We recently went on a long weekend trip to Door County! It’s a favorite vacation spot for us and we have a bunch of favorite things to do and see. The last time we had been was two falls ago so it’s been a while!
I went through all the main highlights of what we did:
- Great breakfast at Julie’s Park Cafe- I got cherry stuffed French toast! So good!
- Went up Eagle Tower in Peninsula State Park and went on a hike down a bit of a tricky path to the water. There were such amazing views and it was really nice down by the water, where we hung out for a bit.
- Explored shops in Fish Creek… Hat Head, The Peninsula Bookman, Blue Horse Beach Cafe and downtown there was a festival going on and a local bird sanctuary was there with some raptors, giving info about them and trying to raise money. We saw a kestrel, a merlin, a barred owl and a long eared owl! That was really neat! We went into several other galleries and shops including Hide Side Corner Store and Lake People.
- Mass at Saint Paul The Apostle Catholic Church and I had some neat moments during Mass!
- Dinner at Wild Tomato. We waited a while but the pizza was sooo good! We got parmesan knots and deluxe pizzas which was new for us. We also got pizza dough to play with while waiting, which they’ve given us in the past so we knew to ask for it!
- Walked to Wilson’s from the hotel and each got sundaes!!!! I got one with chocolate ice cream, hot fudge, door county cherries, whipped cream and a cherry. It was so delicious!
- Saw a horse carriage downtown that night!
- Breakfast at the Old Post Office Restaurant. We got a front window table, the waitress was very nice and the food was delicious! Ro and I split cherry filled pancakes, hash browns with cheese- a recommendation from the waitress- and an omelette with ham, cheese, peppers, etc.
- Did some prayer time overlooking the water by the hotel.
- Visited Fine Line Designs Galleries and Edgewood Orchard Galleries.
- Visited Lautenbach’s- a favorite of our family’s! Our parents did a wine tasting and there also happed to be a grilled cheese food truck there so we got 3 to split- a classic, one with Mac and Cheese on it (my favorite!) and one with bacon, cherry jam, jalapeños and cream cheese. We bought some stuff and chilled outside for a bit. Us kids ran on the hay bales which is a classic memory from there.
- Visited Sweetie Pies and ate some delicious pie!
- Hung out in a park in Egg Harbor and went to Shipwrecked for dinner. I got a beer andouille mac and cheese.
- Dad surprised us in going to the Not Licked Yet custard place… and right as were going to pass by I said something like, “that would be nice to go to sometime,” and Dad was like, “That’s why we’re going there right now!” He had been planning it! We had never been there before. I got their flavor of the day in a cone which was vanilla with cherries and salted chocolate. So delicious!
- We visited the Hardy Gallery, just looking at the outside.
- Breakfast at Al Johnson’s! I got French toast, Swedish meatballs and I got some cherries and whipped cream from some of my family’s meals. We also enjoyed looking through their gift shop!
- Played at the classic park across from Al Johnson’s- something we’ve done many times. We then got to see the goats on the roof!
- Our first time driving on the iconic winding road!
- Visited Tannenbaum Holiday Shop! That was fun, and several of us got our ornaments for the year plus some for our friends. I didn’t end up getting mine that day.
- We played mini golf at Pirate’s Cove Adventure Golf. We’ve been there before and it was super fun! It’s a really neat course! It got pretty competitive… but not surprisingly Dad blew us out of the water- again! Ro won the “kid’s championship!”
- Dad surprised us in doing go-karts! We did them last year too. Just us kids and Mom did it this time. It was so much fun! I enjoyed going pretty fast and passing people!
- Enjoyed a nice, relaxing lunch at Coyote Roadhouse. We went there for the first time on our last trip. We enjoyed their tree swing again and Ben and I passed the volleyball over their net a few times. I got a yummy grilled chicken sandwich with super creamy and delicious coleslaw!
- We again went to an antique mall and spent some time there! We walked away with a few things including a St. Therese statue for me- she’s been friending me!
- Visited Cornucopia Kitchen Shop and the Artists Guild store- both of which are favorites of our family!
What’s something you liked about it (and why)? I lovedddd the fall vibe! The vibe of Door County, specifically in the fall, was so nice. All the pumpkins, the trees starting to turn, other fall decor- and how beautiful Door County is, all our favorite areas, the shops, it really puts you in the mood. It’s a great place to go in that season.
I also really enjoyed the food! We didn’t have a bad meal! The food that stands out though was the pizza at Wild Tomato, breakfasts at the Old Post Office Restaurant and Al Johnson’s, the custard at Not Licked Yet and that chicken sandwich at Coyote Roadhouse. My favorite though was probably that sundae at Wilson’s. I loved all the cherries we had throughout our trip… we ate a ton! For a lot of the meals above though, part of the reason they stand out was the atmosphere and vibe. I especially liked the branding of them, the beautiful water views and then the big windows overlooking the water.
What’s something you disliked about it (and why)? I wish we would have had one more day on our trip. We got to do almost everything we love to do up there, except I would have liked to check out Washington Island, which our parents have been wanting to take us to. I don’t think us kids have ever been. Plus that would’ve allowed for more time to eat good food at restaurants! I would’ve also said we could have gone to Hands On Art Studio if we had one more day, a place we’ve been to several times and have lots of great memories at. I was thinking we’d need to pick up the projects several days after we painted it, although it looks like from their website it’d be ready the day after, so maybe we could have done that! I wish we would have gone because that would have been fun and they have such a cool, inspiring space. It turns out we did a similar thing for Ro’s birthday in December somewhere local though.
What was your biggest takeaway or lesson? I’m not sure if this is my biggest takeaway, but a big one was just having more memories of the towns we went to and gaining more knowledge of what’s where, which towns I like the best and where they are in relation to each other.
What is something you’re curious to learn more about as a result of this experience? I loved all the unique restaurants and food up there! It just reminds me of my passion for food and how I love restaurants with neat vibes. Part of the reason I love The Old Post Office Restaurant and Al Johnson’s is because of the huge front windows that overlook the stunning water views. I’m curious to learn more about making some similar foods to those we had and also about managing a restaurant. I’d also be curious to discover different restaurants or activities in Door County for some new family favorites- without skipping our current favorites, of course!
Thank you for reading!
Lucy