Family visit

I saw Jamey and Sage off this afternoon, so now there’s time to reflect on their visit…

As I mentioned on Wednesday, Jamey woke up with a sore throat and a bad cold so they laid low all day and came to our place for dinner and a visit.  On Thursday, I met them for lunch at the Ice Cream Factory which also happens to serve good food.  Then I set out to give them a little tour of Ellison Bay.  It turned out to be “littler” than I had expected.

Jamey wanted to see where I’m working this year. Ellison Bay’s visitor center is known for being the tiniest visitor center in the county. We don’t even have indoor plumbing!

Right across the street from the visitor center is Linden’s Gallery. It’s kind of like a combination of a museum and a store full of Chinese and Asian artifacts, furniture, clothing, art, and jewelry.

That was all Jamey could do before he needed to rest again.  They came back to our place for a bit, but ultimately they went back to the place they were staying and rested up some more.  That evening, we met them for dinner at Sister Bay Bowl which also has a restaurant and a bar.

I like this restaurant because it’s perched up on the hill at the top of downtown Sister Bay and has a great view of the main street. The food is good too!

Sage and Jamey looking over the menu

After dinner, Sage wanted to walk down by the waterfront.  We stayed on the waterfront until the sun set.

Sage walking on the beach

Jamey, sitting for a spell

Mark shooting pictures

It was raining somewhere out on the bay.

Looking toward the sunset; some children had thrown pebbles in the water and made rings.

Slightly enhanced sunset

At the marina

Jamey and Sage check out a docked sailboat

Yesterday (Friday), Jamey really wanted Sage to see the lighthouse at Cana Island.  He and I had visited it last year, but Sage had to do some telecommuting and missed it.

There is a causeway that goes out to the island, but most of the time it’s under water.

A tractor pulls a cart full of people across the causeway, or you can take your shoes off and wade across!

The front building is an outhouse, the hexagonal building just beyond it is the oilery, then the light keeper’s house, and finally the lighthouse.

Sage and Jamey at the top of the lighthouse.

The Fresnel lamp acted like a prism in the sunlight.

The lamp is operated by electricity now (view inside the lamp) but early on it used liquid lard or whale blubber for light.

The view from the top

Inside the light keeper’s house

Jamey and Sage braved the lake flies to get onto the island’s beach.

On the way back, the tractor driver stopped in the midst of the causeway to explain how seamen line up lights in order to know where it is safe to take their ships.

As we were heading back out to the main road, we saw a creature that none of us has ever seen in the wild before…

At first, I thought it was a sloth because it was crawling up the tree slowly and Jamey and Sage didn’t have a clue, but then I realized it was a porcupine.  I guess I should have known they can climb trees because I knew that one liked to steal apples at Wagon Trail Campground, but I had always assumed that it waited till they fell to the ground.  It was interesting watching this porcupine grab the trunk with his front claws and pull himself up, then grab higher and pull himself up again.

Last night, Mark and I took Jamey and Sage to the Shoreline Restaurant in Gills Rock.  The really interesting thing is that we saw two couples we knew eating there as well.  We really do live in a small community!

We lucked out and got a window seat where we were able to watch the sun set again. In order to keep from getting sun spots in the picture, I had to capture the sunset through some shrubbery outside our window.

This morning, Jamey and Sage packed up to head back down to Madison to catch their flight home.  We agreed to meet in Sturgeon Bay for lunch so they’d already be on their way by the time we parted.  We went to my favorite restaurant there, Kick Coffee.  What makes it my favorite?  Well, they serve quiche, which I love, and they are located right next door to the only fabric store in Door County!

I saw a bench with the names of many of the Door County towns, so I had Sage and Jamey pose behind it.

I walked them to their car after lunch and Jamey waved a last goodbye as Sage drove by.

Jamey was finally over the worst of his cold today which should make their flight home more comfortable for him, but I sure wish he hadn’t been sick on this visit.  Oh well, there’s always next year to show them more of Door County…

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