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!

Sunday - June 28

 Happy 57th to us...

June 28, 1969

June 28, 2026

We walked (uphill) to 10:00 Mass at Stella Maris - what a beautiful celebration, joyful choir and packed with vacationers which was great to see!    Father Tom Farrell serves 5 parishes in Door County (Sister Bay, Fish Creek, Egg Harbor, Bailey's Harbor and Jacksonport).    Today was Father's last day as he's retiring and will be living in Sister Bay.    

Walked "down" the hill and stopped at "Happy Coffee" for our morning fix and then met a couple walking their 2 dogs.    She was wearing a "Put-in-Bay" t-shirt, so we stopped and chatted.   They keep their boat in Port Clinton and know Dennis and Dave from our marina.  They are Mike and Anne (just like our twins).  Small world.   On back to Catrina.   It is another beautiful day in Door County!

Happy Birthday to Mark's sister Joan who was just 14 (57 years ago today)!

Our grand dog "Karen" (Erin and Ryan's Golden) has been sick this week and hard to diagnose and then developed pneumonia.     She spent the night at the vet's and this afternoon, the very hard decision to have her pass peacefully.   Unfortunately, Ryan is in training in Memphis; feel so for Erin - Karen was her "baby".    We are so sad for this news.   Jinx (Michael and Brooke's) died on Mark's birthday last November 7th and now Karen passed away on our anniversary.   🥹

RIP Karen

June 21, 2025

We went for a walk late afternoon - wow, what a big change with the temp much cooler, no sun and a few sprinkles.    We have a rainy week ahead!   😔

We had our anniversary dinner at "Chop" a short walk from the marina.   It is #2 in Sister Bay according to Trip Advisor - wonderful meal, service and ambiance.

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Saturday - June 27

 What a gorgeous day.....sunny, calm and upper 60s as we borrowed the courtesy car here at Shipyard Marina for a trip to The Red Cup Coffee House.     What a popular and funky place.    It's fairly close to the ferry dock (cars and people), so lots of traffic especially on a Saturday morning when folks are coming to the island for the weekend.

We only had a short wait in line as it kept getting longer and almost out the door,    Mark had a breakfast burrito and I had a bacon, brie with honey drizzle croissant - both were delish along with our coffees.   

This place was full of mis-matched furniture, old timey stuff and just so eclectic and fun including tiny Christmas lights over the counter.   The Red Cup has been in business for 26 years - such a yummy menu.

Counter with Christmas lights

Mark with his I-pad and coffee waiting for his burrito.

The tablecloths were all oldies (cloth) that my Mom and Grandma had back in the day

We left Washington Island - what a great day on the water and we had a leisurely ride since we were in no hurry (check-in at Sister Bay is 1:00), and we only had 15 miles.    I kept wondering where were all the boats on Green Bay this spectacular day?    Saw very few and that was towards the end of the trip as we got closer to Sister Bay but that's where the action was.    Tied up at our slip with nice helper dockhands and a pump out right at the boat! 

Went for a walk - ooh my...........summertime has arrived with the weather and people everywhere - the beach is packed, boats coming and going, lots of traffic on the streets and crowded sidewalks.    We went to Analog Ice Cream and Coffee for some yummy cones and kept on walking eventually back to Catrina.   Ice cream was so yummy - we haven't exactly had "ice cream" weather!!!  

We sat on the bridge with our wine late afternoon and just soaked up all this warm sunshine!

After supper on Catrina, we walked down Bay Shore (where it's all happening) - still lots of people out and about.

We have an awesome spot for viewing the sunset, but some cloud cover tonight, so....

Catrina's home for the next 4 nights in Sister Bay

 

Friday - June 26

 We had a really good 7 hours on the water with sunshine and calm seas.    We left Mackinaw City at 5:59 AM with Mark getting it all together,,...we arrived on Washington Island, WI at 12:45 (nice to be back in the central time zone and gain that hour!

This is a very small unique place at the top of Door County.    We were last here in '06 and also 1999 when we were with friends for a Mid Illini Cruise and Rendezvous in Fish Creek.   But...back in the summer of 1986 (FORTY years ago), Mark and I trailered our new 24' sailboat (Miss Megan) on her first big voyage to Lake Michigan.    We brought Philip, 9 and his friend Jon, 10 along on that trip - fond memories.    I guess Ryan, Michael and Anne stayed with my parents....too long ago for the ole minds to remember!   Ha!

We settled in, had lunch and took naps.    Later in the afternoon we walked - this small island only has 708 residents!    Gosh, the warmer weather feels sooo good - today is sunny, calm and 65.

Connor is visiting Liam this weekend in Minnesota; Brady is with Drew and Tessa in Cedar Rapids.

At 6:08 AM, we were getting close to the Mackinac Island Bridge

We've been under it more times than over it

Cruised along past this freighter today but we won

Yesterday Mark saw this giant sculpture of a hot dog on top of Wienerlicious, a popular roadside diner in Mackinaw City - it is a record breaking 63' long.

BIG hot dog!

We have a restaurant here at the marina - "Sailor's Pub" but decided we should eat some leftovers, so....that's what we did and then went for a nice long walk - beautiful evening.

Have a great weekend.