Door County finale

Welcome to the final day of Act Happy Week!  I've saved my husband's choice for what makes him happy for today, and I'll also be sharing this over at Mockingbird Hill Cottage as a favorite thing, because Door County, Wisconsin is one of our very favorite destinations and it makes both of us very happy indeed.  No need to 'act' happy while we are strolling by the beach and camping under the stars--we are happy!

We've always been a camping family, and although there are many great campgrounds near our home, we prefer the longer drive to get away from it all and spend our weekends visiting the great little villages that make up the Door County peninsula--Fish Creek, Ephraim, Sister Bay, Ellison Bay, Egg Harbor and others. Each village is small, no more than one thousand or so residents, and each offers its own particular charm, whether it is a great margarita and sunset at JJ's in Sister Bay, or an amazing strawberry ice cream cone at Wilson's in Ephraim.

Or how about Swedish pancakes with lingonberries at Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant, famous for not only the cuisine but also for the goats on the restaurant's roof!

And at some point in your visit, you have to try a Door County fishboil, where whitefish, potatoes and corn on the cob are boiled together outside in a big old pot, served up with a flashy, fiery finish and a piece of Door County cherry pie for dessert!

Door County is famous for its beautiful cherry orchards, which results in cherry jam, cherry preserves, cherry scones and muffins, and best of all, cherry pie.

My husband and I stop to pick up a cherry pie in Fish Creek before we even set up camp at the state park!

But while the food is amazing (no restaurant chains are allowed in Door County) the best part of Door County is the beautiful scenery, gorgeous in every season.  We spend our days hiking, flying kites over the beach, exploring quaint little antique stores, and at night we are entertained by wonderful actors at several of the professional theater companies in the area.  And we always end our days by watching the sun go down in a fiery burst of color, followed by a campfire and a piece of that great cherry pie.  And that, my friends, makes for a happy day!

We have a brand new tent ready to go for this summer, so now all we need is for the snow to go away and warm weather to arrive, and I'll have a whole new set of Door County stories and photos to share with you!  In the meantime, while this poem by Linda Gregg isn't about camping or cherry pies, it does convey that sense of wonder I feel when I'm camping and look up at the vast sky filled with stars.   I ran across it this weekend and thought it was so breathtakingly beautiful that I wanted to share it with you as another favorite thing. 

Fishing in the Keep of Silence

There is a hush now while the hills rise up
and God is going to sleep. He trusts the ship
of Heaven to take over and proceed beautifully
as he lies dreaming in the lap of the world.
He knows the owls will guard the sweetness
of the soul in their massive keep of silence,
looking out with eyes open or closed over
the length of Tomales Bay that the egrets
conform to, whitely broad in flight, white
and slim in standing. God, who thinks about
poetry all the time, breathes happily as He
repeats to Himself: there are fish in the net,
lots of fish this time in the net of the heart.

Enjoy other favorite things here at: 

 Favorite Thing Saturday