Door County Wisconsin

During the second weekend of September we met up again with my mom to fit in one more adventure with her before our sabbatical ended. We again let her choose somewhere she had been wanting to go, and she picked Door County Wisconsin. Katie and I too had heard great things from friends and family alike about that area, so it was an easy sell to us. We were not disappointed!

Door County Explorers

Day 1

Our first day was pretty low key because a good chunk of it was spent in a car. Katie and I drove in from Michigan. My mom drove in from the Quad Cities. Katie and I arrived first so we made a run to the grocery store in Sturgeon Bay before heading to our place for the weekend. 

We again found a place through Airbnb, and we once again lucked out with a great place. It was a nice little cabin on the Idlewild Peninsula which dipped into the Sturgeon Bay. I think most people that visit Door County stay further north or at least in Sturgeon Bay the city, but this place worked out perfect for us. It had two bedrooms, a nice living room where we sat and played games/listened to old records, and cute kitchen where we were able to make dinner our first night. 

We could see the Sherwood Point Lighthouse from our place

Our cute abode for the long weekend

The nicely decorated kitchen

Our bedroom was very patriotically decorated 

It was tempting to just call it an early night given the long drives we all had, but we decided to at least explore a little bit. So we drove over to Sturgeon Bay and checked out their downtown shops. The highlight of the area for me was the artistic benches placed along the streets.

Mom sampling a very wide selection of olive oils and balsamic vinegars 

All the dressings looked so tasty

These made me think of Katie for some reason

A bench made out of sewing machine parts 

Katie and mom by another colorful artistic bench

Exploring the tip of the Idlewild peninsula where we were staying 

Ending the night with dinner paired with our favorite Wisconsin beer

Day 2

After an extensive guide and map studying session the night before, we decided that for our first full day out we would drive up the west side of the Door County peninsula. We drove along Bay Shore Drive up to Egg Harbor and then made our way to Fish Creek, Sister Bay, Elison Bay, and even all the way to end of the line at Northport. It started out as a pretty stormy day, but there were a lot of shops along this route that we wanted to check out that would also double as cover from the rain. 

One of the main things we wanted to check out was a pottery place where a friend of the family had some of his work on display. My mom had hoped there was a chance we could run into him as well, but that didn't work out. But we did get to see his pottery as well as several other artists' work as well. It really put to shame the pottery Katie and I created with some friends earlier this year.

Off the Wheel Pottery

The gallery was just as lovely as the art it was displaying

Our family friend's work

More of his work

The outside of one of the galleries

We then moved onto more shops. There were lots of clothes, toys, and other touristy things. But about half or more of the places were selling at least some form of canned or jarred food like jams and salsa. So we were pretty much able to sample our way up the coast. It was like heaven for me.

Wood Orchard Market, a pretty popular place to stop

So many samples!

The outside of Orchard Country Winery

Katie and I enjoying our free wine samples

Another must stop for my mom was finding another friend of the family's shop here at the Top of the Hill shops

We found their shop which was called What Next?

Katie and I goofed around outside while my mom explored the other shops in the area

We grabbed a late lunch/early dinner in Sister Bay at the famous Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant. We picked eating there because we had heard that they keep goats on their grass roof, but it was too stormy that day for them to be up and out. But the food was still good and fun to try.

Our Swedish cuisine

Katie braving the storm to explore

Choppy waters

The windy road leading to Northport.
We did not take this photo, but you can see how much the road purposefully winds for either fun driving, pretty photos, or both

Island Orchard Cider, where we stopped for free hard cider samples

Their cider brewing equipment

Katie exploring the cider selection

The scenic Ellison Bluff

Me and mom trying out the highly recommended Wilsons ice cream in Ephraim

Catching the sunset back near our place after a very full day

Day 3

For our second full day, we drove up the east side of Door County. The weather started out perfect. We saw lots of bikers out for the Door County Century Ride event going on that weekend. I think they were all extremely pleased with the weather as well. Luckily we were almost always going the opposite direction of their route so we never had to deal with passing long lines of bicyclists. 

We started out at Cave Point County Park. I had heard rumors there was a place there we could cliff jump into water, so it was a must stop for us. It was a super lovely park. The cliffs weren't too high but still really pretty to look at. 

The Cave Point County Park cliffs

Looking contemplative

Katie doing some easy bouldering

We're pretty sure this is where we could jump in or at least play/swim around

The day was so perfect weather wise that we thought for sure that if we went and got in some of the other things we wanted to do for the day that we could return and spend more significant chunk of time playing the waters. So after climbing on the rocks for bit we headed onto Baileys Harbor to check out their farmers market.

Some cool driftwood ships for sale

Llama promoting llama products

I got some Wisconsin cheese curds

Katie of course found a park with swings

The park also had thee coolest drinking fountain ever!

After the farmers market we checked out the beer scene at Door County Brewing Company. We then drove back up to Sister Bay to check out the shops in more sunny conditions with the hopes the goats would be on the roof. They were! 

Flight at Door County Brewing Company

#GoatsOnARoof 

We then drove down to Egg Harbor again to grab lunch and stop at just a couple of the shops we really liked. We grabbed lunch at a Natural Food store that looked like it had good smoothies and sandwiches. After Egg Harbor we headed back to Cave Point to spend the rest of the afternoon playing in the water. Sadly our plans did not work out. By that time the wind had picked up, making the waters too choppy to swim in. I was extremely extremely bummed. But we made the most of it, and Katie and I hiked along the cliffs enjoying the mist spray from the waves crashing against the cliffs.

The choppy waters that prevented our plans to swim

Moonrise Kingdom pose

Senior photo pose

After our hike we made our way back to Sturgeon Bay for dinner at Sonny's Pizzeria. Luckily we beat the rush. We got seated right away but by the time we left it was over an hour wait. We then explored the pier a bit and took some photos of the bay. Afterward I took everyone to a skatepark we drove by and I attempted to be cool and skate. But sadly there were lots of young hooligans there being rowdy and skating better than me, so we didn't stay very long due to my embarrassing performance.  

Our shadows back in Sturgeon Bay

Day 4

Our last day was also low key. We had long drives ahead of us. So we took our time getting up in the morning, had a nice breakfast, cleaned up the place, and then headed out. We did make one stop before parting ways with my mom. We had to stop at one of the touristy Wisconsin cheese shops. It is a must do for any Wisconsin trip, especially one to Door County. So we stopped at Renard's Cheese. The samples were quite frankly amazing. Good enough that we had to pick up our favorite: the Farmers With Pesto cheese.

Me and mom with a mouse whose name must be Renard

One last group selfie before parting ways

The last thing Katie and I had to do on our trip home was pick up New Glarus beer. You can't buy it outside of Wisconsin. So stopped at a grocery store (which didn't have everything we needed) and eventually a liquor store to track down a twelve pack of canned Spotted Cow and some more of that cherry Wisconsin Belgium Red for us and a friend. 

And that was our time in Door County!