Door County, Wisconsin

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September, 2010

After years of hearing about beautiful Door County, Wisconsin we, along with Rod and Mary, finally spent a weekend exploring some of what Door County has to offer.

Our first stop was Whitefish Dunes State Park. If you have ever been to Indiana Dunes State Park or Sleeping Dunes in Michigan, you will be wondering “where are the dunes?” This park was nothing like what we expected. There is a beach, picnic area, eight hiking trails, and a nature center.

With finding a lighthouse on our minds, we drove north to Bailey’s Harbor. After a delicious lunch, we made our way to Cana Island Lighthouse, just out of town. There was no parking, and admission to the island was $4. We walked around the grounds, toured the light keeper’s house, now a gift shop and museum, and walked along the shore of Lake Michigan.

On day two we drove to Gills Rock, the jumping off point to catch the ferry to Washington Island. We opted for a package that included a 90 minute guided tram tour of the island. We should have taken the car over on the car ferry. It was cheaper and touring on our own would have been better than being at the mercy of the Viking Train Tram Tour.

Be that as it may, we saw an ostrich farm (additional $1, which I opted out of!), Stavkirke (an old Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church), the Washington Island Farm Museum, Schoolhouse Beach (mostly rocks), and what passes as town for those who live on Washington Island.

With our car we would have been able to shop at the local flea market, grab a bite to eat at the drive-in, and spend a more leisurely time on the island.

Once back from Washington Island we drove to Sister Bay and had lunch at a Scandinavian café. After lunch our drive back to Green Bay took us through Fish Creek and Egg Harbor, both very interesting towns on the Green Bay side of the county. Our only regret was not experiencing the traditional fish boil.

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