Our early morning risings the past few days finally caught up with us. Bob slept until 7:00 this morning and I slept until 8:30. That is amazing! It was raining when we went to bed last night and we could hear it on the roof. I think that helped to lull us to sleep and we slept well right on through the night. We had breakfast and did our usual morning routine. At 11:00. after packing a cooler of beverages and snacks, we loaded up the bag chairs to spend a day in Peninsula State Park–one of my all-time favorite places. It was hazy this morning with a temperature of 76 degrees. The winds were out of the NW blowing 18-20 mph. I had wanted to do some biking in the park on their fabulous bike trails, but the weather didn’t cooperate. Maybe we’ll have another opportunity on Saturday. We drove into Fish Creek to the entrance of the park which is on the northern end of town.
We paid our fee of $13 (out-of-state) and drove in.
Peninsula State Park was our favorite place to camp when we lived in Wisconsin so we are pretty familiar with it. We took Shoreline Rd. and stopped to look in Weborg and Tennison Bay campgrounds.
We wanted to see if the campsites were big enough for big rigs like ours. They had quite a few sites that could accommodate us, but they did not have water or sewer hookups. We’d have to arrive with a full water tank. One new amenity that we discovered on our drive through the park was a huge pumpout area with at least 5 stations for sewer pumpout. What a great idea! Many RVers would appreciate that!
We couldn’t tell if the campsites had 30 or 50 amp electrical hookups. We need 50 so that would be something we need to consider. Continuing on Shore Rd., we arrived at 1868 Eagle Bluff Lighthouse.
We lucked out today because the lighthouse was open for tours. Bob couldn’t ever remember being inside of this lighthouse, so we paid our $5 each and went inside.
A docent inside gave us the history of the family that lived in the lighthouse quarters and operated the light.
Seven brothers shared this bedroom.
This is the bedroom the mother and father shared. The bed is made of ropes that make the “mattress”. You can see the ropes under the quilt. The stick at the end of the bed tightens the ropes as needed to make a stiffer mattress. That’s where the saying “Good night, sleep tight” comes from. Of course, there is a chamber pot.
I continued up to the second floor using this iron staircase and continued to the top floor by myself.
At the top was the 3 1/2 order Fresnel lens that was closed off so that it was protected.
From the highest stair, I got a great view out of the window of the lake and the ground below.
After I climbed down and met Bob, We looked out at the water from the base of the lighthouse.
From there, we drove around the peninsula to Welckers Point. We got a good view of the waves crashing on the shore.
On the grounds there, we saw a brown bat condo. According to the sign, it houses up to 1000 bats that help eat unwanted insects.
Our plan was to spend some time at Nicolet Beach today. We needed to spend time by the water and hear the sound of the waves. We miss that!
It is a favorite of many! The Nicolet Beach Store was still there, but the restrooms and bike rental areas had been upgraded.
We set up our chairs on the grass by the beach. Close to the water it was very windy and slightly chilly, but the kids really enjoyed playing in the waves.
People were kayaking, boating, and jet skiing, even in the 3′ waves.
From where we sat, we could see the boats that were tied up in the protected area of Horseshoe Bay across the water from the beach. We used to love to anchor there near the island and out of the wind.
Anchored at the beach near where we were, were 2 fairly large boats rafted (tied) together. The NE winds were blowing right into the beach putting a huge strain on their anchors.
I had to test the water and it was pretty warm, compared to the chilly air.
Bob sat bundled up on the shore.
After about an hour, we packed up and left. The beach was pretty crowded for such a blustery bay.
On our way out, we checked out the Nicolet Bay Campground. It is a favorite of many because of its proximity to the beach. The campgrounds were not full, which is surprising for this time of year.
Farther down Shore Rd., we saw the newly built Eagle Observation Tower.
People had told us about it, but we were excited to see it for the first time ourselves.
It looked massive and sturdier than the last tower that was built in 1932. That tower was dismantled in 2016 because of safety concerns. (The very first tower was built in 1914.) The new tower was completed in May 2021. It is 15 ft. shorter than the last one, but stands 60 ft tall. The new tower has two viewing platforms and a ramp allowing disabled people, the elderly, strollers, and small children easy access to the top.
As some of you know, Bob is not too keen on heights, so I climbed alone. I took the stairs to the first observation platform.
The view was amazing!
I climbed up to the top platform and the view in all directions was breathtaking.
I could see Horseshoe Island, Chambers Island, and the northern coastline towards Ephraim and Sister Bay.
I could also see Bob on the ground who looked like an ant below.
I descended the tower using the ramp which wove its way through the trees to the ground.
Although the skies cleared quite a bit and some of the smokey haze was gone, I couldn’t see the Michigan shoreline. On a clear day, I probably could have. We left there and made one last stop in the park at Eagle Panorama.
From that vantage point, I could see Welcker’s Point along with Chambers, Horseshoe, and the Strawberry Islands. We could also see the boats at anchor by the beach.
A nice family took our picture there for us.
We took some of the interior park roads as we exited the park in the hopes of spotting some deer, but we had no luck there. The drive on these roads was very pretty.
Back in Fish Creek, we stopped at the Not Licked Yet custard stand.
It was a busy place, but I waited my turn in line to get my favorite ice cream treat–a root beer float.
We made one last stop before going back to Bailey’s Harbor. We wanted to look at the huge yachts that were docked at the marinas in Fish Creek. A 60-70 ft. Hatteras was docked at the Town Dock. We also noticed that the Town Dock has been redone since we had been here years ago.
A 70-80 ft. Viking sportfish yacht was docked at Alibi Dock. They were very impressive.
We got back to the campground at 3:00 and enjoyed the sunshine, out of the wind with Auggie. Auggie lay in the grass soaking up the sun.
We had chicken on the grill for dinner. It seems to be a rare occasion lately that we are eating at home tonight, but it was good to stay put for the evening. We had a great day in the park!