Recently, a friend and I went on a new excursion that we had never been on before. We headed off to Door County, WI. This is about a 4-hour drive from where I am from, so there was some prep to be done in advance. My friend and I saddled up and put together a road trip playlist - make sure to listen to something you’ve never heard before, that way every time you hear those songs in the future, it’ll remind you of the good times on your trip! After that, we packed the essentials: our camera bags, our board shorts and of course some snacks for the road. We made a few pit stops along the way for gas, snacks, and bathroom breaks. Thankfully we didn’t have any car issues along the way, because Tires Plus puts you in the driver’s seat.
I was really grateful for the opportunity to go visit a new, far away place with a close friend. Once we made it up to Door County, it turned into beautiful coastal views for the last hour of our drive. Although Wisconsin isn’t known for its coast, it sure gave us a set of stunning views on the peninsula.
We made our way out to the very end of the Wisconsin peninsula, where we were treated to some awesome views of the curviest road in Wisconsin. We stopped off to capture some photos of the road at various points to see what we could come up with. We even broke out the drone here to see what it looked like. (Spoiler alert: super cool!) After we parked our car on the side of the road, it felt like every car that came through stopped to see what we were looking at. We wrapped up and headed back south into town. We stopped in Sister Bay, a small hip town. One of my traditions is to stop a local ice cream shop when I go on road trips. We selected a place called Analog Ice Cream & Coffee. It was a small shop, but the ice cream was phenomenal. My friend went with the French Toast flavor (sounds odd but really excellent) and I went with the Cookie Dough. Would definitely recommend this place if you ever find yourself in Door County, WI.
After our ice cream outing, we drove down to Peninsula State Park. Peninsula State Park spans from Ephraim to Fish Creek. On the north side is a beautiful golf course overlooking the peninsula. If I were a golfer, this would be on my list of places to golf. You can either drive on the coast taking in those views or through the bluffs on the inside higher ground areas. We decided to do the coast. Turned out to be a great choice, lots of great views. Along the way we actually found ourselves on a road into one of the campgrounds with beautiful tall trees surrounding us, we stopped here to grab some photos that looked really cool at a wide angle. For all the photographers out there, I would recommend bringing everything from a wide angle to a telephoto for this trip. After the tall trees, we made it to the end where there was a historic lighthouse where they offered tours every 30 minutes. You needed tickets, so we couldn’t join in, unfortunately.
Next stop was a County Park on the Southern Side of the Peninsula called Cave Point County Park. The best part about this place was that you just parked and the great views were only 50-100 feet away. Just what we were looking for at the end of a long day of driving and exploring. This small park reminded me of the Oregon Coastline. Lots of jagged rocks that protruded out into Lake Michigan. Often times made me forget that Lake Michigan isn’t the ocean with views that don’t end. Definitely worth the stop off with some great views to boot.
There's no better way to end a road trip than with some good old fashioned Wisconsin food. Nothing hits the spot like a butter burger and a concrete mixer after a long day. All the while we were treated to a beautiful colorful sunset as we drove back.
Looking back on our trip, I still think of it every time those songs we played during it comes on. I swear by that tip! I was lucky enough to see some new locations and eat some great food with friends while never having to worry about my car along the way thanks to Tires Plus. I strongly recommend the next time you need tires to drop by and let them know I sent you.
I hope you enjoyed this read and visit Door County, WI!
