former sheriffs’ families, more time might be needed.

While there’s one whole bedroom set up with children’s toys, the museum likely would only appeal to some families. Older kids would likely find it interesting to have a tour guide to answer their questions.

However, as you’d expect in an historic house that has a National Historic designation, there aren’t any interactives to distract the young and restless.

In order to keep the historic property original, there aren’t any ramps to enter the building or elevators to the second floor.

How Do You Visit the Sheriffs House Museum?

Devils Lake is on U.S. Route 2, which runs 2,571 miles (4,138 km) across the Northern U.S., just below the International border with Canada.

The Sheriff’s House Museum is located in Devils Lake, North Dakota, at 416 Sixth St. NE.

The museum is open seasonally with admission by donation.

Check The Sheriff’s House listing on the Devil’s Lake website for days and hours open, and contact information.

Visit The Sheriff’s House Museum’s Facebook page.

Plan your visit to Devils Lake with Google Maps.

Find More Museums in North Dakota

Check out more museum reviews for museum attractions in North Dakota on guide2museums.com.

Explore More Historic House Museums

• Historic Home of 1800s Governor in Lafayette, LA: Alexandre Mouton

• Adams Museum in Deadwood: Where Legends are Larger Than Life

• Bishop’s Palace in Galveston, Texas: Victorian Era Castle

• Rip Van Winkle Gardens & Historic Mansion: Jefferson Island, Louisiana

• The Sheriff’s House Museum & Historic Site: A Hidden Gem in Devils Lake, North Dakota

• Campbell House Museum – 1820s Toronto, Ontario

• Hearst Castle: National Historic Landmark in San Simeon, California

• Oak Alley Plantation: Grand Dame of Louisiana’s River Road

• Evergreen Plantation: National Landmark Site in Edgard, Louisiana

• Casa Loma: Historic 98 Room House Museum in Toronto, Ontario

Reference(s)

United States Department of the Interior. (1978). National Register of Historic Places Inventory–Nomination Form. https://npgallery.nps.gov/GetAsset/3c072d1a-6bb6-4a3a-b7f9-2ddcc220829c

United States Department of the Interior. (1989). National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Devil’s Lake Commercial District. https://www.dvlnd.com/media/userfiles/subsite_207/files/Incentives/National-Register-of-Historic-Places-Devils-Lake-Commercial-District(1).pdf

#history #lawEnforcement #lifestyles #museums #NorthDakota #travel #US #US2

Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum: Naubinway, Michigan

The Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum is situated in the village of Naubinway, the northernmost community on the Upper Peninsula’s Lake Michigan shoreline. With an active snowmobiling community and close to 200 snowmobiles on display, it’s a great year-round attraction for travelers.

What’s in the Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum?

The Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum has a collection of around 200 machines. Time-wise, the collection spans the period from the first car-track conversion snow machines of the early 1900s, through to the early 2000s. But that’s not all!

The museum’s collection also includes lots of memorabilia, gear, signs, owners manuals, and more.

One of the great things about this snowmobile museum attraction is the signage.

There’s lots of information on the history of the brands and the specific sleds on the floor. The volunteers who’ve put this together have shared magazine and newspaper clippings, details on ownership where available, and historical insights.

There are, of course, a number of sleds from the history of today’s brands: Ski-Doo, Arctic Cat, Polaris, and Yamaha, in the collection. However, they’ve also got lots of snow machines manufactured by companies that have long since hung up their skis.

Some of them include:

• Home made snow machines like the 1936 Westendorf built by local machinist, Fred Westendorf, to go ice fishing
• 1969 Snow Ghia first produced by Ghia Industries, Torino, Italy, with a move to US New Jersey Headquarters in 1968, with a low profile for better vision and tracking
• 1969 Wheel Horse from the Wheel Horse, Inc. company in South Bend, Indiana, which offered riders the choice of an electric start or dash mounted recoil
• 1971 Big Boss manufactured in Ovid, MI, for the 1970-71 season, however 20 were built but only 8 sold, and the rest destroyed as part of bankruptcy proceedings
• 1973 Polar Bear, originally produced one machine at a time and only sold in Connecticut

Linda’s Pick of the Displays

Of course, I’ve been snowmobiling for … well not quite since the beginning of the industry, but close, so I have a lot of favorites. However, my pick here was the 1968 Sno-Bunny manufactured by the Jac-Trac Company of Marshfield, WI, for distribution through the midwest and by J.C. Penney.

I love the name — snobunny or snow bunny. The history of the term goes back to the 1950s as a slang term for a novice skier or snowmobiler (usually female). Also, of course, it’s been a slang word used to describe an attractive woman since the 1700s.

While I don’t know how much weight the manufacturer meant to put into the name it picked, advertisements of the time did describe it as one of the lightest, quickest machines on the market. And that’s exactly what we ladies wanted!

Linda’s Road Trip Tips

Most of this trip we spent on U.S. Route #2, which goes from coast to coast just below the Canadian border. So, we headed to Escanaba, a port city on Lake Michigan around 100 miles away from Naubinway.

We stayed at the Hiawatha Motel, which provided a comfortable night for a good price. Our favorite part of Escanaba, however, was Hudson’s Classic Grill where we went for dinner. I especially enjoyed the pumpkin pie and whipped cream!

Who Should Visit the Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum?

The Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum is a must see for anyone interested in winter sports, especially its history. Many of the snowmobiles in the museum were mainly used in Michigan’s UP and down the east coast, so for westerners, there are lots of different models to check out.

The museum is open year round, so you can get your “snowmobile fix” in August if you like, as we did!

How Long Does It Take To Visit The Museum?

Going through the museum can take half a day if you’re reading all the information cards! It’s also a fun way to introduce young snowmobilers or non-snowmobilers to the sport, so is great for all ages.

How Do You Visit the Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum?

The Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum is located at W11660 US-2 Naubinway, Michigan.

Visit the museum at its website for a virtual tour, admission costs, and upcoming snowmobile events: 

Follow the Top of the Lake Snowmobile Museum Facebook page to keep up to date on all the happenings.

Take a virtual tour with YouTube and the excellent video, Tour a collection of RARE and Vintage Snowmobiles with an Expert Guide.

Plan your visit with Google Maps!

Discover More Snowmobile Museums

• Miracle of America Museum: 40+ Buildings in Polson, Montana

• Vilas Historical Museum: Snowmobiles to Paul Bunyan in a Wisconsin Museum

• World Snowmobile Headquarters Museum: Eagle River, Wisconsin

• Polaris Experience Center: Polaris Snowmobile Museum in Roseau, Minnesota

• Museum of Ingenuity: Ski-Doo Snowmobile Museum in Valcourt, Quebec

#2 #history #Michigan #museums #snowmobiles #travel #US #US2