Why go to Wisconsin?  Well, we’d never been there before – and Door County WI has been named one of the top ten vacation destinations in North America.  Carolina Tours made it easy with a trip scheduled for July 7-15, 2012.  We logged 2600 miles, made a couple of stops on the way (Kentucky and Indiana), and spent a wonderful week in a beautiful state.  Lots to see and do – read on – and remember that you can double-click on any picture to make it larger.

KENTUCKY

For more than 200 years, Kentucky's legendary distilleries have produced the world's finest bourbons, using secret recipes passed down from generation to generation.  The Kentucky Bourbon Trail passes through some beautiful bluegrass scenery, as well as distilleries with familiar names - Jim Beam, Maker's Mark, and Wild Turkey. 

We stopped for a visit at Woodford Reserve Distillery, the oldest and smallest distillery in Kentucky.  It traces its origins to 1812 when Elijah Pepper began distilling in Woodford County.  Today, this place is a National Landmark and it makes only Woodford Reserve, the Official Bourbon of the Kentucky Derby.  After sampling a taste or two, we'd have to agree that they make some fine stuff, which provided a bonding experience to get this tour off to a good start.

We rolled into Louisville to experience a heat wave to rival the one we left in South Carolina - 105 degrees is NOT what we had in mind when we headed north.  The Drury Inn had a wonderful manager's reception - it was a full meal, plus free drinks.

INDIANA

Fair Oaks Farm is a huge, heartland dairy located in northwestern Indiana.  Operating 24 hours a day with a herd of more than 30,000 Holsteins cows, it is one of the largest family-owned dairies in the U.S.  Situated on 20,000 acres of prime Indiana farmland, the farm raises corn and other crops to feed the cows.  And ... they make their own electricity (aka poop power), using an anaerobic digester to make methane from cow manure, and then using the methane to run generators to produce electricity.  It's quite an operation.

We visited the free-stall barns, where the cows have fresh food and water available at all times.  When the gate is opened, the cows amble over to the milking parlor.

The ten milking parlors are busy places.  The cows (except for pregnant ones and heifers) are milked three times a day, yielding about 10 gallons per day per cow.  It takes 21 hours for each parlor to milk its share of the herd.  The cows walk in at their appointed time and step onto a carousel that makes a complete rotation every 8 minutes.  During that time, technicians clean the cows' teats, attach and detach the milking equipment, and apply lanolin to prevent chapping -- and then the cows wander on back to the barn to eat some more. 

Each cow wears a collar with a transponder that identifies her as soon as she steps on the carousel.  Unique identification numbers are used to track each animal's milk production.  The collar also contains a step-counter, which is used to determine when the cow is in heat and ready for artificial insemination (the cow walks three times more than usual when she's in heat).

With such a large herd, there are lots of babies being born every day in the birthing barn.  Not sure how the cows feel about having an audience, but it was interesting/educational to watch.  The technician had to lend a hand in some cases to ensure a happy ending. 

The calves are fed mother's milk for five days and then separated from their mothers, who must get back to work.  Heifers are raised to join the herd; bulls are sold and sent to feed lots.

Our tour included a 3-D movie, 'Grass to Glass,' to explain how this complex operation keeps running smoothly to produce milk, cheese and ice cream.  The movie was excellent, but even better was the tasting - chocolate milk, grilled  Swiss cheese sandwich, butter pecan ice cream, and squeaky cheese curds.  Cheese curds are fresh cheddar cheese in its natural, random shape and form before being processed into blocks and aged.  Curds have a mild taste, a slightly rubbery texture, and they squeak when eaten. 

WISCONSIN

Our first stop in Wisconsin was the town of Geneva, on Lake Geneva in the southeastern part of the state.  Geneva is only 90 miles from Chicago and has been a popular resort destination since the 1880s.

To learn about the town and its history, we visited the Lake Geneva Museum, which is jam-packed with antiques and memorabilia.  The primary exhibit is a re-creation of Main Street, ca. 1870-1930.  Strolling the brick pavement is like walking back in time. 

To see the lake and some of the mansions surrounding it, we took a boat ride around the 20-mile perimeter.  The homes are large and ornate, built as summer residences for rich folks from Chicago.  Many of the family names were familiar – Wrigley, Swift, Vick, Schwin, and Schlitz. 

The sightseeing was fine, but we weren’t on just any old boat – we were riding on the U.S. Mailboat.  Following a tradition dating back to 1870, the crew delivers mail to about 60 homes around the lake.  Folks who want their mail delivered by this route have a mailbox on the pier.

The brave, agile, and young mail jumper leaps off the bow of the boat onto the pier, places the mail in the box, grabs the outgoing mail, and jumps back aboard.  The only catch is that the boat never stops moving.

The hazards faced by the mail jumper are a little different than those faced by most mail carriers.  Things like wet paint on piers or rafts and floating toys to dodge can delay the jumper just enough to make the return trip a wet one!  Our jumper had some close calls, but made it safely every time. 

Lake Geneva is also home to the Dancing Horses Theater and Exotic Bird Show.  It sounds pretty hokey, but the horses were truly spectacular.  In a Vegas-style production, Arabian, Andalusian and Percheron horses performed intricate steps and maneuvers, accompanied by lights and music.  

The animals were magnificent, the costumes were all spangly and colorful, and the riders were very skilled.  It’s one show that is worth the price of admission.   

The Exotic Bird Show is not quite on the same level as the horse show.  It’s pretty entertaining, but it was even more fun to watch the kids watching the show.  The macaws, cockatoos and parrots all do silly tricks, but the big star is Echo – the singing parrot who performed on the TV show, America’s Got Talent. 

We stayed at nice hotels on this trip, but the one in Lake Geneva deserves special mention.  It was the Grand Geneva Resort, out in the countryside, with tennis courts and golf course and horseback riding.  All very nice, but there was one feature that none of us had ever seen before – a flat screen TV embedded in the bathroom mirror.  Not something we need, but very interesting ….

Kohler WI, has a population of about 2000, most of whom are employed by the Kohler Company (think plumbing fixtures).  The village was developed as a garden/industrial community by the Kohler family, using the talents of noted landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead.  It is considered one of the first and finest planned communities, and today Kohler still emphasizes natural and historic preservation as well as careful design for growth.

The village is nice, but even more impressive is the Kohler Design Center, a three-level showcase of innovative design and technology.  It’s a mind-boggling showcase of colors, concepts and designs – it’s like walking into another universe of kitchens and baths – sure doesn’t look like anything around our neighborhood!  

Manitowoc, WI is the home of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum.  The museum houses exhibits and galleries that tell the story of Wisconsin on the water.  There is a large collection of model ships, a working engine from a lake steamer, and a gallery of boats built in Wisconsin. 

The star of the museum show is the World War II fleet submarine, USS Cobia, moored along the river adjacent to the museum building.  The Cobia is a GATO-class submarine similar to the 28 subs built in Manitowoc during WWII.  She has been declared a National Historic Landmark and restored to her original 1945 configuration.  We toured the Cobia from top to bottom – saw where the men slept above the torpedoes, the engine room, the tiny showers and cramped quarters all around.  Tough job – and every man aboard had to volunteer to be in the sub service.  

Door County WI occupies the tip of a 100-mile strip of land that pokes out like a thumb off the mitten-shaped state into Lake Michigan.  It’s famous for its beautiful scenery, cherries and apples, fish, cheese and wine.  Lots of wildflowers, too – Queen Ann’s lace, asters and goldenrod.

Door County is sometimes called the ‘Cape Cod of the Midwest.’  Along its eastern (Lake Michigan) and western (Green Bay) shores, the peninsula is carved into harbors, bays and inlets.  The rugged and rocky terrain is due to limestone outcroppings, part of the geological formation known as the Niagara Escarpment – a long ride extending from New York State through Illinois. 

Door County takes its name from ‘Death’s Door,’ the treacherous stretch of water at the tip of the peninsula.  The early French explorers called the area ‘Porte des Mortes’ (Door of the Dead) because of the many ships sunk in this unpredictable and often violent water.  When a ship canal was built to shorten the trip, the name was shortened, too.  We toured the whole peninsula, visiting charming little towns and enjoying the scenery.  

Sturgeon Bay is an historic waterfront community that was named for the once-abundant fish that lived in these waters.  When it was first settled in 1835, Sturgeon Bay’s economy was based on lumber.  That changed when the canal linking Green Bay and Lake Michigan opened to shipping in 1881.  Today its shipyards are busy and its and marina is filled with pleasure boats. 

Sturgeon Bay was headquarters for our visit to Door County – and our hotel turned out to be a nice surprise.  First, it was on the waterfront, right on the path that leads around the lake and town.  Second, it turned out to be a condominium, not just a hotel room, but two bedrooms, two baths, living room, dining room, etc – we lived in style in Door County!

Jacksonport is located on Door County’s ‘scenic side’ – on the shores of Lake Michigan.  Settled in 1848 as a lumber town, the community was named after Andrew Jackson, a logger and prominent businessman in the area.  It’s a quiet little town, with sandy beaches and lots of parks.  Just north of town, Meridian Park marks the 45^th parallel – halfway between the equator and the North Pole.  Cave Point County Park is known for its underwater caves and wave-worn limestone cliffs.  Back during the last ice age, this land was compacted by the weight of the ice.  When the ice melted, the earth rebounded, creating bluffs and cliffs – Lake Michigan has done the rest, forming many caves just at water level.

Baileys Harbor is lakeside and its protected cove is well-known to sailors as a safe refuge in storms.  It was named for Captain Justice Bailey, who happened upon the cove during a fierce storm in 1848.  It’s also a favorite spot for lighthouse lovers, with three nearby – Cana Island Light, Bird Cage Light and the Range Light.  The Range Light was built in 1870 to guide boats safely into the harbor.  Range Lights (or leading lights) are a pair of light beacons that are separated in distance and elevation, so that when they are aligned with one above the other, they provide a bearing.  When viewed from a ship, the two lights are vertically aligned only when the vessel is positioned correctly to avoid shallow water and/or shoals. 

The range lights replaced the Old Baileys Harbor Light, a birdcage lighthouse was built in 1852.  It was constructed of stone from a local quarry; the 52-foot tower was capped with a rare birdcage-style lantern room.  While this style of lantern was common in the early 1880s, they were mostly replaced as Fresnel lenses were introduced in the 1850s.  This one at Baileys Harbor is one of only 4 remaining birdcage lighthouses in the U.S.

Bailey’s Harbor is also the home of Koepsel’s Farm Market, the oldest family-owned market in the county.  Their recipes for jams, jellies, and canned goods date back for generations.  The fresh cherries, cheese and sausage weren’t bad either.

Just north of Baileys Harbor is Bjorklunden, a 325-acre estate, with over a mile of Lake Michigan shoreline.  This was the summer residence of Winifred and Donald Boynton.  The waterfront probably looked a lot better in their day – Lake Michigan is a historically low water levels due to less water coming in (less snow melt from Canada) and more water going out (population demands for water and increased evaporation due to rising temperatures). 

On a trip in Lilliehammer, Norway, Winifred saw a small 12^th century wooden church (stavkirke); the moment she saw it, she had to have it.  Thus started a nine-year labor of love back on Lake Michigan, resulting in a charming Norwegian stave church, known as the Boynton Chapel.  The chapel contains 41 hand-painted frescoes and numerous carved-wood decorations and furnishings, including 52 dragon heads carved at the end of each of the roof joists to keep out evil.

Sister Bay is Door County’s largest community north of Sturgeon Bay.  It is a picturesque little town named for the Sister Islands, a few miles offshore.  The town was first settled in 1857 by Norwegian immigrants.   We stopped for lunch at Al Johnson’s Restaurant with goats grazing on the sod roof.  Inside, young women in Scandinavian garb dished out Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, limpa bread, and cherry cheese pie for dessert.  Check out Al’s live goat cam at www.aljohnsons.com/goat-cam

Ephraim is nestled along the bluffs of Eagle Harbor, just north of Peninsula State Park.  Historically, it is the home of Norwegian Moravian immigrants, who established a religious colony here.  Arriving in 1853, they named their community ‘Ephraim,’ a biblical word meaning fruitful.  Here the Old Post Office Restaurant hosts a traditional feast known as a Fish Boil.  The menu includes fresh whitefish steaks, new red potatoes, little white onions, homemade bread, and fresh cherry pie.  The boilmaster (Earl) prepares the fish outside over a roaring open fire – potatoes and onions first, then the fish.  When everything is done, he throws kerosene on the fire, creating the “boil over,” which is supposed to get rid of the fish oil and put out the fire.  Dinner is served – delicious!

Fish Creek is the heart of the Door County peninsula and home to Peninsula State Park.  This 103-year-old park is nearly 4000 acres of maple, hemlock, birch and beech forest, with more than three-quarters of the land still undeveloped and natural.  The bluffs along the bay offer stunning views of offshore islands and secluded beaches.  















The yellow-brick Eagle Point Lighthouse, with its octagon-shaped tower, was built here in 1868, perched on a bluff 76 feet above Green Bay’s waters.  We visited the quarters of the lighthouse keep and his family – William Duclan, his wife Julia, and their seven sons!  The lighthouse is furnished with authentic period pieces and donations from the Duclan family.

After all that stair-climbing, we stopped off at Lautenbach’s Orchard Country Winery and Market – known for their cherries, apples and grapes … but especially for the wine made from these fruits.  There’s always time for more wine-tasting, and this time we brought some home to share.

Egg Harbor, according to some historical accounts, was named to commemorate a friendly boat race that ended in an egg-throwing fight.  Another one of those claims that nobody can disprove … anyway, the town’s population is less than a thousand and all of these must be involved in running shops and restaurants for the summer crowd.  Egg Harbor is bounded to the west by Green Bay, with cherry orchards on the other three sides – sounds like a smart city planner to me.  Cherries are big business all over Door County.  The first commercial orchard was started in 1873; during cherries’ heyday in the sixties, over 10,000 acres were under cultivation.  Cherry pie is pretty much the standard dessert around here!

Leaving Door County, we headed for Fond du Lac WI, which sits at the southern end of Lake  Winnebago, Wisconsin’s largest lake.  The name Fond du Lac, given by early French explorers, means “bottom or far end of the lake.”  We stopped by to visit St. Paul’s Cathedral, the seat of the Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Fond du Lac.  Bishop Charles Chapman Grafton arrived from Boston in 1889 to find an architecturally elegant building with a sadly incomplete interior.

Bishop Grafton made it is life’s work to finish the magnificent church.  A local stone carver made the pulpit and lectern, while master craftsmen in Germany carved the 12 apostles and 25 angels that adorn the interior.  American woodcarvers added other statues, choir stalls and the high altar.

The carvings are extraordinary, but probably the most significant single piece of art is the front panel on the altar in the small St. Augustine Chapel.  It is an exquisite piece of color-infused marble, created through an endolithic process that uses heat to force the color deep into the marble.

Ripon WI is known in some circles for its historical significance as the birthplace of the Republican Party.  In 1854, a small group of Ripon residents met in the little white schoolhouse to form a new anti-slavery political party.  They named it Republican, newspaper publisher Horace Greeley boosted the name to national prominence, and things took off from there.  Of greater significances ever-hungry travelers is the fact that Ripon is the home of the Rippin’ Good Cookie Factory.  We had a lovely visit in their outlet store, where there were loads of free samples waiting to be tasted.  Quite a few packages came along for the ride home.

Ripon also is the home of Larson’s Famous Clydesdales, a family-owned horse ranch that welcomes visitors to get a close-up look at the big Clydesdales and what it takes to prepare them for a show.  The owners, Cal and Judy Larson, gave us quite a tour.

We saw the huge horse trailers, horses, barns, harnesses, ribbons, trophies, wagons – pretty much every aspect of Clydesdale ownership, breeding, training, and exhibition.  We learned that Clydesdale infant mortality can be up to 50% due to a lack of antibodies in the young.  The Larsons have developed a testing program to detect this problem early; affected offspring are given a total blood transfusion.  These folks are proud to have a 100% success rate.

Away from home, the Larsons have shown a six-horse hitch for the past 32 years at the National Clydesdale Show.  They have won the champion six-up title several times, and all four of their children have won the National Junior Driving Class (one-horse cart).  Five years ago, the Larsons put together a six-up team of full siblings, all from one mare and stallion on their ranch.  National records for Clydesdale championships indicate that this has never been done before (or since).

One of this special six is Famous Reggie, who has won the Grand Champion Gelding 17 times in a row at major shows.  Reggie is a beautiful giant, 6 ½ feet tall at the withers (front shoulders).  Because of his great strength, Reggie is the right-hand wheel horse in the six-up hitch.

Another of the gentle giants is named Bud, and he stood patiently for his owners to demonstrate every step of harnessing and hitching for a cart-driving show.  Not sure what was the most impressive here – the 100+ pounds of hardware draped over his head and back or the XXXL-size shoes on his big feet. 

And then it was showtime.  Cal drove the rig and Judy served as announcer/judge to help us understand the horse and cart maneuvers and the criteria for judging.  Bud stepped high as he pranced around the ring, while Cal easily controlled him with simple voice commands.  No wonder the folks from Anheuser-Busch are always trying to buy horses from the Larsons (they’re not selling).

Our last stop in Wisconsin was Milwaukee, the state’s largest city, on the shores of Lake Michigan.  Nearly half of the city’s population is of German descent, and the early German immigrants brought with them their passion for the art of beer brewing.  From their arrival in the 1840s, over the next 100 years this heritage made Milwaukee the world’s leading beer producer.  It’s no longer the city’s major industry, but the beer-barons’ legacy is evident in places like Mader’s Restaurant, the Pabst Mansion, the Miller-Coors Brewery, and the Old German Beer Hall.

Mader’s has been voted the most famous German restaurant in North America.  Its walls display awards for culinary excellence and international recognition, as well as a $3 Million collection of medieval weaponry.  What better place to sample Milwaukee’s German heritage – weiner schnitzel, bratwurst and knackwurst, along with sauerkraut and potatoes, and topped off by tasty apple strudel.  Enough food for three or four people.

The Wisconsin Cheese Mart is just across the street from Mader’s.  For 75 years, this family-owned business has offered the best Wisconsin cheese made – every type imaginable, from all corners of the state.  It was also our last chance to sample cheese curds and our first chance to try cheese chocolate fudge.  Lots of free samples led to a bag full of purchases – soon there won’t be any room to sit!

The Pabst Mansion was the retirement home of Captain Frederick Pabst, one of the world’s leading brewers of beer.  He was also one of Milwaukee’s leading citizens, a philanthropist and a patron of the arts.  In 1892, Pabst commissioned the design of this house to be consistent with his prominent position in society.

The Miller-Coors Brewery grew from the dreams of two German entrepreneurs who came to America in the mid-1800s:  Frederich J. Miller in Milwaukee and Adolph Coors in Golden, Colorado. 

We took a tour of the brewery and learned how water, hops, barley and yeast are turned into a wide variety of beers.  Actually, it’s all a bunch of secret recipes, so we really have only a vague idea of what happens in the brew house.  Bottling, canning and packaging are high-tech, high-speed processes that happen faster than the human eye can discern.  In short, we’d be just about clueless except that the tour ended with tasting in the biergarten – now we at least know what tastes good and maybe that’s all that matters.

The Old German Beer Hall is a local watering hole that claims to represent the spirit and tradition of Munich’s legendary Hofbrauhaus, the most famous beer hall in the world.  It’s a great place to sit back and relax, drink a toast to Bastille Day and Doris Day (her 90^th birthday), sing along with the band, east some pretzel bread and grilled fresh bratwurst, and wash it all down with a variety of imported German beers.

Milwaukee today is much more than brew city.  A wave of Polish immigrants arrived soon after the Germans and established the city’s southside.  Bringing their faith with the, the Poles built many of the churches and steeples that shape Milwaukee’s skyline.

One of the most beautiful of these churches is the Basilica of St. Josaphat, which was named for an archbishop in Poland in the early 1600s.  The church was built by Polish craftsmen and Vatican artists, following a design that is essentially a smaller version of St. Peter’s in Rome.  It is an architectural and artistic wonder, with its huge central dome and magnificent carvings and paintings.  In 1929, the church was declared a basilica by Pope Pius XI, a status reserved for the largest, most beautiful and historically important churches.   

Also on the south side of Milwaukee is the Village of Greendale, originally developed in 1936 as part of FDR’s New Deal.  One of three greenbelt communities in the U.S., the village was built on the garden city mode, in which housing was situated within easy walking access of gardens, employment and a town center.  It’s still a charming little village, listed in the National Register of Places.

We stopped in to visit Reiman Publications, which employs 500 people here in publishing 13 magazines, plus assorted cookbooks and coffee-table books.  The best known magazines are Taste of Home, Reminisce, and Birds & Blooms.  Our destination was the Test Kitchen, where we ‘helped’ the resident home economist prepare a batch of the chocolate-chip cookie recipe that won their national cookie contest.  Yummy – anybody want the recipe?

We also had a look at the Norman Rockwell Gallery – framed covers from every Norman Rockwell cover from the Saturday Evening Post.

As Milwaukee grew into a manufacturing center, other immigrant groups arrived, each giving rise to new neighborhoods.  Today is an ongoing multi-cultural celebration – there’s even a festival park by the lake where every week in summer there’s a different party underway.  We were in town for Bastille Day – Vive La France!

The lakefront is also the place where rich folks like to build big houses along the bluff.  Mile after mile of beautiful homes with spectacular views of the lake.  Happily, all the houses are high on the bluff and the waterfront area is parkland, open to all.

The North Point Light House is located in Lake Park, a beautiful green space designed by Frederick Law Olmstead.  The lighthouse was built in 1855; it includes a 74-foot lighthouse tower and a 2 ½ story wood-frame keeper’s quarters.  It sits on a high bluff overlooking Lake Michigan.

The city’s aquarium and art museum are located at lake level in this park area, and the Milwaukee Art Museum is an architectural landmark.  The museum’s main pavilion features a cathedral-like open space with a vaulted 90-foot-high glass ceiling.  It also has a ‘brise soleil’ to help control sunlight and heat; this is a moveable sunscreen that unfolds and folds twice daily.  The sunscreen is made of 72 steel fins, ranging in length from 26 to 105 feet.  The entire structure weighs 90 tons, and it takes 3.5 minutes for the wings to open or close.  When the fins are closed, the building looks like a sailboat; when the fins are raised, it becomes a bird in flight.  Amazing.

By the way, the inside of the museum is worth a visit, too.  There are over 25,000 works of art, plus changing exhibitions such as Dale Chihuly glass works. 

One last food note.  Milwaukee is famous for its frozen custard, and rightfully so.  At first glance, it looks like ice cream, but one bite is all it takes to know that this is something special.  It is richer (lots of eggs) and creamier (no milk, just cream) than ordinary ice cream.  Two bits and you can feel your waist expanding as your arteries being to clog.  Oh, so good.