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Well, I've driven
all the way to the northwest
corner of the state,
and I'm here in
Superior, Wisconsin,
right across the river
from Duluth, Minnesota,
at the western
tip of Lake Superior.
There's a lot
to see and enjoy
for museums,
to restaurants, breweries
and so much more.
I'm staying at the borders
on the west edge of town
right off US 2.
And I'm looking forward
to seeing everything
superior has to offer.
Oh, wow. Nice.
I can move in here.
Nice king size bed.
Wow.
Plenty of space.
I could run laps in here
and get on my steps.
So I'm all checked
in here and superior.
I'm at the twin
ports, the western
tip of Lake Superior.
So, of course,
I want to see some
Great Lakes ships.
So I came down to the water
right here.
And I want to check out the
SS Meteor,
which is the world's last
remaining Whaleback ship
built in the 1890s.
Hi.
Hi, I'm Megan Meier,
executive director
for Superior Public Museums.
Eric Paulson, guy
who wants to see the
SS Meteor. Welcome aboard.
All right.
We'll head up the ramp here.
It was built right here
in Superior over on
Fraser Shipyard's.
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All right,
so we're going to head
into the pilot house.
Cool.
The best part about
being in the pilot house
is the original horn.
So do you want the honors
of... Can we? Yes, you can.
So push that button
and you'll hear it clear.
OK.
Now, pull on this
really, really hard.
There you go.
Yep.
Wow.
That is the original horn
on the SS meteor.
I want to do like
ten more times, but
I bet the whole town
doesn't want me to.
It's actually really fun
when there's
people over there.
And you scare them.
Not gonna lie.
I think a bunch of geese
just decorated the park.
Probably. Yes.
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Well, that was cool.
Yeah.
Of course, there's
more to see here in town,
and I see the Fairlawn
Mansion right over there.
Can you show that to me?
Absolutely.
Let's head over.
So
welcome to Fairlawn Mansion.
There are 42 rooms
in the home.
42?
42 rooms.
42? 42 rooms.
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I'm sorry, I've got
I've got to point out
this sign.
I know I love those signs.
Morbidly hilarious.
I love it.
So
I will not sit in
this chair.
No, I would not recommend
it.
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Next up, I'm dropping
into the Thirsty Pagan
Brewery to get a tour
and meet with the owner
of the Borders Hotel.
Eric, I'm Steve,
Thirsty Pegan owner.
Nice to have you here.
Would you like a small tour?
I would, because
I want to see where this
and all your other
beers come from.
All right. That'll be great.
I'm going to have
one of our bartenders
give me a glass
because I
got a little surprise
for you downstairs.
In the meantime,
I'm going
to grab my own beer.
Cheers. Here's to us.
Cheers.
Well, here's one of the
things that I want
to tell you about is Alison
Rolph started this program
up
probably about eight years
ago, nine years ago,
and we started with
bourbon barrels.
And then we also
started with like this.
We're all here.
This is a wine barrel.
Here's what
I want you to do.
I want you to
grab that hammer
and take that nail out.
Am I going to pull it out,
or do I need the claw?
You need the claw.
I believe you're going
to need the claw.
So have at it.
And this is one of our wild
beers.
Can you get it out?
I'm impressed.
You're stronger than you
look there, that's
pretty impressive.
OK, ready.
I want you to look
at the color of that.
And it's almost
almost penny copper.
But there's always
a cherry color in there.
Knock
that back a little bit.
But I want you to
enjoy this.
No, just a sip.
This has been in here
probably for about
six years. Really?
You want to be gentle?
Tickle it.
Definitely a
sour cherry flavor.
Mm hmm. Yep.
No cherries at all in there.
And it just literally
just dances
around your mouth.
Travis, thanks for
joining me out here today.
Thanks for inviting me.
It's a great place.
Take a look at it.
It's actually a great
view right here.
Great place.
Good scenery here.
Great beer.
Great place
for staying, too.
I mean, what
what got you to superior
and into
the hospitality biz?
You know,
I got in the
hospitality business
when I was 18 years old.
I went down
to banks and hey,
I think I can make
this work.
So one thing led
to another end up
purchasing a small little 20
room hotel in
Cameron, Wisconsin.
I grew, bought a
couple more.
grew, a couple more,
then here a opportunity
at Superior came.
I love superior,
it's a great town,
it's a beautiful place.
And here we are today.
You know, Travis,
I walked into your hotel,
which was pretty
spacious in the lobby.
I go into my room.
It's huge.
I could run laps in it.
I mean,
what kind of experience
do you want
your guest to have?
We want our guests
have a second home feeling.
We want everything to be
clean, friendly,
friendly atmosphere.
We try to be a 10 out of 10.
We want to get a
five star review.
We want the highest
review we can get.
We want to come back.
We want to hear your story
about how you enjoyed
Superior.
Yeah.
One thing I noticed in there
and the alarms are
getting smarter.
My alarm clock was
making statements
to me on the screen,
where can I get a
good burger?
The hotel recommends these
two burger
places in the area...
Yes, we got the new latest
and greatest is why
we keep doing this.
But what motivates me
is seeing this
and Angie device
who would have thought
Angie divice
you talk to your alarm
clock, tells you what to do.
If you say, hey,
Angie, tell the front desk,
I need more towels.
It sends us a message
at our front desk
that room 205 or whatever
room you're in
needs more towels.
And we send someong
in guest services down
to give you some towels.
Or say, hey, Angie, set
my wake up
alarm for 6:30 a.m.
It does that for you.
Alexis got competition.
Well,
thanks for all the info.
It's a great hotel.
I love staying there.
And I'm enjoying
these drinks
near your hotel.
Now let's enjoy some food
near your hotel.
Certainly.
Well,
thanks for having me here.
I certainly enjoyed it.
My pleasure.
Let's get some pizza.
All right.
Let's do it.
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And after a good night's
sleep at the borders,
it's up early to check out
Traviss Pancake Machine
with the push of a button.
I get the breakfast
I need for the day ahead.
So
one of the coolest
spots around Superior
is the tip of
Wisconsin point.
There's some great walking
and hiking and biking
trails out here.
A great place to come out.
And that's why I
brought my bike.
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After Wisconsin point,
I thought I'd take a
walk around downtown
and enjoy record
hunting at Globe News.
On my way to dinner,
imagine my surprise
when I found
a new Cobblestone
Main Street hotel
and Wissota Chophouse
under construction
right on Tower Avenue.
I'm here at the Anchor
Bar
and Grill, an iconic place
here in Superior.
We're at the end of Tower
Avenue at the northwest
corner of the state.
I've heard so much
about this place,
so I'm going to go in here
and eat
and drink.
This place is pretty cool
and unique inside.
In fact,
one of the big questions
is how many globes
are there in here?
It's on a menu full of fun
facts in this place.
The menu is very straight
up.
We're talking burgers,
a couple of sandwiches,
fries and chips.
It's that kind of place.
Thank you.
I know what they
specialize in burgers.
Great stay here at
the borders in Superior.
Really good location,
you got great access
to everything around town.
Loved what I saw
around town here.
This whole corner
of northwestern Wisconsin
has a lot to offer
and so does
the borders here.
I'm Eric Paulsen,
we're going to check out
another cool small
town in Wisconsin.
Join me for it.