Life in Stepping Stones

When people ask me what we did for our anniversary vacation this year, the answer tends to lend itself to a response like “Really? Why?”. I guess that’s to be expected when you tell people you went to Wisconsin to celebrate your anniversary. Even my friend who grew up in Wisconsin responded, “Why?”.

If you know anything about me, you know that I love to travel. You also know that my husband and I have a goal to visit all fifty states, so Wisconsin was bound to happen eventually.

Was it the most exotic, exciting, adventurous trip one could imagine? Not in the slightest. However, I was pleasantly surprised by how relaxed I felt throughout the vacation, and upon arriving home. Most trips consist of us running around from place to place trying to squeeze everything in and with Wisconsin, there wasn’t really a need for that. The most important thing to squeeze in was eating cheese…and we very successfully pulled that off without a hitch.

Our home base was the city of Green Bay. I question even calling it a city, but a city it supposedly is. During our trip, we were able to sit in the middle of the street outside the hotel and take pictures because there was nobody around. Our flight in was rerouted to Appleton, where we had to pickup our rental car. After calling the rental car company an hour before our short connecting flight from Chicago to notify them of the change, they told us the car would be ready. When we arrived, the Budget rental stand was closed. Everyone else was opened but the guy working there decided to close up early, leaving us without a car. Thankfully, Hertz was there and ready to take our business. Once we arrived in Green Bay, we checked into Marriott’s Hotel Northland, Autograph Collection. I instantly loved the feel of the prohibition era lobby. I felt like I was walking back in time. The rooms were well kept and the bed was comfortable (and I’m incredibly picky when it comes to hotel comfort). The hotel worked perfectly as a home base for us to travel in various directions for day trips. I will now dive deep into what to do, what to see, and what to eat if you ever find yourself vacationing in Wisconsin!

What to Do

Day Trip to Door County

Our first full day, we drove up to Door County. An absolutely beautiful peninsula on Lake Michigan, Door County is a must for your trip. If you’re a fan of small shops, olive oil tastings, and cheese tastings, I would recommend walking around Egg Harbor. Stop by Fat Louie’s Olive Oil Company, and you’ll be guaranteed to pick up a couple of bottles. We left with a cilantro olive oil and mango balsamic in hand, and both have become staples in my salads, as well as fish dishes that we’ve made at home. After checking out some of the shops located in Main Street Shops, we ventured to the Door Artisan Cheese Company. It was a wonderful experience full of many delicious cheeses that are bound to melt in your mouth. We picked up a selection of them after taste testing A LOT at the counter, and also purchased a bag of dried Wisconsin cherries. This is another must to purchase during your visit. I’ve eaten plenty of dried fruit but nothing compared to these tangy and sweet cherries. We had hoped to visit Wisconsin Cheese Masters but the day was getting away from us and we had some other plans.

After hitting the cheese shops, we drove to Sister Bay, where we rented a boat for an hour on Lake Michigan. The weather could’ve been better and the water could’ve been far less choppy, but we eventually made our way to a peaceful spot to drop anchor, relax, and enjoy our cheese. I would absolutely recommend taking a boat on Sister Bay, but maybe not in September when we went. I would try to aim for a period that isn’t during Wisconsin’s rainy season, and the water is calmer. If you don’t mind the bumpy water though, by all means, hold onto your hat and the railing, and go for it.

After the boat ride, we headed back towards Green Bay and stopped along the way in Sturgeon Bay at The Farm. We had an hour before they closed and they offered us a rain check to come back another day if we ran out of time. Honestly, an hour was the perfect length of time for this little adventure and we had a lot of fun! The Farm is a fun petting zoo full of baby goats to cuddle (and bigger goats to be chased around by), baby piglets to pet (if you’re there at the right hour…we sadly missed this experience), corn stalks to walk through, kittens running wild, and more. If you love animals, you’ll love The Farm.

Road Trip to Madison

To be honest, this was my least favorite day of the trip. The drive from Green Bay to Madison was long, tiring, and not the prettiest. However, we enjoyed stopping along the way at Simon’s Specialty Cheese, where we got to get our picture taken in the famous Wisconsin Cheese Hats. We even ended up leaving with one in tow, and our son absolutely loves running around with it on his head. We didn’t end up buying cheese here as we were venturing for more artisan shops, however, we tried the cheese curds, and found some great souvenirs!

When we arrived in Madison, we walked around the town for a little while, passing by the capital building, and adventuring up and down the streets. It was a cute town and very walkable. Most importantly for our cheese tour, we stopped at Fromagination, which was hands down my favorite cheese shop on our journey, and made the long drive to Madison completely worth it. I don’t even remember how many cheeses we left with, but they were all fantastic. My favorite was the Geitost, which has a sweet caramel-like taste to it and is the closet cheese to fudge. I’ve never had a cheese like this before, and I’ve searched for it since I’ve been home, but have yet to find it. If you’re on your cheese tasting tour, do not miss out on this one! Afterwards, we strolled around the University of Wisconsin-Madison, before taking off for a late lunch and heading back to Green Bay.

Excursion to Washington Island

The following day, we headed back to the gorgeous Door County area and ventured to the top at Washington Island. Before arriving at the ferry, we stopped at Seaquist Orchards Farm Market where we bought some delicious jams. This place is a must-stop for those who love to browse in local shops. The ferry ride over from Ellison Bay was a short ride, and Washington Island was definitely worth the trip!

Our first stop on the island was Schoolhouse Beach. I loved the unique experience of visiting this limestone beach. Not only was the water beautiful, it was a lot of fun to sit on the beach and instead of building a sandcastle, build a rock tower, and see just how high you could stack them without them falling.

Afterwards, we visited the Stavkirke Church and took in serene views by the Jacobsen Musuem. We both enjoyed looking in the museum at the old historical antiques on display. Time got away from us and before we knew it, we had to head back to the ferry…and it’s a good thing we did instead of exploring more! The last ferry to the mainland left at 5pm starting in September. We got there just in time! If we had been just five minutes later, we would’ve been stuck on the island overnight. Note to future visitors, be very vigilant about checking the ferry schedule! All in all, Washington Island was well worth the visit and was a very relaxing day (aside from the ferry panic!).

On the way back to Green Bay, I was desperate to see the sunset over Lake Michigan. We searched and searched and got lucky just in the nick of time and found a great viewpoint in a neighborhood in Egg Harbor just off of White Cliff Road on North Point Lane.

Day Trip to Cedarburg & Milwaukee

For our final full day in Wisconsin, we drove to the picturesque small town, Cedarburg. I can absolutely see why it is ranked as a favorite small-town getaway. Not only was it beautiful and quaint with countless Victorian homes and small waterfalls, the town also features a relaxing riverwalk and endless boutique shops and art galleries to visit. Our time in town was spent taking in the calm atmosphere while stepping in and out of shops. Our favorite shop was The Pink Llama Art Gallery, where we even ended up with a piece that we shipped home. Of course, no small town trip is complete without a stop at the local sweet shop, Amy’s Candy Kitchen. Continue walking around town and you’ll discover antique shops, a toy store, a baking shop called Downtown Dough with more cookie cutters than you’ve ever seen, and plenty more.

After spending far more time than we expected, we drove an extra half hour to visit Milwaukee. After we arrived, we wandered around the city and took in the architecture and made sure to stop and take a picture with the Bronze Fonzie. I’m not even a huge Happy Days fan (although I did watch it on Nick at Nite as a kid!), but as a Friends fanatic, I needed a picture where I could say “And also, I love Fonzie”. We were excited to see that you could rent a boat along the river, but unfortunately, you have to text to rent and we didn’t get a response for the rental until an hour after we sent it, and by then my husband was getting tired from the long day. If you do plan ahead though, it looked like a lot of fun! Last but not least, one of my priorities this trip was to see a lighthouse. I absolutely love them and when I read that there was one in Milwaukee I was very excited! So before heading back to Green Bay, we stopped at the Milwaukee Pierhead Light. It’s a perfect Instagram-worthy picture opportunity and if you love seeing lighthouses you will find it to be a worthwhile stop on your trip.

Final Day in Green Bay

Before our flight, we had some time to pass in Green Bay and ended up discovering the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary. At the sanctuary, we saw deer up close (you can feed them!) and were surrounded by ducks (you can feed them too…but they will proceed to follow you everywhere, so I hope you like ducks!). The sanctuary itself was well done and relaxing to walk around. I also got to impress my husband, the king of random knowledge, with being able to announce that we were approaching a Snowy Owl. Thank you elementary school project! If it wasn’t for you, I never would’ve been able to impress him with my own random knowledge for a change!

Where to Eat

As you can tell from this guide, our main priority was eating cheese so we didn’t do an array of restaurants. However, when we did need a meal, we always had to search for restaurants with plenty of gluten free options for me!

Door County: For dinner, we made reservations at the fine dining restaurant, Alexander’s of Door County in Fish Creek. They had gluten-free options and my meal was decent but honestly, I wouldn’t go running back to it. Of course, I always stand by the mindset that food is subjective and there are plenty of people that love it based on the reviews. However, if you come from dining at Michelin star restaurants in NYC or fine dining restaurants in Los Angeles like we do, you may want to save your money for a better fine dining experience elsewhere, as you will most likely be disappointed. In all honesty, while visiting Door County, I would just stick to feasting on cheese.

Cedarburg: For a lunch break, I would recommend Anvil Pub & Grille. Again, as in most small towns, finding an array of gluten-free options is next to impossible, however, Anvil has a nice selection of salads that you can add a protein onto. I loved the Stone Mill Salad with blackened salmon added on top.

Green Bay: Since this was our home base, we had the majority of our meals here, whether it was breakfast, lunch, or dinner. For breakfast, we always ate at the hotel which I’m happy to say had gluten free bread and made me a delicious french toast, upon request, with the ingredients used for their brioche french toast. I ate this every day for breakfast once I discovered it! They were very accommodating and I’d highly recommend stopping by Hotel Northland just for this breakfast if you’re in town and gluten-free. We also dined at their signature restaurant, The Walnut Room, for dinner on a couple of occasions. The food was top quality and they never sacrificed flavor when working around my list of allergies. Another location we ate at was Glass Nickel Pizza Co., which offers a delicious gluten-free pizza!

*DINING FAVORITE* Our final day, we discovered Plae Bistro, a gluten-free paradise in the midst of Wisconsin. Had I known about this place earlier, we would’ve had far more meals there. Their options go on and on from grilled cheese bites, truffle lobster mac & cheese, pasta, sandwiches, and more. I very happily ate the Grilled Cheese Bites and the Truffle Angel Hair Pasta which I added duck to instead of the options they listed on the menu. Both were absolutely delicious and if I’m ever in Green Bay again, I know where I’ll be eating!

All in all, it was a really fun, relaxing trip, and exactly the type of getaway we needed. If you’re looking for a low key vacation spot, this may be the trip for you!