For those of you with a distorted impression of Wisconsin, let me describe Door County for you: it's a lot like New England, if New England were settled by people named Lars and Frida and Hans and Helga instead of Puritans. They have beaches and sailboats and atmosphere galore, but I'm pretty sure their yacht club serves beer and sausages instead of white wine and crudité.

Other than the Nordic and Alpine influences, Wisconsin has something else to set it apart: the smell. I'm not talking about the cow farms here, although they certainly produce a pungent aroma. No, I'm referring to the unique scent of every indoor space in every Wisconsin resort area. Motels, gift shops, restaurants and arcades all contain at least a whiff of this smell, which I inhaled deeply for a good long while on our screened-in porch one night just so I could attempt to describe it to you. The closest I could come was: the inside of a cedar box, that had at one time housed pipe tobacco, but which now contained a very old, very used, slightly mildewed leather moccasin into which someone had inserted a sandalwood candle.

Now that I've set the scene properly for you, let me tell you more:

Things That Mean Something Different in Door County Than in Vegas
Sugar Bush
Cherry De-Lite
Ho Made

Food We Ate
fish boil
ice cream, twice
Swedish pancakes with a bunch of goats.
Also, Door County is the fruit-producing area of Wisconsin, with cherry orchards and wineries everywhere. We didn't tour any wineries, but we did eat cherry pie after our fish boil.

Things We Did
Swam in the pool
Swam at the beach
Made sand castles
Went sailing
Biked through Peninsula State Park, had a picnic there, and saw the lighthouse
Went frou-frou shopping (well, I did, anyways. If Dilf caught the scent of potpourri in his nostrils, he'd say "I'll wait outside.")
Saw a play in a gorgeous outdoor setting, including a spectacular view of the sunset on Lake Michigan
There are also lots of artists with studio space and galleries up there. We didn't see any of those, nor did we take the ferry to Washington Island this time. There were also some free outdoor jazz concerts that we missed. Oh, well. Can't do it all.

That's about it for now. I should be back to normal soon. I'm still on vacation time right now.