Our first stop of the day was Door Peninsula Winery, of course. He wanted another bottle of Cherry and wanted to try the peach and mango. Initially we weren't going to do the wine tasting but decided we better make sure we liked the Apple and Mango. So after waiting for a spot to open up at the tasting bar, we both tried the Schoolhouse Apple, Sweet Apple, Mad About Mango, Panacea Peach, Pear, and Razzle Dazzle Raspberry. The hubby also tried Peninsula Pink and Blackberry. I tried the Hallowine and Christmas White. He fell in love with the blackberry wine. I had to choke down the Hallowine. We ended up buying 4 more bottles for ourselves....
After we stocked up on wine, we decided to head to Cave Point County Park to see the best kept secret of Sturgeon Bay. We didn't go more than a mile before we had a detour. We stopped at Schopf's Dairy View County Store. This was on my bucket list and it was right on the way. It is a working dairy where you can watch cows being milked as well as what looked to be play area for kids, corn maze and other fall activities. We watched the cows being milked and the hubby even saw a steaming cow pie. After we watched the cows, we enjoyed some ice cream. As the hubby said, it was the best ice cream he had a long time. I would have to agree. The chocolate was dark and rich but not too creamy. The cookie dough was creamy. It was flavorful... way better than the stuff we had in Ohio. I would definitely stop and get some ice cream again.
Once we finished our ice cream, we continued to Cave Point County Park. The fall foliage was really colorful on the drive into the park. For Sturgeon Bay's best kept secret, there were a lot of people there. The park itself is not that big. On windy days, the waves crash over the rocks and the sight is unbelievable. We weren't so lucky but it was still very picturesque. If I was by myself I would have climbed down the rocks but that would have freaked the hubby out so I just got as close to the edge as I could and took pictures. We walked down a trail for a little bit but that's not the hubby's thing. I appreciated the effort he made. I know he enjoyed the park even if nature isn't really his thing.
By this time, we were hungry and decided to go to lunch. Before we left we figured out where we wanted to eat. I googled "places to eat in Sturgeon Bay" and used Trip Adviser's list of places to eat. We settled on Greystone Castle Bar. Then I just looked in the Our Wisconsin's Magazine Best Places to eat in each County magazine and discovered it was 1 of 2 places listed in Door County. The menu includes the best prime rib sandwich in Sturgeon Bay as well as Buffalo, Elk and Venison Burgers. The decor of the corner bar is stuffed wild animals. Elk, bear, deer, fish, even a skunk adorn the walls. If you decide to sit in the both in the back, your head will be inches from an Elk head or two. I had my first buffalo burger. Honestly I wasn't overly impressed. It was good but I missed the greasy burger. The hubby has added this to his list of places to eat in Door County
Then it was time to head home. On the way home we stopped at Renard's Cheese, a place I always wanted to stop at. All you need to know is Squeaky Cheese Curds 7 days a week. Yes, this is a cheese lovers dream. We could get fresh cheese curds on Sunday...and fresh foot long mozzarella whips. The mozzarella whips beats the ones we get on the cheese tray at Christmas all to heck. The hubby is already figuring when he has games Door County to get more cheese.
It was a nice day for a drive. We had fun. It was nice to do something out of the ordinary for once. I can see more random Door County road trips to get cheese and wine in the future. And I managed to cross off two bucket list items.
