More Door County Beauty Spots

Exploring a new area requires time, patience and good luck. On Saturday I set out with a list of parks in Door County to visit-well knowing that I would probably be sidetracked into some new and unplanned adventures!

A favorite photo from Saturday's trip

It is about a 30 minute drive from my place to the start of the Door County Peninsula. As I was traveling north, I doubled back to catch this giant gnome-the mascot of a mulch center. 

And yes I got sidetracked berry picking-this time red raspberries. It reminded me of my teenage years when I spent summers picking berries on my family farm for sale at roadside stands. 

Next stop was one of the scores of county parks that line both sides of the Door County Peninsula. Most of the parks center around a boat launch but usually you can get also swim or wade. This is Sugar Creek Park,

The first glimpse of Lake Michigan after a long week in the city is always so refreshing!

To give you a perspective of the whereabouts of Door County - the Cape Cod of Lake Michigan- here is a Wikipedia map of the state of Wisconsin with Door County in red jutting out into Lake Michigan. 

Wisconsin seems to have a lot of solar energy projects. 

Sunflower shaped panel set-ups like this are attractive and whimsical. 

I want to get back into amateur astronomy so this wayside observatory was fun to visit-even though it was not open there were placards and information on the grounds.

The observatory was on acres of milkweed and Queen Annes's lace fields. Lucky and I enjoyed a stroll through and watched the beautiful Monarch butterflies, dragonflies and damselflies. 

Next we discovered a US Coast Guard look out pier and walked out into Lake Michigan for some great views. 

From the pier, we had a good view of the lighthouse that guards the entrance to the canal traversing Door County peninsula- allowing for a short cut from Sturgeon Bay to Lake Michigan

There were many other stops for the day including swimming for Lucky and I at a dog friendly beach but I will conclude with photos from Cave Point Park on the east coast of the peninsula. By the end of the day lake Michigan was quite wavy and the crashing of the waves against the cliffs of the park was beautiful and refreshing to watch.

For a dog that loves water- Wisconsin is heaven on earth!