Luckily I found Little Sister Resort in Sister Bay and we stayed in one of the chalets - basically a small two-bedroom apartment with a wood burning fireplace, full kitchen and a deck. It was clean and it was nice having a place to hang out after the kids were asleep. The fireplace was a nice addition and we made a fire every night. Very relaxing.
Our first day was mainly our travel day, however we did stop at Renard's Cheese to stock up on fresh cheese curds - they squeaked! After we arrived at the resort, unpacked and played at the playground, it was time for dinner, so we walked down to Fred and Fuzzy's Waterfront Bar and Grill. We were committed to eating outside, so we bundled up and and enjoyed the beautiful view and fresh fish.
The next morning we took advantage of the continental breakfast at the resort and hashed out our plan for the rest of the day, which involved a ferry and Washington Island. Our first stop was to gather a picnic lunch at Fish Creek Market. They make the best made-to-order sandwiches and they even throw in a bag of chips and a cookie. After a relaxing ferry ride to Washington Island, we went straight to Schoolhouse Beach where we had lunch, built some rock castles and tested the water.
That afternoon we hiked to Mountain Park Lookout Tower, visited the Sievers School of Fiber Arts and the Historic Island Dairy which now houses a island history exhibit, art and vintage poster gallery and lavender market. We had a chance to speak with the owner, Marsha Williams who hails from Chicago. We learned a lot about the building, the lavender business and her husband and co-owner, Scott Sonoc, who created all of the unique posters - of course we had to get one and some of the lavender products too.
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| Outside the Historic Island Dairy standing by what they use as a shed - lavender fields are all around. |
It was a busy day, but it also wasn't over. We hopped on the ferry and went to Gills Rock on the mainland where we played at a local park, picked up some smoked fished for Tom (his favorite!) and had dinner at The Shoreline Restaurant.
The next day we started with church in Sister Bay and then tried to go apple or cherry picking. Unfortunately the apples were not ready to pick and a few days earlier a huge storm rolled through town and shook all the cherries off the trees, so there were none to pick. Instead we stopped by the kite store in Fish Creek and had a picnic at Nicolet Bay Beach in Peninsula State Park. It is the perfect place to run around and it was a beautiful day! In fact, it was so nice, I wished we would have brought our swimsuits.
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| Playing at the park. |
Next up was hiking! We have a pretty sturdy stroller, so we took it on a few easy trails. It was the second trail that we ran into some trouble. The fallen trees were easy to go over, but that huge storm I mentioned created a new pond right in the middle of the trail and we had no choice but to go through it. So Tom and I picked up the stroller (with the girls in it of course!) and carried it while we trudged through the muddy pond.
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| Before the pond. Didn't see it coming! |
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| After the pond. |
That night, dinner at Gibraltar Grill was well deserved! We ate out on the patio and it was the perfect way to wrap up our trip, but it wasn't over yet. The next day we packed up the car and said goodbye to Little Sister Resort. We had one very important stop to make - breakfast at Al Johnsons Swedish Restaurant. We even got to see the goats! We can't wait for our next visit to Door County!
