Door County Weekend

Peninsula State Park

Husband and I decide to take a little mini-vacation together this summer. Seeing as how the last time the two of us took a weekend away together, without other family, and without needing to was way back when Husband won a two night stay in the Dells at a work Christmas party, when he still worked at the resort, so it was at least 4 years ago, we figured we were due for a little get away.


We opted to take a trip across the state to Door County (for those unfamiliar with Wisconsin geography, Door County is the peninsula that divides Green Bay from Lake Michigan, the "thumb" of the hand that is Wisconsin). We had spent a couple of days there right after our wedding, and always talked about going back, but never gotten around to it. We knew from previous experience that it is a pretty dog friendly place, so I tossed out the idea of bringing Pippin along. We had only attempted to travel with Pippin once before, an ill fated camping trip cut short by spending an night of storms in a tent with a thunder phobic dog and were pretty nervous about doing it again, so decided that we better only plan on making this a weekend trip, just in case.
The first step in all of this was to find a dog-friendly place to stay. It didn’t take too much searching before I discovered the Beachfront Inn in Bailey’s Harbor. Not only did they allow dogs, they offered a special package catering to guests with dogs. Excellent. The package included a two night stay at the hotel, a gift certificate to a local restaurant that had dog-friendly outdoor dining, a day pass to a state park, and a gift certificate from the Door County Visitor’s Bureau. It all sounded good, and they had one dog-friendly room available for the weekend we needed. We booked the stay and I started to research additional animal-friendly things to do.

Day One

In the car and ready to go!

It’s a four and a half hour drive from our home to Bailey’s Harbor. That’s a long time in a car for Husband and me, and an impossible amount of time for Pippin. I needed to make sure we provided him with enough chances to get out, stretch, and bathroom. I worked out stops about every hour to hour and a half on the way, which seemed just about right for Pippin. When we packed up the car, we made sure that Pippin had the whole backseat to himself (with the exception of my knitting bag and his supplies), and found a canvas seat cover to protect the back seats.

Our first stop was in Steven’s Point, where we picked up lunch, and ate and visited with Husband’s aunt, uncle, and cousin. It was nice to catch up with everyone, and Pippin enjoyed a bowl of water, some ice cream, and a walk around their yard.

Stop number two was in Appleton, at the Outagamie County Dog Park. This was Pippin’s first experience with a dog park, so we were a little bit nervous about it. Our concerns turned out to be pointless, as Pippin thoroughly enjoyed himself at the dog park. I think he would have been perfectly happy to stay there all weekend.

We continued on our way, making a third stop in Sturgeon Bay. Fist Husband took Pippin for a walk while I browsed at a local yarn store, Spin of Door County and bought myself a lovely skein of handpainted sock yarn. The color way is called sea wash and it combines teal blues, greys, whites, and browns. We also stopped at Stove Dog Bakery; which, as the name suggests, if a canine bakery and store. Pippin left there with a bag of homemade cookies, a new bandana, and a walking harness. The staff there was wonderful, letting Pippin browse with us, supplying a bowl of water for dogs, and allowing us to remove the harness from the packaging in order to make sure it fit Pippin (he tends to fall between sizes for doggie clothing).



The beach at Beachfront Inn

Finally, just before dinnertime, we checked into our hotel in Bailey’s Harbor. To say that the Beachfront Inn is merely dog friendly, would be an understatement. From the welcome treats in our room, the off leash beach area, and the lobby where the owner’s dogs allowed visitors, this was very much a hotel for dogs and the people that love them.

Dinner that night was just down the block from our hotel at the Harbor Fish Market and Grille. Pippin enjoyed his own bowl of water, complimentary dog treats and a hamburger, without a bun, served on a bed of kibble.

Day Two

After a lousy night’s sleep (unfortunately, our hotel room was directly below a patio, and the scraping of chairs scared Pippin and kept us up), we headed out to begin our day. First stop was for breakfast, a little place in Ephraim, called Good Eggs. It was basically a little place in a converted garage, but the food was fantastic.

Checking out Eagle Bluff Lighthouse

The majority of the morning was spent at Peninsula State Park. We drove along Shore Road, making several stops to enjoy the beautiful scenery, including one at the Eagle Bluff Lighthouse. We then parked by the Eagle Tower, and enjoyed a hike through the woods and along the lakeshore. While the nice breeze off of Green Bay was nice, it still was pretty warm out there. By the time we got back to the car all three of us were beat!

Eagle Bluff Lighthouse

We grabbed lunch at a place just outside of the park, Julie’s Park Motel and Café, which had a dog friendly patio. Pippin enjoyed both his bowl of water and the dog treat given to him by a complete stranger. We then decided to head back to the hotel to catch a nap and escape the hottest part of the day.

With renewed energy, we headed out to explore downtown Fish Creek. We grabbed some frozen custard at a little shop called Not Licked Yet, where Pippin enjoyed a complimentary doggie ice cream cone. I was a little bummed because we had missed the Heritage Days celebration, but we browsed through several of the little shops until it was time for dinner. We had decided on a place in Fish Creek called Gibraltar Grille. They not only had a pet friendly patio, but run a monthly “Dog Pals” contest on Facebook. The food there was amazing; I recommend the Scallops and red pepper risotto, which was delicious.

Cana Island Lighthouse

We enjoyed the cool evening breeze off of Lake Michigan while exploring a county park beach and the Cana Island Lighthouse just outside of Bailey’s Harbor. The lighthouse and grounds were beautiful and the wind coming off of the lake felt refreshing after the hot day we had. Despite our midday rest, we were exhausted from the day and headed back to the hotel.

Enjoying the wildflowers at Cana Island

Day Three

Day three we headed for home, but not before enjoying some fantastic pastries and coffee at the Door County Coffee and Tea Company in Carlsville. We had wanted to hit a couple of shops near there, but we got going a little too early on a Sunday morning. We did, however, browse at the coffee shop where I picked up some coffee beans (roasted on site) and some local cherry jam. We also hit a store called Grandma Tommy’s, where we grabbed some local cherry wine before heading out for home.

You could tell Pippin was tired for most of the ride home. We made a second stop at the Outagamie Dog Park in Appleton, and another at a rest area, but the drive was pretty uneventful. We were all happy to be home.

All in all, it was a pretty fantastic get away for us all. I was impressed with the number of pet-friendly places for us. We’re already planning on going back next year, but this time renting a cabin and staying for a little longer.

Sock in progress

Surprisingly, despite the long drive, I didn't get much knitting done. I did some work on my sweater (for which the deadline has now passed) and started a new pair of socks. The socks are a pattern called Michigan Lakeshore, which seemed fitting considering that we were staying on the shore of Lake Michigan. They are made from Adorn sock by Three Irish Girls. The color way is Father Time, a blend of blues, brown, grey, with a little green and white mixed in.

The grounds at Cana Island Lighthouse

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Product Review: I Could Make That

I'm pretty good at dealing with, accepting, or at least tolerating other people's annoying habits. It's part of working with people, which, try as I might, is an unavoidable part of being human. There are some traits,, however, which seem prevalent in the species that bug the dickens out of me on a regular basis. Things like confusing "teach" with "learn" or "lend" with "borrow" or people who do not say "please" and "thank you" to service people. Generally that sort of thing.

But here's another one. People who look at handmade items that others have for sale and say in a snotty, condescending tone of voice, "well, I could do that." Yes, the item is handmade, you probably could do it, but if you're looking for things that a mere human could not make on their own, why are you at a craft fair. 

I'll admit, being a knitter, I fall victim to this exact thing. I find myself looking at some hand knit items while thinking, "I could make this for way cheaper." Usually, I'm looking at hand knit wash clothes when thinking this, which, yes I could make for cheaper, but I have about ten skeins of cotton yarn upstairs and a bunch of queued patterns on Ravelry that make me question if I'll ever get around to actually making the clothes. 

My new favorite purchase also falls under the "I probably could have done the same exact thing for cheaper" category, but I don't care. I love it, I love, love, love it.

The Knitter's Tool Tin

Those who know me, know that keeping my knitting tools handy is a bit of a problem for me. I keep the basics in a Namaste Buddy case, and keep the more specialized items in a Knit Happy Fold 'n Go Notions Box, both of which work well for home use. The problem comes in when I travel. I always have trouble remembering to pack up everything that I need, and keeping it all together without taking up too much space in my bags. And, despite my best efforts, I will end up in dire need of a darning needle, stitch markers, scissors, or a tape measure.

Enter The Knitter's Tool Tin, I can't remember if it was an ad on Ravelry, or something I saw in a magazine or on a blog, but somehow I ended up at the Sexy Knitter's Etsy store and found it.

So cute!

What is it? It is a tin, the size of an Altoid box, but clean and cute. Inside the box is a tape measure, a pair of puppy snips, 5 handmade stitch markers, a mini double ended crochet hook, a stitch holder, a cable needle, two tapestry needles (one blunt and one sharp), and a sewing needle.  On the lid of the tin is a magnetic strip to keep the needles from getting lost. Then there is the added detail that you can choose from a variety of cover designs and pictures, or get one custom made (I went with the orange owl cables). Absolute pure genius. 

The Contents, except I lost a stitch marker already.

Now, I know there are skeptics, who are thinking, "really, couldn't you have done this yourself?" And the answer is, yes, I could have. But that would have involved hunting down all the items (most likely ordering from multiple websites), and the tin and assembling everything. Then I would still have to decorate the tin, which still probably wouldn't have ended up nearly as cute. And that's a lot of knitting time that I would have wasted. In short, it wasn't worth it to me to make it, but it was worth it to me to buy it. So I did. 

And I don't regret it. This little tool tin lives in my purse and has the tools I need whenever I need them. I left for a road trip with a friend this weekend and didn't have to worry about whether or not I might have to sew a seam, or measure progress, or need a stitch marker, or pick up dropped stitches, or splice together yarn ends (all of which I did have to do this weekend); the tools to do it all were in my purse. 

Puppy Snips, open

Puppy Snips, closed

Add to that the bonus that everything in the kit is TSA approved, no more worrying about my scissors being confiscated at security checkpoints when I fly, the Puppy Snips, in addition to being adorable, are completely harmless.

In short, if you're a knitter, a kit like this is a must have. It was an idea I would never have thought of, and I'm not sure I could have assembled it for less money (especially when you factor in shipping and handling from several different websites), and I'm all for supporting sellers on etsy. These things made this wonderful little kit so worth the price for me, and added the bonus of less knitting time lost due to lacking or searching for the correct tools!