Many of the roads out there had their names changed since I left. The road my mother lives on was Devil's Head Road at one time. That road you mentioned, that's the original name. If you're going down the Longbranch hwy from Home, and you take the second left, there's a Church on the left side just before you go down the hill. At one time, it caught fire and burnt to the ground. The community came together and rebuit it with donated material. Just before you go down the hill just after the church, look up. There's a mailbox about 15 feet up. It's for that's land owner's airmail. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif They're my mother's best friend. The grandmother was one of the original citizens in the area. She was born there, died there, and never went past Purdy. At the bottom of the hill, if you take a left, that marina was one of the original stops for the steamboat that delivered mail and groceries before Galloping Gurty was built. So was Home, the Longbranch Mercintile, and one other place on the other side of the penninsula. I was told by the steamboat captain's brother that the boat had a problem with the pressure release valve. The captain(spelled "operator/crew/captain") would have to hit it with a hammer to get it to release. One day, it wouldn't release so they jumped off in the middle of the Sound. Immidiately after they jumped, the valve released and the boat kept going westward. Because it was a paddelwheeler, it kept going into the flats until it dug in.
Down your road, Corwell, when you get to the stopsign, the road ahead used to go all the way through, but no-one used it until the trees overgrew the road. That was the only way out of the penninsula without going through Home. Home is the checkpoint that the police uses when the prisoners escape from McNeil Island. Usually, the locals know if a hitchhiker is a local or not. If not, they take them to the bar in Keycenter for drinks until the cops come.
Also on your road, there used to be a family of little people. Last name of Rusell. Good folks! They used to have a red three wheeled tractor that they used to putter around their farm with. (there! there's something about tractors in this thread! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif )
There used to be a civil war between Longbranch and Home that was held about where the Home bridge is. It was called the Whiskey war because there was several whiskey running and still places out in Longbranch. It was mostly throwing of bottles and siccing dogs on each other. It was called off when someone brought a shotgun to the fracus.
Speaking of whiskey, if you go down the Longbranch hwy until you come to the Longbranch cemetary, take a left right after it. There's an old house there that used to be the old post office barge. They pulled it up on shore and turned it into a house after they stopped making whiskey there. Yep! The post office used to run whiskey! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif If you were to drive past the cemetary, there's an intersection that goes up and right. At that intersection is where I built the walls. Last time I was there, the owner was having several more walls built. Follow that road to the right to the end. At the end, there's a road that someone turned into a housing development. Down there used to be another place where a still was set up and whiskey was sent off by boat. It's known as Whskey beach.
There's several boat ramps in the area. One at Home, another at the Baylake marina, another at what used to be Kennedy park, but the state renamed it "Joemma rec area". There's another one out in Longbranch. That's the one where I discovered Toyotas don't float, but they will skip if you're doing 75 mph. It was dark and I thought I had one more hill to go over. It must not been too rough a ride because my friends in the back seat replied with opening another bottle of beer. It wasn't until their pants got wet that they decided to ask if the tide came in and climb on top of the car. As a teen, I wasn't too concerned; It was my brother's car and it started after we got it pulled out. I rinsed it out in the lake to prevent the salt water eating away at the metal. The next morning, my brother accused me of leaving the windows open because the inerior was wet. I accused him if spilling beer in my Camaro (I don't drink and he KNOWS how I feel about the smell!).
There's all sorts of storied about the area. Most are true. Like the nudist colony was true. It's long gone now, but it's a true tale. Oh! If you're fixing to bury anyone, the most inexpensive cemetary in the nation is down the road from Penrose. It's a Lutheran cemetary. My father is buried there. If I remember correctly, it was about $30 or $50 for the family plot. You have to maintain the plot yourself. Once in a while, someone will come through with a brushhog and cut things down. It seems those who can, take turns. Those who can't, don't have to worry. If you're interested in getting a plot ahead of time, let me know and I'll let you know who to contact. He's getting up in age, so you may want to jump on it asap.
