Other Things to Do and See in Door County

     As our summer in Wisconsin winds down, we took the time to see some more sights in the Peninsula. Of course, we stopped in at Al Johnson's to see how the goats were enjoying the summer. Looks like its been a good one for them!

     In Sturgeon Bay there is one of three Maritime Museum locations. Previously unknown to me, Sturgeon Bay has a rich and storied history as a center for ship building. The museums celebrate this past and have some restored vessels that are nifty to tour. 

     One of many lighthouses on the peninsula, Eagle Bluff is picturesque and located in Peninsula State Park near the town of Ephraim. This lighthouse was active from 1868 through 1926. The current lighthouse is decorated with some of the original keeper's furnishings and many period antiques. Tours are offered by a docent dressed in a period keeper's uniform.

     Shawn and Shelby came up for a visit in early September. One of our adventures was taking the ferry to Washington Island, then renting bicycles and riding around to visit the sites.

     We also went out to Whitefish Dunes State Park and Cave Point. This stretch of beach features rocks tumbled and shaped from centuries of Lake Michigan wave action. A popular activity is to build the towers of hoodoos. As you pass by one, you find an appropriate stone and add to the tower. If it remains standing, you will have good luck in the future. Should it fall, you have now incurred the wrath of some supernatural spirit and bad luck will follow.

     One of the last things we did was to sample an authentic Fish Boil. I'd never heard of it, and frankly eating boiled fish didn't sound particularly appetizing. But it is seen as a "Must Do" on the peninsula so we went to see what it was all about. They start with freshly caught whitefish. Add to that baby red potatoes and sweet boiling onions. About a pound of salt is added to the mixture along with water and put into a kettle. The fire is built beneath the kettle and the mixture is brought to a rolling boil.

A Fine Kettle of Fish

     A byproduct of this process is the fish oil that floats heavily on the surface of the water. This oil is not tasty and is removed in a most unique way. The Boil Master stokes the fire under the kettle and rings a bell to announce the coming event. When everyone is ready, he tosses a fuel on the fire causing it to flare up and the boiling liquid to overflow the kettle. Thus the oils are removed, in a most impressive Boil Over.

     Above the Boil Master is getting ready for the Boil Over.

The Boil Over!! Watch your eyebrows!

The contents are drained and sent to the kitchen...

...and the result is a very tasty fish meal.

Thumbs up from the dining public.

The Ridges

Light in the Upper Range light.
(see explanation below)

     Located in Baileys Harbor, just a short drive from our doorstep, is The Ridges Sanctuary. They recently moved into a new building that is spacious and charming. The Sanctuary is Wisconsin's first land trust and was founded in 1937 to conserve an original 40 acre parcel. Today it protects 1,600 acres of one of the most biblically diverse ecosystems in the state. What makes this area unique is the source of its namesake, the Ridges. Lake Michigan has changed its shoreline over the last 1,400 years. As the winds blow, deposits of sand are blown in and form a dune. Over time this dune grows and becomes vegetated with grasses then trees. As the shoreline changes, another dune grows and the space between the dunes, called a swale, becomes a marshy grassland. Years have passed and there are at least 7 distinct dunes running parallel to today's existing shoreline. The Sanctuary has built an extensive network of boardwalks and trails that you can walk through and see the diversity of plants and wildlife in this area.

     Above is looking down Sandy Swale, bordered by two forested dunes.

     Moss covered downed trees line the dunes floor.

Mini Mushroom inside a rotted stump

     Along the walk, I saw something that I had never seen before. As part of the property, there is a twin lighthouse setup called Range Lights. What makes these unique is the purpose and setup. Imagine this, leading into Baileys Harbor there is a narrow shipping channel that can accommodate ships with deeper drafts. Four miles from the harbor this channel is not marked except on maritime maps. So, as a navigational aid, these two range lights were built in 1868. The Upper Range light is located farther inland and sits 17 feet taller than the Lower Range light. The Upper Range light is White, the Lower light is Red. Now imagine you are coming into Baileys Harbor. You point towards the beacons and line up the lights... White one on top, Red one on bottom and both in line with each other. You see that, you are lined up with the deepest shipping channel and can confidently sail on into the harbor! Impressive! This uses lighthouse technology but isn't really a lighthouse. The Sanctuary folks are responsible to keep the lines of sight clear and in good condition as this is still an active navigational aid. They are working on restoring the Upper Range Light house and offer tours daily.

Upper Range light with Keepers quarters. Light is in the belfry .

View from the Upper light looking towards the Lower light and the Bay.
(neat effect of the light reflecting off the window)

Lower Light looking towards Upper Light
(can barely see the red light in the tower)

Upper Light looking towards the Bay

It's Cherry Time

     Above is the view from Ellison Bluff. This is more of the limestone shelf that lines the shoreline and was discussed in the previous blog entry. This is on the other side of the peninsula and the waters are actually Green Bay (the bay, not the city!) in Lake Michigan.

     Bordering the bluff is one of dozens of orchards that inhabit the peninsula. As you can see, it is time for the cherries to arrive! All over in grocery stores and roadside attractions you can find cherries by the pint, quart, bucket, or pie. I have done my best to eat my share of this wonderful produce this season. I get a pint and eat them while watching TV. I must admit that I'm up to a couple of pints a week!!! Going to be a sad day when the season ends (or we have to leave, whichever comes first).

Spending Time as a Tourist

     We were quite busy in the RV Park ramping up for the Fourth of July festivities. Since then, we have been, by my guess, running about 80% occupancy during the week and pretty much full on weekends. My major Projects have been whittled down to getting the doors in the Bathhouse/Laundry cleaned up and painted. Winter has been brutal and the doors have taken a beating. Lots of rust and pitting that has to be sanded before primer can be applied. Then I found that one coat of primer was not enough so had to add a second. Add to the mix the fact that it has been the wettest summer in recent memory, I have had to work around rain. It's taking forever to get this one project completed!! I hope I'm finished by the time we are ready to leave!

     We did, finally, take some time to be a tourist. One day we took a trip just up the road to the Cana Island Lighthouse. Built in 1869 and first lit in 1870, the light on this island has witnessed much of the history of Great Lakes shipping. There are many shipwrecks resting in the waters around Cana Island, both wooded hull and modern vessels. The light is a third order Fresnel lens that originally burned lard or whale oil. In 1945 it converted to electricity using a generator and batteries. In the 1960's an electric power line was installed. The lamp was converted to a 110 volt, 200 watt bulb on a unique rack. There are four bulbs on this rack which is designed to rotate and automatically replace a bulb in case of failure. It is still an active navigational aid to this day.

     As the name implies, the lighthouse is located on an island. Access to the island is via a tractor pulled wagon. There is a natural stone causeway that is just under the surface of the lake. It looks like you are driving off into the depths but you just splash across, all the while being regaled by facts and stories by your driver.

Another tour group approaches

The view over the drivers shoulder

     A 102 step circular staircase leads to the top of the lighthouse tower. The light itself is about 85 feet above the water and can be seen for 18 miles. It is different from many lighthouses in that the light beam is directed outward constantly. By that I mean there is no rotation of the light causing the familiar blinking pattern. It is solid all through its illumination cycle.

Looking up the staircase

Inside the light.

      In the photo above, you are looking inside the Fresnel lens at the light source itself. The small box in the center of the picture is the four bulb rotating device. You can see two of the bulbs on either side of the box. They are incredibly small considering that their light can be seen for 18 miles out! Just shows the power of the Fresnel lens design. 

The view from the top.

Walking along the shoreline of Lake Michigan at Whitefish Bay

     On another day, we took a trip to Whitefish Dunes State Park. Here the sand dunes line a stretch of Whitefish Bay. The dunes are among the highest in the state and are not common place. In fact they occur only in a few locations in Wisconsin lakeshore. Several trails line the beach and have been used by various human populations for about 3,000 years.

     Trails meander through beaches, wooded thickets, and open meadows. Benches are placed periodically so you can sit and watch/listen to the sights and sounds of nature.

    There is a mock up of an early tribal village. This showed how things would have looked 1,000 years ago in this area.

     Adjacent to Whitefish Dunes is Cave Point County Park. Here is dramatic evidence of a limestone shelf that extends all around Lake Michigan and on eastward all the way to Niagara Falls. This park is well known to locals but many tourists don't even know it exists. There is no admission fee and the trail has some spectacular views.

     For the brave (or foolhardy), there are opportunities to jump off cliffs to the waters below. All along the shoreline erosion has carved out caves and depression pools that lure the daredevils.

     Along a stretch of open shoreline, rocks of all shapes and sizes have been tossed by wave action. Here people build what I call HooDoos. We have seen similar structures all throughout our travels. You start with a big rock platform and each passerby selects a rock and places it on the base. As time goes on you have the various towers. Superstition says that bad luck will come to you if you knock over a tower, either on purpose or by placing your rock on it. Conversely, good luck will come to you after you balance your rock on a tower. Not sure if it's true, but I did build several towers just to cover my bases!!

Our Summer Home - 2017

     We bid "Farewell!" to Kentucky following the Memorial Day weekend and headed northwards to our destination for the summer. As we've said in earlier blog entries, we have taken a workamping position in Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin. This small village is on the eastern side of the Door County Peninsula in east central Wisconsin, on the shores of Lake Michigan. We arrived after a couple of days on the road and settled in to our summer home. We have a nice level pad tucked away in a corner of the park. Behind us is a pasture where "happy cows" graze and contribute milk for Land O' Lakes dairy products.

The length of our daily commute...

     Upon arrival we met our boss, John Anderson, aka "Beans" (hence the unique campground name of Beantown). He had a list of projects he wanted to accomplish before the Fourth of July holiday. That is a contributing factor to why it has taken so long to post this entry! The campground occupancy is steady but not filled up until the Fourth. One of the first things that we did was get the pool opened and ready for swimmers.

"Before" shots of the pool

     As with any outdoor pool, over the winter dirt and debris collect in the bottom along with rain and snow melt. This all had to be cleaned out before the pool is filled. In addition, minor repairs were needed as a result of winters ravages. Some border tiles needed to be replaced and several spots needed to be re-grouted.

Cleaned up and ready for initial fill

We had to work on the underwater lights a bit. Cleaned the lens and made sure that the seals were watertight. After getting most of the dirt and debris removed, we began to fill the pool. As it was filling, we installed the ladders and railings along with setting up the deck chairs. The pool water is heated so we made sure the heaters were in good working order and, once it was filled, we put the robot-vacuum to work. After roaming the bottom of the pool overnight, the pool was ready for swimmers! I had to make a quick fix on the gate latches and then put up the signs (rules, regulations, warnings, etc). It was time to open the gates and let the campers enjoy the pool.

Clean, pretty, and ready for action

     Meanwhile, we also cleaned and organized the community area inside the office building. Here, there is room for groups to gather, like RV rallies or family reunions. It's also a great place for campers to gather if it gets too dark or inclement outside.

Views of the Community Area

     One of the bigger projects involved painting the floor. A lot of it had been done when we arrived but one of our jobs was to finish it. Barb has spent a lot of time organizing and arranging things in the room and it really looks bright and inviting now. Brad also ran a propane gas line from the supply line to the kitchen. The campground owner recently acquired a new gas stove and we needed a supply of gas to get it working. A certified plumber has been scheduled to come out and make the appropriate connections now that the line is installed.

The Main Office

     When not cleaning and organizing, Barb can be found behind the desk in the Main Office getting arriving campers checked in and managing reservations for future stays.

     We don't have to regularly mow the property, but we did spend time spraying the weeds in the mulch of the playground area. An ongoing job also includes killing weeds that are growing up in the campsite gravel pads. Barb also did some landscaping around the entry sign and planted some flowers that add some color (see picture at the top of this blog article).

View of some of the campsites as seen from the pool

     Brad has been involved in most of these activities and several more. There is some cosmetic sanding and painting of the showerhouse doors that is going on as time permits. Lots of projects have been crossed off the list, but several more remain. We are well ahead of schedule and anticipate having all of them (and then some) finished before the Fourth of July.

Shower House, Laundry Room,  and Cabin Number 7 (all under the same roof)

     Its not all work and no play though. We received complementary tickets to the Peninsula Players Theater (click here to link to their website) final dress rehearsal. This production, titled "The Actuary", is an original play and we were the first audience to see it performed. The theater has been the home to performances for 82 years in Door County. The theater is beautifully set in a garden setting on the shores of Lake Michigan. The sides of the auditorium can be raised or lowered depending on the weather. Thus you get an outdoor theater feeling but with a roof over your head!

     Pictured above is the entrance to the theater. The sidewalls are slightly opened and the seating is just inside.

     Another view of the theater, only from a ways down the walkway through some of the garden.

     A little further down the trail sits the Beer Garden where a bonfire awaited lighting and you could sit on the shoreline and watch the sunset. 

     You can't tell much from here, but the dots on the water is a flock of male ducks who (just moments before) were sitting on the beach. They took to the waves as we approached. This is the small town of Fish Creek on the west side of the Peninsula.

      Here on the Peninsula there are farms all around. Particularly fruit orchards, grape fields (supplying the Door County Winery among others), and dairy farms. Along with the raw materials, there are dozens of markets. Above gives you just one example of the quantity and variety of fruit jams, jellies, and preserves. 

     Along with food items, there are a myriad of small craft beer breweries. Just down the street from our campground is the Door County Brewery which produces several varieties of local brews. Above shows just a hint of the variety of selection available!

     No trip to the Peninsula is complete without a stop at Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant and Butik. We chronicled a trip to this restaurant last year when we passed through Egg Harbor. As you can see above, the roof of the restaurant is made of sod and several goats make their home there during the day (keeping things neat and trim). The meals for the humans are Scandinavian in nature and REALLY good! Click on the link and check out their website. You can even monitor the "Goat Cam" and see how they're doing. Click here to go to Al Johnson's.