Skip to main content

The Cape Cod of the Midwest

We talked Brittany into joining us for a road trip to Door County, WI. Scott had never been there before (or so I believe). Considering how short of a drive it is I'm surprised my family didn't go that often, either.


Brooke likes to get to the destination on road trips, but if you mention Fleet Farm or antiques she's totally in.

Scott calls it Farm and Fleet (southerner).

It took me many years to figure out that they were different stores.


 As Brittany wasn't planning on going camping we decided to get an extra tent and more sleeping bags. Of course we had to get a 2 pound bag of trail mix.

She loves that 2# trail mix. I decided to get this Rayovac headlamp. It has three separate LED zones in blue, red and white. I've been using it ever since to paint photos and, of course, lead my way.


We were all hungry for lunch and agreed on Mexican. We stopped at a restaurant in a strip mall outside Sturgeon Bay. Surprisingly some of the best ethnic restaurants are hiding in strip malls.

Agreed. A year back we stopped at a similarly nondescript Mexican joint, El Tapatio, in Fort Collins. In that case the quality of the food may have been aided by our trip to the New Belgium Brewery.

We continued up Hwy 42 along the coast. Blake threw out his useless facts with, "Did you know Door County is the Cape Cod of the Midwest?" Scott responded with the comment, "What if we went to Cape Cod and called it the Door County of the East Coast?"

I'd love to buy this motel.
 



We stopped at an antique store/cheese shop/gallery. Scott and I bought the cocktail shaker above.
We made another stop in Egg Harbor for some beer at the Shipwrecked Inn.

Can you tell we're related?
Scott and I got the beer sampler and a pint.

Can't remember the whole bunch, but the Captain's Copper and Bayside Blonde stood out.

Blake and Brittany had soda pops instead.

Egg Harbor was too quaint for my taste, but the next city balanced the cheese/authenticity factor with my favorite dessert.



Of course we had to stop at the Frozen Custard shop.


Fish Creek's Not Licked Yet reminded of the pre-Kalahari Wisconsin Dells. Where as Egg Harbor seemed manufactured, adirondacks, frozen custard and what I suppose is the Fish Creek screamed Wisconsin (despite that adirondacks come from New York). It makes me long for Storybook Gardens.

We then went to Peninsula State Park and scored an awesome spot near the Green Bay. After we set up camp we decided to keep driving north to the tip of Door County.
We stopped and climbed the tower in the park first. I remember coming here as a child. 
 
Being my first time in Door, I spent a little more time hanging out on the outlook. It's one of those views that's worth getting as many angles as possible. When I was heading back down Brooke, Brittany and Blake looked like ants next to a toy car.

We were hungry again and stopped at Moretti's, a little Chicago-style place, in Sister Bay. Scott had a sandwich. 

I didn't just have a sandwich. I had The Godmother: a combo of moist Italian beef and handmade meatballs smothered with spaghetti sauce. It was decadent.

We shared eggplant fries and pizza. 

We had drove all the way up to the Washington Island ferry before we realized we were low on gas. After we stopped for pizza, the next two closest gas stations were closed. We were a little worried we were going to run out. Luckily we found one.

While we were driving back to the park Blacob took this trippy-sunset photo.

 We made another quick stop before sunset to see the lighthouse. 


Then we got some wood and made a fire before calling it a night, while Scott tried out his new headlamp and complained there were no marshmallows. 


The next morning we packed up (it was pretty windy) and headed back down the peninsula on the east side down hwy 57. 

I could post 57 similar photos of Blake. I find it funny when photographers don't like being photographed.

We stopped for breakfast at this darling place, The Town Hall Cafe and Bakery. We were just going to run in and grab some pastry goods but the place was just too darn cute. 

There's a running joke in Wisconsin that the Upper Peninsula ought to be a part of Wisconsin.
The food was awesome as well. 

This little wonder was made up of a phyllo dough nest, mild sausage, poached eggs and an aged Wisconsin cheese that escapes my mind. Our most expensive meal on the day trip cost around $50 for the four of us. 

Because the Town Hall didn't take cards, I marched up the highway under a persistent drizzle to the closest bar (that was open well before noon) and asked for the Tyme machine. I took out a little extra money and made my way back down Hwy. 57. Not a bad way to work off a filling breakfast.

We made one last stop to get some cheese before heading home. I do feel like I betrayed Door County by not buying anything cherry related while we were there. 

We did in fact have a cherry-infused beer at the Shipwrecked Inn. Not sure if that counts. But we'll put it up on the board anyways.

Christmas card?


To Be Continued

Comments

emma. said…
Yeah it's called Farm and Fleet.
That mouse picture cracks me up. How is that all of our eyes are closed at the same time? Us Romenesko's.
Blacob said…
I like how you used the term "tyme machine." I'm proud of ya.
I'm going to ask somebody in Minnesota for a bubbler and tyme machine sometime this summer.
mm45 said…
Hi. I stumbled upon your site while contemplating taking a trip to Wisconsin this summer. This is the best Wisconsin (and Minnesota) webpage I have been able to find, by far. It is very well done, intelligent, interesting and tasteful while being for the most part understated. I wish there were more things like it.

Popular posts from this blog

Yardwork, Ikea and Pumpkins

My new parents-in-law got us a dehydrator for the wedding. Knowing we were going to be cleaning up the garden and going to farmer's market, we took a gander at our millionth kitchen device during breakfast.   Scott added granola to his oatmeal.  The oatmeal was rather bland, just the way Brooke likes it.   Scott was actually cleaning up so I had to take a quick photo of him as proof.  Scott told me he was, "putting a blanket down for Peanut," while singing. During the winter months peanut needs a warm place to peer through the window. Seeing as it was nearly November, I setup his blanket for him. Seeing as the farmers market season is dwindling down, we headed to the market...once again. The close proximity to the cities central farmer's market has to be one of the best assets of living in NoMi. We were both amazed by the bounty of produce still on sale. We quickly filled up our first bag and took it back to the car....

4th of July 2025: Our Annual Romenesko Reunion

4th of July, you say? Of course we were going up to Three Lakes and the cottage. I took a half day on Thursday and we headed to the cottage. Scott had to stop in Lindstrom which brought us to an old favorite for lunch in Taylor's Falls, The Drive In . Still pretty, pretty good. Even though it was super hot today, we had to keep our AC on.  This is the one time of the year where the whole family is together. Exchanging of belated birthday gifts it is. Theo didn't know what he wanted so he got money. Meadow got a new hairbrush and the Warriors Ultimate Guide Book. We all seem to stick to our greatest hits for the 4th weekend. Brittany and Jeff once again made table nachos. This is making me want nachos back home. Do we look alike? I think that with this seating arrangement that you can see how both Chelsea and Brooke look like Brittany, but Brooke and Chelsea don't look anything alike. The good place.  Blake already had a quest for the kids to do. Why does Brooke look this cu...

Dakotas Road Trip: Badlands and Black Hills

  I thought we would skip Wall Drug this time since we've seen it before but Scott was gun ho on going.  Come on. You can't go to the Badlands and skip the world's greatest tourist trap. First stop ice cream.  We thought we would have lunch here but after seeing the prices decided we would cook something at the park instead. But first we had to take a couple tourist pics. When we we decided we were coming here I was expecting it to be 90's and hot. Did not think it would be rainy, chilly and foggy.  I always make Brooke look cool. She on the other hand always finds a way to take a pic at the most awkward possible moment. Either that or I'm just really awkward. Earlier this year, I asked Theo where he wanted to go on vacations this year. He said he wanted to backpack camp at the Badlands because he was sad he didn't get to go yet. This is all for you buddy.