The Door County Experience: I’m Going to Miss This Place!

Good evening welcome to day five of Skipah:  Photo/Travel blogger extraordinaire!  Tonight we will dive into day five of the Door County Experience.  Friday was our final “full” day on the peninsula and we made the most of it!

Water was a tad choppy last Friday.

One day when I’m a famous writer this will be my studio!

First stop was the drive southwest back to Algoma so Miss Madison could witness the awesomeness that awaited our arrival.  We each took turns walking out on the seawall and hog tying the kiddos from venturing out too far.

Love this picture! 

Geese orgy, but I was more interested in the big ship!

After our Algoma adventures we traveled north along Lake Michigan and found one of the most scenic drives in America.  A one lane public road that was nothing more than loose gravel and grass.  Miss Madison in all years of travel up there had never seen this part of the peninsula and she was in full Ansel Adams mode with her super-duper high powered camera that could spot a pimple on a gnat’s ass from a 1000 yards out.  We dead ended at the Sturgeon Bay shipping canal and had a spectacular view of both the Sturgeon Bay Canal Light (not pictured) and the Sturgeon Bay Canal North Pierhead Light.

This greets ships as they enter the shipping canal.

Sloane was off earning her Lake Michigan explorer badge.

From there it was a drive further northbound to the little community of Baileys Harbor for lunch at arguably the most kid friendliest restaurant this side of Chuck-E-Cheese.  PC Junction had a little bit of everything!  Choo-Choo train served your food and drinks, full service playground while you waited, and hybrid manual powered ATV’s that wove through a trail in the woods.  Think glorified bicycle that looked like some sort of baja racing vehicle.

Get the damn camera out of my face dad!

Then it was a trip to the top of the peninsula to see the car ferry, where Green Bay (the body of water) and Lake Michigan meet up and one of the coolest beaches you will ever find.  Sandy dunes combined with crushed up mussel shells littered the whole shore line.  I being a beachcomber at heart loved finding gigantic mussel shells and obscure colored rocks for the kids.  I could have made Andy Dufrense his own chess set with all the different types of stones I found, but instead three kids currently have the coolest rock collections in Indiana!

This ferry takes you to Washington Island

I kept a washed up brick for all my troubles!

On the way back home down the Green Bay side of the peninsula it was a quick stop for some miniature golf at Pirates Cove and a quick trip through Peninsula State Park to look at one final lighthouse.  Miss Madison got some amazing shots with her before mentioned camera (her travel blog will be featured on here soon) and then it was our final night at the cottage.  Campfire Penguin was born and all of us had an amazing time roasting hot dogs over and open fire and then having s’mores for dessert.  In all her years of staying there it was Miss Madison’s first hot dog roast over an open fire.  We told ghost stories, demolished a pack of hot dogs, and ate enough roasted marshmallows/s’mores that all of us went to bed with tummy aches.

Miss Madison had no idea I’m in the Putt-Putt hall of fame!  My score is the one of the left.  A couple of more rounds and I’m sure I would have been par or better!

Sloane was bummed about a putt lipping out.

  

I’ve played a ton of gimmicky mini golf courses but this one was better an average!

  

Goats grazing on a roof, not something you see everyday and hell I live near Kentucky!

Some many years ago this poor captain forgot to hang a left and ran aground!

Peninsula State Park lighthouse

Campfire Penguin!

The verdict…..Miss Madison is a keeper.  I already knew that, but a week out of town with her we had ZERO issues together.  I can’t stress enough travelling with her went far better than I ever envisioned.  I fully expected an awkward moment or two, or a disagreement here or there, we had none other than Bugs Bunny is much cooler than the Jetsons!  For the most part the kids all played well together in the sandbox.  What issues came up were normal, and junior Miss Madison and Sloane are a couple of conniving pre-adolescent girls who have had to go through more than neither of them should have ever had to at that age.  The Turtle Man just goes with the flow and when he needs attention “trust me” he will let anyone know!

Send Skipah Sailing!
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12 Comments

  1. It certainly looks like the ocean minus the crashing waves!

  2. I have fond memories of spending summer vacations on Lake Michigan while visiting Chicago relatives as a young child. I thought it was the ocean then,

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  5. Very true, with my internet though it can be very frustrating!

  6. What gorgeous photos! C’mon, admit it, it was worth it to spend so much time editing considering the results, right? 🙂

  7. Thank you sir! I don’t know how photo bloggers do it. I must spend half my time this week editing pictures!

  8. Great trip and the pictures are perfect! 🙂

  9. Thanks RC, if you need campfire tips while you are out in the woods feel free to send me a message LOL.

  10. I used to play mini golf all the time, need to go again now! Your trip was full of fun, and good to see you have yourself a keeper! Look forward to many more stories with your new partner in crime!

  11. I aced 18 no free game for me I was a little bummed!

  12. In mini-golf I never minded losing the round as long as I was the guy who got the ball in the Clown’s Mouth for the Free Round. Unfortunately while I do win most all the rounds we play my wife is the one who always seems to walk away with those Freebies…!

Tell Skipah all about it!