I don’t own any Brewer clothes but everyone got a free Brewer shirt when we got into the stadium which was a bonus.

Allison, Shelly, Pete and Sarah

We parked where all of the millions of buses park and we tailgated there… It was kind of like we were on the the “Titanic” and we were in steerage.  Note to self… don’t wear a white top to a Brewer game…

Joe had a few friends over last night.  One of them was Sara Junion whose grandma is Mary, who has worked at the front desk at Egg Harbor Lodge for years.  Sara comes from a really great family.  Her younger brother Ben is a freshman at Sevastopol High School and has Muscular Dystrophy.  He is doing well but not without a lot of help from his amazing family.

The Jerry Lewis 45th annual MDA telethon is televised locally on Fox 11 in Green Bay on Monday.  Please keep this family in mind and make a donation to help kids like Ben.

Also on Fox 11 is Living with Amy. The host,  Amy Hanten, invited me to cook on her show with her on Wednesday.  I cannot wait.   Watch for me on Fox 11 this Wednesday at 9 am if you are in the Green Bay viewing area.  I hope I get to meet the weather man Pete Petoniak… he wasn’t there the last time I was on.  I am making my Olive Garden knock off salad.  Okay all you Olive Garden haters.  I am saying it right now… I LOVE the Olive Garden… the Olive Garden is cool.  I think the food is delish and I love their salad.  But I still think mine is better…

Our friends John and Lauren are up this weekend…

Lauren is a nurse and in fact was one of Josh’s nurses at St. Vincent Hospital when he was undergoing chemo for his Leukemia in 1985.  We spent many nights in the hospital and Lauren was our favorite nurse.  She was my age and was always so cute with Josh. She is and was amazing and even more amazing is that we are still friends today.  Help my family and you’re a friend for life in my book.

We checked out JJ’s of Jacksonport on Friday night.  The restaurant was packed, but the food and margaritas were excellent.  I love JJ’s.

Good luck to the Egg Harbor Indians tomorrow in the championship game.

Our prayers go out to our friend Mike Kaye who is currently at Froedert Hospital in Milwaukee.

The phone is quiet, Mark is here and I think we are headed to the whirlpool.  We like to take advantage of the Egg Harbor Lodge facilities too!

Have a safe weekend.

Birminghams' on County B

Mark had a meeting in Sturgeon Bay last week so anytime we are south of Egg Harbor we make it our mission to stop and visit Brad at Birmingham’s on Bay Shore Drive or County B as it is referred on the map.  Birmingham’s has a good but simple menu (burgers, chops, steaks, fish etc) and serve lunch and dinner every day beginning at 11 a.m.  Probably the main reason we like to stop there is to talk to Brad and visit with the other local Door County residents like us who tend to stop in whenever they are in the area.  Birmingham’s is Door County’s version of Cheers! Across the street, Brad is building a new bait shop which will be a nice addition since the quarry (a beautiful boat launch and park) is just up the road.

Brad's Bait Shop

It wasn’t open yet last week but it very well may be open for business this week.  On our way home we spotted this little deer in Little Harbor…

We were in the convertible, so I got up close and personal…

The weather has been warm but it’s summer people… it is supposed to be warm!  I love it although it has been hard on the housekeepers.  The heat wave (I think 90 degrees was tops) will break on Sunday and the temps will drop down into the 70’s again.

We have been swamped lately but next week we have openings, so if it is too hot where you are, escape the heat and come hang out with us in Door County!

Mark’s mom taught me how to cook the basics… meat, potatoes, gravy- all of which I wouldn’t even eat before I met the Sawyer family.  She taught me how to plant a garden… to no avail.  I still can’t do it.

I am extremely thankful for both my moms…  my family has been through hell and back more than once  and without Gloria and Jean… I don’t know how we would have gotten through!

Last night, Mark and I went to JJ’s in Sister Bay for Mother’s Day. Today, my girls and I will go out for lunch and then meet our boys at the Egg Harbor baseball field for the first game of the season against Sister Bay.  It can’t any better than that, now can it?

Happy Mother’s Day everyone…

A Door County restaurant, the White Gull Inn, is one of four national finalists in a Good Morning America Weekend (ABC) contest for the Best Breakfast in America.  According to correspondent Marysol Castro, each restaurant will be featured in a video segment during Good Morning America Weekend’s Saturday May 15^th show, with on-line voting for the best breakfast that same day until late afternoon on ABC’s web site. The winner will be announced on Sunday morning May 16^th along with a live interview from the winning restaurant. Let’s all vote for the White Gull Inn on Saturday May 15^th and help get Door County some fabulous national media exposure!

Speaking of contests, Egg Harbor is in the running for BudgetTravel.com’s Coolest Small Town contest. Voting is open until this Sunday May 9, so visit BudgetTravel.com and vote for Egg Harbor today!

Pretty cool stuff!  Let’s all take time and vote!

Bacon Wrapped Green Bean Bundles

2 cans canned green beans drained  (yes, canned green beans!)

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 bottle Catalina Dressing (personally, I had never tried this type of dressing before)

One pound thick cut bacon.  I used Nueske Applewood Smoked Bacon which made these super good, but took about and hour to cook.

Mix the dressing and brown sugar.  Cut the bacon strips in half and bundle about 6 beans with the bacon.  Secure with a toothpick and pour the dressing on top.  Candy cooked hers at 350 for a half hour, with the Nueske bacon I raised the temp to 400 and cooked them for about an hour.  They smell amazing!  Try it… you’ll like it!

Bruce and Gail Hill from the Lull-Abi Inn of Egg Harbor are coming tonight for dinner so I am going to see how they like my new fav.  Speaking of Bruce and Gail, they ate breakfast at the Rusty Tractor just north of Carlsville over the weekend and they loved it.  Lots of food, good prices and a bonus… they now serve on real plates and have  coffee mugs instead of Styrofoam.  We’ll have to check it out.  Darn, I am a huge fan of paper plates.

Nancy Nevins and her husband Jim Logerquist are here from Portland, Oregon.  Nancy’s parents owned the Mariner Resort and Nancy’s mom Pat died last year so they were trying to get things organized.  The Mariner’s cottages, Captains Quarters and houses will be open this summer, but the motel will not.  We have a lot of nice memories hanging out at the Mariner.  Back in the day, on the Fourth of July, Nancy’s dad would make a huge brisket on the grill and at night Nanc and I would shoot bottle rockets off their pier.  We would tool around on the golf cart around the property and hang out with her parent’s friends.  Those were the days!  Nancy gave me some old records from the Village of Egg Harbor when her dad was president of the village.  I am reading them now and then I will pass them on to Egg Harbor’s current president Nancy Fisher who coincidentally is on Egg Harbor’s newly formed Historical Society.  Most of the information is on the dock that Nancy’s dad Gordon Nevins help bring to Egg Harbor.   Nancy Fisher will probably find it interesting as she was  instrumental in Egg Harbor’s  brand new marina that is being built as we speak.

We had a burger at John Henry’s last night and afterward there was an Egg Harbor Men’s Club Meeting.  I decided not to stick around for it so I started walking t0 my friend Bernadette’s house when it started to drizzle.  No problem… Polly and Don Helm and daughter Hanna from Door County Nature Works drove by and gave me a ride.  Thanks Polly and Don!

Well, I had better get something done… we open April 30!

After all,  Egg Harbor hosts the famous Door County Triathlon… and we have our own baseball team!

DC Triathlon

Egg Harbor Indians...2009 Champs!

Egg Harbor is also the home of Door County’s largest festival… Pumpkin Patch!

Egg Harbor's Pumpkin Patch Festival

Egg Harbor has great boutiques and restaurants…

Egg Harbor is a great place for couples…

for families…

and Egg Harbor has it’s very own girls getaway weekend in May…

Egg Harbor boasts two beaches, a beautiul marina, the best grocery store in Door County, cherry orchards and farms…

Egg Harbor is well known for it’s love of music too…

Egg Harbor's Peg Egan Pavillion

And don’t forget, we Egg Harborites LOVE a Parade!!!

Egg Harbor's New Years Day Parade

Egg Harbor's July 4th Parade

But most of all, it is the people who live here that make Egg Harbor truly the Coolest Small Town in America!

Yes, Egg Harbor is definitely a pretty cool small town…

After dinner we checked out Double Delites (just down the road) for some Italian ice cream otherwise known as Gelato.  The owners Julie and Jeff Perley hand make the gelato and gourmet popcorn right in their store.  (Jeff is the brother of one of the Trio owners, Ron Perley.)  During the summer, Mark talks our niece Annie (who works for us) into running down to buy herself some Gelato… as long as she bring some back for him!  Double Delites also ships their popcorn which would make a perfect Door County gift!

Trio and Double Delites make for a perfect Italian evening… Egg Harbor style.

On a tip from the waiter at The Top Deck Lounge on North Bay in Baileys Harbor, we  decided to drop in at the Sugar Shack, an outdoor Tiki bar located between JJ’s and the Waterfront in Sister Bay.  NHL left-winger Ruslan Fedontenko who plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins was showing off the Stanley Cup Trophy.  The players on the team who win the prized trophy each get 24 hours to do whatever they would like with the trophy.  Fedontenko, who owns a condo in Sister Bay decided to celebrate his prized 24 hours right here in DC!  He ate ice cream out of it at Wilson’s, took it on a go-kart ride at Johnson’s Park and drank margaritas out of it at JJ’s.  We caught up to him at the Tiki Bar… pretty cool.   Check it out on the video…

The tapas at the Mission Grille were phenomenal… we ended up the night with a Door County sunset at Egg Harbor Lodge…

The end of a perfect day!

In other sad news, Door County icon and Mariner Motel founder Pat Nevins died this week. Pat was very influential in Egg Harbor politics as she served on the Egg Harbor Village Board and its plan commission for many years. She also was active on many arts boards including the Miller Art Center and the Door County Library Foundation.  Pat is survived by her three daughters Susan, Nancy and Lori.  Nancy and I have  been really good friends for years and Pat and my mom were great friends.   Saturday, there was a nice memorial service at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Egg Harbor were Pat was an active member.   Pat was well respected in our community and will be greatly missed.