We left Green Bay and made the short drive to Kewaunee which is a city on Lake Michigan which will be our base camp for 3 days of exploring the Door Peninsula. The northern half of the peninsula is an island.
Saturday we drove up to Sturgeon Bay passing through apple and cherry orchards, and farmland filled with silos on one side, and the beautiful coastline of Lake Michigan on the other. It truly was an amazing contrast so close together. We did some geocaching and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. After a thunderstorm overnight and some morning clouds, the afternoon weather was perfect…not too hot and not too cold…just right!
On Saturday we drove farther up the Door peninsula through the small towns of Whitefish Point, Jacksonport, Bailey’s Harbor, Ellison Bay, and Sister Bay. Sister Bay was clogged with traffic and small touristy shops even more complicated by Labor Day weekend events. We hurried through town and were very happy when we were once again on the rustic roads that wound through the countryside and along the lakeshore. Once again we saw beautiful scenery, noticing the windmills that seem to be very popular in this area of Wisconsin. We enjoyed visiting Whitefish Dunes State Park, as well as Cave Point County Park next door. Then we went to Newport State Park which is Wisconsin’s only designated wilderness park. Next we went to Northport, where we found one of the most interesting places we visited that day, Porte des Mortes, a French word meaning Door of Death, or Death’s Door, which is a strait linking Lake Michigan and Green Bay. It is said that the strait is littered with shipwrecks. Some say it has more shipwrecks than any other section of fresh water in the world. The strait is very narrow and shoals extend far from shore. The winds on the Great Lakes are often very unpredictable and change unexpectedly and rapidly. Door County is named for this narrow strait. During our visit to Michigan and Wisconsin we were told several times that kayaking on the Great Lakes should be left to the very experienced due to the unpredictability of the weather and wind.
We were very hungry by the time we worked our way back down to Sister Bay, and even though it was crowded with people we decided to stop here for dinner since it seemed to be the only place within miles with restaurants of any kind. The restaurant was hopping inside as much as the streets outside. One group of revelers was especially loud, to the point of hurting my ears due to their close promimity. Luckily within 15 minutes they paid their bar tab and continued on their way.
Sunday we spent doing laundry, grocery shopping, checking the tires and RV for the next day’s move, and making tentative plans for the next 3 months of travel.