The Jakes

You could hear a pin drop through the silent concentration.  The guys (Rob and Mike) were leading the girls (Lynda and Brenda) in the series of our nightly games of Bridge, and Rob's proclamation ("We're gonna whip yo' asses!") was being taken seriously.  

Rob and  Lynda Jacobson arrived in Sturgeon Bay at the Quarterdeck Marina last Saturday to explore Door County with

us.  Wisconsin's Door County is unique in that it has five state parks and 250 miles of shoreline along Lake Michigan, along with quaint towns and villages featuring boutique and art shops and many choices for eating, drinking and sleeping. The countryside displays apple and cherry orchards, dairy farms and golf courses.  As we hiked a state park, casually shopped, and enjoyed locally-focused food, we warmly reflected on Rob and Lynda's 50-years of marriage and our 45 years of friendship, the family-friendly Crookston community where we raised our children, and our anticipation for the years to come.  Yesterday, after our friends drove out of the marina parking lot to begin the 8-hour trip back to their Bemidji home,  we returned to "Velsignet" truly velsignet (meaning "blessed").

As this is being written, it is thundering and lightening around us.  There are flash-flood warnings in areas not far from Sturgeon Bay.  Last night, friends in Sioux Falls, SD were affected by a tornado (by this same system?).  Velsignet will continue to hunker down in Quarterdeck Marina until the weather and winds calm; it looks like that might not happen until this Sunday.  As we plan and plot, we're leaning on getting off Lake Michigan and into the Chicago area in as short a time as possible, which will require two long cruising days (100 miles+). 

Door County is located on a peninsula of Wisconsin that stretches out into Lake Michigan.

Potawatomi State Park offered us a chance to start our day in Door County with a hike.

Besides the forest in Potawatomi State Park, we admired the rock formations and overlooks of the Sturgeon Bay.

This Is Us.

We took a break in Fish Creek where Lynda enjoyed her samples of Spaten and Leinies Oktoberfest, each in a cute mug! 

In Fish Creek at the White Gull Inn, we took in a Fish Boil.  The event included a bit of history (Scandinavian), a demonstration, and a delicious meal of whitefish, red potatoes, coleslaw, coffee and homemade Wisconsin cherry pie with ice cream!

The White Gull Inn is a historic inn and restaurant in the bayside village of Fish Creek.  While the meal sounds very "white" and "bland"--it certainly was not!  Delicious fresh fish and everything else!

While in Door County, we ate with a high degree of discrimination and judgement things like cherry pie, Swedish pancakes topped with Wisconsin cherries, and cherry mojitos.  Overall comment:  YUM!

On our second morning together, we ate brunch at Al Johnson's, a Scandinavian Restaurant and Gift Shop.  Its specialties are Swedish Pancakes and Swedish Meatballs. Oh!  And it features live goats grazing on its grass rooftop!

Finkenbinder shared with Rob a bite of his Swedish pancakes with cherries and ice cream--all topped with whipped cream.  If you look in the background of the picture, you'll notice the wait staff wore traditional Scandinavian folk dress.

After Al Johnson's, we walked along the waterfront in Sister Bay.  The Sturgeon Bay is behind us.

A day of cultural cuisine experiences:  Scandinavian in the morning, Mexican nachos in the afternoon, and Lynda's Italian soup in the evening.

Today, September 11th, is a special day in our family: Thirteen years ago, Iris Annabel was born. 
Happy Birthday to our sweet granddaughter, Iris!  We love you

Tomorrow, September 12th is another special day in our family; it is Glen Finkenbinder's birthday.
Glen is Mike's dad, Brenda's father-in-law, Allison and Jordan's grandpa, and Claudia, Killian, Iris, Owen, Rose and Astri's great-grandpa.  We love him dearly.  Happy Birthday, Dad!