Friday - July 3

 We were up and at 'em and off at 8:30.    Heading to Sister Bay for some Christmas shopping.  We had spent 4 days here but Tannenbaum is up a hill and would've had to walk on 42 (the main, busy road thru Door County).  We were so lucky to get an on-street parking spot as lots of people and traffic.    We tried Happy Coffee but what a zoo waiting to order or waiting for their coffees.    So we walked up the street to Analog Coffee.   Just a short wait and took our coffee and pastries back to the car and drove a little over 1 mile to Tannenbaum.    Sat in the parking lot and enjoyed our breakfast and 15 minutes later, the store opened and in I went.   Again, so thankful for Ed and Fran letting us use their Highlander.

This place is sooo beautiful (in an old church) with many, many themed trees - hadn't been here in many years but oh-so-neat.    Not as big as Bronner's in Frankenmuth, MI (over 96,000 sq. ft) but still a great selection.   One hour and 10 minutes later I had my ornaments all individually personalized and boxed up.   Mark had been sitting in the car under a shade tree with his I-pad - he's such a dear, patient guy!!!

We drove thru Ephraim, Fish Creek, Egg Harbor - all the neat little towns of Door County.   When we got back to Sturgeon Bay, we picked up a few things at WalMart - Mark warned me it would be a crazy place and that it was with all the families stocking up on groceries and stuff before heading to their vacation destination.

Had lunch at West Side Commons - very good sandwiches and some elonte (street corn)! Back to Catrina around 2ish and took a nap!

We went to Ed and Fran's home at 4 and Mark helped Fran with a printer issue.   Then we all went to Kitty O'Reilly's Irish Pub - sat outside in the pretty beer garden and had drinks till our table was ready.    Enjoyed our dinners but it was noisy so came back to Catrina and sat on the bridge to continue our visiting.

Ed and Fran

Thursday - July 2

Today was so much fun....Mark and I started the day going to "Kick" for coffees and light breakfast.   Later I had an appointment at Aurora Health for lab work (requested by Dr. Freeman) for my thyroid.  

Mark dropped me off downtown to meet Fran for some girl fun.    We helped the Sturgeon Bay economy at Wilkins and Olander....and what are the odds that on our first visit to Sturgeon Bay (October 22, 2008), Fran and I were shopping and I bought a jeans jacket.    And today, (18 years later) I bought a jeans jacket!    Crazy!   We also enjoyed The Brickyard Alley - several cute shops on 3rd Avenue,

Then we were off to TJ Maxx for more shopping in their cute Mustang convertible,   Enroute to Fish Creek, we stopped for a cherry pie and then cherry donuts (our lunch) - oh my.....delish!

Hart to Hart was a really nice shop in Fish Creek, but no purchases and on home.    Drove past so many HUGE homes on the water!    It was a beautiful day!

Mark had a good day staying put on Catrina with some occasional walks, naps, etc.

We walked to the yacht club where we met Fran and Ed to watch the "Beer Can" races.   Actually the guys watched and Fran and I stayed indoors with the AC.   I guess beer can relates to the celebrating of the winning racers with beer after the races.   Later we all enjoyed the Pasta Buffet which was excellent!    And then Fran's phone gave an alert that rain was imminent, so Mark and I hightailed it back to Catrina.    Rain didn't amount to squat!    But with yesterday morning's storm and early this morning, we've had an inch!

 

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Wednesday - July 1

 Welcome to July but boy it came in kinda scary.    Our morning started off good and early as we left Sister Bay at 5:50 AM knowing storms were predicted for later.   We had a good trip to Sturgeon Bay (30 miles) and after going under 2 bridges (1 was opened for us at 8:00), we then tied up at a free transient dock in front of some lovely condos in Graham Park

Since we couldn't check into the marina till 1 (most likely earlier, but since this was really early, we planned to walk downtown to a coffee shop and come back and wait out the storm on Catrina.)   And then this dear sweet lady (Annie) came out of her condo asking if we were aware that a very bad storm was coming and had already hit Green Bay causing damage with trees and power lines down and 60 MPH winds.   The sky was getting darker and darker.    We quickly battened down the hatches, took our bimini down and Annie said "I'll make you coffee"!    Come on in...So, we walked with her to her beautiful condo.    What a lovely lady who summers in Sturgeon Bay and lives in a retirement community in Milwaukee, rest of the year.

Annie

Annie made coffee and served us warm Kringle from Racine and bing cherries and we chatted away about boating, our families, etc.  We were so grateful to be inside warm and safe as the storm was ferocious with very strong winds, thunder, lightning and heavy rain.

Our friend Ed called while we were with Annie wondering how where we were, how we were doing, etc.    I had texted Fran that we were tied up along the wall, safe 'n sound.    So glad we left when we did early this morning - thanks to my weather/logistics guy!

Ed came to pick us up and go to his house - so good to see Fran (been several years but we were friends in Bloomington for many years thru boating in the power squadron - they were sailors.   They moved to Sturgeon Bay in 2006.    They are giving us their Highlander to use the next few days which is much appreciated.    Ed drove his truck and Mark the Highlander to the marina parking lot.   Then we went with Ed to get Catrina still in front of Annie's.    Ed went on home but we have a date for dinner tonight at the yacht club.    And, Annie is going to join us!

We got Catrina moved into her slip at the Quarter Deck (Skipper Bud's) and after our power cords and hose were hooked up, the rain started again.....we had lunch and there's more chance of storms later.

Annie has 3 sons living in Milwaukee, Vermont and Portugal and 8 grandchildren.    Her husband Dick died almost 2 years ago.    One of her sons, Dan, wrote a book about the Great Lakes - turns out Ed has read it and has also heard Dan speak.   So........he suggested we invite Annie to dinner.   Small world

Tonight we picked up Annie and met Ed and Fran at the Yacht Club for dinner,    Having lived in Sturgeon Bay or Door County for a long time, they knew many of the same folks.    We had such a fun evening.

Ed, Fran, Annie, Pat, Mark

Tuesday - June 30

 Storms were predicted today with strong winds....we walked to Al Johnson's Swedish restaurant (very popular and been in Sister Bay since 1973 and before that under a different name).    This place is known for the goats grazing on the green-grass roof and known for Swedish meatballs and other Swedish/American food for breakfast/lunch.    It is always packed and we had a 20 minute wait before 9:00 today.    Breakfast was very good and then back to Catrina.  

The goats are staying in the shade on rooftop of Al Johnson's

Weather was weird with strong wind, no wind, light rain and on and on, but nothing significant.    We did a load of laundry and walked to Analog for iced coffees (Happy Coffee closed at 11 for maintenance)?

Today was MUCH warmer since we've been up north AND humid!    

A 102' yacht "Sassy" came into the marina today - wow!    It spends the summer on the Great Lakes and winters in FL.    What a beauty.

"Sassy"

We walked to the Sister Bay Bowling Alley - thought they opened at 4 but only the bar, so we had a drink and enjoyed the cool AC till 5.    The 6-lane bowling alley was very busy with young families.   I visited with a very nice lady who was with her husband from St. Louis.    She is originally from Sister Bay and she reminisced on how it has changed.    Yesterday when they were coming from St. Louis, they stopped in Bloomington at Portillo's for lunch.    She lived in Chicago for several years and that was a favorite.

Each year around the 4th, they have a big reunion (always in Bailey's Harbor) so family will start arriving tomorrow....145 strong.

Dinner was great and by 5:15, all tables were full.    Mark had the perch and I had whitefish....delish!

Back to Catrina with threatening skies.    BUT.....all fizzled out and no rain or storms.    At 7:45, 3 BIG yachts came into the marina which caused quite a lot of attention (not as big as Sassy, but still big)!   

Tomorrow we are off to Sturgeon Bay (30 miles).   

Bye bye June...

Monday - June 29

Thunder, lightning, heavy rain and wind+++some pinging of hail woke us up at 4:45 this morning.   Rest of the day was dreary and low 70s.   We had breakfast, I walked to Happy Coffee for a latte and then did 2 loads of laundry.    They only have 1 washer/dryer here, but did the job.

On back to the boat, put the clothes away and had lunch.   

We remember 57 years ago on our wedding day, it was very hot and the church and reception hall did not have AC.   My how things have changed!

I went shopping in the afternoon - just one store "On Deck" but oh, it's fabulous - huge and so many neat clothes.    They have stores in other Door County towns.   I got 2 new tops!

It was a very funky weather day - mostly cloudy with the sun trying to peak thru, very windy and at times, there was a fog and haze over the water - just 72 for our high.

Sister Bay has several wooden benches scattered around the town - so convenient when you want to rest a bit!    All of them have "In Memory of......" what a nice idea and much appreciated by the tourists.

We had planned to eat at the Sister Bay Bowling Alley which has been around forever.    We remember eating here 20+ years ago and was very popular and still is.    So we got there at 5:15 tonight and there was a very long line...............so, we'll try again tomorrow night and be there at 4 when it opens.    We went across the street to Husby's - Mark had a whitefish wrap and I had a good ole Wisconsin brat with sauerkraut - both delish!

Walked afterwards and on back to Catrina - wind is still blowing like crazy!