Door County Weekend

Alex and I drove up to Brooke and Anders' (Alex's sister and her husband) house north of Chicago and drove up to Door County Friday night. Saturday was very windy and chilly, so we rode the trails in Peninsula State Park in Fish Creek. I forgot to bring the camera along on that ride, so I have no photographic record of that event.

Sunday, however, was different. We woke up to pure blue skies and much less wind. So, we decided to take the ferry over to Washington Island, an island north of Door County. Door County separates the bay of Green Bay from Lake Michigan.

The main road running north-south on the island is nicely paved with very wide shoulders, which were nice for biking.


Ambling up the road, we came across scenes such as this:


And this. Far in the background is the limestone bluff at the end of the Door Peninsula.


We rode 6 miles north and 5 miles east to the northeast corner of the island, and the location of tiny Jackson Harbor.


There was a concession trailer at the harbor, but since they were out of fish guts, we decided to not buy anything:)


Actually, there are several commercial fishing vessels stationed at the island, like these two fine specimens. These are the tools locals use to gather net-fulls of yellow perch, which is almost a delicacy. Just ask anyone from the midwest about yellow perch and watch the drool begin to flow.


There is a very small fishing museum here, and this old VW caught my eye. I couldn't figure out whether this was a part of the fishing museum or not. Perhaps this was the vehicle of choice for yellow perch captains. This beetle had the large round tail lights of the '72 and later, but I don't know exactly which year it is. Does anyone out there want to guess?


The 5 Scandinavian flags honor the legacy of the settlers of this island.


Anders was born in Denmark, so naturally, he had to check out the Danish Mill.


Waiting for the ferry back to Door.


Here it comes...


Since it was sunny, we opted for seats on the roof. You can see the bikers leaving the dock. The Island Clipper is a bike-friendly ferry, and the crew carefully loaded and unloaded our bikes for us.


Departing from the island.


Looking back to Washington Island. We are smack dab in the middle of the Porte Des Morts. Glad this is a calm day.


Looking ahead to the Door Peninsula.


We were fortunate to stay in the same place we stayed last Labor Day. This is the view off of the deck out our back door.


Near sundown, we walked down to the shore to watch the sunset. The land you see across Eagle Harbor is Peninsula State Park. It's a great place to ride a bike, hike, and camp.


Shortly after I took this photo, the sun went behind clouds and we didn't get any other sky colors.


Land (water) of the gulls. I think these were mostly ring-billed, although there are herring gulls in the area too.


We walked down the main drag, past this restaurant, which hosts a daily fish boil. We bought steaks to grill tonight. No fish for us.


We saw a building near the water with graffiti all over it. The community actually promotes it if you use a 1/2" brush or less, and are tasteful.


It was too dark to get a better photo, but it was a fun building to look at and read.


This is the location of the world's best chocolate malt. These modest people who run this store would never make that claim - I am bestowing that title upon them. Ever since Rosie's Diner closed on Calhoun Street in Fort Wayne, it's been my mission to find a chocolate malt to match Rosie's. This is that place. Located in the center of Ephraim, WI, next to the water.


I hope the sun shone on you folks this weekend.

Happy riding!