The Door peninsular

We will have to see how it looks after we go thru the joys of going off site to dump before we post our own review.

Lots of nice water views on the Door Peninsular

Several people from Wisconsin have told us “You have to visit Door County” other people have told us “It'll be crowded, there are too many tourists”. Well we're here to tell you that YES we're so glad we came to Door County it's beautiful and unspoiled, and NO it isn't crowded with tourists even though we are here for the July 4^th Holiday.

4th of July in Bailey's Harbor

We took a whole day to drive around the Door Peninsular and we both agree that this is a super place. We visited a lighthouse by a wagon that was pulled thru the surf, strolled the streets of Baileys Harbor and Egg Harbor, took in Sturgeon Bay and a local brewpub (of course) then on the 4^th decided to get to the firework show early to get a good seat!

Loved this sign, and their frozen custard.

We certainly got a good seat but after a couple of hours the sky turned dark and thunder started rumbling. There was supposed to be a band and food vendors but the band weren't going to set up in the rain and the food vendors weren't eager to serve as the rain got heavier and heavier. We took shelter in a pavilion with lots of other people until the rain went away, but we could see a bunch more heading our way. Finally we left and headed back towards the campground.

Door County Maritime Museum Sturgeon Bay

It occurred to us that there were a couple of bars near the campground. We'd been in the “Biker” one so we took a chance on “The little brown jug” being open on this national holiday. It was and soon we were laughing and chatting with the locals, drinking “Spotted Cow” beer and eating from their excellent food choices. The owners of the campground David and Liz, were there too and we decided to stay another week. We're enjoying Door County!

Wagon ride out to the island

Cana Island Lighthouse

Our next day out was right to the very tip of the peninsular where we took the ferry to Washington Island. This serene little place is even nicer! We visited lavender fields and Norwegian Stave churches, a pebble beach. A lovely place. The weather was perfect and we drove back with the top down. The ferry passes “Deaths Door” which is an area with strong currents and frequent storms. So many shipwrecks happened here that it earned the name “Deaths Door”.

Ferry to Washington Island

We had reservations in Ephraim at the The Old Post Office Restaurant for a traditional Door County Fish Boil. Fresh locally caught white fish, potatoes, onions and salted water boiled over an open fire.

The fish boil

The Over Boil

The grand finale is the “Over Boil”. Kerosene is thrown on the fire and the blast of heat instantly brings the water surging over the rim of the cauldron which cleans any fish oil off the surface of the water and also cleans off any ash that might have got into the water from the fire. Served with cole slaw and buckets of melted butter it's delicious.

Glorious day on Green Bay

Every day brings more smiles and there is a lot to do. The Door County Maritime Museum was good with an excellent exhibition of paintings done in local shipyards and around the harbor. Exhibits showed the local boat and shipbuilding industries and another showed the many shipwrecks in the area.

The lavender fields on Washington Island

There are a lot of lighthouses around the peninsular, I can see some paintings being done of them this winter. One in Algoma caught my eye and I walked way out on the breakwater to get some different views of it.

Sherwood Point Lighthouse

Algoma Lighthouse

Algoma is another beautiful town with some great murals as well as several good brew pubs and an excellent winery (where we naturally stopped for tour and some tasting). We spent the whole day wandering round.

Murals 

We have pretty much decided that we are going up to the “Upper Peninsular” of Michigan next (Known simply as the U-P to locals, who call themselves “Yoopers”). They had a terrible flood up their last month and a lot of roads and bridges were washed out. We had thought of taking a ferry across Lake Michigan and doing a counter-clockwise tour but we're going to go clockwise and avoid the ferry.