As many of you know, along with playing great tunes here I also co-host episodes on the show "Discover Wisconsin." We get to do some fun things while exploring the state, and this weekend we hit Marinette County. With drops of over 1,100 feet from the highest to lowest points (hills in the North Woods to the waters of Green Bay in Lake Michigan) this area has a lot of waterfalls. Here I get to chase waterfalls (something the group TLC told us not to do), go whitewater rafting, kayaking, ziplining, paintballing, climbing, and more. My incredibly charming co-host in this episode, Mariah Haberman, hits winter trails, goes antiquing, and gets to drink wine and beer during the second half. It's on this weekend on FOX Sports Wisconsin at 10am Saturday morning, as well as WKOW-TV Channel 27 Saturday night at 6:30 and FOX6 in Milwaukee Sunday morning at 10. Or, since it's aired before, you can stream it right now below!
Couple of insight/insider pieces on this episode:
At 3:30, I interview Maggie the Park Ranger from Governor Thompson State Park. I'd spent the day sweating my buns off scaling a 60-foot climbing tower (which didn't make the final cut despite my climbing all the way to the top with 4 Go-Pro camera strapped to parts of my body) and then kayaking in the Peshtigo River for two and a half hours, about 15 seconds of which made it on camera around 5:15. I changed out of that wet stuff from kayaking in the parking lot - completely, including to dry skivvies - right before interviewing her. The weather actually got pretty chilly quickly - we filmed in early October - and we were racing against sunset. How my hair is in place at all floors me. And I'm glad she didn't see me in the parking lot changing between two of my car doors.
At 5:40, I (apparently wisely) chose not to do any Gimp jokes from Pulp Fiction.
At 6:28, that was actually the first time I'd gone ziplining in my life. And it was a blast! The trick was waiting for the drones flying around to be ready to capture decent footage. We basically had one shot with those. And the view - which included a look over the Menomonee River into the UP of Michigan - was beautiful.
Yeah, that tower at 7:54, that's what I climbed with 4 Go Pro's. 60 feet or so and stood at the top with massive dry mouth while drones filmed a bunch. And then it didn't make the final cut!
When I put the paint on at 7:56, that was a last minute idea of mine they went with - and we had to find makeup/paint from the awesome folks at Wildman Adventure Resort, who made it fun!
At 8:18 during paintball, I hadn't gotten tagged during our battle. Since they wanted a shot of me getting shot, I stood there while one guy shot me three times with paintballs. But he missed my protective gear and got me in the side all three times. That noise I made was actual pain, and what I said right after couldn't be aired. The welts lasted a little over a week.
The part starting at 8:33 is my favorite scene, since it was my Rodney Dangerfield moment. The whitewater rafting itself down the Menomonee River, right on the Wisconsin-Michigan border, was nothing short of awesome. True rapids, beautiful scenery, and an experiential rush. We lucked out. It was early October and the temperature was around 70; the water temp was still in the 60s. The guides, Dan and Mason, made it that much more fun.
If you love burgers and classic kitsch, you truly do need to hit Mickey-Lu Bar-B-Q in Marinette (around 9:30 in the video.) Open since 1942, they make tasty little grilled burgers, toasty buns, your first Tootsie Roll is free (subequent ones are a penny), they have a classic working jukebox with records, great malts, and no fryer - can you believe that?? It's right along U.S. 41 in Marinette. Just my recommendation.
Enjoy the episode below! It was a fun one to make. And have a great weekend!