8/21 - Last Day in Door County

Being our last day up here we went to the few remaining places on our list. First was Cave Point, the place that was so busy on Saturday we couldn't find a parking place. Today was considerably less crowded but we found out why it's so popular.

Cave Point's caves

The limestone base of the peninsula forms low cliffs in this area and they've been undercut by the waters of Lake Michigan. The noise made by the water banging and sloshing into the caves makes it seem more like a rocky ocean shore. The Great Lakes are so big they might as well be called inland seas.

Swimming and jumping-into hole

There were a surprising number of people for a Monday. Quite a few were in the water which they'd reached either by jumping off the cliffs or by climbing down the rocks further along. The water is extremely clear so you can see the rocks on the bottom. A jumper we asked about the depth said it's about 8 or 9 feet and he hits the bottom every time he jumps. Don't think we'd do it even if we were his age. 

Downtown Sturgeon Bay

After seeing Cave Point, which didn't take long, we headed back down to Sturgeon Bay to the Door County Maritime Museum. It was full of interesting things about the area's history, mainly shipbuilding, and was well worth seeing. 

Tugboat 'John Purvis'

We wanted to take the tugboat tour but they weren't being done today, so all we got was a picture of it with the water of Sturgeon Bay in the background.  

Eclipse at this latitude was about 73%

We managed to catch a couple of glimpses of the eclipse through the clouds but it was mostly overcast during that period. The eclipse wasn't on our radar when this trip was planned or we would have arranged to get home in time. There are people from here who drove 12 hours to Wyoming to see it. Maybe we'll drive up to Ohio to see the one in 2024.

After the museum we headed back towards home, stopping off at a Wisconsin cheese specialty shop and also at Fat Louie's Olive Oil in Egg Harbor which we were aiming for yesterday when the fire happened.

Stella Maris Parish's church in Egg Harbor

Going through Egg Harbor we passed this beautiful church which is built of Door County limestone with what looks like pink granite between the limestone columns. This is another picture from Facebook because the one I took had more tree than building in it. Taking pictures while driving is always hit or miss.

Our week in Door County is now over. Tomorrow we'll be heading 200 miles south to Madison.