Mini Getaway to Door County, WI

There are three couples I know who frequently travel to the quaint and beautiful area known as Door County, Wisconsin and since I had never been and trust their opinions, I decided it was high time we took a family trip to check it out for ourselves.

Our first stop was at The Farm in Sturgeon Bay. It's a neat place where the kids could feed baby animals from bottles, pet farm animals of all kinds, and see a baby lamb that had just been born. We named this baby goat "Mappy" because after scarfing down the bottle he kept trying to nibble on the map that [E] was carrying around.

[K]'s favorite part were the baby chicks. She loved them so much and wanted to hold one but she was a little nervous to actually do it herself so I held a chick for the first time myself so my baby could pet one. I've done so many new things since having children :)

One of the main things I had heard about Door County is that there are great bike trails in Peninsula State Park and I have been wanting to take a family bike ride for so long. The problem is that [K] is still using training wheels and she's afraid to go too fast so it makes riding together nearly impossible. My sister-in-law has this detachable tandem bike trailer and I thought, "that would be great for [K]!" However, one spin around the block and she was scared. We waited a year and while searching for the same trailer on Craigs List I came across this recumbent version on Amazon. After reading the reviews and telling [K] that it would be like riding in a stroller, we brought it with and tried it out. She loves it! She's been telling us that she wants to bike ride all the time. [A] and I love biking so this has been a major win for us. Now we just have to decide if we get another one for [E]...

(And just in case you were wondering, the bike seat we used with [E] is this front-mounted Safe-T Seat from iBert.)

Anyway, back to our trip. Peninsula State Park is lovely and the bike trails are gorgeous. In the park is the Eagle Bluff Lighthouse. We happened to get there just before they were having a flag changing ceremony so we were able to get our picture taken with a lighthouse keeper reenactor.

Back on our bike ride we stopped at Nicolet Bay where [K] had the opportunity to throw pebbles into the crystal clear water.

(Hmm, I wonder where she gets that from...)

(This was taken in Sister Bay at the Waterfront Park.)

After arriving back at our car we took a drive around the park, stopping at Sven's Bluff (below) and climbed the Eagle Bluff Tower for panoramic views of the bay.

That evening we partook in a very unusual, but uniquely Door County, dining experience called a fish boil. Lake Michigan whitefish are cooked outside over an open fire in boiling water. Fish oils rise to the surface of the boiling cauldron, and when the fish is perfectly done, the Master Boiler tosses a small amount of kerosene on the flames under the pot. The great burst of flames causes the boilover, spilling the fish oils over the side of the pot and leaving the fish perfectly done.

And before the night was over we stopped off at Sunset Beach to watch, what else, the sunset.

The following morning we had breakfast at Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant where goats eat grass on the roof. I couldn't resist putting this Viking helmet on [E]. The braids matched her hair perfectly.

I'm a huge lover of lighthouses so I really wanted to stop by the Cana Island Lighthouse in Baileys Harbor. The island is connected to the mainland by a causeway that is covered in all different sized rocks. I hate to say it but my favorite part from the trip to Cana Island were all of the rock towers built by visitors. There were probably 100+ all of different sizes up and down the entire causeway. Both girls had to stop and build their own. The hardest part was trying to keep them from knocking them all down.

(Ok, maybe [E] had some help with hers from Daddy)

The lighthouse looks quite picturesque in my photo but the truth is it needs a paint job and there was construction on either side of it (restoration from what I understand.) The biggest bummer part of it is that you have to pay money just to see the lighthouse. I understand paying to climb it and I know they need funding to keep it going but I've never encountered having to pay just to see one.

The last part of the day was spent hiking in Whitefish State Park. We had a nice time there but I'll bet it would have been even better if it was warmer and we could have played on the sandy beach. All in all though the entire trip was a ton of fun and I'm looking forward to going back next year!