Playing Barn Quilt Hide and Seek

 Shawano County is the Barn Quilt Capitol of Wisconsin. Barn quilts are painted squares on barns to look like quilts. They help preserve the old barns of Shawano County, promote tourism in Shawano County, and create an opportunity for a 4-H service projects. They also make the drive through Shawano County more enjoyable as you try to find and point out the quilts.

There is an actual Shawano Barn Quilt book that provides maps and information about the quilt. You can also find a list of all the barn quilts on the Shawano Barn Quilt website. Now I did not do any research about where the barn quilts were located. I prefer the find them as we drive by method.

As Heather and I were driving through Shawano County on our library road I started looking for barn quilts. Once I explained what I was doing, she would help and when we spotted one she would slow down to let me take a picture. We did find several quilts around the Shawano area on our way back to Appleton.

Once we started we could not stop. We found barn quilts in Waupaca County.

We even found some in Kewaunee and Door Counties. Because of the Scandinavian heritage, they prefer a star pattern or just a metal star. 

I will continue to play barn quilt hide and seek on road trips. Iowa and Kansas has many barn quilts which is what inspired the Shawano County barn quilts. Maybe one day I will take a road trip and see all 400+ barn quilts of Shawano County. 

5238. Go to Pink Bakery in Egg Harbor

 Looking through my Door County Bucket List, I saw that Pink Bakery was on the list. They were open later in the day so it would be a good stop on the way through Egg Harbor after stopping at the library. 

Pink Bakery is located off of Main Street in Egg Harbor. It is open 8-8 Tuesday-Saturday in the summer.

There is parking in front which we didn't know. We ended up parking in the public parking lot and decided it to walk since it was less than a half mile. Until we headed in the wrong direction and ended up walking more than we wanted.  It finally dawned on me when we were headed out of town. Glad we got our exercise.

The bakery had a wide variety of items including donuts, cakes, cookies. pies, and giant cinnamon rolls. I picked up a M&M cookie for me, a couple frosted sugar cookies for the hubby, and each of us a donut. Everything got put in the same bag. 

The cookies from the Elegant Farmer were better. All the giant cookies looked over-baked. I was expecting a hard, crunchy cookie but it was surprisingly soft. 

The hubby said the sugar cookie was disgusting. The frosting was gross. It was not a rich buttercream that he liked nor was it Royal icing. We will definitely not be getting them again.

The donuts were not anything special. They were just your average donut. Maybe I am becoming a donut snob. They were good but had no wow factor. They were your basic long Johns and cake donuts. No specialty donuts. I guess their specialty is cakes and cupcakes. After having the cookies and donuts, I'm not in any hurry to try the cupcakes.

Pink Bakery is not one I would rule out completely for a return visit but there are definitely better bakeries/cafes that I'd go back to first. There are also a handful of other bakeries and cafes I want to try also. 

5236. Go to Door County Creamery in Sister Bay

No trip to Door County is complete without some ice cream. Wilson's is by far my favorite. However, there are still plenty of ice cream places up and down the peninsula that I have not tried. When Heather agreed to go with me on my Door County Library Road Trip, I told her an ice cream stop was on the list.

After checking out the Sister Bay Library, we had some time to kill before the Ephraim Library opened. I gave Heather the choice -- we could get ice cream in Sister Bay or we could go to Wilson's in Ephraim. She decided since we were in Sister Bay we might as well get ice cream here. Door County Creamery was a short walk from the library.

Door Country Creamery is more than an ice cream place. They have goat milk products, a wide variety of cheeses, and even sandwiches to order. I would definitely have this as a lunch spot for a girl's day/weekend to Door County. They are open 8:30-10 PM in the summer with the kitchen closing at 7.

The ice cream is not ice cream but gelato. Be still my heart. Gelato is even better than ice cream. I'm glad it is becoming more mainstream in the US. They have a dozen different flavors and is made with goat milk from their farm. I didn't even realize it was made with goat milk which means you can't tell the difference and it's tastes amazing.

Heather got Gingerbread Cookie which she said was amazing. It had the perfect sweetness to spiciness ration. Since there nothing overly chocolately besides straight up chocolate or hazelnut surprise (Ew.. gross), I went with Peanut Butter Stracciatella which was peanut butter with shavings of chocolate in it. Scrumptious. 

The only thing we said is we should have gotten the small instead of the medium and more napkins. It was hot and windy. The gelato melted faster than we could eat it even in dishes. Plus the tiny shovels didn't help. 

Door Country Creamery may have just surpassed Wilson's in taste but it is hard to beat the portions at Wilson's. It is definitely better than Grumpy's in Egg Harbor. I would drive the extra 10 minutes to get to Door Country Creamery for gelato. Definitely add Door County Creamery to your lunch or ice cream plans while in Sister Bay.

Bass Around the Bay

 After we left the Sturgeon Bay Library and Miller Art Museum, we headed over to the Gnoshery to browse games. What we didn't expect to see were giant fish statues. Heather and I were used to seeing cherry sculptures not fish. 

Every year for the last 23 years, Destination Sturgeon Bay engages the community in a street art project where local businesses sponsor imaginative artwork on both sides of the bridge in downtown Sturgeon Bay. After having cherries for the last three years, this year they chose Bass for the theme hence Bass Around the Bay.

There are 27 different bass statues scattered around Sturgeon Bay that will be on display until mid-September and then auctioned off. We did not pick up a map from the welcome center or the website. We just wandered 3rd street checking out the fish.

We only found 7 basses. We did not have time to find all 27 of them. One year I will go on a search for all the street art statues in Sturgeon Bay.

Some of these basses are quite impressive. The street art is definitely worth checking out when you are in Sturgeon Bay. If weird street art isn't your thing, just check out the Door County Confectionary instead and get some taffy.

5202. Go to the Miller Art Museum in Sturgeon Bay

 While planning our Door County Library Adventure, I saw that the Sturgeon Bay Library had a small art museum attached to it. I figured since we're at the library we might as well check out the art museum too. You never know what kind of art you'll find in a random art museum even if you are not an art lover.

The Miller Art Museum is located in the Sturgeon Bay Library just off of downtown Sturgeon Bay. It is within walking distance of both 3rd Street where many shops and restaurants are located and Door County Historical Museum. It is open Tuesday-Saturday 10-5 and Mondays 10-7. It is free to visit but donations are appreciated.

The Miller Art Museum is about the size of the Trout Museum of Art in Appleton. It is one large one with a balcony.  We did not go up to the balcony as we were on a tight schedule. Exhibits look to change about every 3-6 months.

Downstairs featured Words Hurt Exhibit by Maureen Childress. 

There was another exhibit featuring various occupations. I really enjoyed the Rosie the Riveter one.

It may be on the smaller size but the Miller Art Museum does have wonderful art and a small gift shop. It is definitely worth checking out when in Sturgeon Bay.

5251. See the World’s Tallest Grandfather Clock in Kewaunee

 When planning our last Library Road Trip, I saw that Kewaunee had the World's Tallest Grandfather Clock. This definitely had to be a stop. Good thing Heather is used to my crazy stops.

The grandfather clock is located just off of downtown on the corner of Milwaukee and River streets. Heather's GPS had us park like 2 blocks away on the backside and walk. There is parking near the grandfather clock as it is also the trailhead for Ahnapee State trail.

The 35'10" clock was buit for Svoboda Industries to promote their business as well as add other business in to Kewaunee in 1976. When the business closed, the clock along with the property stayed behind and eventually fell into disrepair. It was eventually was sold to the Kewaunee Sheriff's department who to scramble to find a new home for the clock. Through a grassroots campaign, it was dismantled, restored, and placed in it's current home in 2014.

It was gorgeous clock that does chime at the top of the hour. There is a placard describing the history of the clock. 

If you are driving through Kewaunee on your way to Door County or Manitowoc, it is worth the stretch break. You also enjoy the views of Lake Michigan. 

Walking the Helen Kimberly Stuart Trail

Through Facebook, I discovered the Fox Cities had an app or website that allowed you to check into various cultural spots across the Fox Valley to earn points. It's called Fox Cities Experience Pass. There are 48 different locations across the Fox Valley. 

One of the locations is the Helen Kimberly Stuart Trail in Neenah. I've been wanting to check this out ever since they completed the path along Lake Winnebago. The trail starts at the corner of Wisconsin Ave and Lakeshore Ave and really ends at the lighthouse. It is also known as the Lake Winnebago Lakeshore Path. When they redid Lakeshore Ave, they added a walking path to make it safer for walkers, bikers, and cars alike. It is about a 1/2 mile from start to finish. You can keep going and do the whole loop back around along N. Park Ave.

Along the trail are signs that explain the history and impact of Lake Winnebago and the Indigenous People. This area was a marshland before their dammed the river. The natives to used these waterways for trade and food. The history lessons made it an enjoyable walk.

It was a nice night for a walk before the fireworks. It was only a little buggy but if you go in late May or early June watch out for lake flies. I try to avoid the lake when there is a lake fly hatch otherwise it's just a buggy mess. 

The Helen Kimberly Stuart Trail is definitely worth checking out. Maybe even sign up for the Fox Cities Experience Pass and check out all the other historic and creative spots through the Fox Valley. After my walk tonight, I have 7 done.. 41 more to go.