Door County

Monday morning was a clear, beautiful day.  We planned to do some driving and see some of the beauty that we had heard Door County, Wisconsin was full of.  Door County is a large peninsula that is surrounded by Lake Michigan on one side and Green Bay on the other.  It has quite a few lighthouses and we planned to see a few of them, as well as drive along the coast and just enjoy the scenery.

The area really is beautiful!  It is full of scenes like this, wooded roads; often with views of the big lake through the trees. We saw quite a few deer and even had one run in front of us.  We also saw a bald eagle.  In areas that were further from the lake we saw fields with orchards, grapevines and bales of hay, and of course lots of beautiful old barns!  We drove through charming old towns and I can't tell you how many old white churches with old fashioned steeples we saw.  I wish I could have gotten some photos of them.

This is the first lighthouse we visited; Eagle Bluff Lighthouse.  It was built in 1868.  As the name suggests, it sits high on a bluff and has a wonderful view of the lake.

This day was Sept 11 and we saw many flags at half mast to remind us of another beautiful Sept day that ended in such great sorrow.  These little planters surrounded the lighthouse.

After leaving the lighthouse, we stopped in a little town and walked around a little.  We saw this car and I had to take a picture of the license plate for our friend Jenny, who might like a plate like this if she didn't already have one that is Poe inspired!

We made a stop at this small harbor before continuing on our way.

We stopped for a picnic lunch at this pretty spot overlooking Lake Michigan.

When we climbed down the stairs we could see the limestone bluff that is seen frequently in this area.

Then we were off to another lighthouse on the other side of the peninsula.  This one is unique in the fact that it is on an island.  You get to it via a causeway, which at some times you can walk across.  Not now though!  I took this picture from the back of a tractor pulled wagon, as it drove us to the island.  You can see that the causeway is covered with quite a bit of water this year.

This is the view of the Lighthouse tower after a short walk.

This is the Cana Island Lighthouse, built in 1869.

This one has beautiful grounds too, and is not on a bluff, so you can go down to the lake.

Such a pretty view!

The lake was sparkling in the sun and it's so relaxing to hear the waves come in.

We thought this was really interesting.  The beaches by us are sandy, but this beach was made of tiny little shells, for as far as we could see!

When we finished our tour of the lighthouse and the grounds, the wagon took us back.  Here it is, headed back to the lighthouse with another group of people.
We thought the ride just added to the fun!

We continued our drive around the peninsula and then got supper.  One of the Door County travel magazines had done a contest and chosen the best burger in the county.  We decided to find the place and try the burgers.  The article said it was a "2 napkin" burger.  They were right!  The burgers were messy, but very good.  Then it was back to the hotel for a relaxing evening.

It was such a nice day, we really enjoyed Door County!

What a wonderful week we had!

Last week we were on vacation.  So that I don't overwhelm you with pictures, I'll be sharing for a few days what we did.
Here's our first day:
This past Spring, we had been in Ludington and saw the big ferry, the SS Badger come in.  We decided it would be a fun thing to do and it's how we started our week.
We had to be in Ludington at 8am, to board the ferry which would be leaving at 9am.  The trip across Lake Michigan, to Wisconsin takes 4 hours.

The Badger is huge.  It was interesting to see cars, trailers and semi's being loaded on.  We left our car to be loaded and went up to the passenger area.

We were amazed at everything on this ship.  This area is on the top, and with the breeze on the lake, we thought it was too cold for us to stay there, but quite a few people did take advantage of it.
There is a gift shop, a museum, a restaurant, a game room, a theatre, numerous seating areas and state rooms you can rent if you want.  There were people providing music and games being played in another section.

Here is the view from the deck as we pulled out of Ludington.  This is the Coast Guard station.

And the light house at the end of the pier.

It wasn't long till we were out of view of land.
Bob and I had a nice breakfast and then found several different places to sit and enjoy the view and read.
We also walked around the ship several times, checking out different areas.

Thankfully, we didn't have to use these!

It didn't seem like long before we were heading into port at Manitowac, WI.

We steamed past the lighthouse there and it didn't take too long to deport.

We had a picnic lunch on the shores of Lake Michigan, then visited an old mansion that was built in 1852, which also housed an art museum.

This was out front - it's named "Late for a date".
The mansion was beautiful and we enjoyed the self guided tour.

In front of the museum, is this little plaque that shows where a piece of Sputnik crashed.  Inside the museum is a recreation of that piece along with photos and newspapers that reported it.  It was nothing big, but still fun to see.


We then drove to Sturgeon Bay in beautiful Door County where we were staying for the next few days.  We had been told that one of the things we needed to take part in while there was a 'fish boil', so once we were settled in we checked the area for one of them and made reservations.

This is the restaurant we went to, it seemed to have the best reviews.  It's an old boarding house which has been renovated.  When we got there we were escorted outside.

Set up outside was this huge kettle which was filled with boiling water, potatoes and onions.

We were all seated around it, and this man told about the history of the fish boil.  It was started by the Scandinavians who settled here and brought some of there culture here, using what was available in the area.  Fish could be caught in the lake, and potatoes and onions grew well.

After the potatoes boiled for 30 minutes, the fish was added along with salt.  That was boiled for a little over 5 minutes, then kerosene was thrown at the fire.

 resulting in this huge fire!  The fire causes a large boil over, which gets rid of all the stuff that floats to the top of the pot while cooking.

 It also puts the fire out.  The pot is so big that it took 2 guys to carry it into the restaurant.  We followed and were served supper.

Here's supper!  Fish, potatoes, cole slaw, bread and then dessert which is another tradition - cherry pie with ice cream.

The meal was very good, and I don't usually like fish!  Seeing the presentation just added to the whole evening.
After dinner we spent some time walking around town.
It was a very good day!

Friday Funny - and a break!

I know - it's pretty lame, but that baby is cute!
I will be taking a blog break starting today.  Bob and I have a week of vacation and some fun things planned.  I'm looking forward to some time off from work and time spent together.  I'll share our adventures when I come back.