A Sunday Morning Adventure

Mom ordered this Wisconsin Travel guide and was telling me about Lakeside Park in Fond du Lac with the lighthouse and train. She was mainly telling me about it so my brother could take my nephew but I was interested it in seeing the lighthouse. I like lighthouses, especially ones you can climb. When I heard that I could climb this one, I wanted to go.

Mom made plans with me to meet them in Fond du Lac for lunch and then go to the Galloway House. I thought I would stop at the lighthouse on the way home. Once mom found out that there was an A&W in Fond du Lac, she wanted to go there for lunch. Well A&W and the lighthouse are 2 minutes apart. It was much easier for me to stop there on the way to lunch.

I knew there was a going to be a car show at the park from my research but what I didn’t know was the lack of parking. I almost had a spot right by the lighthouse but I thought it was too good to be true and passed it up. I ended up walk ½ mile back to the lighthouse which was fine since I need to get my steps in anyways.

The lighthouse was built in 1932 at the southern end of Lake Winnebago. It is a small lighthouse -- 40 feet. There are only about 60 steps to go up to the top.

 A little motivational graffiti

Visitors can climb the lighthouse free of charge from 8 AM – Sunset from April to October When I drove past there were several people on the observation deck but by the time I walked back to it, I was the only one on top. There is a nice view of Lake Winnebago and the surrounding area. 

On the walls there are a few pictures describing the history of the lighthouse and area. It isn’t much but there really doesn’t need to be.

After climbing the lighthouse, I wander through the car show.  There were a good number of cars. However being married to the hubby for all these years, I have learned to hone in Fords…especially Mustangs. I like all cars especially different looking ones. While there were plenty of cars that I like to look at, there were only a handful of Fords. While I enjoyed the car show, it would have been nice to share it with someone. Maybe once the hubby cuts back on umping, we can go to the car show together.

Since I still had time before I had to meet mom and dad for lunch, I continued to explore the park. I found a covered bridge that lead to the petting zoo.

There were a couple of deer in a pen to the left. I didn’t check out the rest of the petting zoo because I got sidetracked by the railroad tracks.  

They went through a tunnel and I thought that was cool. The train is a small train that went around the perimeter of the petting zoo. 

Then I saw the carousel. If I had my nephew, I probably would have rode it but I might have gotten funny looks if I ask for 1 ticket to ride the carousel.

There also was another little kiddie ride. Each ride was 1 ticket and each ticket was a dollar. You could also rent paddleboats and canoes.

I spent about an hour in the park climbing the lighthouse, wandering through the car show, and exploring. It was a nice way to spend a Sunday morning. I wish I had more time to rent a paddle boat or something. Maybe one day I will get back and rent one. I do like adventures by myself but there do sometimes have downfalls like not being able to rent a paddleboat. Alas, until the next adventure…