Door County Half Marathon…

May 7th, 2012

This past Saturday, our daughter Nellie and her friend Rob Geitner (whose family owns Mr. G’s Logan Creek Grille) ran in the Door County Half Marathon. So, Nellie, Robert, my niece Annie and my friend Mary Geitner all headed up to the park at about 8:30.  We parked in the American Folklore Theatre Parking Lot.  The half marathon started at 10 with the Nicolet 5K at 10:30.  There were thousands of people there many of them hanging out in the big tent 106.9 The Lodge was announcing from. The race is well organized and the weather cooperated and the skies turned blue just before the race began.  This was Nellie’s second half marathon…

Nellie Sawyer

Robert finished with a seriously decent time of 1:36…

Rob Geitner

Funny how some people like short shorts and others like long shorts… isn’t it? They both agree on black socks however.

Also running the race was Karen Peterson from Maxwell’s House, Polly Helm from Door County Nature Works and Gerald Rex from Main Street Market.  We really saw a lot of people we knew and it made for a really great day, but it didn’t end at the park. After my athletes showered at my niece Kate’s house, we had lunch at Husby’s.  We saw Jeff and Sally Pfeifer (Thomas/Pfeiffer Insurance) and Fred and Debbie Anderson (The Ashbrooke). Sally was kind enough to give me one of her cow bells for next year’s race.  Thank goodness because I just about had my hands clapped off.  Outside at Husby’s Garage we got a table and watched the band The Nicks play.

The weather was beautiful too.  We sat with Mike and Carrie Mesic from 106.9 The Lodge who were major sponsors of the race. I also ran into long time pal Dick Burress who just retired after being The Door County Emergency Services Director for years. This is Dickie and me with Mike Mesic.

Mike, Sarah and Dick

That’s the Sister Bay Bowl behind me with all new siding and a nice porch.  It looks great.  My niece Kate Hastings tends bar there on weekends.

It was a really great day.  Thanks go out to the runners, the sponsors and all the volunteers that make the Door County Half Marathon so successful.  See you there next year!

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Door County Happenings…

May 4th, 2012

The season is finally here… most businesses and restaurants are open for business and waiting for visitors to arrive.  Egg Harbor boasts new welcome signs on the north and south ends of the village.  Here is Larry Desotelle who works for the Village of Egg Harbor, putting the finishing touches on one of the signs…

Polly and Don Helm have expanded Design Works, a division of Door County Nature Works. They were previously operating out of the back half of the Bay Wear building.  They will now occupy the entire building as Bay Wear has moved. They have even given the front of the building a makeover. Don and his dad are pretty well dressed painters if you ask me. Even with paint on their shirts, they look good…

Polly and Don are waiting for a new awning to bring the new look together. Nice. Design Works offers everything from carpet, tile, hardware and bedding to  furniture, an interior design. You name it they have it. They even have a commercial line for hotels and such. This is Polly in her new digs…

 

Check out both places… they have tons of really beautiful things and will help with any decorating needs.

Joe Smith, the manager at Shipwrecked Brew Pub has started a new venture…HOT DOGS!  Across the street from Shipwrecked in the yellow building is Fat Louie’s Olive Oil shop.  In the back you will find Joe and Megan making hot dogs, serving up soft serve ice cream and so much more…

I had a Junk Yard Dog today… yum.  Here is the menu… if you can read it.

Bruce Hill from the Lull-Abi was there too and he ordered a walking taco which looked to be an open bag of Frito’s, taco meat, cheese and sour cream.  It looked delicious!  All of the items will be great picnic fare for Harbor View Park located directly across the street.  Good Luck Joe!

The cherry blossoms and trillium are blooming as we speak.  The Door County Half Marathon takes place tomorrow at Peninsula State Park.  Our Nellie is running so Eric and I are heading over there with her to watch.  After that, Husby’s Food and Spirits will host live music (THE NICK’S!) and serve food outside at their Garage Bar.  I am sure my gang will be heading up that way. At 7pm the alt-rock band Cracker plays at the Door Community Auditorium.  The Sister Bay Bowl has classic rock band Bacchus Lotus beginning at 9:30 pm Saturday night.

Not for you, check out the Ship Yard Tours in Sturgeon Bay.  I would like to go since Mark works at Bay Shipbuilding who is part of the tour but it always falls on the marathon weekend…damn.

So much to do, so little time.  Lots more to come… stay tuned.

 

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Posted in Bars, Door County Auditorium, Door County Boutiques, Door County Parks, Door County Restaurants, Door County Silent Sports, Egg Harbor Happenings, Egg Harbor Restaurants, Egg Harbor Shopping, Orchards of Door County, People of Door County, State Parks | No Comments »

Breakfast anyone???

April 26th, 2012

 Mike’s Port Pub in Jacksonport is now doing BREAKFAST every morning beginning May 8 at 7am.  My adorable niece Megan Lautenbach, whose parents own Mike’s, called me this a.m. saying Mike’s was having a breakfast sampling this morning… Count.Me.In.

Breakfast

Sooo, I headed over there at about 11:30 to check it out.  Right away Mikey served me  biscuits and gravy.  The milk gravy had sausage and was perfectly peppered and was served over buttermilk biscuits . The chefs, Rosemary (the head chef) and her sister Susan will offer skillet breakfast specials every morning along with other specials. I sampled a few different “skillet” dishes which offered the usual eggs and hash browns…yum… but in addition a Cajun skillet with chorizo (a personal fav) and another with kielbasa and even another one with chicken. I loved them all but I know the boys in my fam damily, who are HUGE eaters will LOVE them.   The chefs mentioned different daily Eggs Benedict specials ( I had the regular and the crab… yum and again, I am a huge fan of Eggs Benedict) and  french toast specials and other sweet treats.  Here is a list of my other samplings…Potato Pancakes and applesauce/syrup, Jalapeno sausage, Kielbasa, , Chicken Fajita Skillet, sausage, bacon and probably more that I couldn’t possibly eat.  Oh yeah and…chicken fried steak… I thought I was the only person in the universe  Door County that made that! Divine. Oh yeah… and you can get a Bloody Mary or a Screwdriver… BONUS!!!
Best of luck to Auntie Barbie and Uncle Mike and the entire Lautenbach family!  Everyone knows the most important meal of the day is breakfast!

 

PS… Cousins Megan, Annie and our Joe will be working at Mike’s Port Pub Saturday night… see you there!

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Kim’s Boutique

April 16th, 2012

Our daughter Emilie informed me about a new boutique in the Main Street Shops in Egg Harbor so I decided to check it out.  It is located on the street level of the first building.  I met the owners Audrey and Jim Milbach, who were busy getting the shop open for business.  It was Audrey and her cousin Kim’s  lifelong dream to own a boutique.  Unfortunately, Kim died of breast cancer before her dream came to life.  In her memory, Audrey named the store after her cousin so the new little shop is called Kim’s Boutique.

I found it really delightful. Darling tops, dresses, jewelry and purses.  She also has lingerie and home accessories.  Here is Audrey holding the top I bought.  If you look closely you can also see the necklace and earrings I bought to match.

 

 

I wore this to baby Brody’s (our grandson) baptism yesterday…

Best of luck Audrey and Jim on your new venture!

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Happy Easter!

April 7th, 2012

The Great Lakes shipping season opened early this year due to the warm weather and lack of lake ice. This ship left the harbor March 24, passing an Easter Bunny near Little Harbor in Door County. Photo by Len Villano. (Reposted with permission from The Peninsula Pulse)

 

Yes, it has been an early Spring.  After talking with Bobby Lautenbach from Orchard Country Winery and Dave Schartner from Schartner’s Farm Market, it looks like the cherries will be really early this year.  They talked of harvesting possibly even as early as June.  The freeze we had last Sunday combined with last night’s freeze may have taken a toll on the cherry crop this year.  The trees have not yet blossomed so it remains to be seen what damage has actually occured.  Dave thinks quite of bit of his cherry crop has been hit.  One can only hope that that’s not really the case and there will be a nice crop this year.

Our grandson Jaden, who is 11 bagged a 23 lb. turkey this morning…

Congrats Jaden!

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Spring into Door County…

March 7th, 2012

With unseasonably warm weather this past winter, meteorologists are calling for the same thing this spring.  That is great news.  We start our Spring cleaning at Egg Harbor Lodge in April.  Once the snow pushes out of the harbor we don’t get such cold breezes up here on the bluff.  A friend of mine Pat Curtis took this photo of the ice breaking up…

Beautiful isn’t it?  This was taken weeks ago and even then the ice was already breaking up.  Southern Door County saw more than one ice shanty drift off into oblivion, most likely ending up in the bottom of Green Bay.

We open in May with expectations of cherry blossoms by the middle of the month if the decent weather holds.  Reservations are coming in nicely so if you have your dates picked out, better give me a call.

Pat also took this picture of a barn… I am partial to barns for some reason.

And he calls himself an amateur!

Last night, American Folklore Theatre won the Governor’s Arts, Culture & Heritage award at the Wisconsin Governor’s Conference on Tourism. 

 

A well deserved congratulations to Holly, Dave and EVERYONE at AFT!

 

Happy Spring… I am sure glad it is here!

 

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Up from the ashes…

February 24th, 2012


Last June a devastating fire claimed a Door County landmark,  The Roadhouse in Carlsville.  I first found out about the place in the 70′s when Bill and Sarah Anschutz owned it.  They had a huge local following including fish fries on Friday night… deep fried lobster and other delectable goodies… yum!  (On a side note, Carlsville Bar as they called it at the time, had a snowmobile dance in the ballroom the first winter my family and I moved here.   Mom and Dad decided to go to the dance and after fair warning from me, my movie star type mom decided to wear  a beautiful blouse and long skirt… we came from Illinois, remember.  I told her Mark said everyone would be in snowmobile suits… to no avail… best part? She wasn’t embarrassed!  God, I miss her!).  Anyway,  the Anschutz daughters from young to old helped in the restaurant.  The Anschutz family actually sold it  TWENTY FIVE YEARS AGO… to Doris Thorn and her son Glen Thorn.  With their large dance hall and  popular bands, The Roadhouse was considered one of Door County’s  best music venues .

I was glad to see the Roadhouse decided to rebuild in the likeness of the original Carlsville bar…  meaning they kept the large porch and the western style facade…

The Roadhouse in Carlsville...

We wish the “new” Roadhouse best wishes for the upcoming season… I know everyone is looking forward to their Grand Opening (hopefully this spring!)

 

 

 

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Best Buddies…

January 22nd, 2012

This week marks an amazing journey for one of my favorite persons (people?).  We are an unlikely couple and we didn’t at first have the most favorable of friendships.  At first I was jealous… no envious, of my friend.  You see he and my husband were fast friends.  A friendship that was hard to infiltrate.  He initially drove me crazy.  But then one fateful afternoon when our beloved Egg Harbor Indians played everyone’s foe Washington Island,  on a sunny, Sunday afternoon at the island,  a not so unusual event brought us together which has now made an inseparable  bond between us.  It  has held us together for over thirty years.  I will not get into the events that particular Sunday (nothing major by any means) but I will tell you that he had my back and for that reason alone I realized how much he cared for me and for that I am truly thankful.

Fast forward to this week… Wednesday, we (his family and ours) will celebrate one year of his sobriety.  Don’t feel embarrassed for him about me writing this blog about him.  Trust me he isn’t embarrassed.  He like all of us… especially me, are proud. Proud that he had the courage to do so.  Proud that he’s a better dad, son, brother, uncle, co-worker and friend for doing so….

 

Each year he helps me put my floats together.  He stops by so he and I can chat.  He brings his two adorable kids by so I can feed them candy and chips. In his honor I am giving thanks to those that helped him who shall remain nameless but they don’t need credit… they and we know who they are.

So… Wednesday we will celebrate with Tom and our families.  We’ll have dinner, laugh, talk, celebrate and give thanks for ours and his many blessings.

We love you Tom… You’re the best!

 

(Lucky for me he doesn’t have a computer…hahahahahaha!)

 

 

 

 

 

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New Year’s in Egg Harbor

December 28th, 2011

With less than a week to go there is still time to plan your New Year’s weekend in Door County. Most of the restaurants in Egg Harbor are open for the weekend not to mention the boutiques and shops.  Most stores are having amazing sales.  Although Egg Harbor Lodge is closed for the season, The Landing,  The Ashbrooke,  Bay Point Inn,  The Landmark and Newport Resort among others are open for business.  There are lots of New Years Eve packages including one at Mike’s Port Pub in Jacksonport with room, dinner and drinks all for $175 per couple.  Check out 106.9 The Lodge Activity Board for details on all the activities and specials.

JR Jarosh’s famous Jacksonport Polar Bear Plunge gets underway promptly at noon at the beach in Jacksonport.  If you haven’t done the plunge before this could be your year as the weather will likely be in the 30′s… but then again this is Door County and the weather could change in minutes.

But the main event IMHO will be Frosty Fest right here in Egg Harbor.  The parade begins at 1 pm at the Catholic church and heads north and turns right at Casey’s.  After that I don’t know where it goes because we head to Egg Harbor Lodge to park our own float.  This is our Wisconsin Badger themed hot tub float from last year…

Egg Harbor Parade 2011

Real classy with our cans of Bud Lite.  After the float there is a one mile fun run.  And for the low, low registration price of 15 bucks you also get a pair of Frosty Fest gloves!!  Too cute…

We also will have ice sculptures throughout the village, The Egg Harbor Lions Club will be selling brats and you can get yourself a Bloody Mary at Mojo Rosa’s outdoor bar.

We won’t have our annual Hot Tub Girls float this year but look for us to have some kind of festive float. We have a plan but we don’t assemble it until we get to the church parking lot so it’s kind of a hit or miss type gig.  Most of the time we think it’s pretty good but sometimes the wind blows the living heck out of it.

After the parade we will head downtown to watch the rest of the Packer game.  GO PACK!!!

But most of all from all of us Egg Harbor Lodge we wish you and yours a happy and healthy 2012!

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Posted in Door County Festivals, Door County Parades, Door County Radio, Egg Harbor Happenings, Egg Harbor Lodge News, Egg Harbor Restaurants, Egg Harbor Shopping, Green Bay Packers | 1 Comment »

Bayside Coffee…

December 18th, 2011

I have been wanting to try the festive winter drink, a Bayside Coffee from none other than you guessed it… BAYSIDE!  We went for lunch Tuesday with the first stop being Bayside to try their coffee drink.  I asked our bartender Bill Budelman (who is supposed to be THE Bayside Coffee mixologist) what all was in it but there were so many forms of liquor (151, Jameson, Baileys blah, blah, blah) I couldn’t remember them all.  It was then topped with coffee and whipped cream.  There is also the addition of dry spices like cinnamon and such that lend themselves to the fireworks of the drink…

Bill B. doin' his gig

It was delicious…  I would highly recommend ONE.

Then it was off to Husby’s for a burger and then over to the Sister Bay Bowl where we ended up bowling a game with Lucas Willems (I got a 66 if that says anything).  So if you are wondering what we do in Door County in the winter,  most of the time it’s not much but from time to time we have a blast!  Thanks Cole!

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