Weekend in Door County Wisconsin

When asked where she wanted to go for her weekend birthday trip, my mom chose Door County Wisconsin as it’s known for some of the best fall foliage in the region, and has plenty of shops, farm markets, and pubs to also enjoy.

Door County is the peninsula in northeast Wisconsin separating Lake Michigan from Green Bay that starts at Sturgeon Bay on the south end and extends about 50 miles up to Washington and Rock Islands on the north end.  There are numerous small arts-and-crafts kinds of towns on the coasts of the peninsula, with farmland and orchards occupying the interior land.  There are also a half dozen gorgeous state and county parks.

We stayed at Tranquil Timbers RV Resort in Sturgeon Bay, another of the Encore/Thousand Trails parks on the ReadyCampGo program. The trees throughout the park were at their peak and just gorgeous.


It was also a perfect Indian Summer weekend with clear blue skies and temperatures in the 70’s each day.  Millie and Mom soaked up the sun late Saturday afternoon!

After slowly crawling out of the Friday afternoon congestion of Chicago and Milwaukee, we finally made it up to the campground just after sunset.  After getting parked at our site, it was off to the first of Mom’s favorite Sturgeon Bay restaurants—Neighborhood Pub & Grill.


The place was packed and we had to wait a few minutes for a table.  The crowd also seemed to be intently watching the ballgame on the various big screen TVs.  Within 5 minutes, everyone in the bar let out a huge roar and one of the bartenders even set off a small firecracker.  We then realized what everyone was so excited about—the Milwaukee Brewers had just won their playoff series and were moving on to the NL Championship series! 

With the game over, some tables opened up and we ordered dinner.  It also happened to be their Oktoberfest weekend, so we ordered some of their German specialties with excellent red cabbage, spaetzel, and spiced apple sauce.

On Saturday morning, we drove up to Sister Bay to Mom’s favorite farm market, Seaquist Orchards.  We were a bit early for the bluegrass concert in the Apple Barn, but there were plenty of pretty fruits and pumpkins to enjoy, and Mom loaded up her shopping basket with apple cider, donuts, cherry pie, and other goodies to bring home.

 

On the way out, I spotted this pristine vintage Winnebago Brave being driven by a poodle.  Apparently, Millie is not the only dog who likes to drive her Winnebago!

We then drove up to the northern tip of the peninsula to take some fall foliage pictures.  Lots of folks riding their motorcycles on these roads and enjoying the warm sunny day!

We zig-zagged our way back down to have lunch at Wilson’s and enjoy the pretty harbor at Ephraim.

and then made our way down to Jorn’s Sugar Bush to buy some fresh maple syrup (is it obvious yet that my mom had a major craving for sweets this weekend?!!).



After returning to the campground to rest for a few hours, we headed out Saturday night to first visit Pooh’s Pub in downtown Sturgeon Bay (actually named Poh’s for the owner’s George & Kim Poh).  Kim is my brother’s roommate’s sister, and this bar has been run by their family for years.  We happened to arrive just as George and Kim were finishing up the day shift, and Kim’s other 2 sisters were starting the night shift!  After hearing so much about this pub from my brother for so long, it was great to finally stop in for a visit and meet the family.

We then made our way to Mom’s other favorite Sturgeon Bay restaurant, The Nightingale Supper Club.  This place looks completely unchanged from the 60’s/70’s and had a bar almost a big as the restaurant itself.  Good thing, too, because we had to wait 1 1/2 hrs before being seated for dinner.  But the atmosphere and food were both very enjoyable.

Sunday morning, we headed up to Jacksonport, where Mom recalled a small town park that allowed dogs on the beach of Lake Michigan.  Millie got in a quick fun swim before we had to head back to Chicago, so a great time was had by all!