Boating into Menasha and up the river to Appleton
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It was a windy weekend with some storms. But we made the most of it and got the pontoon out and did some river runs and had a fun Sunday at Waverly Beach. Friday night we decided to get the pontoon boat out and take a few friends. We were going to put in at Jefferson Park in Menasha. But when we got to the launch we realized the wind was a little stronger than we thought and the launch was full of some sort of weird foam. So we went back down to Paris St Launch in Menasha. This is a great little launch that is nice and deep right on the river. We got the old Mercury fired up and headed towards Lake Winnebago to see how rough it was. We made it out to the concrete channel marker on the lake and ran into about 2 - 3 ft. So we turned around and went back up the river. With a floating bar, we cracked open the cooler got out some snacks and enjoyed going back up the river towards downtown Menasha. It is a nice little run. About 1.8 miles for the Lake to the Downtown Menasha Marina. The Menasha Channel is marked very well. You just need to stay between the buoys and you won't have any issues. Break out of the buoys and you will hit rocks and be making a run to get your prop repaired. There are a number of beautiful homes to check out on your way up the channel. We ran up to the Menasha Marina and parked along the sea wall. We sat and enjoyed the sun for about 20 minutes and started talking about what to do for diner. We talked about running up to Parker Johns. But the flock of 500 seagulls came off the roof of the condos and became poop bombers. We did a quick untie and got out before we had a white poop colored boat. It was crazy! We started heading back towards the launch and were talking about where to get some food. As we drove down we talked about what was close to the water. I mentioned the Old Grog but figured we couldn't go through someone's yard to get there. As we came up the river we noticed there was a small seawall and the end of Appleton St. I have to admit we have been up the river a number of times and I have never noticed this. Anyway, we decided to pull up and see if we could tie-up. There was a nice gentleman that lives right next door. He told us it is about 4 -5 ft deep. So we pulled in and tied up and walked about 1/2 block to the Old Grog. They do not have any outdoor seating, unfortunately. So we masked up and went in to check it out. It is a fun bar & grill. It has huge exposed old beans and a cool bar back that looks to be very old. The staff was fun and took good care of us. The people that were in the bar were super friendly as well. We ordered some food. Pretzel sticks, chicken strips, chicken wrap, all were ok. I had the steak sandwich which I have had in the past. My bun was hard and the steak was overcooked and dry. I wouldn't get it again. I did see some fish fry plates come out that looked good. We headed back upriver and loaded the boat up and headed home. Saturday, we offered to take some other friends out on the boat. The weather didn't cooperate until late afternoon. We almost didn't go out. Last-minute we decided let's go jump on Little Lake Butte Des Morts and run up the river into Appleton. We loaded up the pontoon and headed to the 9th street launch. We turned on the tunes, popped the cooler open and got out some snacks and started our run down the Fox River, and enjoyed the views. Some fantastic homes along the river and we noticed one crazy green paddle boat. I was hoping to get to the locks but we got to the Memorial St bridge and there were no more marks on the water. So I backed off. With the crazy amount of current that runs into the damns in this area. I figured it was best to try this again another day. We turned around and headed back up past the Appleton Yacht Club. This is an awesome area but again you have to stay between the buoys. The river on the outside of the buoys is super shallow. We came back up to the little lake and hung out for a few hours enjoying the day. We pulled the boat and called it a day. Sunday morning our friends came back over and we headed back to the Paris St launch. We went over to Waverly Beach. It was a little rough with the wind coming out of the south. The kids had a blast with the waves and we enjoyed the band Iggy Rae Vicious playing up at the Waverly Beach bar. Overall we had a great weekend out on the Pontoon.
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