DAY ONE

It was finally time for our weekend away in Door County!  By the time we dropped the kids off and got on the road, it was about 2:00pm.  We stopped a couple of times on the way up to stretch our legs and for some caffeine, and made it up to Sister Bay by 7:00pm.  

We quickly got checked into our room at the Birchwood Lodge.  We booked the Premier Suite, and were placed on the third floor, overlooking the pool.  It was a nice room with a king bed, jacuzzi tub, fireplace, living area, and patio overlooking the pool.  After a few drinks on the patio, we decided to walk to downtown Sister Bay for some dinner.  

We ended up going to Husby’s for the first time.  This was recommended to us last year on our visit, but we never had the time to stop.  We got seated right away and the waiter took our drink order.  Leah tried the Cherry Moscow Mule, and Steven tried the Old Fashioned.  Both drinks were good, but we both agreed the Cherry Mule was the one we’d reorder over and over again.  For food, we split the half order of chicken nachos and the bacon bleu burger.  They were both delicious!  We would give the food, service, atmosphere, and drinks all a 10/10.  

After dinner, we took a quick walk down to the bay to see the remaining sunset.  Reminded us of why we loved coming here last year.

DAY TWO

After trying to sleep in a bit, we were gearing up for our first full day in Door County.  We decided to walk downtown for some coffee and breakfast.  Last year we tried Al Johnson’s, which is a must visit, at least once in our eyes.  We weren’t up for a big breakfast so settled on something a little lighter.  During our stay last year, we found a nice little coffee shop, Skip Stone Coffee.  They have your traditional coffee drinks and also have some breakfast sandwiches and muffins.  We grabbed a coffee and sandwich and walked down by the bay before heading back to the room.  

After that, we met up with a couple of friends that were also up in Door County for the weekend for a hike at Peninsula State Park.  It is required to purchase a Vehicle Admission Sticker for the day or you can purchase the annual pass that will allow you access to any Wisconsin State Park for the calendar year.  For $28, we thought the Annual Pass was a good deal.  Since we arrived somewhat early, it wasn’t too crowded, and it was easy enough to find a spot to park.  Our first climb was up the Eagle Tower, which was recently updated and re-opened in 2021.  You can’t beat the views up top, and they even offer a fully accessible ramp to the top if you don’t want to take the stairs.  Our next stop was Eagle Trail for a two-mile hike.  They have it rated as a “difficult” trail.  That does hold some truth to it with the uneven surfaces due to rocks and tree roots.  There were also several sections of the trail that were pretty muddy or under water.  Regardless of all of that, it was a great hike, and the views along the trail were worth the “difficult” trail rating.  

After the hike, it was time for a drink and some lunch.  We met up with a couple more friends at Twelve Eleven Wine Bar and Provisions.  This was a new place for us all to visit.  The atmosphere and outdoor areas were nice, and the six of us had no problem finding a table.  They had a limited food menu and a menu with additional drinks such as old fashioneds and sangria.  Our overall experience was good, and it will be interesting to watch them grow the business.  

It was then time to head back to the room to get cleaned up and a nap.  After we rested our eyes for a bit, our friends met us at our room for a couple afternoon drinks on the patio before we headed down to Chop for some dinner.  We visited Chop last year, and had the best steak we have ever had!  This year was no different.  The pre-dinner bread was outstanding and the steaks were cooked to perfection with a delicious garlic butter melted over top.  It will be on our list to visit every time we go to Door County.  They do offer an Early Dining Special, that we would recommend you checking out to save a little money.  It comes with an appetizer and dessert (we highly recommend the carrot cake).  Our night ended with live music and some drinks at Husby’s outdoor patio, The Garage.

DAY THREE

We were finally able to sleep in today!  It felt great to get refreshed and ready to go for another day.  Since it was a little later by the time we got on the move, we decided to head downtown for a coffee from Skip Stone Coffee and get some lunch at Wild Tomato as soon as they opened at 11:00am.  This morning, the goats were grazing on top of the roof at Al Johnsen’s.  It is really neat to see.  

As we were walking downtown, we ended up running into another couple we knew.   It really is a small world!  They had told us they were headed to Al Johnsen’s for breakfast and were headed to a cidery that afternoon.  We had never tried a cidery before, so we were open to giving it a try.

For lunch, we got right in at Wild Tomato when they opened.  Wild Tomato offers Wood Fired Pizza.  As we were walking in, we heard a lady say that they had the best cheese curds.  That got Steven excited, so we ordered some as an appetizer and went with the Old School Pizza, which included grilled chicken, caramelized onions, and cilantro, with a BBQ base.  The food was good, but don’t think we could say they were the best cheese curds we’d ever had.  The pizza was also tasty, but left us wishing we had ordered the pizza we got last year, The Paisano.  Were we a little disappointed in our choices, yes.  Will we be back again, you bet.  

Next it was on to Island Orchard Cider to meet up with some friends and to taste some cider.  We each got a flight of cider, which offered a sample of your choice of 4 of their ciders.  We both went with the Oak Aged Cider, Pear Cider, Apple Cherry Cider, and the Apple Ginger Cider.  If we had to rank them, we’d go with the Apple Cherry, Pear, Oak Aged, and then the Apple Ginger.  It was a neat experience for us all, and we would consider going back on another one of our visits.  

We all went back for some afternoon drinks on the patio and then out for some dinner downtown.  You can probably guess where we went…Husby’s.  This place does not disappoint!  Leah got the chicken nachos again and Steven got the Vaquero Burger, which had pepper jack cheese, jalapenos, chipotle mayo, and an onion ring topper.  The food and service were just as good as our first visit.

DAY FOUR

It’s always a little sad waking up and knowing that vacation is coming to an end.  Steven is usually an early bird and was up before Leah, so he headed downtown to grab some coffee and breakfast at Analog Coffee.  This was the other coffee shop downtown that we were looking to try.  The line wasn’t too long, and two iced lattes, a bacon and egg burrito, and a quiche were ordered and made quickly.  By the time Steven got back to the room, Leah was awake, and breakfast was enjoyed out on the patio.  The coffee was good, and the breakfast burrito was very tasty.  The quiche was okay, and we would most likely not order it again.  

We had no real plans for the day, besides a little shopping, Pebble Beach, a stop at a market, and a drive through a few towns on our way out of Door County.  We were looking at possible towns to stay at on our next visit. 

We got the room packed up and checked out of the hotel around 10:30am.  We then headed downtown for our last stroll in Sister Bay.  We browsed at a few of the shops but had no luck finding anything.

Our next stop was to Pebble Beach, a sandless beach that is covered in limestone rocks.  We’ve seen some pictures of the beach and wanted to check it out.  As we were driving, traffic picked up and as we got to the road we were supposed to turn on, a Memorial Day event was being held, so we were unable to make the turn.  A little disappointed, but we will check it out on our next visit.

We then stopped in Ephriam for a quick glance at what they had to offer.  We had driven through it before, but never stopped to take a closer look to see what the town had.  After a very quick walk around, we decided it would not be a good town for us to stay in.  A few restaurants and not many shops.  Maybe we missed a section of the town, but we don’t think we will be staying there in the future.  

Fish Creek was the next town on the map.  The traffic was picking up and people lined the streets of Fish Creek.  After seeing this, we decided just to drive through the town and not try to find a spot to park.  Based on the quick drive through, we think Fish Creek could be a good town to stay next year.  They seemed to have a lot of unique shops and restaurants and could be right up our alley.

Our last stop was at Wood Orchard Market in Egg Harbor.  This stop came as a recommendation from several people.  What can we say, it was great!  We got our cherry fix and bought some cherry donuts, cherry wine from Simon Creek Winery (which was our favorite wine we sampled at their winery last year), a bottle of cherry mimosa, dried cherries, cherry butter, cherry caramel, and cherry pie.  The experience at Wood Orchard Market was great and the cherry pie alone will give us a reason to stop next visit.

This year’s trip to Door County did not disappoint.  The trip always seems to go so fast, but we were still able to enjoy some time away and relax a bit.  We enjoyed some great food, great drinks, and great company.  We made some notes from this trip so we can start planning our next visit.