Door County, WI

Oct 01 (Mon) Chicago - Door County

Left around noon for the 300 mile trip to Door County. Unfortunately, the weather was pretty bad as it rained/ poured nearly the entire drive. Our cottage (Diane picked out on Airbnb) is in the town of Ephraim about half way up the peninsula.

I arrived around 6:30 and met Steve, Sandy, her sister (Lynn) , brother in-law (Dan), Diane and Lorri at a Pizza place called Joe & Jo's Pizza and Gelato in town. Had the rest of one of the pizza's as they were just getting their gelato. I thought the pizza was pretty good although Lorri did not agree.

After pizza we all headed back to the cottage to watch the brewers play the cubs in an exciting 1 game playoff to determine the winner of the division. Turned out the game was against the Cubs. In an exciting game that was tied 1-1 through 7 innings, the brewers broke out with two runs in the 8th inning and won the game 3-1 sending the cubs to the wild card playoff game and the Brewers to a bye and on to the Division play-offs.

We all had a nice time visiting and catching up. The main topic (ironically) surrounded around a domain name for this blog. I wanted "Mikesblog.com" but, was obviously already taken. After lots of debate Steve came up with the one that stuck "mikesboringblog.com" Perfect!

Diane, Lorri and I stayed at the cottage (address: 9970 S. Dane St, Ephraim, WI). Diane did a great find with this property. It is about a 100 year old farm house with four bedrooms that was perfectly restored/maintained. The furnishings throughout were nice and it was spotless. Nice job Diane!. Stars: **** Steve, Sandy, her sister and brother in-law stayed at a nearby B&B.

Oct 02 (Tue) Door County

We all slept pretty late at the cottage. Diane and Lorri had already stocked the fridge and pantry so, we had a casual breakfast in the kitchen at the cottage. We did see four deer just out the window and a unique orange squirrel. [my pictures did not turn out well..]

Weather was overcast, drizzly but mild. Diane, unfortunately, had wrenched her knee just before the trip so, was not up for any hiking. Steve and co. decided to go shopping in nearby towns, Lorri and Diane decided to hang out and knit, and I went to the State Park.

Paninsula State Park

Peninsula State Park was just a couple miles from the cottage. Did a short but very nice hike in the woods and then drove the perimeter of the park stopping at many vantage points and lookouts. The timing of the fall colors was really good. The colors were really vivid with the overcast skies.

Around 3:30 we met up with Steve and co. and did a wine tasting at Lautenbach's Orchard Country. That was pretty fun. By then, Keith had arrived coming from his up North farm house. So, he was able to join us for dinner. We went to Dinner at Ship Wrecked Brew Pub. After dinner we headed back to our cottage and watched the Cubs lose to the Rockies.

Oct 03 (Wed) Door County

Another lazy start to the day. Steve was feeling under the weather and wanted to lay low. Diane and Keith stayed at the cottoge and Lorri and I went over to Peninsula State Park. We did the same hike I had done yesterday and again took a drive through the park stopping at some of the lookouts.

Paninsula State Park

Keith headed home mid afternoon and Diane, Lorri and I went out for a late lunch / early dinner, did some shopping and another wine tasting this time at Harbor Ridge Winery. Steve and company came over again in the evening and visited.

Oct 04 (Thu) Door County - Saint Charles

Diane and Lorri decided to extend their stay at the cottage. I packed up ready to head home. We had a very nice breakfast (but I don't remember where). After breakfast I hit the road for my trip home.

The ride was easy and uneventful... Home sweet home.

Summary

This was a fun and relaxing four day trip that I got to see all my favorite siblings!

Door County. Rating :****

Cottage. Rating: *****

Fact Sheets

A few more facts Lorri mentioned to me:
State Tree: Sugar Maple
State Flower: Violet
State Animal: Badger
State Bird: Robin
State Rock: Red Granite
State Mineral: Galena
Hightest Point: Rib Mountain