Sunday August 7: Exploring Door County

It rained overnight and was overcast and windy a good part of the day; regardless, we gave the day over to exploring the peninsula of Door County. We were staying at Egg Harbor about 1/2 way up the coast line;  looking across the Bay we could see the Michigan Upper Peninsula.

Our goal was to go all the way to the tip and see where the bay and the lake meet. We took Highway 42 along the bay side of the peninsula, stopping at many small villages along the way. Since we were in Wisconsin, our meal goals for the day were cheese curds and frozen custard.

Our first stop was Gibraltar AKA Fish Creek. There was a boat harbor (as there was in every town along the way)

Interesting decoration at a little curiosity shop in Gibraltar

 Farther up the road we found a place with a large freestanding wooden tower. It was very windy but the view from the top was great

Carla and Henriët on the top viewing platform overlooking Green Bay

I'm not a fan of heights. I went up to the 2nd level (of 3). On the way down Andrew got a picture of me.

A little farther along was a light house with a walking path. We went for about a 30 minute walk through the woods. The peninsula is a destination for bikers; lots of families and couples riding their bikes on paths that parallel the highway.

 After a couple of hours we made it to the end of the peninsula. Carla and I headed out for a little walk along the beach to the point.

On the point of Door County peninsula

The beach is so different from the west coast; In California, Oregon, and Washington the beach is all sand. Here it is all sea shells. I wonder if the lack of waves is the cause of the shells not breaking down into smaller pieces.

The beach is made up of shells.

On they way up the peninsula we liked the looks of Sisters Bay so we headed for that when we came back down. We used yelp to find Fred and Fuzzy's which is near a  beautiful little resort. The water is very warm here; there were about 10 kids running off the piers and jumping into the water. Three little kids were practicing on a kayak. Getting in, tipping it over, extracting themselves, then righting the boat and reboarding. The clouds and wind were starting to lift a bit.

Andrew and Fred & Fuzzy's in Sisters Bay

We were in Wisconsin so cheese curds are a must. When I posted this on FaceBook some friends likened it to buying a Dumbo shirt at Disneyland: it seems like a good idea at the time, but in retrospect, maybe not so great. Whatever, we enjoyed them while they were there to be eaten :)

Cheese curds

I think a brat was required eating as well. Home made potato chips. 

I think this was our favorite place to eat

A little farther along we saw a sign for frozen custard. It was a must stop.

Scary dude; but the custard was very good

 As we stood in line to order we got perturbed by a guy who cut in line. Henriët checked him with a glance.

Andrew and Henriët were turned into gnomes by the custard.

By the time we made it back to our place the sun was out in full force and we laid out by the pool for a bit. Then we grabbed some beers and Door County cherries and sat out on the big lawn reading and watching the sun set. Sorry I don't have a picture, I was enjoying the view too much to go back and get the camera. There was a very thin bank of clouds over the horizon. We watched the sun set in the clouds then reappear and set again over the Michigan Upper Peninsula across the bay.  Turning to our left we saw a 1/2 moon. Looking through the binoculars gave us a spectacular view of the seas and craters.

A beautiful day. We've been very lucky with the rain so far. The rain has come at night or when we were in the car.