#4thOfJuly Weekend Festivities

After an insane winter, the warmth of summer feels so incredibly nice. I'll even take the humidity! There is nothing like falling asleep to the hum of the air conditioner, having sunnies permanently affixed to my head or long naps in the sun. Better yet, was having all this glorious weather present for the long holiday weekend! 

Friday started with a Starbucks fueled ride up to Door County with my sister and her family, keeping north until we hit the top of the peninsula. The most I've ever seen of  the islands off the tip of Door County was in the distance, but on the fourth a 45-minute ferry ride fixed that. And let me tell ya, it's not easy keeping a gaggle of 5-7 year olds entertained in all that time either... which is why I left that up to the captains. On both trips. Yes, those kids weaseled their way next to the crew twice!

On the island, the first stop was to get some food and join the infamous Bitter Club. After much debate with my sister on what bitters actually is, we took the challenge of taking a shot! The second it went down I wiped my mouth and it looked like I was bleeding from the mouth. It was disgusting. That little business-card sized piece of paper was totally worth it.

After our induction the club of all clubs on the island, we went to the beach of all beaches. Schoolhouse beach is known for it's rounded, white-pebbled beach, which is a dream if you're the type of person who never seems to be able to get rid of sand even weeks after last visiting a beach! 

As I mentioned, the winter was loooong and cold, leaving Lake Michigan in a chilly state, still. That didn't hold me back from at least a few solid minutes of snorkeling around the rocky beach. I can confirm there is not much to see except for large, white rocks of varying size. 

 

The trip wasn't without some thrill, for the kiddos at least! One stop had them strapping up and zipping down a 30ft tower. While I've never been zip lining, I had jumped off cliffs higher than this tower. I figured I'd save my first time for something special and exotic. Recommendations are always welcome!

Of course the 4th isn't complete without ending the night with a series of incredibly bright and loud bangs! Our chauffeur drove us back down to Kewaunee where we hung out in one of the old, industrial buildings near the lakeshore until dusk, mostly to avoid the chill of the lake breeze (anyone who's been around the Great Lakes knows what I'm talking about).

When dusk approached, we headed towards the beach, arguing along the way on where the fireworks were going to be shot off. Turns out, they weren't launched from the usual location and our view was initially obscured by trees. They were not distracting us enough from the bumps arising on our skin from the cool night air and accompanying mosquitoes. We started heading back to the car when we thought they were finished and ended up watching the rest in the comfort of the car. 

Saturday made up for the lackluster display in Kewaunee as my very large, extended family gathered at my aunt's annual 4th of July party. As always, there was plenty of food, fireworks and drunk relatives. I self-proclaimed myself the event photographer for the night and literally took hundreds of photos of fireworks. Without fail, if there are fireworks, I cannot stop taking photos. I have a problem. 

They're just so pretty though! Aren't they!?

Hope you had a great holiday weekend!

 Here's the the 2nd half of summer,

Cheers!

I Survived the Polar Vortex

Well. That happened. And thanks to weathermen sprucing up their lingo I can say I survived something that was much milder than it's name would suggest. I feel like a vortex should include time or space travel, but instead of hitchhiking across the galaxy, I just actually wore a hat for once. 

While we all still hate Southern California and their never-ending sunshine, the after-effects of the Antarctic temps were actually kind of cool. My town, along with a neighboring one, made the local news (with the Packers losing, they're out of their usual material) about the icebergs forming along the Lake Michigan shoreline. This whole post's photos flip-flop between Algoma and Kewauanee, both tiny towns that are passed through by the city-folks making their way from Chicago or Milwaukee up to Door County. 

On top of the ice formations, seeing the old-school charm of the town covered in snow is just as neat. In case you didn't look at that last photo carefully, that is an old bike that has a large basket in the back with a small plate reading "Smurfs ride free". My dreams will consist of nothing but this bike and it's decor from now on. And because I'm sure all of you guys will be running through the small town of Algoma, Wisconsin in the next few weeks, you can just pick this up for me. My birthday is the 31st, nod nod wink wink.

Time Travel // October 2013 // Home Turf

Ferris Wheel at Bay Beach Park  //  Kewaunee Lighthouse  //  Kewaunee Beach

When I am among foreigners and they realize I'm American they tend to be really interested and ask what from what part, probably getting prepared to hear something "cool", like L.A., Miami or New York. The second I say Wisconsin, the twinkle of interest in their eye instantly drops and they give me an unenthused "oh." Either they have never heard of Wisconsin or they think I'm some cheese-crazed, country hick, which I kind of am but still...

So when it comes to introducing a newcomer to my turf, I accept the challenge of proving that there is more than cows, cheese and The Packers. We started off with a couple days at home, meeting family and showing Torsten around the old farmland I grew up on. My hometown isn't too impressive until you make your way to the lake shore where there is a decent stretch of beach that is secluded and undisturbed. It was always a favorite summer spot of mine to let my dog run around while I read and sunbathed. 

Prairie dog at Lincoln Park Zoo // Young Eagle feasting at Lincoln Park Zoo  

 Artic fox sunbathing at Bremmer Park  //  Peacock exhibit with horse drawn wagons at Bremmer Park

When we were driving up we stopped at the other Lincoln Park Zoo in Manitowoc (not to be mistaken for the one in Chicago), which is also an impressive park with it's lack of an entrance fee. We arrived in perfect time to see the chubby prairie dogs in action, to watch the predator birds feast on their lunch and just about all the other animals running about. I tend to find zoos a little depressing, but they must be slipping their animals happy pills because they were surprisingly active during our visit!

A similar park closer to where I live has a more limited selection of enclosures where different animals have come and, more frequently, gone. I remember their being monkeys, the famous black bear, goats, raccoons, foxes and there is always the large exhibit of deer and peacocks that never disappoints. Due to Bremmer Park being severally underfunded, they haven't always been able to maintain the zoo up to the standard it should be. In recent years the county has taken more serious action in effort to revive the zoo and raise funds, like their now annual Zoobilee. This year we were lucky enough to join my sister and her family where the kids played games and had their face painted while we ate goulash, took an informative horse-drawn wagon ride and looked at some of the newly introduced animals. 

All photos from Bay Beach Amusement Park in Green Bay

Green Bay is the nearest city to my house, where The Packers are really the main/only attraction for out-of-towners. Considering Torsten and myself really have no interest in American football, we opted out of Lambeau Field and the Hall of Fame and instead utilized the sunny day to frolic around Bay Beach Amusement Park during it's last open day of the season. This city owned park is located on the bay and free to walk around. The rides themselves literally cost 25-75 cents a ride with the newly introduced wooden coaster, Zippin Pippin, that I had been highly anticipating to ride for the first time was only a $1. Cheap thrills that was nostalgic for me and entertaining for Torsten who had been deprived of this kind of fun his whole life!

 Cave Point County Park  //  A goat on top of Al's Swedish Restaurant & Butik  

 Lighthouse in Peninsula Stat Park // Admiring the view from Eagle Tower in Peninsula State Park

Our last full-day brought us up and around the Door peninsula. Door County is basically the local weekend destination of choice for city-folk from Milwaukee, Chicago, Madison and so on. We were ambitious to fitting the whole peninsula into one day. Abundant with fancy resorts, campgrounds, boutiques and restaurants along the main roads with magnificent shoreline, parks and nature never far away.

I dictated the itinerary with all my favorite spots, first to see the sculpted cliffs at Cave Point County Park. To save time, and the temptation of spending money, we skipped all the amazing shops and restaurants scattered along highway 42 and 52, though didn't spare the sights of the live goats that graze on top of Al's Swedish Restaurant and Botik.

 Higher up on the peninsula is my absolute favorite little town, Fish Creek. My visits there tend to revolve around a weekend art class at Peninsula School of Art where I use the time after class to bike around Penninsula State Park until sunset where I make my way to the drive-in theater. This time around, we only had enough time to drive around Peninsula State Park and admire the trees starting to change colors from all sorts of vantage points, which never gets old no matter how long you've been living here. 

As we left "the 920", as us folk call it, we traded the car for my grandpa's huge conversion van. We took out the last row of seats to rig-up a makeshift bed that would be out home for the next few weeks as we made the tough decision to change our route. But that's for the next installment as we crossed the Wisconsin border into Minnesota!

Cheers!

Visit the places mentioned in this post

Kewaunee Beach  //  Bremmer Park  //  Bay Beach

 Cave Point   // Al's Swedish Restaurant  //   Peninsula State Park