Welcome to Door County

Sunsets over Baileys Harbor

03/30/2015 • By Alan Shivak • Posted in Door County, Local Events, Recreation • Comments Off

Sailboat at Sunset

One of the Advantages of staying at Baileys Harbor Yacht Club Resort is catching the wonderful Sunset over Baileys Harbor without having to cross any roads or carrying anything to sit on. All you have to do is walk out to the harbor and grab one of the many accessible chairs or picnic tables. If you have a bay side room it’s even easier, open the sliding glass door and step out onto your patio or deck.

We generally visit it August and that means the sunsets about 7:00 pm, give or take a couple minutes depending on the time you visit. On the nights we don’t go out for dinner we grab one of the resort gas grills around 5:30 pm and eat bout 6:30 pm, giving us enough time to pop some corn (Koepsel’s Farm Market, located on Highway 57, has a good locally grown selection of popping corn if you did not bring any), grab a glass of wine or hot chocolate and head out to the harbor and grab some Adirondack chairs. It’s really relaxing to watch the seagulls and dragon flies hover around and listen to the waves lap on the rocks.

Since Baileys Harbor Yacht Club Resort is on the Lake side of the peninsula you are not going to see the sun set into Green Bay. Instead it sets into the wooded town of Baileys Harbor giving off a unique show of light as it sinks into the trees. After the sun sets we hangout for another 10-20 minutes before heading back to the room. We like to watch the sky turn to dark blue and then to purple and finally to black. If you sit quietly long enough there is a chance you will see a bat or two chasing the last dragon flies of the evening.

Sunset over Baileys Harbor

After sunset we head back to the room and throw in a movie and watch the first half before hitting pause and head back out to the harbor to do some star gazing. When the moon is new you will see a great number of stars. The Big and Little Dipper are clear in the night sky as well as Orion and Cassiopeia, constellations that are bit more challenging to see from the Chicago lit sky where we live.

The Perseids meteor shower is in August and is one of the years best meteor showers, producing up to 60 meteors per hour at its peak. Other summer meteor showers include Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower in May and the Delta Aquarids Meteor Shower in July.

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Sunrise from Toft Point State Natural Area

02/26/2015 • By Alan Shivak • Posted in Baileys Harbor, Door County, Family Time, Recreation • Comments Off

It’s about 6:00 am in early August and from our condo balcony I can see the sky is turning from black to purple and the stars are beginning to fade. I shake my wife and my son and say “come on, it’s time to go if we are going to make the sunrise.” Reluctantly they get up and throw on some jeans and sweatshirts. I grab some granola bars and head to the lobby for a couple cups of coffee to go.

Cana Island from Toft Point State Natural Area

We jump into the car and head to the end of ridges road and then take a left on the gravel road and follow it to the end where there is a loop and pull off and park on the west side of the road. There is a small trail head here were we hike through a short overgrown area that open up into a patio of large rocks, shrubs and flowers. From here Moonlight Bay and the Cana Island Lighthouse start to become visible in the early morning light.

There are some nice flat rock on the shore and we unroll a couple towels set out the granola bars and find a place to set the coffee where it won’t spill. It’s now 6:20 am am and the purple sky is changing to blue and the last stars begin to fade away. In the distance I can see a charter fishing boat motoring out to catch their limit of Salmon and an occasional flock of birds flying Southwest.

Sunrise from Toft Point State Natural Area

Then it happens, the Lake Michigan waves begin to burn red/white as the rising sun glows through the breaking waves before it rises above the horizon. My wife, son and I sit quietly watching as the top of the sun begins to climb above water line. Waves are breaking on the rock beach every couple seconds and the seagulls can be heard in the distance and in about 90 seconds the sun is up shining radiantly.

Before heading back to the condo we explore a couple rock formations, trying not to get wet. After about 20 minutes we gather our belongings and head back to the path that leads us to our car. We will return here later in the week for a longer hike along the rocks but we will ride our bikes next time. We only take the car when we want to make the sunrise. Biking Ridges Road offers several opportunities to pull off to the side and go for hike and explore the rocky water front around Toft Point and Baileys Harbor.. Check out the some history on the area and 2-3 mile hike that you can do from Baileys Harbor Yacht Club Resort.

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Wood Orchard Market

02/20/2015 • By Alan Shivak • Posted in Dining, Door County • Comments Off

One of the perks about visiting Door County is stopping by the numerous farm market stores that are rich in regional produce, food good and art. Wood Orchard in Egg Harbor is daily stop from the day we arrive and the day we leave and I believe they have the best fresh picked sweet corn in Door County.

Wood Market Sign

Established in 1955, Wood Orchard Market has been family owned for three generations. Depending on what season you visit Door County will determine what fruits and vegetables will be available. Spring offers a selection Rhubarb, Asparagus and Morel mushrooms; summer is berries, cherries, peaches and sweet corn season; and fall is pumpkins and gourds. Their onsite bakery produces pies, strudels and breads as well as well as a selection of homemade fudge during the three seasons and you can order their canned jellies, jams and dip mixes all year long.

We make a stop at Wood’s each afternoon during our vacation to pick out some sweet corn and then spend another 20 minutes “browsing” their fresh fruit and dips, crackers and mustards, salsa and chips, and fresh baked goods. They have a small selection of cheeses, frozen meats, coffee and wine (most produced locally in Door County) that meets the needs of a weeklong vacation. There are also free frozen apple popsicles for the kids in the freezer section.

Wood Orchard Market Salsa

After buying some cherries juice, cherry jam, cherry salsa and corn my son and I head out to the peddle carts to give the misses some time to browse the yart. That is Yard Art, we have several of these metal creations, and our collection includes sunflowers, birds and yard animals.

The peddle carts are fun distraction for kids of all ages. There is a small crushed stone track around the big Wood Orchard sign and three or four carts available first come first serve bases. Even if you are not peddling it’s a nice area to sit on a bench, soak up some sun and snack on something for the market.

Wood Orchard Market
8112 State Highway 42
Egg Harbor, WI
Hours: May – October: 9am to 5pm CST
November: Friday – Monday: 10am to 4pm

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