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!

Sherwood Point Lighthouse

Tomorrow Dad, Chris, Cassie and I are headed to Door County for a three day weekend of relaxation, sight-seeing and fun! We are headed to the west side of the Peninsula (Ephraim and Fish Creek) and staying at the Waterbury Inn. Couple weekends ago when I was home, Chris and Dad talked about all of the favorite places they would go with Mom. All of their stories made Cassie and I even more excited about our trip to Door County, and it may me miss all the times I was not able to go Door County with Mom, Dad and Chris.

While Mom, Dad and Chris had their fun in Door County all those years, I had a bit of my own adventure in Door County. Last year, over Memorial Day weekend, I joined my cousins Kris and Shannon and their camping crew up at Yogi Bear Jellystone Campground in Sturgeon Bay. After hanging with them, enjoying campfires and games, but before I headed home, I ventured over to one of the lighthouses in Sturgeon Bay, the Sherwood Point Lighthouse. Of the lighthouses I have seen to date, the Sherwood Point Lighthouse is my favorite structure. I really like the look of the building and how it overlooks Lake Michigan. While researching the Sherwood Point Lighthouse, I learned a couple things that reaffirmed this lighthouse is one of my favorites thus far.

The first thing I learned is that the reddish-brown brick building, built in 1883 on the western entry into Sturgeon Bay, was modeled after an old schoolhouse. Notice the rectangular-shaped building with numerous large windows. Can’t you envision having school in this building…how cool would that have been! For me, I also see a close resemblance to the former St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Franklin (Chris and Dad, use your imagination.) The Sherwood Point Lighthouse is the only red brick lighthouse in Door County, which is a 1 ½ -story building with a white tower that stands 35 feet tall. Since it is that tall plus built on the limestone bluff of Sturgeon Bay, the white light’s focal plane is 61 feet over the water.

The second interesting fact is the history of its keepers. The original lighthouse keeper was Henry Stanley who transferred from the Eagle Bluff Lighthouse, also in Door County (the family and I will be visiting this one on Saturday…I’ll share more about that one soon). Stanley’s niece, Minnie Hesh from New York, came for a visit and ended up staying permanently. By 1889, she married William Cochems, who was a prominent businessman and assistant keeper. When Stanley, Cochems became the main lighthouse keeper and Minnie became the assistant keeper in 1898. For 30 years, Minnie (Hesh) Cochems served as the assistant lighthouse keeper. Her husband placed a marker on the northeast corner of the lighthouse to honor her service and commitment. (I wish I would have known about this marker at the time I took pictures – all the more reason to go back and visit my favorite lighthouse.)

Minnie Cochems was one of many female lighthouse keepers. Since lighthouse keeping was a family role, wives would serve as assistant keepers or main keepers when their husbands would die. According to Wisconsin Lighthouses, women learned how the lights worked, tended to the lights and the house, raised families, and rescued sailors. (Impressive!) While Minnie Cochems served at Sherwood Point Lighthouse, other women served at lighthouses in the Apostle Islands, Kenosha (Southport) Light, and the Old Port Washington Light Station.

Other fun notes about the Sherwood Point Lighthouse include: 1) it was electrified in the 1930s, 2) it was the last manned lighthouse on the United States side of the Great Lakes, 1983, 3) the white building in front of the lighthouse is the fog signal built in 1892, 4) it is said to be haunted by the spirit of Minnie Cochems – visitors may see a shadow of a lady in a nightgown. For more on Door County's haunted lighthouses go to: http://dcmm.org/.

Well I better go and continue mapping out my trip to Ephraim and Fish Creek…maybe I’ll stop at a lighthouse or two or more. I hope when you visit Sturgeon Bay, Door County, WI, you stop and see the Sherwood Point Lighthouse, and if you’re lucky the spirit of Minnie Cochems. If you do see the lighthouse or her, you totally have to tell me! Until next time, enjoy life and take care!