More August, Door County

Before school started back up, we wanted to take one last quick vacation. We had heard from several people that Door County is the place to be. After living in Wisconsin for 6 years, we decided to finally check it out. We discovered that Lambeau stadium was on the way, so we took a little detour to stop there on the way up.

Apparently they were doing some renovations, so ignore the construction in the front.

It was too sunny for a good picture with the kids. Hate it when that happens. Anyway, heres the entrance.

Since we were just stopping through, we didnt want to pay the money for our whole family to take the tour. Unfortunately, that was the only way to see the field, so this is as exciting as it got. 

Oh, and let me mention, I forgot the camera...again. So since my phone camera does not do a wonderful job, you will have to enhance things in your mind. Door County is located on the northern peninsula of Wisconsin. It is very beautiful country surrounded by Lake Michigan. My pictures do not do it justice.

Anyway, we pitched our tent at a nice little campground just south of all the tourist attractions. It was really a perfect location. Plus, they had showers, flushing toilets and a pool, so everyone was happy. Since we had never been there before, we took some recommendations from friends who knew what they were talking about. Door County is definitely a tourist location, with tons of little shops and quirky things around. One place people kept mentioning was a restaurant called Al Johnsons. I guess the food isnt all that great, and its overpriced as all touristy places are, but we still wanted to stop by and check out the goats who lived on the roof. Yup...there they are.

There was also a statue of this creepy troll lady. They serve Swedish food, so maybe its something to do with that? Madi is playing "I got your nose" with her, I guess.

This was one of my favorite stops. It was a little beach off of a large marina. Again, the picture doesnt do it justice, but it was really pretty. 

We did a lot of driving around, trying to figure out which beach to go to the next day. There were quite a few of them up the peninsula. The kids got super bored with that, so we ended up taking them mini-golfing before bed. They all loved it, especially Brylee. 

The next morning, we rented some mountain bikes and went for a ride through Peninsula state park. We didnt think Zack could handle it, so he chose to ride with Brylee in the pull along. It was a lot of fun, but after 8 miles, the kids were definitely worn out. 

The remainder of the day we spent mostly at the beach, the pool and camping. 

The last day there kinda started out as a failure. I wanted to drive up to the top of the peninsula and see where the ferry takes you across to Washington Island. We had been told there were big ships that docked there, and I thought it would be fun to show the kids. It was a longer drive than expected, so we endured a lot of whining and complaining. When we finally got there, we ended up in a long line to board the ferry. We didnt want to pay to ride the ferry across, we just wanted to see the big ships, so we turned around and went down a back road to try to get a better look. We ended up at this little hidden beach. 

Sadly there were still no big ships whatsoever. Still, this beach looked fun, and there was no one there so we had it all to ourselves. All our stuff was already packed up, but a little exploring and time to stretch our legs wouldn't hurt...so I thought.

The kids made it out to the water and then we discovered why no one was there. The beach was covered in these little shells and they were now stuck to the bottom of their feet, and in their sandals. 

They hurt so bad, it was like walking on  little shards of glass. All the kids were stuck, crying and couldnt get back. Ryan had to endure the pain and carry them one by one out of the shell trap. When we finally made it back to safer ground, we ran into a nice couple with a shitzu. While the kids were cheering up with the dog, they told us a little history as to why the smaller island (pilot or plum island...cant remember which) was now deserted and all the trees were dead. Apparently there is a species of protected birds that killed the trees. After this explanation, they gave us a few pointers of where else we needed to check out before heading home, including another beach and a little candy store. We were pretty much done with beaches for the trip, but we thought maybe some candy would cheer the kids up, so we headed to Uncle Tom's Candy store. I guess it used to be an old schoolhouse.

The kids all picked out some sugary items and we headed back toward civilization. I had also heard about a yummy ice cream joint, so we stopped there as well on our way back. If that didnt win back their good graces, we made one final stop for dinner at a restaurant called PC Junction. They are known for serving your dinner to you on a little train that drives up to your table. The 3rd failure of the day, was when it was another hour wait to get a table that included the train delivery. We were all hungry and it was getting late, so we opted to be seated at a normal table right away. 

After dinner, we discovered there was this little play area next to the restaurant, free for all customers.

They had this fun peddle cars you could drive around, if you could find an available one. They were a little hard to peddle, so we piled the kids on with us.

They also had a couple pigs...

and some random junk, like this old bus sitting there. Zack didnt mind being the driver.

If we had known about the play area before dinner, we might have waited for our train drive by table while we played. Now we know better for next time I guess...if there is a next time.