Lighthouse Hopping and Pub Crawling

What an incredible weekend! This past weekend my dad, brother, Cassie, and I went to Door County for a fall getaway and primarily for a Door County Trolley Haunted Pub Crawl on Saturday night. For me personally, I packed as much sight-seeing as one possibly could by driving through/visiting every town in Door County…check, check and check! At the same time I had to keep telling myself that this was not going to be my only visit to Door County so I could save some stuff for next time. I am definitely ready to go back in a heartbeat.

Friday’s Itinerary: lighthouse hopping along the coast of Lake Michigan starting in Two Rivers and ending in Bailey’s Harbor; meeting up with Cassie and Chris at Copper’s Corner in Fish Creek for a quick drink; witnessing a gorgeous golden orange sunset at Sunset Beach Park; back to Copper’s Corner for dinner; to the Waterbury Inn in Ephraim to check in and then catch a quick dip in the pool/hot tub. By 9 p.m., Dad caught up to us, and he and I sat in the lobby to catch up on life. We finally called it a night at midnight.

  

Saturday’s Itinerary: breakfast at Al Johnson’s (the restaurant that has goats on a grass roof) in Sister Bay;

back to Fish Creek to Peninsula State Park with stops at the Eagle Bluff Lighthouse, Welker’s Point, Eagle Panorama, Eagle Tower, and Sven’s Bluff;

satisfied our sweet tooth with treats at Not Licked Yet; walked through various shops; dinner at Greenwood’s Super Club (John Dillinger was known to stop at this restaurant), and then it finally was pub crawling time!

Trolleys were waiting for us at Carrington’s Pub and Grill, part of Landmark Resort in Egg Harbor, to take us to four Door County establishments within four hours. Part of the pub crawl included a plastic rocks glass that lit up with green, red, and blue blinking blubs. (Can any of you see Dad with a Brandy Manhattan on the rocks with olives in a lighted rocks glass? I never thought it would happen but it did! I have proof!)

Once we received our “confidence juice” (according to Tour Guide Bruce), we climbed aboard Katie the Trolley for our night of haunting fun. Since I highly recommend this tour, I will not spoil the ghost stories, but I will share the four pubs we crawled to. First stop was the Alpine Resort, think the hotel in the movie The Shining. Second stop was Shipwrecked Brew Pub/Inn and Restaurant, the only micro brewery in Door County. Both stops one and two are located in Egg Harbor. Third stop was The Blue Ox in Bailey’s Harbor. Fourth stop was the Peninsula Pub on Hwy A outside of Bailey’s Harbor.

Sunday’s Itinerary: recovery, back to Al Johnson’s for breakfast, then all the way to the tippy top of the peninsula…Ellison Bay to Gills Rock to Northport. Once we got to the very top, we watched a car ferry sail off to Washington Island. From there, we wound our way back down to the Cana Island Lighthouse in Bailey’s Harbor. The last lighthouse on my list to make this trip complete!

The four of us then concluded our trip with a stop back at Shipwrecked for a late lunch and a little Packer action!

And just like that, the weekend was over, and I was on my way back home. So sad because I had so much fun, loved visiting all of the lighthouses, and enjoyed viewing the beautiful scenery that Door County has to offer. I hope my next trip to Door County will be during the warmer months so I can go to the lighthouses on the islands (there are 4 island-based lighthouses I need to visit), hike Peninsula State Park, go to the Whitefish Dunes State Park and Newport State Park, and whatever else I can find.

As I said earlier, I highly recommend a trip to Door County and definitely add a trolley tour to your list of things to do, especially the Haunted Pub Crawl. They do offer the Haunted Pub Crawl from July – October, but I’d do it in October again purely because of its spooky fun.

Some people bar hop. I, on the other hand, prefer to lighthouse hop and pub crawl! To each his/her own, I guess. My next entries will provide you with more detail and history about the 10 lighthouses I hopped to. So until then, take care, and I will talk to you soon!