8 eleven: Mini Moon

To help us celebrate our marriage, my godmother very generously gave us a weekend away from reality. We could choose between Chicago, Lake Geneva, and Door County. We chose Door County as it best fits our personalities, but Door County pretty much closes down from November onward so we had to pick a date fast. We decided on the weekend of October 10-13. Unbeknownst to us, that was also Pumpkin Fest which proved to be a challenge for finding a vacant hotel or B&B. Fortunately, and by coincidence, my cousin's in-laws offered us their condo for the weekend. We had to accept the offer, not that you had to twist our arm or anything -- the place was gorgeous and had a beautiful view of the Bay!

As Aaron and I had off on Friday, we decided to take off in the middle of the night so that we would be in DC by sunrise and have a full day to explore. This meant leaving our sweet baby boy behind in the hands of my parents. I fed Avett and kissed his cheek to say goodbye, and I laid him back in his crib and started crying. Due to the ridiculous construction maze that is West Allis, it took us so long to get out of the city that by the time we finally got to 94 Eastbound I had stopped crying.

Friday we settled in to the condo...and took a nap. Feeling well rested, we went to a new brewery in Bailey's Harbor called Door County Brewing Co. It had an awesome look to the inside of the building, the beer was great, the company was delightful and the music was perfect -- they even played an Avett Brothers song, to which we toasted our baby. Perfect start to the weekend! Then we went to Peninsula State Park and climbed Eagle Tower to look out over the peninsula. With it being October, the leaves were starting to turn. There was some color, but I don't think we reached peak until the next day. It's amazing how much of a difference one day makes! Next we went to the Island Orchard Cider House in Ellison Bay, where we had a very quick but yummy cider tasting. For dinner that night we went to a place called The Wickman House in Ellison Bay. The lovely boys at the brewery had recommended it to us and it was FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC! It is a farm-to-table style restaurant inside of an old farm house. For our appetizer we had chef-foraged mushrooms in a cheese fondue...insanely good. For our entrees, I chose an arctic char and Aaron had a seafood stew with mussels, whitefish, shrimp and scallops...so good! And for dessert, I had a goat milk ice-cream sundae with homemade caramel sauce and apple slices. It was good, but there was a chocolate cake on the menu that I think I would have liked more. Aaron loved his lemon tart with blueberry, though! And we had some nice mixed drinks to go along with our appetizer and entrees. After our long day, we crashed. At 8 PM. And slept soooo soundly! Aaron said he woke up at 4AM and felt very well rested.

Saturday was not as jam packed. We got a later start on our day and started off at Whitefish Dunes State Park for a little hike. On our way back to the condo, we stopped in Bailey's Harbor again at a little Deli. We got some pastrami sandwiches. I enjoyed it. Aaron wasn't as big of a fan. There was also a set of grown, adult sisters -- if not twins -- who were wearing matching shirts that were covered in colorful "fall leaves", one wearing brown pants and the other wearing orange. And to top it off -- punn intended -- they had matching short, tight perms. It was so fabulous. I love people watching! For dinner, we went to the Shoreline Restaurant in Gill's Rock. Being that we were in Door County on a festival weekend, we were fully prepared to have a long wait. The hostess wasn't lying when she said there was an hour wait. We sat there diligently waiting, but growing more and more irritated as they kept seating customers who had come in to the place after us. By the time we were seated, they had run out of some of the more popular dishes. Needless, to say, we struck out on our restaurant choices this day.

On Sunday, we got an early start! We went to the tip of the peninsula and checked out the car ferries. We stopped in Gill's Rock on our way back to town and grabbed some souveniers and some DC snacks. We spent the rest of the morning shopping, drinking and eating in Sister Bay. We went to Fish Creek in the late afternoon. We continued the shopping. I found the cutest piece for Avett's room. It was a canvas with the quote "You be the anchor that keeps my feet on the ground. I'll be the wings that keep your heart in the clouds" and it was written in the shape of an anchor on a navy background... it was meant to be in Avett's nursery. We finished out the night, and trip, at Pellitier's Fish Boil. It was quite a fun process to watch and the whitefish is very meaty-very good! Afterwards, we drove back to the condo, packed up our stuff, and had a very long, tired drive home. It was a fun-filled weekend getaway with just my love!