Back to Death's Door

Last summer we decided to take a day trip up to Door County.  We had heard about how nice it was and I had done a little research and we decided to make the trek. So in June we made a run up the peninsula - it was everything we had heard and we had a wonderful time! The problem we ran into, however, was that by the time we drove up there we ran out of time and didnʻt get to see or do all the stuff we had planned. So we decided we were going to have to go back and allow more time on the return trip.  So we did that.

One of the things we wanted to do this trip up was to climb the Cana Island Lighthouse.  I had wimped out last time.  We had stopped there last year and toured the island but when it came time to climb the lighthouse I was intimidated by the 97 steps it would take to make the climb.  This was partly because I was "saving myself" for the hike up the lookout tower on Washington Island but to be honest, I was also self-conscious about making the climb with a whole bunch of other tourists and what they might think if I was slow or didnʻt make it to the top. And so we had gotten to the lighthouse but hadnʻt made it up to the top. So this year we decided to stop again and get to the top.

Alas, we got there and the causeway to the island was all awash.  In the weeks before our trip there had been a lot of rain in northern Wisconsin and the lake level was up higher than it had been last year.  That, combined with a pretty good wind that was whipping up some pretty good sized breakers, stopped us this time.

The causeway was not totally impassible - there were people taking off their shoes and wading through the surf to get out to the island but it was windy, cold, and neither of us had come prepared to go wading.  I donʻt go barefoot anymore and Brombeere wasnʻt excited to make trip alone.  We also werenʻt sure anything was open on the island if we had made it across.  Yes, there were a few people going out but in the end we decided not to.

So we watched the waves and the wind and the birds and thought we were going to have to make yet another try to get up the lighthouse.

I havenʻt seen so many seagulls since I was a kid.  They are all over the place in Door County

Our next stop was to check out a camp ground that was a little farther north up the peninsula.  It was actually a place we had considered staying on this trip but in the end we found some place else.  More about that in a minute.  At this point I wanted to check out this campground to see if it might work for a family reunion weʻre planning for the summer of 2018.  This campground has tent sites, yurts and "primitive" cabins.  That means they have no kitchen or bathrooms.  They are essentially just solid walls around a couple of rooms.  Not even kitchen facilities.  Pretty common, actually, but not quite what we will need.  You bring your own bedding and kitchen set up, which we have.  They do have electricity but, like tent campers, you have to hike to the bathrooms.  Thatʻs okay except if you have to get up in the night, or first thing in the morning.  In the end, I think weʻll keep looking and see if we can find a campground with fully equipped cabins. I think we may be spoiled after where we stayed when we went to Mt Rushmore.  Those cabins had everything we wanted and were conveniently located next to some tent sites as well - the perfect set up. Anyway, we decided to keep looking.

So we left the campground and headed to the cottage we were staying at, a quaint little place called Fernwood Farm. Fernwood Farm is out in the country, situated on 37 acres, on county highway NP, on the road to Newport State Park.

Frenwood Farm is actually a two story home.  The owners live upstairs and they have converted the downstairs into two suites.  We stayed in the west suite.  Even had covered parking for the car. Pretty nice!

Inside they were very nice, a bedroom (linens provided), a fully equipped kitchen, a living room (with satellite TV) and a comfortable bathroom and shower.

Very roomy and very comfortable.  We got all checked in, did some unpacking and decided to go to dinner.

We went over to Ellison Bay to a place called The Shoreline.  There was a little bit of a wait but that was quite alright.  We sat in some comfortable adirondack chairs outside the restaurant, by a small marina, and watched a guy wash his boat as the sun slowly set behind him.  The temperature was perfect, the wind had died down, and the seagulls and cormorants were flying or swimming around, fishing and talking to each other. It was amazing to watch them.  They donʻt "run" across the water to start flying, they just lift straight up out of the water and go, like a single flap of their wings was enough to lift them straight up out of the water. Or they'd be sitting on the water and suddenly be gone.  Then seconds later they'd reappear, bobbing up from under the water, with a fish in their beak. They didn't just lean forward, dipping half their body into the water like ducks, leaving their tails poking up in the air, they'd go completely under, totally disappear from sight. They were fun to watch.

Pretty soon they called us with a table ready.  They seated us by the window, a west facing window so we could still see the sun setting.  The menu was so good it was hard to choose what to have.

I got a quesadilla with fruit.  Very yummy.  I had never seen grapes that small.  But they were still pretty good

Brombeere got a grilled chicken salad.  She said it was very good.

So we ate, talked, and watched the sun go down.  And, yes, we had the desert.

We had originally thought of going to Newport State Park some time in the evening but by the time we finished dinner we decided to just go back to the room.  So we hit a local grocery store and picked up some stuff for breakfast and went back to the room.  A very quiet evening.

The next morning we were up bright and early, although not too early.  We didnʻt use an alarm clock to get up.  Just got up when we woke up.  We got up, got dressed, had some breakfast, and headed out the door for the Washington Island ferry, about five miles from Fernwood Farm.  When we got there we were glad we were only taking our bikes to the island.  The line to take cars was so long it would have taken nearly an hour to get onto the ferry.  As it was, we parked the car in a lot and rode our bikes the last hundred yards and got on the ferry, leaving a long line of cars to wait for the next one.

The wind was pretty much gone and it was a beautiful day for a boat ride. On the ferry we parked out bikes on the bottom deck and went up two flights to an observation deck for the half hour ride to Washington Island.

It had been a long time since we had taken a ferry ride.  Some 30 years or more, I believe.  The last ferry ride was from Long Beach, California out to Catalina Island.  That time we had dolphins play along side the boat.  This time we watched more gulls and sea birds as we left Northport, sailed passed Plum and Detroit Islands, and into the harbor on Washington Island.

Our bikes were two of six or seven that went over to the island that trip.  We got off the boat, got our bikes all set and were ready to go exploring!

Brombeere had a backpack with some snacks and sandwiches.  I had a backpack that had a few things we might need if we ran into mechanical problems, as well as a map of the island.  We knew where were wanted to go and what we wanted to see

Our first stop was a church called Stavkirk, a replica of churches commonly found in Scandinavia during the Middle Ages.

This kind of church was built of pillars and posts, usually without nails, and were usually pretty small.

Inside it was quite beautiful, all finished in wood.

I understand services are held in the church during the summer months and it even hosts an occasional wedding.  It was obvious why; a very nice setting, albeit a bit small if the wedding party were very big.

It was a nice visit.  There was a little meditation trail from the road into the church, with stations and scriptures to consider on the short walk to the church.  Or you could take the more direct route straight along a boardwalk through the trees to the church.  Either way, it was a nice stop.

Just a half mile or so down the road was an operating lavender farm, complete with gift shop.

It was pretty cool - all this lavender growing all around.  And it was harvest time, as well.  We got to watch them as they harvested the lavender

We walked through the gift shop and watched them as they harvested and then it was on the road again.

All kinds of wildflowers were growing in the fields around the lavender fields.

Our next stop was near the center of the island, at Mountain Wayside Park.  A very small park but with quite an attraction.

In the park there is a lookout tower.  The tower is only about 65 steps but to get to the tower there is a staircase with 121 steps. Like a nine story building. The stairs and tower together are like a 14 story building. Wow.

Looking up the staircase, and looking backdown from the top of the stairs.  Quite a hike.

At the top of the stairs there is a short trail of 30 or 40 yards and then the tower

So we made the climb and got to enjoy the view

I was kind of surprised that you couldnʻt see in all directions from the top of the tower.  There were trees as tall as the tower growing on the west side of the tower.

But where it was open the view was quite spectacular!

You could even see Rock Island, which is off the northeast shore of Washington Island. An excellent view.

I was so glad it turned out to be a clear day when we got there. The day before it was so overcast we wouldnʻt have been able to see very much.  But the day we were there it was marvelous!

Our next stop was Schoolhouse Beach, on the northwest corner of the island.

This unusual beach does not have sand, it has pebbles, or stones.  Pretty good sized pebbles, actually. Limestone rocks, to be exact. This beach is rare, one of only a hand full of such beaches in the world.

Rocks worn smooth by the wave action over the years.

Our last stop on the island was a little ice cream place called the Albatross.  Not quite as good as our local favorite but still pretty good, especially at the end of a long bike ride.  They had a fun little sign by the window where you placed your order:

We are not fast.
We are good.
We are cheerful,
We are courteous -
But we are not fast.
For fast go to Chicago.
North of the Tension Line you are.
So relax.
Take time and smell the flowers.
And give us time to prepare
your order with TLC.

I didnʻt think they were all that slow. But I did find that you have to use the right words to get what you wanted.  When I asked for a "flurry" I learned that their concept of a flurry was a bit different from our local favorite ice cream place.  I had to describe what I wanted without using the word "flurry." Interesting, but delicious nonetheless.

After ice cream we went back to the ferry for the ride back to the mainland. Again we got to skip the wait and ride our bikes right to the front of the line.  This time we were the only bikes on board. For our next stop we were looking for a small county park with a couple of observation decks overlooking some cliff bluffs by the water. We headed for Door County Bluff Park, a few miles west of Northport.

A very scenic park but I don't think it was the one I thought it was.

We got there and found the park was basically undeveloped, which I had anticipated.  But I could have sworn there were a couple of observation decks.  But all we found was a single trail that lead off into the trees so we followed it.

We followed the trail back into the woods.  It got looking less and less like a trail but it ran along side the top of the bluff, above the water so we kept going.

We could go only one direction, along the edge of the bluff.

It was a very interesting, very quiet hike back into the forest.

Pretty soon we could see the water, a ways below us.

We finally gave up on finding any observation decks but the view was still pretty nice.  And it felt like we had the whole park to ourselves.  Where we stopped we stayed awhile but didnʻt see anyone, at least not while we were back in the park.  We passed a few people coming out as we were going in and as we came out we passed a guy going in. He had a fancy tripod and camera, a serious photographer. We stayed back in the woods for probably half an hour or more. It was a nice place, even if we never found any kind of observation deck.

After leaving the park we headed back to the cottage.  After riding and hiking all over the place we were tired.  We had some dinner at the cottage and then just went outside to the meadow on the property.

We wandered out into the field, looking at wildflowers and watching another gorgeous sunset.

Bugs werenʻt bad, temperature was near perfect again. It was very nice

We just talked and watched the sun sink behind the trees.

Just enough clouds to add to the sunset.

The next day was our last out on the peninsula.  We didnʻt use an alarm again to get up, just got up when we woke up. Then we checked out and headed back down to Green Bay - the Tall Ships were it town!

We got there - they even had a viking ship; the Draken Harald Harfarge. Cool!

And the largest rubber duck in the world was also on hand!  61 feet tall, as tall as a six story building, and weighing in at 11 tons!  How does it stay afloat?

Had to have our picture taken by it!

We met up with Heidlebeere and her kids.  Her oldest got her face painted.

She chose to be Wonder Woman!

Maulbeere was also there!  Such fun!

They had a tall entertainer to go along with the tall ships!

This guy wanted a "selfie" with her - she had to bend down and he had to stretch up.  I saw her later sitting on top of her car, taking a break.  Quite the trick.

We wanted to tour the El Galeon but the line was over an hour long.  So we toured the US Brig Niagra.  Still a very interesting tour.

Lots of rope everywhere you looked.

Up on deck, plenty of room.

Below deck quite a different story.

Everyone except the kids had to bend down to fit.

Í did find one spot where I could stand up straight.

Back topside we continued the tour of the ship.

Made me wonder if the cannon could actually be fired.

The line up of ships (and the duck) seen from a nearby bridge as we walked to the festival.

After leaving the festival we all went to a nearby restaurant for some dinner and to give our feet a rest.  Lots of walking at the festival.  But it was worth it - such interesting ships.  A good time!  The festival was a very good ending to a wonderful break from all the kitchen drama going on at home (that's another story for a different day).  Even though we didn't get to all we had originally planned, it was still a very good time.  And, hey!  That just leaves us good excuse to make another trip up to Death's Door!