Travel

I am not a fan of travel.

I am hard to get moving and once moving I'm quickly looking for a destination, a place to stop a while, a place to sit down and put my feet up, a place to eat and drink and sleep.

Fortunately for me, Pat is just the opposite.

She is a planner, an organizer. She has this list of places she wants to visit. In short, she has all the characteristics of a good traveler. When she moves, I follow, and I'm never sorry.

Two weeks ago, we departed Lake Lotawana on a trip Pat has been wanting to do for years: a Mediterranean Cruise. Greece, Turkey, Italy, Monaco, France and Spain. Whew. Makes me tired just thinking about it. Ten days on board with a couple days thrown in at the front and back end. For the next few weeks I'll be writing about the past two weeks. Paul Theroux I am not, but I hope to keep things as interesting as they actually were...

Door County - Day 6

Back to Kansas City tomorrow so today we just wandered around Ephraim one last time. We tried the Historical Walk but it was laid out kind of wierd -- long stretches of not much of anything -- so we bailed out. The historical homes are only open on weekends too, just so you know. We had ice cream at Wilson's Restaurant, known world-wide, or so they say. It was good, but not as good as Bruster's, which, unfortunately, closed their only store in southern Sarasota...

We debated long and hard about where to have dinner. The choices were: Mission Grille in Sister Bay, good food but pricey; Waterfront Restaurant, also in Sister Bay -- very good food and very pricey; and Sister Bay Bowl. Now don't laugh -- bowling alleys almost always have good food. In fact, I had a lot of good meals at the Pheasant Lanes growing up in Ellendale, North Dakota. At least I think they were good. Maybe I was just really hungry.

Anyway, we ended up going to the Waterfront Restaurant because, well, because it was on the water front. The food turned out to be as good as we've had anywhere. A nice ending to a wonderful trip.

It will be another 12 or so hours in the car tomorrow and then another 20 hours next Tuesday and Wednesday as we head down to Florida. But, hey, what the heck else are we going to do? I hope to get back to golf when we get back to KC and I plan to get busy scanning 2,000 negatives and slides. And so it goes...

Here's our album for today.

Door County - Day 5

Time is winding down. Just two days to go. Back to Fish Creek today for some shopping, sightseeing, and, oh, yes, lunch! As you can see, the trees are starting to change. Three or four more weeks and it should be spectacular...

Pat started her Pandora bracelet today, and I bought a t-shirt and attempted some more “artsy-fartsy” shots...

We had lobster/crab salad for lunch at The Summertime Restaurant. They had an $18 glass of wine so I asked if they sold it by the sip. No luck. A few more art shots and then back to Ephraim…

We ventured out one more time today for dinner and ended up at Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant and Butik in Sister Bay. You know, the one with the goats on the roof!

See the artsy-fartsy shots and more here in our album du jour…

Door County - Day 4

Ah, Sunday. Day of rest? Not on your life.

Pat and I did a quick stroll around Ephraim and discovered the Anderson Dock & Warehouse. The warehouse/dock area is on the National Register of Historical Places and the warehouse is covered with the names of people who have docked there or just visited. You can see more here at our photo album for today.

After oatmeal and cherries we were off to Sturgeon Bay, a short trip to southern Door County. We drove in to the Coast Guard station (oops, Homeland Security Coast Guard – now, doesn’t that make you feel safer? How much do you suppose we spent replacing all those signs?) but most of it is marked off limits to the public so we didn’t stay long. We stopped at the Information Center and asked about waterfront dining in Sturgeon Bay – the response was not favorable. Turns out about the only place is an Applebee’s and neither of us has ever been very impressed with this particular chain.

We did go to the Door County Maritime Museum in Sturgeon Bay. There is to this day an active ship building industry in Sturgeon Bay. The museum is a must stop for anyone with an interest in boats or boat building. It is rather awesome to see how something like a modern-day oil tanker is put together piece by piece. Throw in some of the latest cruise ships and it is all fairly mind boggling. There were also several automatic loading and unloading ships designed and built in Sturgeon Bay for use on the Great Lakes for transporting grain and coal. All-in-all an impressive exhibition. And, I found a new prop for our Celebrity…

Right across the street from the Maritime Museum was – Applebee’s.

On the water.

With a bunch of cheeseheads watching the Packers.

What could be better? The Pack DOES appear to be back. Brett (Saint Bretavius of Favre up here) Favre tied Dan Morino’s touchdown passes record (420) and also had his 149th win as a starter, passing John Elway's all-time record, AND started his quarterback-record 240th consecutive game! Oh, and the food wasn’t bad either. Not outstanding, just “not bad”. “Not” anything, as you probably know, is kind of a Wisconsin kind of thing. “How you doing?”. “Not bad”. “What do you know?”. “Not much, you?”. And so it goes...

Door County - Day 3

Today we scoped out the east coast of the peninsula which consists of Baileys Harbor and, well, Baileys Harbor. We were really trying to find a restaurant that some friends told us about, but nether of us could remember the name so -- we sought information at the Information Center of Baileys Harbor. When we told the nice gentleman behind the counter that we were looking for a restaurant that sold particularly good reuben sandwiches I think I saw his eyes kind of glaze over. Tourists! You can't live with them, you can't live without them. He put on his best game face and listed all the restaurants he could think of. None sounded familiar. What to do, what to do. Take out the ol' cell phone and call, right? Right. The name of the restaurant was the Coyote Roadhouse -- not exactly what you'd expect on a peninsula. On the Great Lakes. In Wisconsin. Anyway, we soon found it and it looked like an interesting place but we were looking for something on the water. Big water. So we toddled on...

South of Baileys Harbor we found Cave Point Park. Just a bunch of rock formed, oh, a little over 400 million years ago. The same rock ledge extends all the way over to Niagara Falls. In fact, it's called the Niagara Escarpment, interestingly enough. Very cool. You can see more pictures here in our album for today and a video below.



On our way back to Ephraim we stopped at the Harbor Fish Market & Grille in Bailey's Harbor. It was described as "waterfront" but once again we were sitting in dirt a little removed from the water. Still we could see water (big water) and the food was good. No cherry margaritas but they had Goose Island beer ("Get Goosed with Goose Island Beer) so all was well. The highlight, however, was the fish tank in an old TV. See the video for a real hoot...



No theater tonight. Read a little more of Mostly Harmless by Douglas Adams -- the fifth book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy. Did you catch that? Fifth book in the trilogy? Pretty humorous. Off to Sturgeon Bay tomorrow...

Door County - Day 2

Pat and I headed north on Friday -- Sister Bay, Ellison Bay, bay bay bay. Oh, and also Gills Rock and Northport. The Ellison Bluff was pretty dramatic - so dramatic it was hard to get a good still photo of it. So -- here's a video! It's still tough to convey just how high you are and what an incredible vista you see. I've found it difficult to capture a lot of sights that you think should make great pictures -- those birch trees gleaming white back in the dark recesses of the forest, the wild turkeys and deer that just blend right into the woods (gee - do you suppose they planned it that way?). I'm beginning to understand why whenever we see a group of Japanese tourists they won't take a picture of anything without one of their companions included. That is about the only way I can get a photo of interest, it seems. But that won't stop me from trying to get that great "art" photo. Just be patient. I'm working on panoramas -- one of these days...

In Ellison we stopped at a nice photography gallery, the David Frykman Studio Gallery. I bought this photograph by Heather Frykman in a 4x6 (inch) print (no mat) called The Road to Northport, although the framed 10x15 double matted to 16x20 was incredibly nice (and -- quite a bit more expensive!). We drove past the spot where this picture was taken and I thought I saw a photo there. The Door Bluff Headlands County Park was a bit of a bust. "Unimproved" is putting it mildly -- for serious hikers only. Not much at Northport other than the ferry to Washington Island, which several people have told us is also nothing to write home about. One person said there was another ferry from Washington Island over to the Rock Island lighthouse and that was worth the time. Maybe next time...

Near Newport State Park (didn't go in -- another one for next time) we stopped at Uncle Tom's Newport School Candies. The candy is good and the Uncle Tom's story is also interesting...

And then -- the most important part of the day -- lunch! After several dead ends and u-turns we finally found Fred and Fuzzy's Waterfront Bar and Grill, "waterfront" being the operative part of their name. Food was good, drinks were good (cherry margaritas!) and, well, we were on the waterfront as you can see. There was also Wisconsin's version of a beach and I finally got some birches involved in a picture!

For more pictures from Friday, click here.

The performance "du jour" was at the American Folklore Theater. The show we saw was Main Travelled Roads and it was a world premier production. Got off to kind of a slow start but it picked up speed pretty quickly. You were soon rooting for the heroes and damning the bad guys. This play won the 2007 Richard Rogers Award for new musicals and was really a surprise. Kind of a cross between Stephen Sondheim and -- Rogers and Hammerstein! See it if you have a chance...

A little storm this evening. About a quarter inch of rain. Temperatures still in the 70's -- almost like summer according to the locals. We'll take it...

Door County - Day 1

As you might expect, the first thing we did was find a brew pub. We are staying at the Edgewater Resort in Ephraim, Wisconsin, but just south of us is Egg Harbor, and right on the corner where Highway 42 curves to go north sits the Shipwrecked Brew Pub/Inn. Their motto, pretty obviously, is: "I got wrecked at Shipwrecked". I didn't get wrecked, but I did enjoy their "seasonal" beer -- come on, now, everyone guess -- Pumpkin Ale, surprise, surprise. They also had a nice Cherry Ale, again, surprise, surprise. Both were not overpowering with the signature ingredient -- well done, I thought. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

We first toured Peninsula State Park, 3,776 acres with nearly 7 miles of shorelne along Lake Michigan's Green Bay. With rocky bluffs close to 200 feet above the water, there are some spectacular views. There are miles and miles of trails for hiking and biking. We decided to hike up Skyline Trail to Sven's Bluff. After about 30 minutes of wandering through the trees we came out here -- along with a tour bus and several automobiles! We failed to notice there was a paved road right up to the top. Easy getting back! It was the first time I'd walked more than a few minutes for the last month as I'm trying to get rid of some plantar fasciitis in my right foot. Unsuccessfully as it turns out. Doesn't keep me from doing what I want to do and that has sort of become my new guideline for injuries. Pain is just going to be my companion from now on I have a feeling.

Next we visited the Eagle Bluff Lighthouse. Ho, hum. Another bluff, another view. Click on the link above for an interesting page on the history of this lighthouse and navigation on the Great Lakes.

And NOW we get to Shipwrecked for a late lunch. The food was good, the beer was excellent, and we were so stuffed we even skipped dessert. Can you imagine? Me? No dessert? Maybe it was all that pumpkin and cherry stuff...

To wrap up the day we went to a performance by the Peninsula Players, America's oldest professional resident summer theater. The play was "Be My Baby" and in the hands of less talented actors could have been very schmaltzy. What we saw was excellent. And the venue is unbelievable. Click on the link above and take a look. The property is right on the shore of Green Bay and they have a beer (did someone say "beer"?) and picnic garden, fabulous landscaping and the theater itself is only two years old! A definite "don't miss".

To see more pictures from today's activities, click here.