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Starting my day at the top of a hill, I soon hit the brakes at the sight of Sturgeon Bay's skatepark. As always with towns or villages, I couldn't help but think of Sturgeon Bay's population (9940) versus Corner Brook's (19600). The weather of Sturgeon Bay would be close to the brutality of Corner Brook's, but man, to have this skatepark instead. Fun to think what could have been in another life. |
The melancholy didn't last for long as only ten minutes later, I arrived at my first ever Wisconsin lighthouse - the Dunlap Reef Rear Range Lighthouse! |
Dunlap Reef is a shoal visible at times just north of the Michigan Avenue bridge in downtown Sturgeon Bay. Ships needed to see this rocky islet in order to safely land in Sturgeon Bay or pass through, en route to the canal that cuts through the Door Peninsula. Two range lights were built on the shoal in 1881. Only 29 years later, the lighthouse board recommended the construction of a set of lights on Hills Point, as that marked the actual channel for safe navigation, not the two lights on Dunlap Reef. The Dunlap Reef lights would survive until 1924, when thankfully a local by the name of Ruben Dickenson, purchased and moved the Rear Range Lighthouse ashore to become a private residence at 411 South Fourth Avenue. Pulling up to the house, I totally forgot about garages and how it isn't so obvious that people are home in the Midwest - so I had my bridge camera out and was taking plenty of pictures when the homeowner walked out and saucily asked what I was doing. Thankfully he was instantly diffused with my response of that I go around photographing lighthouses. |
Not far away was the underwhelming Door County Courthouse. County Courthouse Lover on Flickr has this to say, "It is a real shame that a county as lovely and unique as Door has a courthouse this ugly." John Deacon of American Courthouses dot Co, says that a portion of the 1878 courthouse was added on to in 1957, but a 1991 renovation demolished the 1878 portion while upgrading the 1957 portion. |
Going into this morning, I had researched Sturgeon Bay's family restaurants and trendy breakfast spots to fill up before today's cycling. The only problem was how popular and cramped all of these places were as I cycled up. Then there was the Red Room, a great looking tavern that I really wanted to visit last night, but didn't want to walk all the way past Dunlap Reef. I couldn't believe it was back open at 10am after staying open until 2am, but I figured I'd go inside and discover that they do burgers or nachos or something that would work well enough. |
Grabbing a seat, I looked up at the fryer menu and discovered they had the Wisconsin delicacy of deep fried cheese curds. Oh this'll do! And it'll do much more than some eggs benny from the trendy place down the street. The Red Room was actually fairly bumping at this hour, which checked out with Wisconsin's reputation for being the boozehound state. They even had a couple of guys who were here getting a beer before their round of golf - which was a whole another level of debauchery that I couldn't comprehend. |
The bartender came over and asked where I was headed on my bike. "Just doing a little tour from Green Bay up to the top of the Door Peninsula, then back down to Green Bay." "Where you headed today?" "Lighter day today, just up to Fish Creek and Peninsula State Park." "What road ya taking?" "I hadn't really thought about it. Just whatever isn't too hilly." He recommended the road leaving the west side of Sturgeon Bay instead of the WI-57 highway, saying there was still a hill, but that it was much more scenic and quiet than the highway. He insisted that I'd have a much more enjoyable day this way. I thanked him for the advice and the delicious curds. It's hard to even fathom what I was thinking with planning on going to those other breakfast spots, when the Red Room was much more my level. |
One last stop was at Novel Bay Booksellers, where I needed a new book as I already finished the one I brought with me. The owner asked what I was up to attentively, threw some follow up questions at me, then nailed the perfect recommendation with Edge Of The Map, an account of Christine Boskoff's life as one of the top mountaineers who luckily suffered very little altitude sickness. Christine is from Appleton, Wisconsin and it was fun to read throughout the coming Wisconsin days. Loaded up and ready to head towards Egg Harbor and Fish Creek, I stopped at a park along the way and found swallows whizzing around the water to fill up on insects. Unable to keep up with them in my viewfinder, I had the brilliant idea to half-press my shutter in order for it to focus, then commit to pressing it the rest of the way when I saw a swallow crossing my camera's path. It didn't work out quite as well as I imagined, lol. |
My bartender friend from back at the Red Room nailed it in terms of quiet and not too hilly, but it was almost too quiet. Most of the lakeside views were covered with trees and people's hidden cabins, while there wasn't a whole heck of a lot to the east. In hindsight, I probably would have preferred the county road between the highway and this road, but most people would want the occasional lake view I was getting. Only 30km (18mi) into the day and I arrived at Egg Harbor, but I didn't really need much when I got there so quickly. I had looked up the Alpine Golf Club with thoughts of squeezing in 9 while I had time today, but it was very busy with a lot of clean cut dudes. I rolled out of there and crossed the street to a park where there was an ice cream stand and limestone benches buffered by yellow flowers. |
Another 13km (8mi) up the road and I was pretty excited to get to Fish Creek. I thought by getting further up the Door Peninsula and into more remote places, that I would be getting grittier and more authentic places - but that was Sturgeon Bay and definitely not Egg Harbor or touristy Fish Creek. Fish Creek was so touristy that it was easier to just push my bike instead of navigating the guy trying to figure out parking at a meter, or the big confused group, or the window shoppers, etc. |
The Bayside Tavern looked promising for lunch, but inside was your standard American lakeside restaurant. I got the tuna and some salad to cut into all the deep fried food I'd been having. The food was good but the number one saving grace was getting a Wisconsin Amber from Capital Brewing that was fantastic. My notes say it was a top ten beer of life, but I may want to try another Wisconsin Amber on a day where I'm not cycling in the sun for multiple hours. |
I was headed into more remote areas after leaving Fish Creek today, so I figured I should stop at Nordoor Cycling and double-check that my brakes rubbing on the disc wasn't all that big of a problem. "Did you check this bike over before leaving for this trip? Or get your local shop to check it over?" "I rode it a couple times and it seemed up to the task." And with that, the bike mechanic gave me a bit of a sigh and a head shake and picked my bike right up and put it on the rack. He was an older guy who looked like he enjoyed riding and fixing bikes more than dressing up for biking, so I had time for him and didn't take any offense to his questions. Quickly adjusting the brakes, he let me know I was missing a spoke too, which he turned and grabbed from his shelf without even asking. He then did some crank churning while tapping the brake lever, sizing up that everything was okay. This didn't cost me anything and I was on my way in no time. To show my appreciation, I decided to deal with my chaffing thighs by finally buying some padded bike shorts, but only after a conversation about chaffing, creams, bike shorts and anatomy with the lady in her 60s that was working the register. |
It was only 4pm at this point, but my campground was reserved and because of some upcoming ferries, there really wasn't any point in going further than the 6km (4mi) north of town to the Peninsula State Park. Thankfully this state park was home of the Eagle Bluff Lighthouse. A lighthouse was approved here in 1866, due to the increase in boaters coming and going north of Sturgeon Bay. These boaters were taking the inner channel between the mainland and the Strawberry Islands, creating a need for a lighthouse here. The lighthouse construction volume at the time left Eagle Bluff waiting for the crew to finish the Sand Point Lighthouse in Escanaba, Michigan. Escanaba's light was finished in 1867 and Eagle Bluff was then finished in 1868. |
The Eagle Bluff Lighthouse was automated in 1926 and the grounds then sat vacant until it was transferred to Peninsula State Park in 1936. In 1960, the Door County Historical Society stepped in to restore the property and open it to the public as a museum - which it still is today. The problem is the museum is only open from 11am to 3pm. Maybe I did have a reason to scurry up here and stop detouring for ice cream and mountain bike repairs! |
They were calling for an afternoon t-storm and the skies indicated that the showers may soon arrive. Cruising down the road in search of the park store and maybe a gazebo, I hit pay dirt as the park store's WiFi reached far enough that I could iMessage my friend Shelley. For some reason texting wasn't working on my phone, and while I hoped I could eventually cycle into some other carrier's zone that worked with Canadian cell phones, in the meantime I had to iMessage Shelley and get her to text my Mom that I was safe (by request). Texting my Mom that I was safe would also help with my Dad, who was like, "WHERE DOES HE GET THESE IDEAS?!?" when I told him why I was in Southwestern Ontario and headed to Wisconsin, lol. |
It turned into more of intermittent showers than thunderstorms, while everything also cooled right off. It was soon 49°F (9°C) and I wished I had brought my camp stove for a warm cup of instant coffee. (I had decided to leave my camp stove behind and rely on restaurants/stores instead of lugging dishes/fuel/the camp stove along with me.) In between the showers, I quickly threw up my tent and hopped inside. |
Noticing a pink hue to my tent fly, I poked my head out and decided to head down to Eagle Bluff. It was the old thing about lighthouses though, where I love Newfoundland's New Ferolle Lighthouse because you'll never see another person there, while here at Eagle Bluff, a bus pulled up and 45 people got out for a ghost tour. When one of your favourite things about lighthouses is the desolation, you don't rank Peggy's Cove, Cape Spear or...Eagle Bluff that high. I left and went up the road to a bench, where I read by cell phone light as waves of flies came in off of Green Bay. About 8km (5mi) out there was Chambers Island, home to another Wisconsin lighthouse, but the only public boat tours are during the June and October lighthouse festivals. Another thing out there was the weird shape of some birds flying in unison. It was familiar in that I'd seen this bird before, but not familiar enough that I could place it. It was only halfway through day three that I saw some white birds on a sandbar and realized they were pelicans! Day 2 would end with a total of 62.4 km's (38.8 mi's) cycling. |
I forgot how it isn't too bad to sleep on the ground while cycletouring, thanks to being so tired. Following a good night's rest, I clambered out of my tent and loved all of the bird life I found in the trees around my campsite. The above is a White-breasted Nuthatch. |
En route to breakfast, I discovered Peninsula State Park's Eagle Tower - a 60-foot observation tower that stands 253 feet above Green Bay. Up until 2016, the tower here was the one built all the way back in 1932. Unfortunately, they had to replace that one with this 2021 version (although it's still a nice observation tower). |
Looking out at Horseshoe Island and even further, into the State of Michigan and the desolate MI-35 north of Menominee. |
There were even selfie stands to show off your selfie skills! #ScenicWisconsin |
About 15 minutes up the road was the village of Ephraim and it was time to eat. I didn't take long with the menu either, as Door County is known for its cherries and French toast stuffed with Door County cherries was on offer. This was so damn good. |
Ephraim only has 340 permanent residents, but there were enough historic buildings to make it feel more substantial than that number. Their claim to fame is that most of the prominent buildings are painted white, which I didn't love because it made the town look more like a resort than a real community. They do have an annual festival known as Fyr Bal though, where a dude rides a pontoon boat across Eagle Harbor and into Ephraim. He then lands and ignites a large bonfire to mark the beginning of summer. Now that's something I can get behind! Summer was already here though and another fine Wisconsin day was ahead of me. More to come! |
