Our Wisconsin Itinerary for our 2011 Annual Family Vacation

We had a blast on our Wisconsin vacation (we’re back!). Here’s our overall itinerary. I am still uploading photos and video to share and will do so as the weeks go on (but I’m also getting back to our regular posts).

July 20, 2011

• Day One started out my technological difficulties which led to me not having posts up like I thought I would.
• Left Mount Vernon, Iowa and drove to Watertown, Wisconsin where we toured Berres Brothers.
• Left Watertown, Wisconsin and drove to Council Grounds State Park in Merill, Wisconsin.

July 21, 2011

• Woke up and stared at the view out of my tent. Beautiful.
• Drove up to Lac Du Flambeau and stopped at the George W. Brown, Jr. Ojibwe Museum, but it was closed.
• Went to Wa-swa-goning instead and toured the recreated Ojibwa village.
• Ate dinner at The Flame. Nomnom!
• Watched a public Ojibwa powwow for tourists.
• Went back to Council Grounds State Park.

July 22, 2011

• Woke up and enjoyed some delicious “Cinnamon Rolls.”
• Drove up to the Vilas Cranberry Marsh at Manitowish Waters and toured the grounds.
• Drove over to Powell Nature Marsh. So beautiful.
• Drove from the Manitowish Waters area over to Eagle River and Three Lakes area.
• Toured the Three Lakes Winery.
• Went horseback riding at Pine Point Stables.
• Drove back to Council Grounds State Park.

July 23, 2011

• Packed up and left Council Grounds State Park, heading towards Door County.
• Attended the Cherry Fest in Fish Creek.
• Spent the night in a Comfort Inn. I enjoyed my bed and desk while the kids enjoyed swimming.

July 24, 2011

• Checked out of the hotel after a wonderful breakfast and drove to Potawatomi State Park. Set up camp, very quickly. Practice makes perfect!
• Went up to the 75 foot observation tower to take lots of pictures.
• Explored a few beaches along Sturgeon Bay. Checked out the fishing pier.

July 25, 2011

• Woke up and left Potawatomi State Park and headed up to the Eagle Bluff lighthouse in Peninsula State Park. Took pictures, toured the lighthouse and learned about the history.
• Went to Nicolet Beach and swam. I also made a new memory. Sammi aptly described Peninsula State Park and Green Bay as “smelling yucky.”
• Walked around the White Cedar Deer Trail at the Nature Center. Very neat!
• Left the park and headed over to Pelletier’s Fish Boil in Fish Creek. I have some awesome videos of this!
• Drove back to Potawatomi State Park with very full tummies.

July 26, 2011

• We hung out at Potawatomi State Park. We fished, I read and relaxed while the kids played on the playground, and we had a great “day off” from exploring. Dennis caught a four pound fish. It was one of only two fish we caught the entire time we were there… He also caught the other fish and a few mussels (accidentally). What a show-off!

July 27, 2011

• We left Potawatomi State Park and headed into Sturgeon Bay where we visited the Door County Maritime Museum. We all toured a tugboat, one of Aaron’s favorite machines, and I was surprised when he actually left.
• We had a wonderful lunch at Maggie’s Cafe in Sturgeon Bay.
• We went to the Door County Historical Museum which was an amazing place packed full of history goodies. There was also a firehouse to tour and the kids enjoyed trying on a kids’ play firefighter costume and sitting in an old fire car.
• We went back to Potawatomi State Park and fished….. Fruitlessly.

July 28, 2011

• We woke up and headed out to the Bailey’s Harbor area to check out Cana Island. We climbed the tour and went out on the observation deck and toured the grounds. What a beautiful view of Lake Michigan!
• We drove up to Gill’s Rock and took the ferry over to Washington Island. We ate lunch at The Albatross and then drove over to the ferry that takes you to Rock Island State Park. We didn’t have enough time to get over and come back, so we ended up driving back down to the ferry back to the Door County mainland and went back to Potawatomi State Park.
• We decided we were done with Wisconsin, for now, packed up, and got home around 3 am on July 29th, 2011.

Phew! It was a fun vacation and we felt that we got to explore a lot of Wisconsin. We have plans to come back, perhaps for Indian Summer, and explore the dairy/cheese side of the state. We did get a chance to sample a lot of products made in Wisconsin (wines, cherries, cranberries, coffees, cheese) and enjoyed ourselves thoroughly. Of course, we’ll also be in Madison here in a few weeks for Great Taste of the Midwest! We’ve gone every year for 3-4 years including this one.

What do you think? Does that seem to be a “good taste” of Wisconsin for the kids? We missed a ton of things like the Apostle Islands, more of the north woods, the dairy farms in the south… But we don’t have enough time for everything. Have you been to any of these places? What did you think? Keep an eye out for the pictures, videos, and stories from our trip! I’ll also be uploading a document tomorrow with our camping checklist for you to peruse. Perhaps you could encourage us to change up our camping list (we’re always looking to bring less stuff!) or perhaps it will encourage you to try camping.