NORTHEASTERN WISCONSIN - Wisconsin - page 433

White Birch Village (8764 Hwy. K, 715/385-2182, www.whitebirchvillage.com ,
$925-1,800), east of Boulder Junction, offers clean, modest homes with decks, and some
with fireplaces—great cathedral ceilings in one. The owners have been in and around these
parts for over 50 years.
The M Guide's Inn (Hwy. M and Center St., 715/385-2233, 5pm-10pm Mon.-Sat.,
$9-23) has long been a standard for continental cuisine.
Mixed opinions have come in regarding the at-times superb Outdoorsman (Main St.,
715/385-2826, closed Mon. nights), with a Bible-sized breakfast menu, great lunches, and
some casual-fine dining in the North Woods.
For a worthy Friday fish fry in a true Wisconsin atmosphere, Pope's Gresham Lodge
(4042 Pope Rd., 715/385-2742) sits on Lower Gresham Lake and loads of taxidermy
perches about you.
You can't miss the information center (Hwy. M, 715/385-2400 or 800/466-8759,
www.boulderjct.org ) in a renovated log cabin. Besides lots of information, the center's got
a cozy living room atmosphere, so pull up a chair and peruse the brochures.
Star Lake
Check out the Star Lake Forestry Plantation on the remains of an old lumber camp. The
plantation,begunin1913,wasthefirstattemptatsilviculture innorthernWisconsin,aphe-
nomenally successful venture considering the forest is still around. Also in the area you'll
find the Star Lake-Plum Lake Hemlock Natural Area, one of the state forest's 14 state
natural and scientific areas. This one has stands of near-virgin old growth forest.
Alodge ofsome repute in Wisconsin, and excellent forits range ofeconomical to extra-
vagant lodgings, M Hintz's North Star Lodge (Hwy. K, 715/542-3600 or 800/788-5215,
www.hintznorthstar.com ) was once a grand old logging hotel, catering later to the Chicago
railroads.Thelodgeoffershousekeepingunits,villas,andtwolakehomes,bothwithwhirl-
pools. The lodge, however, is most popular for its creative Midwestern cuisine—a homey
eaterysincebeforethe20thcentury.Peak-seasonweeklyratesstartatapromising$525and
go way up to $1,500 for a historic home in Minocqua.
THE MUSKIE: WISCONSIN'S WHITE WHALE
Every year, the well-nigh-impossible pursuit of the white whale of Wisconsin, the
muskellunge (hereafter muskie), ineluctably turns the most rational of anglers into