Do You Know What A Fish Boil Is?

My Labor Day weekend vacation consisted of, first of all, traveling to Carlton, Minn., population 859, to help out my son and daughter-in-law who had just moved there. They needed some help getting things into their house yet. Carlton is just south of Duluth off Interstate 35 and Minnesota Highway 210.

Then with daughter-in-law in tow, my son was meeting us on Friday, we headed to the even smaller town of Port Wing, Wis. It's about an hour from Duluth on Lake Superior. Every year this town, population 164, grows tremendously during Labor Day weekend for something they call Fish Boil and a fall festival.

The fish boil is made up of large pots containing Lake Superior whitefish, potatoes and onions, and they serve that up with some coleslaw, bread and your favorite beverage. According to Wikipedia, many credit Scandinavian immigrants for bringing the fish boil to Door County. Fish boils were originally used to feed large crowds of lumberjacks and fishermen. It was a quick, economic way to feed large groups of people. As the area grew as a tourist destination, it became a popular attraction at local restaurants.

My family participates in selling t-shirts and mugs, drinking beer, running in a 5k and 10k event on Sunday, directing traffic for said event, helping sell brats, hot dogs and corn and drinking beer. It's amazing we call all be under the same roof for 4.5 days and not kill each other. But it's a lot of fun.