Morning was pretty much like yesterday except John played the grand piano as everyone was gathering for breakfast. And breakfast was Swedish pears in the tulip glass, Mexican strata and hash brown casserole.
We left around 9:30 to catch a 10:30 cruise out of Sturgeon Bay. We got to Sturgeon Bay but didn’t find the boat place until after 10:30. It turns out that they didn’t get anyone signed up for the cruise so they canceled it…they needed 20 and we’d have only made 2 had we been there on time.
So we toddled up the street to Sunset Park and played a couple rounds of disc golf on the 6-hole course there. I’d done some research before the trip to see if there were any courses in Door County and this was the only one I could find. Reviews of the course were not stellar…most commenters (likely better players that we are) said it wasn’t challenging, it was only 6 holes and it’s lakeside location left it completely covered in goose poop. It was certainly a bit easier than the course we’re used to in Waukee…we actually parred some holes. And it was definitely covered in goose poop. I didn’t really want to pick up the disc after it hit the ground. Oh, and it sprinkled on us off and on while we played. But we still had a great time.
By the time we’d played 2 rounds, it was after noon and we decided we should go winery hopping. AFTER wiping our shoes on any cleanish grass we could find and washing our hands.
We headed north out of town toward Simon Creek winery…one of the 2 that John said were his favorites. I’d quizzed him on what kinds of wines he likes because his recommendation wouldn’t be worth anything to us if he liked sweet wines. He didn’t so we thought it worth checking out his faves.
We tasted 4 wines each and like the Chardonnay the best. I also kind of liked the Door Co. Cherry, even though it’s a little sweeter than I typically like. It wasn’t cloying and syrupy like some fruit wines. They had live music all afternoon but we decided to press on and check out the other winery before committing to anything.
We headed north again and decided to have lunch in Baileys Harbor. We’d finally learned our lesson on ordering food in Door County and the two of us split a walleye cake sandwich with potato salad. We hit the road again to look for Hwy E and fairly soon discovered that we’d driven past it. We got straightened around and headed west on E to find the winery. It wasn’t well marked and we kept driving and driving. Finally, we stopped at a roadside bar to ask where it was and the bartender pointed across the street. Sure enough, that’s where it was…we just couldn’t see the sign from the direction we came.
For $5 you could taste 5 different wines and keep the glass. Between us, we tasted 10 different wines (it pays to take a buddy wine tasting!) but didn’t find anything we liked any better than the first place…and everything here was more expensive. And we weren’t in love with anything at the first place so we decided not buy anything and headed back toward the Inn.
We stopped at a combo roadside market and antique shop we’d seen on the way out. We bought some honeycrisp apples and continued on.
I tatted. Alan read. We rested and snuggled a bit. We headed out later to walk around Sister Bay and shop for a supper spot.
We parked at a city park on the shore and walked out on a pier then over to the swimming beach, watched the clouds change over the bay, listened to the waves…it was very peaceful. We decided to walk up the street and ended up at the Mission Grille…a former church converted to an upscale restaurant. We were perusing the posted menu when it started to rain. We stood under the eaves for a bit to see if it would be a short shower or a longer rain. It was settling in to be a rain. We didn’t really want to eat there but we decided to go sit at the bar and have a glass of wine. We chatted with the bartender, talked, occasionally glanced at the football game on the TV, and just hung out for a while. By the time we’d finished all that, the rain had stopped and we walked back to our car.
We ended up eating at Al Johnson’s…another Swedish-themed restaurant. They had Swedish food but they also had other things. Alan had the special…half a baked chicken with mashed potatoes and veggies. I had the cheese ravioli with marinara. Both were very good.
Back at the Inn, I finished tatting the heart I was planning to leave with Judy. All the people who had been there for the weekend were gone except for us. There was a whole new crop of guests there now. 5 of them had come together and they were playing cards on the coffee table in the great room. Alan and I poured brandies and curled up in wing chairs with our books.
At one point, Judy came in to see if anyone needed anything and went into the kitchen to get a bottle of water for one of them. I followed her in to give her the tatted heart. She was thrilled and thanked me many times and hugged me.
It was a wonderful evening and cap to the weekend!
