5844. Go to Jorn’s Sugar Bush in Egg Harbor

 One of the random places I had left to visit in Door County was Jorn's Sugar Bush. I've seen the faded billboards advertising for the place for years. I've read the articles that say Jorn's Sugar Bush has the best maple syrup and I really wanted to check it out. To be honest, I just wanted to buy some real maple syrup. The hubby is game for the slight deour.

Jorn's Sugar Bush is located on Hwy T just off of Hwy 42 as you are coming into Egg Harbor from the south It is open 10-4 daily. 

Jorn's Sugar Bush is a one man operation. You literally ring the door bell, walk in, turn on the light, and wait for Mr. Jorn to come down to his little store from his house. I felt bad that we stopped because the poor man was on crutches and I made him hobble all the way down to sell me some maple syrup. 

The Store doesn't offer much just some maple syrup in various sizes along with some jellies and cherry pie filling. It is  nothing more than a cinder block shack. However it is the best in Door County.

The hubby stayed in the car while I went in to get some maple syrup. After talking to Mr. Jorn for awhile, I texted the hubby and told him he had to meet the man. He's 98 years young and had stories to tell. He may have repeated the same stories a few times in the short time we were there but what do expect from a nonagenarian. He was very interesting to listen to and well worth the extra time spent buying a quart of maple syrup.

If you haven't been to Jorn's Sugar Bush, stop by the next time you are in Door County. His maple syrup is worth it and so are his stories. I am so glad we stopped and got some real maple syrup. I know we will be back next year. 

5714. Go to the Cherry Hut in Fish Creek

Door County is full of little farm markets and gift shops up and down the peninsula. They all have a similar theme.. cherries and other fruits, baked goods, jams and other spreads, and wine. I've been to several over the years including Lautenbach. I always wanted to check out the Cherry Hut. I liked the name and it looked cute. I convinced the hubby to check out on our way home after dinner at Wild Tomato. 

Cherry Hut is located between Fish Creek and Egg Harbor on Hwy 42. It is open daily 10-6. Unlike most farm markets it also has a tap room that is 11-8 during the week and 11-10 on Fridays and Saturdays. It does look to be open seasonally and closes for the winter. 

The Cherry Hut is your typical Door County Market Store. There is canned cherries and dips

BBQ Sauce and Salad Dressing

and the ever classic TOE Jam

All made in house.

However, it also has a Tap room where they have live music. In the tap room, you can sample wine. Free wine? Of Course. They make their own fruit wines and carry other brands such as La Duca. I only sampled two.. lemon and peach. The lemon was nice and tangy. It might make a fun summer wine spitzer. The peach was okay. 

They also have a fire pit and seating outside with TVs where you can watch the game on Sundays. 

The Cherry Hut despite being small has tapped into what people want.. a place to hang with good drinks. I always passed this place by because it doesn't look like much. There is definitely more than meets the eye.

I would suggest checking it out even if it is for some wine or catch some live music. I don't think you will be disappointed. 

Pizza Snob Adventures 2024 -- Wild Tomato Wood-Fired Pizza & Grille

 One night the hubby said we had to try Wild Tomato Pizza in Door County. I was surprised by this since it was wood fire and I thought he wasn't a fan. Since his buddy recommend Wild Tomato, he was all about trying it. 

Wild Tomato has two locations in Door County, one in Fish Creek and the other in Sister Bay. Fish Creek is the original location. They are both open year round with limited hours in winter. Neither location takes reservations so in peak season be prepared to wait. They also do carryout.

We went to the Fish Creek location. The parking lot is small in front but there is more parking in the back. The Inside dining room is not large. We got there by 4 PM and still had to eat outside. It was a blustery day so it was a bit chilly. I'm glad I had my sweatshirt with me.

The menu consists of some appetizers, a few salads, and pizza. We found the appetizers to be pricy for our frugal budget but reasonable for Door County. Cheese curds, which looked amazing, were $12. We just ordered a sausage pizza.

The pizza was perfect. As the hubby would say "it had the right amount of wood fire on the crust". The sausage was good. It wasn't too saucy for me. I am not sure why we waited so long to check it out.

Wild Tomato is a definitely dinner possibility for good pizza. It is wildly popular even with the chain in owners. I would recommend if you do go, go early or be prepared to wait. It is that good and the wait staff is friendly.

I wonder where our 2025 pizza adventures will take us. Maybe I will finally cross Calumet County off or maybe the pizza gods will be in our favor and we will explore pizza in a new state or at least a new pizza joint in Arizona.

5346. Go to Potawatomi State Park in Sturgeon Bay

 One of the other things I wanted to do while in Door County was visit the Eastern Terminus of the Ice Age Trail which was in Potawatomi State Park. I figured we had the daily park pass, we might as knock this off my Door County Bucket List. 

Potawatomi State Park is the first of the four state parks as you are driving up the door. It is by Cherryland Airport at the southern end of Sturgeon Bay. I have never been to Potawatomi State Park but it was pretty easy to find even without GPS. This was the first park of the day that actually had some at the entrance station so we just showed our park pass. 

The store at the entrance station is small. If you are looking for Ice Age items or Potawatomi State Park items, you are better off going to the camp store in the middle of the park. It has a much better selection. Even the ranger told us to go there. 

The Eastern Terminus of the Ice Age Trail is located at the northern end of the park. It is a beautiful drive along the lake to get there. There are plenty of pull outs to hike any trail you want. Due to the fact we were extremely short on time, I only hopped out to grab a few pictures.

There is a small parking lot at the Eastern Terminus. Thru-hikers will either start or end their journey here. The Ice Age trail is over 1,000 miles and follows the edge of the last continental glacier in Wisconsin. It is also the only National Park Service Trail to be in only one state. I have hiked bits and pieces of it. While I would love to hike all 1,000+ miles that will probably not happen. 

We snapped a few pictures..

Walked a few feet of the trail...

Admired the view...

And called it a day. We didn't have time for much else.

One day I will come back and explore more of the park. There is plenty more to see.

Potawatomi State Park is definitely worth checking out. There's plenty of camping and water activities along with hiking. It is perfect for a day trip and you can even say you hiked part of the Ice Age Trail. 

5389. Hit all the wineries on the Door County Wine Trail -- Anchored Roots

 It doesn't surprise me that Door County has a wine trail. The Door is full of wineries. I decided I want to go to them all. I have already been to several: Door Peninsula, Harbor Ridge, Simon Creek, and Von Stiehl. Now it's time to visit the other 6. I told my cousins for either an early or belated 45 birthday celebration, I wanted to hit all the wineries in Door County that I've not yet been to. Since they didn't go this year, it will have to be a belated 45 celebration. This gives a whole year to knock off a couple more.

The first winery that I decided to visit was one I never heard of. My cousin asked if I got up to Door County, if I would stop and get them a bottle of wine at Anchored Roots. I did know such a winery existed. I even asked Andrea who never heard of it. It is a newer winery just outside of Egg Harbor. It was founded in 2020. They are open 11-5 Wednesday-Monday. 

I wasn't planning on doing a tasting at Anchored Roots. I literally went in for a bottle. While I was waiting, I found out if I bought a bottle the tasting is free. I wasn't driving so it was a great plan. Free wine for buying a bottle. Tastings are normally $10 for 5 tastes. You can also get flights. 

They have 14 different wines to pick from on a laminated sheet. I had a tough time deciding on 5 wines because there were not a lot of fruity wines. It was definitely of a more developed palate type winery. I still love my fruit wines.  

I tried

2020 Rose -- which is dry rose. I don't mind rose but this one was definitely on the drier side. I'm still a sweet wine girl. It wasn't bad but not my favorite.

2023 The Ledge Rose -- This was an off-dry rose. It was better than the straight rose but still too dry for me.

2022 Riesling -- This was a bonus sample since the guy accidentally poured it for me. I wasn't complaining. Free wine is free wine. This actually turned out to be my favorite. It was nice and refreshing. I was tempted to get a bottle but not sure if anyone else would like it.

2023 Frontenac Gris -- This was a fruiter white wine with hints of pineapple and fruit cocktail. I got hints of the fruit but definitely too tropical for me. I am seriously picky of what wines I like lately.

2023 La Crescent -- This one is another semi-sweet white with hints of orange. I definitely got hints of orange. It was alright but not a huge fan.

2022 Petite Pearl -- This was a dry red with hints of blackberry. By the time I got here, I could remember what I was tasting anymore. Everything blended together. It didn't really stand out.

I did pick up my cousins' bottle of Chardonnay. They do have some pretty bottles.

I was not a huge fan of the place but I have a simple wine palate. Maybe it will grow on me one day or maybe Basil has turned me into a fruit wine snob. If your wine palate is more sophisticated, this is definitely a place for you. I would definitely check it out either way as they are a nice winery and you can sit outside and enjoy a glass or flight. Definitely not a pretentious place. 

5362. Go to Newport State Park in Ellison Bay

 After leaving Sister Bay Library and getting ice cream, we had time to kill and decided to go check out Newport State Park. It was only about 15 minutes up the road. Neither of has been to Newport before so it was a pretty easy decision especially with the day pass to the state parks.

Besides Rock Island State Park, Newport State Park is located the furthest north on the Door Peninsula.  It is located off of Hwy 42 in Ellison Bay. It is also a Dark Sky Park which means you can see the milky way really well from inside park. It is the only place in Wisconsin to be designated a dark sky park and one of 48 world wide. 

There is a small visitor center with a small gift shop. I picked up a post card and a pin. 

Heather and I decided to hike the poetry trail because it was only .6 miles. We were not looking for a long hike. We just wanted to say we've been to Newport State Park.

The Poetry Trail is right across from the visitor center. It is actually part of the Monarch Loop and Rawley's Bay Trail Loop Trails. Like it's name would suggest, there are poems along the trail. They are 10 of them that change seasonally. 

We did not complete the trail. We forgot to put bug spray on and we were getting eaten alive. We probably made it about a quarter of mile before turning around. It was a pretty rugged trail not like the trail to Old Baldy at Whitefish Dunes. I had to make sure I didn't trip over any rocks.

I really enjoyed the little romp in the woods. Hopefully I will get back to explore Newport State Park more when it's not so buggy. I would love to enjoy the dark sky park too. It is definitely worth checking out. 

5351. Climb Old Baldy at Whitefish Dunes State Park in Sturgeon Bay

InfoSoup Library System is doing another library road trip this year. Instead of going crazy like we did last year, I really only wanted to hit the Door County Libraries. Mainly I just wanted an excuse to visit Door County. I brought this up with Heather and she agreed to tag along. I suggested a few adventures and when State Parks are involved, she is game. 

I wanted to climb Old Baldy. This is not the hubby's cup of tea so I figured Heather would be up for the adventure. Old Baldy is a sand dune located in Whitefish Dunes State Park. I only briefly crossed into Whitefish Dunes when we were at Cave Point once since they butt up against each other. Since it's a state park, it does require an entrance fee. I went online and bought a day pass for $8. This would get us in any of the State Parks in Door County except Peninsula since their day fee is $10 and wasn't sure if I could use it at the other parks. Some of the area libraries had daily state park passes too. I figured $8 was a good deal. 

After checking out the visitor center and spraying ourselves with bug spray, we headed to the red trail. The red trail is a 1.2 mile out and back trail (so 2.4 miles round trip). This is the main trail that leads you to Old Baldy. There is also a parking lot up near the yellow trail that would be a shorter walk but you had to read maps and all that fun stuff. Since it wasn't too hot in the park, we decided to just do the red trail. 

Unlike the trail at Indiana Dunes State Park to do the 3 Dune Challenge, the red trail is a fairly easy trail. There is very little elevation gain and it is gravel, wood chips, or dirt. It definitely was doable and you are not walking on hot sand.

You do not actually climb Old Baldy. It walk up a series of stairs to the top of the dune. This is so much easier than actually climb up a sand dune. I was still slightly huffing and puffing when I got to the top but no where near the strenuous workout I was expecting. 

The views from the top aren't bad. You are not quite about the tree tops so you don't get a clear view of Lake Michigan from all directions but it still a nice view. We stayed on top for a few minutes before climbing back and down heading back to our car.

Along the trail are wild raspberries. They weren't quite ripe enough to eat. I was tempted but we were about a week or so too early. Oh well. Maybe next time.

I definitely would like to go back to Whitefish Dunes State Park and explore other trails or even to climb Old Baldy again. It is quieter than Peninsula Park and the trails don't seem as difficult. It is a more of a meandering through the sandy woods kind of park since it's right on Lake Michigan.