Northwoods tourism opens: Expect caution, changes
Some businesses to stay closed or to open slowly
SAXON HARBOR - Early this year, it looked like normalcy might return for Grace and Bill Hines, longtime owners of Harbor Lights, a rustic bar and grill perched on the south shore of Lake Superior.
Harbor Lights overlooks Saxon Harbor, a secluded marina about midway between Hurley and Ashland. Most of the time, the marina is quiet and beautiful. But in the evening of July 11, 2016, a storm descended on Wisconsin’s Northwoods. Within hours, 11 to 14 inches of rain had fallen, and tons of water rushed down the hills into the harbor. The massive flood destroyed the harbor and the campground and everything else along the shore.
Harbor Lights was spared; it was far enough up the hill. But most of the Hines’ income depended on the
boaters and campers and visitors who used the campground, marina and other facilities. Rebuilding hasn’t gone quickly. Last summer, boats could launch from the area. A week and a half ago, the marina opened and slips are now available for boat owners. Work continues on the campground and its facilities, but it should be open later this summer.
“After four years everything should have been great,” Grace said. “But then we got the virus and shut us back down.”
Bill and Grace are fine and healthy. When she said “we,” she meant humanity. And she said it about a week before the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Gov. Tony Evers Safer At Home restrictions allowing businesses such as Harbor Lights to open.
Business groups and tourism experts across Wisconsin’s Northwoods say most businesses will be open for Memorial Day weekend and the weeks afterward, and they expect the summer tourism season to be busy.
“Things are opening up slowly. Everyone is being very cautious,” said David Eades, the executive director of the Bayfield Chamber & Visitor Bureau. “It’s a fine balance, we just hope everyone understands it. We want you to come up here, but we want to be safe and strategic.”
It’s not going to be business as usual, and Grace Hines said she’s not exactly sure what she and Bill will do with Harbor Lights.
Valuing health and safety
Harbor Lights won’t be open on Memorial Day weekend. Bill and Grace Hines are in their late 70s, and they want to be particularly prudent about how they open. They are finishing up projects that aren’t specifically linked to coronavirus, but the disease also weighs heavily in their decision.
The restaurant portion of their business will be completely closed for the foreseeable future. The bar, too, is closed, but Grace said they may serve boaters drinks on a limited basis.
Grace is a talker, and the bar is a social place, almost a clubhouse for the boaters and anglers and Lake Superior lovers. She can’t imagine that atmosphere in a time when social distancing is key to keeping everyone healthy.
“If I have to tend bar with a mask on, I’m not going to tend bar. I can’t imagine going into some place and being served like that,” she said. “I’m just not comfortable with opening yet.”
Other businesses are equally cautious. The Delta Diner, located in the tiny town of Delta north of Drummond in Bayfield County, started offering curbside food service in early May. It continues to bring food out to customers’ cars, but the owners decided not to fully open even after the Supreme Court allowed it to.
“We as a business value the health and safety of our employees, customers, and their loved ones more than our strong desire to fully reopen,” co-owner Todd Bucher wrote on the diner’s website.
For many folks streaming north on State 51, a stop at Paul Bunyan’s Cook Shanty is tradition. But the sit-down, lumberjack-style restaurant isn’t open and won’t be any time soon, said owner Mike Tonne. He wants to make sure that his customers and staff will be safe before that happens.
But the business’s bakery is open, and so is the gift shop.
‘Just the right tonic’
For those that love it, the Wisconsin Northwoods provides a respite from everyday life. There is something about the sounds of wind blowing through the trees, waves washing up on shore and birds singing that calms the soul and makes one feel as if everything is going to be all right.
COVID-19 won’t change that, at least judging from the number of people who have been calling northern chambers of commerce and visitors bureaus.
“I think it’s going to be just the right tonic for a lot of folks, physically and mentally. And let’s face it, we all need that right now,” said Chris Ruckdaschel, the executive director of the Hayward Area Chamber of Commerce.
“This feels safe and at home for a lot of folks,” said Krystal Westfahl, the executive director of Let’s Minocqua Visitors Bureau + Chamber of Commerce. “And I think that will continue to be the case.”
Like many business groups, Let’s Minocqua is recommending that shops, restaurants and hotels use guidance provided by the Wisconsin Economic
Development Corporation in order to safely open their doors and help quell the pandemic.
How far along individual businesses are in that process is a “mixed bag,” Westfahl said.
“The thing we are telling our visitors is this is really the age of personal responsibility, and you need to prepare yourself for that. Keep 6-foot distancing. Bring face covering. Adhere to the hand washing guidelines,” she said.
Westfahl recommends overnight visitors call the managers and owners of hotels, resorts and rental properties to learn what precautions have been put in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“Reach out to the business and talk through your concerns,” she said. “And make sure you bring the things you need. Will they have the pillow changed out for every guest? Or will you want to bring your own pillow? Will you want to bring your own Lysol? Because we have so many different guidelines that people are following and what they are requiring.”
Westfahl said return visitors likely will need to recalibrate their expectations of stores, restaurants and hotels. Som business owners will be short staffed because, typically, Northern tourist areas rely heavily on foreign workers who won’t be coming to the area this year.
It may take longer to get food in a restaurant, for example. Or a store may ask customers to wait outside to ensure that everyone can keep 6 feet away from each other.
“We’re trying to be clever and create experiences so people can go shopping, go to the local pub, and feel good about it,” Westfahl said. “I hope that people, when they are traveling, will also bring a little sense of calm and patience.”
‘Life goes on, and you just muck along’
“We have really good indications that folks are going to be coming to the Northwoods, particularly as we get further into the summer,” said Ruckdaschel of the Hayward Area Chamber of Commerce
What remains to be seen, however, is whether people will be spending money at levels they have in the past, and if that spending will be enough to keep businesses afloat.
“We certainly are hoping very strongly for a nice (economic) rebound,” Ruckdaschel said. “We think people are going to be here, but what their spending habits going to be?”
Adding to the difficulty is the fact that major Hayward events, such as the 71st Annual Musky Festival, the Honor the Earth Pow Wow and the Lumberjack World Championships, have been cancelled or postponed.
“But we have so many other things, such as lakes, cabins, getting out in the woods and shopping on our unique Main Street. Those good things are still available,” Ruckdascel said.”(It’s) going to be tough for a while. But we have a lot of resilient businesses and people here.”
Of note: The Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame plans to open its grounds, office and museum on June 4.
Grace and Bill Hines certainly are among those resilient Northwoods people. Even without COVID-19, they would be assessing their next steps as it relates to the Harbor Lights.
The Hineses have been a part of Saxon Harbor for nearly 50 years, but it might be time they move on, Grace Hines said.
“We’re not going to retire, I’ll tell you that,” she said.
Maybe she and Bill will sell the property and move somewhere warm,she said, where he can putter around like he does and where she could maybe write a book.
“We’re rethinking a lot of things,” Grace Hines said. “We’ve been thinking of several ways of what we’re going to do with this place. Maybe it’s going to change forever. And I think it is. I think everybody’s lives have changed forever. ... Life goes on, and you just muck along with what you can do, I guess.”