But I couldn't start the blog without mentioning our 5am wake up call, in the form of the fire alarm in our hotel. My partner didn't even wake up, I had to shove him awake. We weren't particularly quick at getting up and out. We forgot to even take a phone or anything, and just slipped on shoes and coats over our pyjamas. As we left for the 'emergency exit' we stumbled upon another couple - the hotel mustn't have had many guests - and exited into a creepy below-stairs-horror-movie-area, which eventually led out to the rubbish store out the back. We walked around to the front of the building to find no visible smoke, the alarm still resounding and just one other couple waiting on the front porch.
The member of staff on reception had no idea what was happening, if there was a fire, or what might have set it off. They also did not remove themselves from the building but stayed on the front desk twiddling their thumbs. Some other guests took the lift (elevator) down - the one thing you're not supposed to do in an emergency - and at the most there were a dozen of us. The alarm didn't stop for twenty five minutes and they sent two fire engines. Around five minutes after the fire engines arrived we were told it was safe to re-enter. I will say one thing, a 5am fire alarm, wake up call, really brings people together. We met some lovely people from the US and also some visiting from the UK. Sleep after that: impossible.
But enough about that, we took an early breakfast and got on with our next leg of the road trip: Sturgeon Bay, Door County, Wisconsin.
Hit a little rain on the drive from Milwaukee.
Now there's a big gnome.
Sturgeon Bay
This charming town at the gateway to Door County is well worth a visit. Cool bridges, museums, a Visitor Centre, a funky food truck, great shops and amazing pancakes. What more could you want after a two and half hour drive from Milwaukee?
3rd Avenue, Sturgeon Bay.
Arriving in Sturgeon Bay we were more than ready to stretch our legs and first of all stopped in at the Visitor Centre, There we picked up a few brochures and were able to plan our day, over pancakes of course. 5am fire alarms automatically mean second breakfasts, it's the law. I had the classic Blueberry with hot Maple syrup and my partner had Cherry sauce on his, from the famous Door County Cherries.
Mmmmmmmmmmmmm pancakes.
Fuelled and ready to explore, we headed down the main street, 3rd Avenue and found some incredible homeware shops selling all sorts of decorations, furniture and essentials for the home. As we were there in October, there was an abundance of autumnal (fall) and Halloween decorations. Now this is something we lack in the UK and as someone who loves autumn and Halloween, I am always disappointed at the UK's attempt to celebrate the season. But America, you know exactly what you're doing, so I left with several items and a spring in my step.
Inside and out of The Brick Alley Shop. My favourite.
We had a stroll along 3rd Avenue and then down to the shipping yard and the ship canal. We took in the Michigan Street Bridge and even saw it open for a boat that would have been at home in a Bond movie. I can imagine this place being busy in the summer, but in autumn it is quiet with mainly the locals about, meaning we had a calm and relaxing time.
Michigan Street Bridge.
Open sesame.
Heading back into town we took Michigan Street and passed Nistebox LLC, the Sturgeon Bay food truck, on the corner of 2nd Avenue. At the time it was selling hot apple cider as well as some hot food and snacks. It even has some seating outside and is worthy of a brief pause in any travellers day. Check it out. https://www.facebook.com/nistebox
From there we took a walk past the old library - which is now the most beautiful tax and accountancy office, ever - and visited the Door County Museum. Oh do please carve half an hour, or longer, out of your time, to visit the museum. It is absolutely charming and charts the history of Door County from 1850 onwards, through many different artefacts and displays.
The old library, now a tax office. Kinda makes you want to become an acc.......nah, can't get through that sentence, but it's a beautiful building and must have been an incredible library space.
The wonderful and free to visit, Door County Museum. Don't forget to sign the visitor's book.
The musical instruments section and the telephone section were amongst our favourites, but the old fire engines and other transport were also fun. There is a lot to see, but with free entry you can take in as much or as little as you have time for. I would recommend a visit, especially if Sturgeon Bay is your first port of call within Door County. You can find out more about this interesting peninsula and its history. http://map.co.door.wi.us/museum/(Visit the website for opening times and more details.)
That was all we had time for in Sturgeon Bay, but I think we packed quite a bit into ninety minutes. From the leaflets picked up in the Visitor Centre, we were able to plot our next stop at Orchard County Winery and Cider Mill, taking us bayside, through Egg Harbour.
Orchard County Winery and Cider Mill
There are other wineries on the peninsula but what attracted us to Orchard County was the cherries. Door County cherries are as renowned as Maine wild blueberries, and we were eager to sample, take a tour and come away with some souvenirs. Orchard County offered cherry, apple and grape offerings and we couldn't wait. http://www.orchardcountry.com/
You can take a $4 tour, yes that's right, a $4 tour of the vines and winery. With your $4 fee you also get to sample a few of the wines and keep the wine glass. A-ma-zing! We had the wonderful Skip as our tour guide and were told about the processes involved, how they get the fruit off the trees and what types of wines and other products they make. Top stuff! (Quick reminder to those coming from outside the US, you have to be 21 to drink alcohol.)
The market shop is fabulous. They have all sorts of cherry, apple and grape products, but the cherry stuff is pretty special. We're talking salsa, jam, sweets, dried cherries - they made a lovely change to dried cranberries in my cookies - chocolates and wine. There were also cook books detailing the many things you could do with cherries and lots of cherry related souvenirs.
From here you could pick your own apples in the orchard. They have several varieties of apple to choose from and all are delicious. The Honeycrisp was particularly special. We took a couple of those with us for the road and they were massive! When visiting you also need to sample the different ciders they have, and I must remind the UK readers here, that cider in the US is non-alcoholic. But the different flavours they have are just mouth-watering: Apple cider, Cherry and Apple juice, Tart Cherry juice and Sweet Cherry juice. We took a huge carton of the Cherry and Apple along with us for the ride and it kept us going all day and the next morning. You really should drink this juice at least once in your life. (If you're lucky to live in any of these three states: WI, IL, MN then they actually deliver. You lucky so and so's.)
Throughout the year they have many exciting festivals and events. They offer pick your own fruit sessions and lots of activities for the whole family. Whilst there, why not have a turn at the Cherry Pit Spit? How far can you launch yours? And if it is autumn time you might find their lawn area dominated by many varieties of pumpkin and squash. If only we had enough baggage allowance to get them all back to London..........
Needless to say we didn't get very far with this.
So many shapes and sizes and colours.
Bag of apples anyone? How many pies and cakes could I make with those?
Lots of knobbly bobbly ones.
Watch out, you seem to have a crazy person in your pumpkin patch.
Heading on for lunch time, we asked for a recommendation to eat somewhere close by and the lady at the market directed us to nearby Fish Creek. The Cookery is a cafe, bar and restaurant open all day serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as cakes and snacks. With the chill of the afternoon we chose soups and were not disappointed. A white fish chowder for the gentleman and a French tomato and bacon soup for me.
The Cookery, Fish Creek. A delightful spot for any meal of the day. http://www.cookeryfishcreek.com/#home
This village is described as 'the soul of the county' and boasts the highest number of pre-twentieth century structures on the 'thumb'. Fish Creek was all dressed up for autumn and ready to shower us with exciting shops and food. Anyone visiting Fish Creek should dedicate a little time to wandering the streets, and definitely take a walk down to the bay. There are a few Inns, Motels and Guest houses if you choose Fish Creek as a place to stay and there are also several eateries, a couple of theatre troupes (Performances between May to October) and a Drive In. You can take a boat trip out to Chamber Island or stay on land and visit the haunted Noble House. You are also a short drive, or cycle away from the Peninsula State Park. Not bad for a hamlet boasting around 200 inhabitants.
Find out more about Fish Creek at their website: http://visitfishcreek.com/
Down by the Bay.
A quick drive by Noble House. Escape the ghosts.
On the road again, continuing north only about five miles from Fish Creek, you'll hit the village of Ephraim (pronounced EE-frum) and I will admit our main reason for stopping was the leaflet we'd picked up about Wilson's Sundaes. An ice cream parlour that transports you back to the 50s with its blue booths and wall mounted jukeboxes, and has so many varieties of ice cream to choose from it'll take you a while to compose your ideal sundae. http://wilsonsicecream.com/
Some tunes with your ice cream?
Ephraim has plenty to do and see, but we were beginning to run out of daylight and wanted to make it to the top of the thumb and back down the Lakeside before dark. Find out more about Ephraim and what it has to offer at their official website: http://ephraim-doorcounty.com/
So off we trundled, stopping briefly at Sister Bay (http://www.cometosisterbay.com/), Ellison Bay and Gills Rock, to take photographs and admire the scenery. But you know, sometimes speed tourism backfires, and this particular day it definitely did. We had to rush down the Lakeside of Door County, not able to see much and we missed out on a lot. But that just means when we make it back over there, we'll still have tonnes to do. And besides, we had thousands of kilometres to travel on our tour of the Midwest and the Great Lakes and a fairly tight schedule to stick to. Not much wriggle room, though if we did have some, we would probably have stayed the night and had another day on Door.
Sister Bay
Gills Rock
Northport
Our accommodation for the night was in Appleton and we still had around a two and a half hour drive there, so our Lakeside tour of Door became a rather rushed lighthouse hunt, starting with Cana Island Lighthouse.
Heading out to the eerily deserted Cana Island.
Creepy, creepy.
There you go, the most photographed lighthouse in Wisconsin.
I will fully admit to being slightly freaked on this island with no one else around, except all the huge rabbits that kept jumping out on us. I've seen a few too many horror movies to feel completely comfortable on a deserted island. There was a definite feeling of eyes watching us, though that could have just been the bunnies. It was the first time I actually felt like I'd willingly walked into a horror scenario. It's certainly well hidden away. I couldn't wait to get back to the car. I advise visiting when it's open and there are a few other signs of life or some sunshine, though the grey mist definitely added atmosphere. Watch out as well, the causeway can flood, so prepare to wade if you have to, or risk being stuck on Horror Island. Muhahahahahahaha. (Okay, so it's not that bad, but I challenge you to go there on an October day with nobody around. You'll feel like you're the only person on Door County never mind Cana Island.)
Here's me leaving pretty sharpish.
We also managed a quick sighting of the Range Lights, but as it was already dark by then, we just did a drive by and I was unable to get any photographs. One is on the beach and the other is slightly inland. Still, I do love a good lighthouse sighting, so I was happy with a tally of three.
We set the Tom Tom for Appleton, put the radio on for the Packers pre-game ramble and drove through the rain. What a fabulous day in Door County. I know we skimmed through things and only got a sample of its wondrousness, but if I managed to convince even a few people to visit from my crazy ramblings, then that is a job well done. I would advise at least two days and of course if you want to have a long, relaxing break, then a week would be perfect. We weren't sure if we could fit it in, originally, but I'm so glad we managed even a few hours here as it is truly a charming place to visit. Thank you Door County.
Appleton
We arrived in time for a late dinner and a small beer at the Appleton Beer Factory, which was a recommendation from our Air BnB hosts. The Packers game was on, we tried some local brews and Green Bay won in the end, so all in all, a pretty good day in Wisconsin. https://appletondowntown.org/ Visit the Appleton website for more details of things to do if you have time. I really wanted to visit the Paper museum and discovery centre. What can I say? I'm a writer, I love paper. But sadly, it didn't open until 10am the next morning and we had some serious ground to cover, so I'll leave that as something to do the next time I'm in Appleton.
A little beer at http://www.appletonbeerfactory.com/.
There you have it travellers, another of many reasons to visit Wisconsin. Door County has so much to offer, but if you can take just a sample, I would say cherries, ice cream, the Door County Museum and a lighthouse or two - preferably during opening hours. You could probably throw in a state park and a fish boil to your agenda too. I really hope I've inspired a few of you to try something different, go somewhere you wouldn't necessarily have thought about, and enjoy the wonderful state of Wisconsin.
Join me next time when we'll be visiting the famous Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers, we'll be listening to far too much Country radio and we'll be continuing our road trip up and around the top of Lake Michigan, to the delightful Mackinaw City, MI.
Keep travelling.
The Sarky Traveller.
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