Door County, Part Two

For our second night in Door County (see day one here) we splurged on a bed and breakfast (the Inn on Maple). It was pretty much the best thing ever.  Since it was before busy season, we were the only guests at the B&B.  That meant unlimited lemonade, cookies, and coffee; complete use of the backyard deck; and our choice of music playing in the living room while reading in the evening.  And, Taras's favorite part, a delicious three course breakfast in the morning. The sweet hosts, Bill and Louise, even sent us away with extra muffins for the road.

After a filling breakfast we were off to catch a ferry to Washington Island. We boarded the bikes on the boat (their first ferry ride!) and enjoyed a chilly ride to the island - watching other ferries pass by, carrying semis, moving trucks, cement trucks, and the like, was highly entertaining. The roads were wide open and passed by farm after farm, making for easy cycling, even though we were bummed not to find roads with coastal views. We visited the Stave church, a medieval wooden church, and stopped by the W.I. Farm Museum to get close to the animals and play around on pretend horses.

After leaving Washington Island we headed out of Door County, but made a stop at Cave Point County Park for one last look at the water.  We were shocked to find limestone cliffs, little caves, and super clear water. It was, for sure, a beautiful end to our time in Door County.

-Amanda

Door County on Dwellable

Door County, WI | Part One

We made our way to Door County in Wisconsin.  Door County is part of the Door Peninsula and, because of its nearly 300 miles of coastline on Lake Michigan, is a popular vacation spot for the residents of Wisconsin and Illinois. The area is very reminiscent of Cape Cod and coastal Maine, minus the smell of salt water in the air, and we managed to miss the traffic and crowds by visiting a couple weeks before the start of busy season.

On our first night, we camped at Potawatomi State Park. We went for a hilly bike ride around the park to check out some of the vista points before coming back to camp and bundling up for a chilly night (I had on four layers!). Right before bed we noticed the bright moon shining through the trees and took a short walk to the lake - there was no need for a flashlight - and listened to the water lap against the shore. The next morning, we awoke with the sun and returned to the lake - Taras fished for a bit while I did yoga. When we got back to our campsite, the birds had woken up and were chirping like crazy (listen below! The audio clip may not show up in old browser versions.).

We spent the rest of the day exploring the peninsula. A quick hike at Peninsula State Park led us through trees and rocks and past beautiful lookouts. We drove past farms, wineries, and orchards (the region is known for their cherries) and through quaint, little villages with libraries that didn't open until three in the afternoon and that seemingly had more art galleries and B&Bs than people. To cap off the day, beers with a view were definitely in order.

Day two in paradise will be posted soon!

-Amanda