We woke up and got going a bit later than intended, but that was okay since we spent all day the day before on the go. Our first stop was Grant’s Farm, where we saw Clydesdales. That is the only reason I would recommend Grant’s Farm, although if you go to the brewery tour, you can see Clydesdales there. I am glad we went to Grant’s Farm, though, because Grace loved the horses. Their stables are something else to see, too. Grace and Robby got a chance to see the baby Clydesdales and pet a few. I was more nervous about that than the kids were.
I was disappointed in the rest of Grant’s Farm. All it turned out to be was a miniature zoo and mediocre history lesson on the farm. Rob thought the hospitality bar was nice, since they gave out full-sized free samples of the Anheuser Busch products. We left Grant’s Farm after a bit and headed to the children’s museum a couple miles away.
The Magic House, or St. Louis’s Children’s Museum, is the best children’s museum we’ve been to. Chicago’s is kind of crazy, and St. Paul’s is a bit ordinary. The Magic House was well-layed out, with a little bit of everything. Grace loved the pretend play areas, especially the pizza restaurant and grocery store. Robby loved the building area (with cars, a crane, and foam building blocks) and science exhibits on light, sound, and physics. We stayed at the Children’s Museum until they closed at 5:30, which was just as the rain was at its peak. Oops. It is fun running out to the car in the rain, though. I even got Robby to repeatedly yell, “I’m melting!”
I would highly suggest our campground (site #20). It was secluded and quiet, except for the deafening crickets, cicadas, and tree frogs at night. The entire park was huge, with an extensive nature center, Olympic-sized swimming pool, stables, and hiking, bike-riding, and horseback-riding trails. Rob and I know that we will be heading back to the St. Louis area within a few years, and we will be staying there again. There was a lot left that we wanted to do that we did not have time for.
Friday, July 27, 2007
St. Louis (Day 1)
St. Louis is a great place to visit, but I would definitely suggest visiting when it is a bit cooler. Luckily, the air conditioner works extremely well in our camper, and all of us are quite adaptable.
Despite the 106 degree heat index, we went to the St. Louis Zoo on Wednesday morning. It is a nice zoo, one of the nicest of the ones we’ve been to. We started by navigating our way into Forest Park, site of the 1906 World’s Fair and now home to the zoo, science center, art museum, and lots of sports fields. Once in the zoo, we went to visit the hippos, elephants, cheetahs, hyenas, and rhinos. The elephants were pretty neat since they were throwing dirt on their backs, and then spraying water on themselves to cool off. Grace’s favorite animal is the elephant, so we stayed there for quite a bit watching them. Then it was off to the monkeys and sea lions. The monkeys were pretty active, and the sea lions were being fed while we visited them. That was cool to see; the sea lions all had designated spots to catch and eat their fish to prevent fighting for food and to make sure each sea lion got the right amount of food. Sounds like a feeding frenzy at home. That might be good when getting lunch together for the kids. I could just stand back while they are in their places, then toss Grace and Robby each their meal items. It could make for an adventurous meal. Messy, but fun.
Anyway, after that we went to see the sleeping cats. Darn those sleeping cats. You know, they come from Africa, where it is pretty darn hot. Wouldn’t you think that they would be used to the heat of St. Louis summers by now? We looked for the lions in the lion pit, similar to vague memories of a childhood trip to the St. Louis Zoo, but like in that trip, we couldn’t spot them. Rob suggested that maybe they escaped and were in with the zebras, but we found that not to be true.
By the way, Grace says that zebras are white with black stripes, not black with white stripes. Who knew?
We made our way to the giraffes, then all types of bears (polar, brown, Kodiak, grizzly, and teddy). Some of the bears were moving, but there were others that we are not sure were alive. If we could have poked them with a long stick, it may have gotten the show going, but I’m pretty sure the zoofficials discourage poking. Our final viewing was of the penguins. Robby thought it was pretty neat that these were real animals. Um, did he think that all the others were not? Uh oh.
Speaking of Robby, many of you are aware of Robby’s inability to find even the most simply hidden item, like a shoe being held in front of his face. Now, envision us trying to point out the sleeping, shaded animal in the far distant corner of the zoo habitat. Rob and I are putting in our applications for sainthood when we return home.
After the zoo, we ate a picnic lunch in the park to Grace’s delight. She absolutely loves picnics. Robby, taking his cue from Grace, loves picnics as well. Lily didn’t really care too much, I don’t think. Rob fed her a bottle, and she stretched out on the blanket for awhile. The kids had their coveted Spiderman yogurt, which was reported to have been “delicious”. I can’t stand the stuff.
Once the picnic was done, we drove around Forest Park for a bit before heading to downtown St. Louis. We decided to do the brewery tour first since they were predicting rain tomorrow, and we didn’t really want to drive downtown again. I found it to be one of the more challenging cities to navigate since each highway has approximately 3 names, and they use different ones in different signs. You can read more about the brewery tour in an earlier blog entry.
After the brewery tour, we drove over the bridge to Illinois by mistake (I told you it was hard to navigate!), then went to the Gateway Arch, where we rode a tiny egg-shaped white elevator up to the top. It was a lot like I remembered it, with the elevator ride and the viewing windows. (I went when I was 6 to St. Louis with my family.) Rob fed Lily (not-so-good timing, Lily) while in the elevator and in the observation space, but he did get quite a few looks out the window. Grace and Robby loved looking out over the city on one side and the city on the other. They especially liked how the people and cars looked so tiny. I do have to admit, it was pretty cool. Both Rob and I cannot understand how Mom did not totally pass out when up there, though. Amazing.
Once back down on solid ground, we checked out the gift shop and the crazy moms yelling at their kids to “just get anything with the arch on it, will you? I’m almost to the front of the line!” Seriously. I guess that’s why I take pictures, so I don’t have to buy anything to commemorate a trip somewhere. That is, of course, unless I find something I like. We visited the Museum of Westward Expansion, which sounds like the most snoringest (Is that a word? It should be.) place in the whole city. But it was pretty cool! They had a buffalo, a teepee, a covered wagon, pioneer and Native American artifacts, and giant photograph murals of places that Louis and Clark passed through while exploring. Grace was really interested in all of the stuff, and that these two men, and lots of helpers, went on a long, long hike to explore places that no one (they thought) had ever been to before. She and Robby thought the teepee was awesome. She even said that she dreamed about it later that night. Rob and I would have liked to spend more time in there, but it was almost 9 o’clock, and we had not eaten dinner yet. Plus, the kids were getting restless and sleepy.
So we left the Arch, got to the car, loaded up, and headed to find someplace to eat. In order to keep the kids awake, Rob mercifully subjected himself to open taunting by the kids and me. I would like to publicly apologize to Rob for introducing the term, “Pretty pretty princess Daddy” to our children. Hee hee! The taunting was a success! The kids stayed awake to and through dinner at Steak n Shake, then crashed in the car back to the camper. It was a fun day!
Despite the 106 degree heat index, we went to the St. Louis Zoo on Wednesday morning. It is a nice zoo, one of the nicest of the ones we’ve been to. We started by navigating our way into Forest Park, site of the 1906 World’s Fair and now home to the zoo, science center, art museum, and lots of sports fields. Once in the zoo, we went to visit the hippos, elephants, cheetahs, hyenas, and rhinos. The elephants were pretty neat since they were throwing dirt on their backs, and then spraying water on themselves to cool off. Grace’s favorite animal is the elephant, so we stayed there for quite a bit watching them. Then it was off to the monkeys and sea lions. The monkeys were pretty active, and the sea lions were being fed while we visited them. That was cool to see; the sea lions all had designated spots to catch and eat their fish to prevent fighting for food and to make sure each sea lion got the right amount of food. Sounds like a feeding frenzy at home. That might be good when getting lunch together for the kids. I could just stand back while they are in their places, then toss Grace and Robby each their meal items. It could make for an adventurous meal. Messy, but fun.
Anyway, after that we went to see the sleeping cats. Darn those sleeping cats. You know, they come from Africa, where it is pretty darn hot. Wouldn’t you think that they would be used to the heat of St. Louis summers by now? We looked for the lions in the lion pit, similar to vague memories of a childhood trip to the St. Louis Zoo, but like in that trip, we couldn’t spot them. Rob suggested that maybe they escaped and were in with the zebras, but we found that not to be true.
By the way, Grace says that zebras are white with black stripes, not black with white stripes. Who knew?
We made our way to the giraffes, then all types of bears (polar, brown, Kodiak, grizzly, and teddy). Some of the bears were moving, but there were others that we are not sure were alive. If we could have poked them with a long stick, it may have gotten the show going, but I’m pretty sure the zoofficials discourage poking. Our final viewing was of the penguins. Robby thought it was pretty neat that these were real animals. Um, did he think that all the others were not? Uh oh.
Speaking of Robby, many of you are aware of Robby’s inability to find even the most simply hidden item, like a shoe being held in front of his face. Now, envision us trying to point out the sleeping, shaded animal in the far distant corner of the zoo habitat. Rob and I are putting in our applications for sainthood when we return home.
After the zoo, we ate a picnic lunch in the park to Grace’s delight. She absolutely loves picnics. Robby, taking his cue from Grace, loves picnics as well. Lily didn’t really care too much, I don’t think. Rob fed her a bottle, and she stretched out on the blanket for awhile. The kids had their coveted Spiderman yogurt, which was reported to have been “delicious”. I can’t stand the stuff.
Once the picnic was done, we drove around Forest Park for a bit before heading to downtown St. Louis. We decided to do the brewery tour first since they were predicting rain tomorrow, and we didn’t really want to drive downtown again. I found it to be one of the more challenging cities to navigate since each highway has approximately 3 names, and they use different ones in different signs. You can read more about the brewery tour in an earlier blog entry.
After the brewery tour, we drove over the bridge to Illinois by mistake (I told you it was hard to navigate!), then went to the Gateway Arch, where we rode a tiny egg-shaped white elevator up to the top. It was a lot like I remembered it, with the elevator ride and the viewing windows. (I went when I was 6 to St. Louis with my family.) Rob fed Lily (not-so-good timing, Lily) while in the elevator and in the observation space, but he did get quite a few looks out the window. Grace and Robby loved looking out over the city on one side and the city on the other. They especially liked how the people and cars looked so tiny. I do have to admit, it was pretty cool. Both Rob and I cannot understand how Mom did not totally pass out when up there, though. Amazing.
Once back down on solid ground, we checked out the gift shop and the crazy moms yelling at their kids to “just get anything with the arch on it, will you? I’m almost to the front of the line!” Seriously. I guess that’s why I take pictures, so I don’t have to buy anything to commemorate a trip somewhere. That is, of course, unless I find something I like. We visited the Museum of Westward Expansion, which sounds like the most snoringest (Is that a word? It should be.) place in the whole city. But it was pretty cool! They had a buffalo, a teepee, a covered wagon, pioneer and Native American artifacts, and giant photograph murals of places that Louis and Clark passed through while exploring. Grace was really interested in all of the stuff, and that these two men, and lots of helpers, went on a long, long hike to explore places that no one (they thought) had ever been to before. She and Robby thought the teepee was awesome. She even said that she dreamed about it later that night. Rob and I would have liked to spend more time in there, but it was almost 9 o’clock, and we had not eaten dinner yet. Plus, the kids were getting restless and sleepy.
So we left the Arch, got to the car, loaded up, and headed to find someplace to eat. In order to keep the kids awake, Rob mercifully subjected himself to open taunting by the kids and me. I would like to publicly apologize to Rob for introducing the term, “Pretty pretty princess Daddy” to our children. Hee hee! The taunting was a success! The kids stayed awake to and through dinner at Steak n Shake, then crashed in the car back to the camper. It was a fun day!
Jelly Belly
Gas to get to the Pleasant Prairie Jelly Belly distribution center: $7.00
Souveniers at the Jelly Belly store: $30.00
Seeing Mom and Dad wearing silly paper Jelly Belly hats while on the Jelly Belly Express train in the Jelly Belly warehouse viewing the Jelly Belly kickline dancers: Priceless
Souveniers at the Jelly Belly store: $30.00
Seeing Mom and Dad wearing silly paper Jelly Belly hats while on the Jelly Belly Express train in the Jelly Belly warehouse viewing the Jelly Belly kickline dancers: Priceless
Beer, Glorious Beer!
I don’t like beer. Icky stuff if you ask me. There is a bitter taste at the end of every sip of beer, doesn’t matter what kind, that makes my face contort into some sort of Red Skelton impersonation. However, Rob has been enjoying the taste of beer more and more since we had kids. So on our three brewery tours within one week, Rob had not only his share of free beer samples, but my free beer samples, too. Here’s a breakdown of the brewery tour extravaganza.
Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin – It was pretty crowded when we entered the visitor center. Most everyone was waiting for their tour to begin. The tour groups were about 100 people, at least, and all anyone was there for were the free samples, so they were a bit unruly and impatient. No strollers were allowed, so Lily and Mom stayed back in the visitor’s center. This ended up being pretty good, since there were quite a few stairs that Mom would have had to do. It was a lot of walking, about 6 blocks total. Our tour guides recited from a script, which I guess was okay, but it lacked personality. The tour began with a cheesy movie about Miller Time, which I actually laughed aloud at a couple of times. Not because it was funny, but because it was so very, very sad. *sigh* After the movie, we were herded through a set of doors into the bottling and canning line. Unfortunately, they only had one can line running, no bottles, so there wasn’t that much action. Robby and Grace did not care for the smell. I have to agree. It stunk like beer. I know, I know. It’s a brewery tour, for pete’s sake. Still, it was rank at times. There was some beer running out from the can line, which one of our guides commented would be gathered and shipped to Anheuser-Busch for packaging. Hee hee. From the packaging line, we went to the storage warehouse, where we had a “quiz” on the types of beer that Miller brews. Some people know a lot about beer. It’s remarkable, I think, that their brain cells were that sharp to be able to yell out the answers that quickly. We did learn, though, that all Miller beer is shipped out within 36 hours form start to finish. After the prizeless quiz, we were wrangled into the beer caves, which was fun trying to get Grace and Robby to say. “Are there bears in the bear caves? I don’t like bears.” “No, not bear caves, beer caves.” Silly children on beer tours. Anyway, after the beer caves, the samples began in an indoor bar-like place. 8 ounce glass mugs of a light, summer beer that was not very good, and a small bag of pretzels for each of us. Then, the outdoor biergarten. 8 ounce plastic cups of a choice of 6 Miller beers served by, what appeared to be, middle school children. Dad and Rob didn’t really have a favorite sample, so after Robby spilled his cup of lemonade all over the seat, we left before using all of our sample opportunities (2 per adult). We had to walk a couple blocks back to the visitor center to get Mom and Lily. It would have been nice if the tour had ended at the visitor center so Mom could have joined us for samples, but I am guessing that she would not have really liked anything, either. The entire tour, including sampling, took about 1 ½ hours. All in all, this brewery tour earned 1 out of 3 worts. If you don’t know what wort is, you won’t learn it on this tour, that’s for sure.
Sprecher Brewery, Glendale, Wisconsin – I can’t help but compare this tour with the Miller tour. For one, these tours were a day apart. Two, the tour was in the same city. Three, the tour guide referenced the “other major brewery in town” in her talk. So, compare I will. This tour was not done by a script; instead, the tour guide worked at Sprecher part time and did not know much about the technical production of the beer. Instead, she knew an awful lot about what each tasted like. This tour guide went through each step of the beer-making process, which is how I learned what wort was. The Miller tour may have done this, but I couldn’t tell/pay attention/care. The tour group was small, about 20, so she actually answered questions as we went through. We went directly into the brewing room, where we learned how their beer and soda were made. Some Sprecher beers, we were told, take up to 8 months from start to finish to make. The fastest beer takes 5 weeks from start to finish. We saw the actual stuff the beer is made in and got explanations of what we were seeing. We then went into the packaging area via the fermentation cooler, and were right next to the bottle line, which came from when Coke packaged in 16-ounce glass bottles. It was very Laverne-and-Shirley-esque. After a brief explanation of each beer and their tastes, we were led into the indoor biergarten to sample up to 4 beers and unlimited soda (Sprecher makes 7 types of gourmet soda, too.). Rob enjoyed a couple of their beers very much, which we bought in their gift shop after we were done sampling. We ended up at this little microbrewery because we saw it on Food Network, when they highlighted Sprecher’s root beer. By the way, the soda is great. Vanilla-y and tasty. I even liked the root beer, and I normally despise root beer. The entire tour lasted about 1 hour, including sampling. This brewery tour earned an outstanding 3 out of 3 worts by educating us on the finer points of brewing beer, the outstanding free samples, the availability of real snacks while drinking (jalapeño cheese curds), the free tasting glass, and the ability to purchase the beer and soda we sampled. Well done, Sprecher!
Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company, St. Louis, Missouri – While in St. Louis, we decided that we just had to do this tour to compare. I’m glad we did. I had no idea that A-B made so many types of drinks. Over 120, at least. We also learned that 50% of the beers sold in the U.S. are an A-B product. Their brewery is a lot nicer looking, too. Not downtown dirty, as in Miller. A-B was landscaped, clean, and had automatic doors, instead of the locking ones that Miller had. We began the A-B tour at the visitor center with a group of about 50, where we heard a scripted history of the company. From the visitor’s center, we went outside to the stables where a half dozen Clydesdales were kept. There was even a Dalmatian wandering around the area. Dalmatians, for those of you not up on your beer history, were used to protect the carts of beer while the delivery guy was taking cases into a distributor. The Clydesdales were huge and calm. None were too interested in us. In the stable were also a delivery coach and the individually made harnesses for each horse. From the stables, we went to the Beachwood aging room, which had ginormous vats of fermenting beer. Wow. Huge, I’m telling you. Four ginormous vats tall. Lots of steel holding them up, too. We were told of the Beachwood aging process, which sounds just dandy (I don’t care.). It takes four weeks to ferment their beer, so it is not as quick as Miller, but not as long as Sprecher. It was about 50 degrees in there, and the kids thought it was pretty stinky again. Then we went to the packaging area, which was in full swing. Both bottles and cans were being filled with Busch beer, and we actually got to walk on the floor next to a can-filling machine. This area was very loud with thousands of clinking bottles. Then we walked to the production building, where we were educated on the basic beer making process (again), but this time with a nifty chart and seats. Then we walked to see the large containers that the beer is actually made in. That is pretty neat. I like seeing where things take place, not just a replica of where things happen. After we were done learning how beer is made and where A-B beer is made, we boarded a trolley back to the visitor’s center. That was Grace and Robby’s favorite part., aside from traveling up 7 flights of escalators. Wahoo! At the visitor’s center, we were escorted into a hospitality room for 2 free samples of beer in 8 ounce glass mugs. There were also large glasses of pop available. They had a lot more variety than Miller, but nothing as tasty as Sprecher. Interestingly, A-B made no mention of any other brewery, large or small. I thought that was classy of them. This brewery tour earned 2 1/2 out of 3 worts by outdoing Miller in just about every aspect. The only reason it did not earn the full 3 worts is because nothing tasted quite as good as at Sprechers.
Miller Brewing Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin – It was pretty crowded when we entered the visitor center. Most everyone was waiting for their tour to begin. The tour groups were about 100 people, at least, and all anyone was there for were the free samples, so they were a bit unruly and impatient. No strollers were allowed, so Lily and Mom stayed back in the visitor’s center. This ended up being pretty good, since there were quite a few stairs that Mom would have had to do. It was a lot of walking, about 6 blocks total. Our tour guides recited from a script, which I guess was okay, but it lacked personality. The tour began with a cheesy movie about Miller Time, which I actually laughed aloud at a couple of times. Not because it was funny, but because it was so very, very sad. *sigh* After the movie, we were herded through a set of doors into the bottling and canning line. Unfortunately, they only had one can line running, no bottles, so there wasn’t that much action. Robby and Grace did not care for the smell. I have to agree. It stunk like beer. I know, I know. It’s a brewery tour, for pete’s sake. Still, it was rank at times. There was some beer running out from the can line, which one of our guides commented would be gathered and shipped to Anheuser-Busch for packaging. Hee hee. From the packaging line, we went to the storage warehouse, where we had a “quiz” on the types of beer that Miller brews. Some people know a lot about beer. It’s remarkable, I think, that their brain cells were that sharp to be able to yell out the answers that quickly. We did learn, though, that all Miller beer is shipped out within 36 hours form start to finish. After the prizeless quiz, we were wrangled into the beer caves, which was fun trying to get Grace and Robby to say. “Are there bears in the bear caves? I don’t like bears.” “No, not bear caves, beer caves.” Silly children on beer tours. Anyway, after the beer caves, the samples began in an indoor bar-like place. 8 ounce glass mugs of a light, summer beer that was not very good, and a small bag of pretzels for each of us. Then, the outdoor biergarten. 8 ounce plastic cups of a choice of 6 Miller beers served by, what appeared to be, middle school children. Dad and Rob didn’t really have a favorite sample, so after Robby spilled his cup of lemonade all over the seat, we left before using all of our sample opportunities (2 per adult). We had to walk a couple blocks back to the visitor center to get Mom and Lily. It would have been nice if the tour had ended at the visitor center so Mom could have joined us for samples, but I am guessing that she would not have really liked anything, either. The entire tour, including sampling, took about 1 ½ hours. All in all, this brewery tour earned 1 out of 3 worts. If you don’t know what wort is, you won’t learn it on this tour, that’s for sure.
Sprecher Brewery, Glendale, Wisconsin – I can’t help but compare this tour with the Miller tour. For one, these tours were a day apart. Two, the tour was in the same city. Three, the tour guide referenced the “other major brewery in town” in her talk. So, compare I will. This tour was not done by a script; instead, the tour guide worked at Sprecher part time and did not know much about the technical production of the beer. Instead, she knew an awful lot about what each tasted like. This tour guide went through each step of the beer-making process, which is how I learned what wort was. The Miller tour may have done this, but I couldn’t tell/pay attention/care. The tour group was small, about 20, so she actually answered questions as we went through. We went directly into the brewing room, where we learned how their beer and soda were made. Some Sprecher beers, we were told, take up to 8 months from start to finish to make. The fastest beer takes 5 weeks from start to finish. We saw the actual stuff the beer is made in and got explanations of what we were seeing. We then went into the packaging area via the fermentation cooler, and were right next to the bottle line, which came from when Coke packaged in 16-ounce glass bottles. It was very Laverne-and-Shirley-esque. After a brief explanation of each beer and their tastes, we were led into the indoor biergarten to sample up to 4 beers and unlimited soda (Sprecher makes 7 types of gourmet soda, too.). Rob enjoyed a couple of their beers very much, which we bought in their gift shop after we were done sampling. We ended up at this little microbrewery because we saw it on Food Network, when they highlighted Sprecher’s root beer. By the way, the soda is great. Vanilla-y and tasty. I even liked the root beer, and I normally despise root beer. The entire tour lasted about 1 hour, including sampling. This brewery tour earned an outstanding 3 out of 3 worts by educating us on the finer points of brewing beer, the outstanding free samples, the availability of real snacks while drinking (jalapeño cheese curds), the free tasting glass, and the ability to purchase the beer and soda we sampled. Well done, Sprecher!
Anheuser-Busch Brewing Company, St. Louis, Missouri – While in St. Louis, we decided that we just had to do this tour to compare. I’m glad we did. I had no idea that A-B made so many types of drinks. Over 120, at least. We also learned that 50% of the beers sold in the U.S. are an A-B product. Their brewery is a lot nicer looking, too. Not downtown dirty, as in Miller. A-B was landscaped, clean, and had automatic doors, instead of the locking ones that Miller had. We began the A-B tour at the visitor center with a group of about 50, where we heard a scripted history of the company. From the visitor’s center, we went outside to the stables where a half dozen Clydesdales were kept. There was even a Dalmatian wandering around the area. Dalmatians, for those of you not up on your beer history, were used to protect the carts of beer while the delivery guy was taking cases into a distributor. The Clydesdales were huge and calm. None were too interested in us. In the stable were also a delivery coach and the individually made harnesses for each horse. From the stables, we went to the Beachwood aging room, which had ginormous vats of fermenting beer. Wow. Huge, I’m telling you. Four ginormous vats tall. Lots of steel holding them up, too. We were told of the Beachwood aging process, which sounds just dandy (I don’t care.). It takes four weeks to ferment their beer, so it is not as quick as Miller, but not as long as Sprecher. It was about 50 degrees in there, and the kids thought it was pretty stinky again. Then we went to the packaging area, which was in full swing. Both bottles and cans were being filled with Busch beer, and we actually got to walk on the floor next to a can-filling machine. This area was very loud with thousands of clinking bottles. Then we walked to the production building, where we were educated on the basic beer making process (again), but this time with a nifty chart and seats. Then we walked to see the large containers that the beer is actually made in. That is pretty neat. I like seeing where things take place, not just a replica of where things happen. After we were done learning how beer is made and where A-B beer is made, we boarded a trolley back to the visitor’s center. That was Grace and Robby’s favorite part., aside from traveling up 7 flights of escalators. Wahoo! At the visitor’s center, we were escorted into a hospitality room for 2 free samples of beer in 8 ounce glass mugs. There were also large glasses of pop available. They had a lot more variety than Miller, but nothing as tasty as Sprecher. Interestingly, A-B made no mention of any other brewery, large or small. I thought that was classy of them. This brewery tour earned 2 1/2 out of 3 worts by outdoing Miller in just about every aspect. The only reason it did not earn the full 3 worts is because nothing tasted quite as good as at Sprechers.
Harley Davidson Factory Tour
This was by far the most serious of the tours we have gone on this trip. But when you think about it, aren’t Harley Davidson people pretty serious about their Harleys? We went to this place because my grandfather, Sam Town, graduated from Mechanics and Dealership training in 1927 in Milwaukee at the Harley Davidson training facility. My dad even brought along the picture of the class, with Bill Harley on one side of the back row and Bill Davidson on the other side of the back row.
The tour was pretty interesting. I enjoyed seeing the actual production line, including the encouraging words on signs for all workers to be safe. They had about 109 days without an accident so far! I don’t think I have ever seen a real production line before, except on TV, so that was cool. It was a commercial for Harleys, but that’s okay. I felt kind of stupid, also, like I should have known before stepping foot onto the floor, that there are several kinds of Harleys and what their names are. Also, when would I have ever learned what a powertrain is? Well, now I know.
Rob, the kids, and Mom waited for Dad and me to be done with the tour. Mom says it was the best people watching, next to the Miller tour.
The tour was pretty interesting. I enjoyed seeing the actual production line, including the encouraging words on signs for all workers to be safe. They had about 109 days without an accident so far! I don’t think I have ever seen a real production line before, except on TV, so that was cool. It was a commercial for Harleys, but that’s okay. I felt kind of stupid, also, like I should have known before stepping foot onto the floor, that there are several kinds of Harleys and what their names are. Also, when would I have ever learned what a powertrain is? Well, now I know.
Rob, the kids, and Mom waited for Dad and me to be done with the tour. Mom says it was the best people watching, next to the Miller tour.
Robby's Confused...
Robby asks occasionally if wherever we are at the moment is Disney World. Poor sweetie.
Door County
We stayed at Beantown Campground in Baileys Harbor. No apostrophe in Baileys, by the way. Even though Captain Bailey “discovered” it in the 1800s, he apparently does not own or have any part in the actual harbor. It’s sometimes exhausting to be me.
Beantown Campground was okay. Basically just a big field with new trees planted between every site. The pool and playground were nice, though. The first night was a bit loud with all the people around, but on Sunday, everyone cleared out and went back home, so that we were the only ones left on that half of the campground for a day. It was quiet the rest of the time, but there was no one to watch, which is half the fun of camping! I would recommend this campground to someone who wanted to see Door County (read below for our recommendation) but didn’t want to spend an arm, leg, and half a spleen to stay.
The ice cream and frozen custard was pretty good. I enjoyed that part of Door County. One place doesn’t stand out in particular, but Rob would probably say that the Yum Yum Tree in Baileys Harbor was his favorite since they had Bailey’s ice cream. Let’s ask him. Yup. That’s what he said.
Nama wants me to tell everyone how good the kids are. I’m assuming she means Robby, Grace, and Lily. Although, didn’t she hear Rob and I say, probably at least a hundred times, “Robby, put your pants on”? Seriously, though, the kids are pretty good. Not every child would spend two days in a row putzing around shops, being told to knock it off and to not touch anything.
Highlights of Door County
- Baby Bella store in Fish Creek - This place had cute unique stuff that we haven’t really seen anywhere else. Lily got a cute crocheted hat with a sunflower and ladybug on it. They even had those BabyLegs that Helen had emailed me a link to earlier in June.
- Candy shops galore - Rob has the worst candy taste in history. I mean, really, who buys Mary Janes, Bit o’ Honey, and Atomic Fireballs? That’s the stuff normal children give away to other kids they don’t like at Halloween.
- The Cookery in Fish Creek - An intimate setting (20 tables) with average food. We will remember this because we have not laughed this hard in a long time. A little girl about 4 years old came running back from the restroom, holding her butt. While running up to her table, she exclaimed loudly, “Grandma, I had diarrhea!” The entire restaurant laughed, including the waitstaff. The grandma just put her head in her hands. Oh, what those darned kids will say! Hee hee!
- Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant in Sister Bay - There were goats on the roof. It’s like I dined in the Sound of Music. Also fun was watching Dad eat about 10 pounds of pickled herring in one sitting. “I paid for it. I’m going to eat it.”
- Watching the clouds roll in with each daily storm system - Door County seems to get pounded quite often with severe storms since it is located between Green Bay and Lake Michigan. It could be blue sky one minute then dark, low-lying clouds the next.
- Getting Lily’s picture taken at Lily Bay - Hopefully Lily will appreciate it someday, as it took us an hour to go about 15 to 20 miles. Not bad traffic, just a twisty, turny rustic road that we had to go slower on while backtracking to get back to US 57. At least we got to look at some absolutely huge, beautiful houses on the way out.
- Seeing Robby swim by himself in the campground pool - Robby normally clings to one of us as we take him around the pool. This time, he grew accustomed to the water pretty quickly, and then swam by himself for most of the time. Of course, he had a life jacket on, but this is a big step. Swim classes, here he comes!
- Door County Maritime Museum pirate exhibit - This was cool. We especially liked when you got to shoot electronic cannons at pirate ships on a TV. They had it all set up to look like you were looking out of your ship at the pirate ships. The kids (and Sarah) really liked dressing up in the pirate costumes and posing for pictures. Finally, it was indescribably cute how Robby shouted out commands while at a pretend ship’s helm.
- Miniature golf at Pirate’s Cove - It was fun watching the kids get so excited about everything from putting the ball in the hole (Grace got a hole-in-one!) to watching the cannons fire into the water in a “battle”. As an added bonus, the kids got treasure when we left. You can never have too much booty, you know.
- The largest collection of Jim Shore pieces we’ve seen - At the Cinnamon Windmill in Egg Harbor, they had so many pieces that I have never seen before. Rob and the kids got me a Santa with Santa’s sleigh and reindeer flying across the front of him for my birthday. Mom and Dad bought me a set of three Jim Shore Christmas trees. They also had more nursery rhymes pieces and different pieces that we have not seen, except for on the internet. It was hard to resist. My debit card was calling to me.
- Gale force winds - Mom and Dad slept in our camper one night because the winds were whipping the rain fly and tent to death. Plus, the pole of the tent was hitting Mom in the head with each gust. The camper was a little crowded, but Mom and Dad were at least able to get some sleep.
- Watching Dad eat - Not only was the pickled herring a meal for Dad, he also ate a full sandwich at that restaurant. Plus some cheese. And beets. Then, in another restaurant, he ate two ginormous walleye, three huge pieces of perch, half of a baked potato, a salad with peppercorn dressing, a roll, and two beers. Each walleye was the size of my forearm, and the perch was at least as big as my fist. Dad, you can leave some food. It’s okay. I know it will get thrown away, but it is okay.
Overrated Door County Attractions
- The water and beaches - Both Rob and I grew up on Lake Michigan. We’ve seen beaches and lakes. Door County’s got nothin’ on northern lower Michigan. I guess if you don’t live on water and have never really been to anywhere, it is something to see. But I would definitely not make a special trip to see the beaches. They’re all rocky and man-made with retaining walls.
- Shopping - Unimpressive. I was anticipating unique items in little clustered shops, kind of like a downtown area. Instead, the shops seemed to be either in an indoor or outdoor mall setting or scattered, with a couple on each block. Plus, none of us are into antiquing, so we weren’t interested in stopping at the many antique barns.
- Restaurants - For a resort area, there were limited options for food, especially if you didn’t want to do a fish boil. The food we did have was good, but nothing too spectacular or noteworthy.
- Peninsula State Park - We drove into this state park for an hour to check out the campgrounds, a couple day use areas, and the Eagle Bluff Lighthouse. The campgrounds were crowded, heavily wooded (I don’t know how I would have backed the camper up into some of these sites.), and most had no hook-ups. Some were even at a pretty steep grade. The bathrooms in some loops were rustic, which means that they had holes with toilet seats and did not have showers. I agree with what Dad said, that this is a campground that you would have to have a great idea of what campsite or specific location you wanted before you made reservations. Otherwise, you’d be screwed.
- Lighthouses - We saw Cana Island Lighthouse and Eagle Bluff Lighthouse while here. They were okay, but in need of a fresh coat of paint. I don’t understand why these, especially the Cana Island one, are so photographed and popular. Hasn’t anyone been to Lake Michigan or Lake Superior lighthouses in Michigan? Prettier!
- Cherries - Apparently, no one in Wisconsin has been to Traverse City. The Midwestern cherry quota has been filled, cheeseheads! Plus, as Rob says, “Cherries just aren’t my favorite.”
All in all, we felt Door County was overrated. Granted, we didn’t do some things that we may have enjoyed better, like the ferry out to Washington Island, seeing the limestone caves in Cave County Park, or a cruise around the lighthouses or bluffs. However, the ferry and cruises would have been about $30 a person, and we’ve seen most of that stuff in Michigan before. The caves were accessible by kayak, so that was out of the question. Lily’s arms just aren’t long enough yet. It just seems like it is a resort destination that has some pretty stuff, but it is not any better than the Petoskey area. You just cannot beat Michigan’s sights.
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