September Weekend in Door County

If you grew up in Wisconsin, chances are you went to Door County at some point during your childhood. I have a very vivid memory of camping at Peninsula State Park (according to my mom, I was around 9 years old). Door County, with its collection of small unincorporated villages and towns,  spans the thumb-like peninsula of Wisconsin from Sturgeon Bay in the south all the way to Gill's Rock and Washington Island in the north, which is accessible only by ferry.

My mother in law wanted us all to come up to Egg Harbor, which is her favorite area of Door County, for a long weekend to celebrate her birthday. B and I decided that we were in, and found a cute little cottage that was dog friendly so Arthur could come with.

Road Trip Dog

B left work early so we could head up around noon on a Thursday to beat the weekend/Illinois traffic heading north. Egg Harbor was about a 3-hour drive for us. We stopped at a Kwik Trip about halfway so that B could get his favorite road trip snacks - a corn dog, a breakfast sausage wrapped in a maple pancake (on a stick of course) and an egg roll. I was perfectly happy with my Cheez Its and a Dr. Pepper. 

After checking in with the owner of the cottage and unloading the car, we met up with my in-laws for a drink and dinner. 

Cheers!

If you stay in Egg Harbor, you NEED to eat at Casey's BBQ and Smokehouse - get the Showman's platter, it can easily feed four people and is absolutely delicious! While we were there we caught most of the Packer Game (what a yawn of a game!) then went to Shipwrecked for post-dinner drinks and the end of the game. 

Marina dog!

On Friday morning we took Arthur for a walk around Egg Harbor - our cottage is on the main highway so it was a 5-ish minute walk to downtown. There was a dog park on our walking route so we stopped to let Arthur run around (although there were no other dogs there). Harbor View Park is right in the little main spot of town so we took a path through there and down to the marina. There's a pier that goes out into the bay with some historical markers about shipwrecks. The water was at a record high and the waves were crashing over the pier - Arthur even got splashed! He was not a fan!

After our walk, we picked up the in laws and took a drive to the tip of the peninsula - it about an hour round trip. All of the villages are 7-8 miles apart so it's very easy to get from place to place. After that, we stopped at the famous Al Johnson's for lunch (and no, the goats weren't on the roof) then stopped at Wilson's for ice cream sundaes.

Traditional Door County Fish Boil

On Friday evening, my sister in law and her boyfriend also joined us and we all went out for a traditional Door County Fish Boil at Pelletier's. Dinner included two HUGE pieces of freshly caught white fish, coleslaw, and boiled potatoes and onions. It also included homemade cherry pie made with, you guessed it, Door County cherries. The fish was absolutely delicious and moist. The guy who owns this place also owns Casey's, which was quite the surprise.

I have video of the fish boil on my Instagram, check out my "WI" highlight!

Trail Adventure Dog!

Peninsula State Park is easily accessible through Fish Creek, which is one town north of Egg Harbor. On Saturday we headed there to get in a good hike with Arthur. The Eagle Trail is rated difficult and is in the northeast corner of the park. While the beginning of the trail looks relatively easy save for the roots and rocks, once you get down towards the lake you get to hike right below the beautiful white bluffs (but watch for falling rocks!) If you want to do this trail, make sure you are wearing appropriate hiking shoes and bring water with you! We saw lots of people who were "hiking" in skinny jeans and Birkenstocks - makes it really easy to fall and injure yourself!

Arthur did a really great job especially getting up and over all the rock formations. He also did very minimal barking and his trail etiquette is improving with each hike we do!

Clear views across the bay

We were lucky to have gorgeous weather and perfect temperatures for hiking on Saturday.

After our hike, we grabbed a pizza from Wild Tomato in Fish Creek and took it back to our cottage, where we ate it outside on the patio. Get their Margherita pizza - it's so freaking good!

We had intended on eating at Wild Tomato, since they have a dog friendly patio, but even at 2 pm it was still packed and Arthur was getting anxious to eat.

Local spirits!

For dinner on Saturday night we went to a tapas restaurant called Parador. This is definitely a must-eat place. All the food was amazing (even my sister in law who studied abroad in Spain said it was pretty close to what they serve there!) and the red sangria was delicious! Also, churros for dessert is a must. Make sure you leave room!

Afterwards we went "bar hopping" which doesn't mean much on a Saturday night in Egg Harbor, apparently. We started at Hatch Distillery, which had delicious drinks (I have a lavender lemonade with gin) but they closed at 9 pm. On a Saturday. :(

So we went to Shipwrecked after that, but they closed at 10 pm. We grabbed a round of drinks and I had some loaded French fries that were pretty damn good. The bartender, also named Laura, gave us the low down on all the fun festivals that happen in Door County during the fall and winter.

Apparently after 10 pm, the only bar open in Egg Harbor is Casey's, so that's where we went after Shipwrecked. It was karaoke night, and if you are even looking for some great people watching, go to karaoke at a small town bar. I don't think I have ever laughed so hard in my life.

If you have been to Door County, where is your favorite place to eat?