August 15-18, 2017 While visiting the state of Wisconsin, we will see chapels, lighthouses and gorgeous waters. We’ll also tour fun places such as the Jelly Belly Visitor Center, Renard’s Cheese Factory and Larsen’s Bakery. Plus we’ll enjoy several outdoor performances, experience a true fish boil, and see goats atop a restaurant roof! Tuesday, August 15 Our first order of business is to depart for Pleasant Prairie, WI. Once we have arrived, we will climb aboard an indoor train for a 35-minute tour of the Jelly Belly Visitor Center warehouse and learn about the candy-making process. Travel through a gallery of giant Jelly Belly beans, candy portraits and sweets stacked to the rafters. Eat on your own at the Jelly Belly Café then we will depart for Ellison Bay, WI. Once we arrive, we will check into Rowleys Bay Waterfront Resort for three nights. We will eat dinner at Chef’s Choice Dinner Buffet then take our reserved seats at the Northern Sky Theater, where we will experience a musical comedy under the stars. (D) Wednesday, August 16 Our day will start off by eating breakfast at the resort then we will depart for Gills Rock, WI. We will ride aboard the Island Clipper to Washington Island. Operated by Captain Charles Voight, the Island Clipper departs Gills Rock at the tip of the Door Peninsula and carries visitors through island-studded waters to picturesque Washington Island. The 65 ft., 149 seat all-weather craft, with the latest in safety and navigational equipment, makes the seven mile, 20-minute trip relaxing and enjoyable with comfortable seating and narration of your voyage through Porte des Morts (Death’s Door) by Captain Voight. Enjoy the view of two of Door County’s famous lighthouses on Pilot Island and Plum Island. For more information, contact: Sheri Rodebaugh 217-258-0440 • Toll Free 1-866-661-2582 FIRSTMID.COM After basking in the beauty of the lighthouses, we will join a guided Island Tour aboard the Viking Train; the Viking Train stops at four points of interest. Stay at any stop and board a later train for your convenience! Stop 1: Stavekirke – The Stavekirke is patterned from an ancient style of church construction found in Norway during the medieval times. This building is both a replica and tribute to Washington Island’s large Scandinavian heritage. Cross the beautiful bridge that will bring you to the gardens that have been planted to frame the Stavekirke. As you enter the door, overhead hanging from the rafters is a model of a mackinaw schooner that transported goods across the lake in the mid 1800’s. The two candelabras along the sides of the altar originally were the only light in the Stave Churches in Norway. Stop 2: Den Norske Grenda – Here, you’ll see two Norwegian cottages brought from Telemark, Norway. In the double cottage “stabbur” you visit a marvelous shop, “Books up the Road,” where you’ll find a variety of games, books and puzzles. Mann’s Mercantile is our only year-round shopping store, where you’ll find toys, postcards, souvenirs, T-shirts and even a True Value Hardware store. Don’t miss the delicious homemade fudge, personally sampled by your tour host to ensure quality and taste! (You get the idea.) From here, you can take a leisurely stroll through town. Stop 3: Washington Island Farm Museum – Established as a not-for-profit museum of farming life here on Washington Island, it proclaims our history and heritage. Most of the buildings are original, moved to the museum site. Did you know, at one time, there was an Icelandic Castle here? Find out all about it in the Red Barn with the green roof! Often, you’ll find ladies baking bread or making jam over fire in the log cabin. Many activities are taking place throughout the summer. From the museum, you may choose to walk to the nearby Vagabond Gift Shop and then take a short stroll to our next stop, “Schoolhouse Beach.” Stop 4: Schoolhouse Beach – Located on Washington Harbor, which has an average depth of about 100’, is our most popular swimming beach. Forget world travel, here you will find one of only 5 beaches like this in the world. The other 4 beaches are in Sweden, Norway, France and Mexico. Who says you have to leave the USA to see the beautiful and unusual? What makes it so different? The beach is made up of beautiful white, smooth stones; great for skipping on the crystal clear waters. Think you’ve seen stones before, not like this! Here, you’ll find the island children swimming like little fish, while moms and babies visit, see sailboats anchored offshore and watch those huge tankers pass along the mouth of the harbor. (Oh, please don’t take any of the stones home. We’re trying to preserve the beach. Thanks!) From here, you can walk to the Art and Nature Center and see the oldest Church on the Island built in 1865. Today, lunch will be on your own while you explore Washington Island. After enjoying some free time on the Island, we will return to the mainland via the Island Clipper. Once we are back, we will have time to freshen up at the Resort. Tonight, we will witness the Fish Boil Historical Peter Rowley Re-enactment at the Resort where an entertaining actor plays the part of the namesake of the bay, Peter Rowley. Sitting lakeside around a hot fire with a boiling cauldron of water, “Peter” tells the colorful story of the bay from the early days of the Potawatomi up to the present, inserting jokes, asides and inviting audience participation. As each ingredient of the boil is brought out by the boilmaster, he stops his story to introduce the historical tradition of fish boils and the culinary details behind it. The fish comes right in at the dock daily at the nearby fishing village of Gills Rock. After the performance, we will have a Fish Boil Dinner at the Resort. The first ingredient to be added to the boil are red potatoes, followed by sweet onions and just before the finale, the basket of fresh Lake Michigan whitefish. As the boilmaster stokes the fire, all are warned to move a good distance from the pot as the photo-op boilover includes a raging fire. Kerosene is thrown on the fire, the pot boils over, while “Peter” rings the old school house bell. The boilover takes all the oils of the fish with it. The pot is lifted and carried into the restaurant where all will enjoy. (If someone doesn’t care for fish, no problem, the generous all-you-can-eat fish boil buffet includes chicken, meatballs, various side dishes and a 14-ft. salad, bakery and dessert bar.) Two more features of the classic Scandinavian fish boil are the Swedish Limpa bread and a cherry dessert, both baked onsite at Grandma’s Swedish Bakery. (B, D) Thursday, August 17 We will start another day of the trip with breakfast at the Resort. We will meet with a local guide for a full day of touring. Our first adventure will be visiting Cave Point, where we will view the picturesque limestone sea caves, the result of Lake Michigan’s relentless pounding against the limestone bluffs. We will then depart for Bailey’s Harbor, WI, where we will take a tour of the Bjorklunden Boynton Chapel; crafted in ancient Norwegian style, the Chapel is ornately decorated with hand-carved woodwork and 41 hand-painted murals. After seeing the artistic Chapel, we will depart for Sister Bay, WI, then have lunch at Al Johnson’s, an authentic Swedish family-owned restaurant where you can find goats grazing the sod roof. It’s quite a sight and it’s made this place one of the most famous restaurants in Door County. Inside the casual, carpeted dining room, young ladies in Scandinavian garb dish out limpa bread and Swedish meatballs. After the unbelievable experience of seeing goats walking around on top of a roof, we will take a guided tour of Seaquist Orchards, where there are acres of cherries, apples, raspberries and more, offering you a view of a working farm. We will then drive through Peninsula State Park, featuring rocky bluffs ascending over 150 feet. The park has a rich heritage, from Potawatomis and pioneers to a girls’ camp and state game farm. Next, we will explore Founder’s Square shopping and galleries and later eat dinner at a local restaurant. Our evening will be spent at the Peninsula Players Theater Show where Mother Nature provides a tranquil and memorable setting with a picturesque water view of the setting sun, while the Peninsula Players’ renowned artistic company provides an unforgettable theatrical experience. (B, L, D) Friday, August 18 On our last day of the trip, we will eat an early breakfast at the Resort then depart for Algoma, WI. Since Wisconsin is known for cheese, we will take an intriguing factory tour at Renard’s Cheese. We will learn about the family tradition of cheesemaking; discover why cheese curds squeak and why cheese is yellow; enjoy a 5-minute video of the cheese- making process and sample freshly-made cheese! Later we will depart for the largest city in the State of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. We will eat a German Buffet Lunch at Mader’s, where famous German dishes have satisfied hungry patrons for more than 100 years. Last but not least, we will depart for Racine, WI, where we will take a tour of Larsen’s Bakery, a multi- generational family-run traditional Danish bakery.