Often described as a "a quaint little drinking town with a sailing problem," Bayfield, Wisconsin is the gateway to the Apostle Islands - 22 green gems scattered in the deep blue waters of Lake Superior. Most of the islands are protected as part of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore or the new Gaylord Nelson Wilderness. They are a haven for kayakers and sailors. We spend a lot of time on the water when we're there. See Our Kayaking Adventures for reports of our paddling trips. With its clapboard houses and busy marina Bayfield itself feels much more like an old New England costal village than a rural Wisconsin town. The city has done an incredible job of preserving its past and maintaining its charm while still catering to the tourist trade. It is not an amusement park. There's no put-put golf or water slides here. It's a real town that knows exactly what a natural wonder it has in its backyard, and it is willing to share that wonder with the rest of us if we ask nice. |
 Our favorite image of Bayfield - these chairs at the end of Seagull Bay have the best view you could ask for. |
 Gelina having a serene moment on the city dock. |
Another gorgeous day in Bayfield. The view from Seagull Bay Motel. Madeline Island is in the distance. |
Same view 12 hours later. The white band is the the leading edge of a a cold front that was passing over. |
 Bayfield still has a commercial fishing business. These are the Bodin docks. |
 This is where old herring boats go to die. |
 The Madeline Island Ferry dock in Bayfield. This is taken in infrared. See Dave's Geek Stuff for details. |
 The ferry headed to Madeline Island. We often take day trips over to tour the island, do some kayaking, or have a few beers at Tom's Burned Down Cafe. |
 Part of the old seawall that protects the ferry landing. |
 A sailboat paces the ferry on our trip across. |
 View of the Bayfield peninsula from the ferry deck. |
 The reflection in the water look like Kanji script. |
 The beach house bar on Madeline. |
 The beach at Big Bay. |
 The beach runs from the country park to the state park. |
 This lagoon was created when a barrier beach formed across part of Big Bay. |
 The beach at Big Bay county park. |
 The same beach taken by visible light. The beach takes up the southeast side of the Madeline Island. |
Here's Gelina next to a huge tree that grows right out of a cliff on the edge of the island. |
 The lagoon has a big pine barren with a great hiking trail. |
After Tom's Bar in LaPointe burned down, they just replaced it with a big tent and a 40-foot truck full of beer. |
 Gelina on Tom's sundeck. The bar is open most days from sometime in the afternoon until whenever at night. |
 The bar at Tom's. "Let's make getting in trouble fun again." |
Tom's central heating system. |
Tom's offers showers. You gotta love that in a bar. |
The bar offers imaginary bus trip to the Mall of America. |
One of the many signs in and around Tom's. |
 The yard around Tom's was filled with junk, when the city complained, they turned it into art. Now they host the annual Sculptors Wrestle Steel exhibition. This is the Bongo Man sculpture. |
 A car that had been recovered from the lake after someone spend to much time at Tom's. |
 Dad and our Jeep on the ferry headed back to Bayfield. |
Back on the mainland, Cornucopia is an old fishing village with a lot of the original buildings still intact. |
One of the old building is now a solar energy shop and has this sun over its doorway. |
The Zeeto is a 54-foot schooner that has been restored by the Apostle Islands Cruise Service and sails out of Bayfield. |
 This monument to sailors in the Bayfield marina. It's made from pieces of recovered shipwrecks and stones quarried from the islands. |
Dave takes the helm of the Zeeto while Niles and Carol hang out in the shade.. |
The Zeeto safely docked. |