Checking things off our Door County List

We enjoyed a half-day drive up the eastern side of the peninsula yesterday afternoon. But this was the day that we were planning to see the rest of Door County, Wisconsin. So we were up and out on the road early. The plan was to travel quickly up the east side of the peninsula, and travel all the way to the northern tip. Then we would slow down and travel more slowly south on the west side of the peninsula. Our goal was to see everything of interest to us, and Denisa had a list of Door County things to see.

As we sped up the east side, we had a couple stops on our list. The first was the little Boynton chapel. Built in the Scandanavian style, we found it at the edge of the forest just walking distance from Lake Michigan. It was a beautifully cool stop this July morning.

The weather forecast was calling for rain and wind and cooler temperatures, and we were also glad to see the forecast for less smoke. Our next stop on the list was the Cana Island Lighthouse. As we approached, we could see the separation of Cana Island from the mainland. That gap between the two was where we must walk to get to the lighthouse.

We parked and walked across the causeway leading to the visitor center. With Lake Michigan on both sides of us, it was a cold and windy walk across on the gravel path. We hate to complain in July, but it was a little nippy! Normally there is a tractor-pulled wagon that can shuttle visitors across this causeway, but we saw no evidence of it this day.

When we got to the visitor center, we found that only two people showed up for work, and they have to have three employees to open the lighthouse and run the shuttle. So the grounds would be open, as well as the light-keepers house. But they weren't charging any admission because we wouldn't be able to walk up the stairs into the lighthouse. We weren't sad because we saved $20, and still got to see Cana Lighthouse.

When it was built in 1869, the lighthouse was made of the same blond brick as the house. But after years of Wisconsin weather, the 89-foot brick tower had to be reinforced. Steel pieces were riveted around the brick lighthouse, and then concrete filled the space between the steel and brick.

We toured the lighthouse keeper's house that was on the ground floor.

The assistant keeper lived on the second floor. Since many times the keeper's assistant was his wife, it gave the family a sizable home. We watched the interesting film on the second floor describing the lives of the people that lived on Cana Island long ago.

We're guessing this rock building didn't historically include hanging baskets of beautiful flowers. It was the outhouse on Cana Island.

We took a cloudy walk out to the beach that surrounds the lighthouse. We found that this beach didn't have any sand. It was made up of layers and layers of the tiny shells that wash up from Lake Michigan. 

Next on our list was a stop recommended by our Boondocker Welcome host. She likes stopping at Seaquist Orchard Market, and so do we! This company had twelve different cherry varieties available for picking right now. When those are finished, they have another eleven varieties that should be ripe later in July. Finally, they have five more varieties of cherries that will still be producing into early August. We picked tart cherries yesterday, so we don't need to buy any more today. The sweet cherries are pricey--$8.49 per pint. Tart cherries are "only" $5.99/pint. This company has a canning facility next door, and we enjoyed tasting the samples of their chopped cherry jelly and cherry salsa. We bought a cherry pecan muffin for our road snack this morning.

The next thing on our list was the very northern tip of Door County. We loved the county parks in this county, and appreciated that all of them offer free admission. We stopped at Door Bluff Headland County Park, and took the .75-mile trail to the viewpoint high above Lake Michigan. We were again amazed that a Great Lake viewpoint felt like we were looking out over an ocean. This rugged shoreline was another place to wander God's wonders.

Wow! We were excited to see some blue skies, and we know not to take them for granted!

This trail was laced together with the roots from the towering trees that surround the tip of Door County.

As we drove to our next destination, Google Maps said that we were on "The Curvy Road." We had no idea where the name for that road came from.

Our next destination to check off the list was Newport State Park. With the annual Wisconsin state park pass we purchased last week, we can waltz in without paying the $16 daily admission fee.  Ca-ching! We headed down to the state park beach, where we saw monarch butterflies flitting around the milkweed. After learning so much about these miraculous butterflies, Denisa spent some time looking for and finding caterpillars and more butterflies here at the beach.

The waves were kicking up at Newport beach. We took a short walk through the forest, then looped back on the beach.

It was past lunchtime, and we were ready for our planned meal at Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant in Sister Bay. We've been told by several sources that no trip to Door Country would be complete without eating here, so it had to be on our list. The first part of visiting Al Johnson's was looking up on the grass roof--where the live goats were supposed to be hanging out.

We kept looking, but we didn't see any goats. We found out that a rain storm came through Sister Bay this morning, and the goats had to be relocated to the barn. Rats! It looks like we have missed a Door County icon from our list. But it was interesting to watch the guy mowing the roof this afternoon. Pushing that mower up and down all the hills of that roof-line looked very tricky.

Even though we showed up at 2:00, we still had to wait for a table in this huge restaurant. They were packed in the middle of the afternoon!

We ordered the signature Swedish meatballs, served with lingonberry sauce. The food was good, and the service was friendly. We can see why Al Johnson's was a must-see stop on this Door County tour.

We thought our Monday timing was great when we found out the town of Ephraim had their farmer's market from 3-6 on Monday afternoons. But when we arrived at the market location, it was quiet. After a phone call, we found out that because of the morning rain and the afternoon wind the farmer's market had been cancelled. Rats! So we headed to another location on our list that was suggested by our host. It's a brand new place that's not yet accurately located on Google Maps, but we finally found "The Secret Garden." 

They had a small plant nursery next door, and they have done a great job of putting lovely combinations of perennials together.

The owner came out to talk to us, and we enjoyed hearing his life story that brought him from Manchester, England, to Door Country, Wisconsin.

We took our Wisconsin state park pass for another stop at Peninsula state park. Again, Denisa yelled "ca-ching!" when we drove right in without paying the $16 entrance fee. The first things on our list was driving to Eagle Tower.

We climbed the 100 steps up to an elevation of 253-feet above Lake Michigan to overlook the tree tops. We've been lucky to stay dry on this day that had rain forecasted throughout the county.

We took the long ADA-compliant ramp off the tower, and then headed on down the road in this very large state park. Besides an 18-hole golf course, it also had its own beach with nice amenities. 

But Denisa was looking forward to the stop at the Eagle Bluff Light Station that was also inside Peninsula State Park. It was after 4:00, so the lighthouse wasn't open for tours. We saved another $10 in admission cost, but didn't get to go inside this lighthouse either.

We must say that the shops in Door County all seem to close by 5:00. Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant was one of the most popular eating establishments in the county, and they closed at 3:00. So we weren't surprised to see that the next stop on our list was also shut for the day. Our host had recommended Edgewater Gallery in Fish Creek, and we were glad to see that the path through their outdoor sculpture gardens was still available even after business hours.

There were price tags on all their sculptures, and we won't be taking any of them home with us in the trailer. But it was a nice last stop of the day. 

Besides all the rain and windy weather today, Door County was in an unusual evening tornado watch. We spent about 10 hours driving the 120-mile loop through Door County this day. When we added the stops we made yesterday, we felt like we had pretty well checked off all the things that interested us the most. We ended our full day with something that we hadn't put on our list--a beautiful sunset this Door County evening.

We were tired, but still ready to check the progress on the caterpillars today. One more butterfly emerged from a chrysalis and was released. The tiny caterpillar that emerged from the first day's egg, was already so much bigger. Another big caterpillar just shed a layer of his skin, allowing him to grow even bigger.

The clouds stayed north of us, making for dramatic skies this evening. It was a good day in Door County!

First Day of Door County Wonders

The air quality was forecast to be in the "very unhealthy" category, but we really wanted to explore Door County. It wasn't good that we realized that most of the things we wanted to do in this county were outdoors. But the first thing we did this Sunday morning was to find a local church. Then we were pleasantly surprised that the smoke was dissipating and it was actually very nice outside. We headed towards the eastern side of Door County--also known as the Wisconsin thumb. Denisa is a fan of a good lighthouse, and there were two near the Coast Guard station in Sturgeon Bay. We wanted to see them for ourselves.

The signage made it clear that no one was allowed near the coast guard station. But they had provided a public walkway to allow visitors access to the long jetty that juts into Lake Michigan. We had to be sure to stay on the public side of the walkway, and away from the private property side.

We walked past the first light, officially named the Sturgeon Bay Canal Rear Lighthouse. It was in the middle of the private coast guard station, so we couldn't get very close. 

We could see it best from the jetty.

The other lighthouse can only be seen after a long walk on the jetty that led us out over Lake Michigan. This one had an even longer name--the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal Pierhead Front Lighthouse.

Denisa isn't the only lighthouse fan. Two artists had their easels set up on the jetty and were painting this afternoon.

The lighthouse recently got a new coat of paint, and this artist thought that was a good reason to paint a new canvas as well. It was fun to see the almost-finished painting with the real subject.

We walked to the end of the long jetty, to get the best view of the newly-painted lighthouse.

Some people were not content to stop at the end of the jetty. Getting any closer to the lighthouse would require swimming.

We walked back under the catwalk, that runs the entire length of the jetty.

We drove along the eastern-most road of Door County, which was primarily a residential street of homes with lake views. But occasionally there was a public access point, where commoners like us can get out on the shores of Lake Michigan.

This was the eastern edge of the Door County Thumb. Last night we looked out from the western side of Door County to see the Green Bay side of this Great Lake. This day we were looking east to see more of Lake Michigan.

We continued the drive to White Sands State Park. We didn't have to pay the $16 day-use fee to enter because we had already purchased our annual Wisconsin state park pass. The wide sandy beach was the main calling card for this park.

We found an interesting selfie-helper on an observation deck above the beach. We placed Mark's phone on the adjustable shelf . . .

set the timer on his apple watch, and took a selfie with the beach in the background. Good job TravelWisconsin.com!

We took a hike through the forest that runs parallel with the beach, then took the boardwalk staircase over the dune to circle back on the beach. Incidentally, that dune is a protected area, and anyone caught climbing on the sand may get a $176 fine.

We got back to the state park's nature center in time for the 2:00 raptors show put on by the Open Door Bird Sanctuary. Violet was hosting her first solo presentation, and she explained that the sanctuary was home to raptors that had been injured or had been imprinted by human behavior so they could no longer survive in the wild.

She brought with her an American Kestrel. This cute little bird is about the size of a robin, but is a carnivore that hunts from the sky.

She also brought a horned owl named Forrest. Hurt in a car collision, Forrest is a travel ambassador who charms the audience with those feathers that look like ears.

A half-mile hike to the north brought us to Cave Point County Park. While there was a $16 fee to park at the state park that we just left, the county park was free. Many people park at the county park and make this half-mile hike to the sandy beach we just left.

We wandered more of God's wonders this afternoon at Cave Point Park.

The trees on this rugged coastline reach all the way out to the water, and seem to be holding on by their roots!

We haven't taken pictures of many flowers lately, and Denisa just had to stop to look at these bright orange blooms on our hike.

While there was still a little smoke in the air, we were so blessed to see blue skies today. For the past week, this area had been covered with the worst smoke anyone can remember.

If you look out into the water, you can see a kayak tour was clustered around this scenic coast line. It was a little windy this afternoon, but kayakers come here to paddle into the sea caves that line this section of Lake Michigan.

While we saw a few swimmers, the water was very chilly even on this hot July afternoon.

After visiting White Sands State Park and Cave Point County Park, we had to hurry back to the pickup. That's because our last destination was a bit of a drive across Door County. We wanted to go cherry picking today.

We managed to arrive at the peak of cherry season, and Denisa was so happy! Actually, the larger sweet cherries were a little past peak and we found some of those orchards were already closed for the season. But the smaller tart cherries were just ripening.

Robertson Cherry Orchard had lots of cherries on their trees. Customers pay $20 for a plastic pail, that they can fill with as many tart cherries as will fit. A full pail was supposed to weigh about ten pounds. As loaded as the trees were, it didn't take long to fill a pail. But it took longer to pick cherries with the stems attached. They will stay fresher longer if they aren't pulled off the stem when picked.

Sweet cherries were also available here, but it cost $25 for their pail that was about half the size. So we opted for the smaller tart cherries and started picking. For some reason, we had lots of pictures of cherries still on the tree. It seems that Mark liked taking pictures of cherries more than he liked picking cherries.

Robertson's Orchards will pit the cherries for you for free if you finish by 5:00, so we were on a schedule. We got our bucket to the pitting station at 4:45.

We actually had only half of our fruit pitted, because we also like to eat the tart cherries fresh. So we left with one bag pitted, and half a bucket still whole and with stems so they will last longer. Fresh cherries were our road snacks for the next few days. The pitted cherries had to be cooked up fast, so we spent the evening making cherry pie filling. It doesn't get any fresher than that! We made a cheese cake pie topped with those fresh Door County cherries for a very local dessert.

We know that we already had an entire blog about monarch butterflies, but we thought we would include a little of our day-to-day monarch fun. This morning, Ramelle texted that we had a new butterfly emerging from the chrysalis, so we rushed over to see this beauty drying out her wings.

We also discovered that the tiny white egg we saw last night, was a tiny caterpillar this morning. It was too tiny for the camera to focus and take a good picture. We also checked on some of the big caterpillars this morning, to see they had good appetites.

When we got back to the trailer this evening, it was time to release the butterfly that had emerged this morning. After being in the enclosure for most of the day, she was ready to go and Denisa didn't get to spend much time with her! Mark's butterfly had emerged later in the day, and he was more content to spend some time riding on Mark's finger around the yard. Our first monarch releases were memorable!

When he finally flew, he bumped right into a tree and stayed there.

That was a little unnerving for the monarch release team, because that tree was also home to birds that might enjoy a butterfly meal this evening. It would be so sad to see a new butterfly swallowed up by a bird after watching its three-week journey in the butterfly nursery.

The smoke was still in the air, turning the lowering sun into a neon globe above the trees. We loved Door County and all the wanders we found here on our first day.