Wine making in School? - Door Peninsula Winery

It seems like you cannot drive more than 10 minutes in any direction without coming across a winery with a tour and tasting in Door County. When I was there in May, it felt overwhelming to choose which tour would be the best one. Ultimately, the decision was made based on price because I was on a graduation trip and needed to stretch my dollars until I started my new job. 

However, penny pinching isn’t the only reason to choose Door Peninsula Winery. The tour features local history and award-winning wines. In fact, even if you do not typically drink wine, the tour still has interesting information to offer. I only have two pictures from this tour. I thought I had taken several, but it looks like I was just living in the moment.

On approach to the Door Peninsula Winery, I noticed a bell hanging over what appeared to be the front entrance of the building.  During our visit, we learned the building was once a schoolhouse that the winery built around.  The tour starts with the history of the building and relics from the locals who attended school there. After the bit of fun schoolhouse history, the tour moves on into the brewery to discuss the process of winemaking and distilling. Our tour was mainly women having a Girls Day Out. My dad was the only man on the tour excluding the tour guide in training.

Before the winery added on to the original schoolhouse 

If you are traveling with children, you can make the tour educational by focusing on what attending school was like in the small community. You can also incorporate lessons on food chemistry and preservation.

We opted to do our tasting before the tour. Every beverage we tasted was delicious and the bartender was knowledgeable and advised us on the order in which we should try our choices. If we tried to order something with a strong flavor, he told us to wait and save it for the end or else we would not be able to taste anything else. He was also able to tailor his advice to our individual palates, so that we would have the best tasting experience.

Cost

Tour

The tour cost us $3 per person when we went in May 2023. However, the website now states that tours are free. Pricing may be seasonal. If you would like a glass of wine to enjoy during the tour it is a $7 upgrade.

Tasting

The wine tasting is free and we enjoyed approximately 1 ounce sized samples of 5 beverages each. Do bring cash for tips for the bartenders. The bartenders work hard to quickly serve a bar full of people.  

The Distillery tasting is an upgrade that we opted not to do. The website currently states it is $18 and includes a shot glass and 2 oz of chocolate covered cherries.

Souvenirs

There is a pressed penny machine downstairs by the bathroom. At the time of our visit, it was an old fashioned machine that required a penny and quarters.

The store had many fun drinking vessels for sale as well as other souvenirs.

Pressed Penny Machine near the restrooms

Accessibility

The tour begins by descending a flight of stairs. If you need an elevator, call ahead to confirm accessibility because I do not remember seeing an elevator near the start of the tour. I may have walked by it while focused on something else and just missed it.

Website

https://store.dcwine.com/winery/

 

Door County Time Machine - The Ridges Sanctuary

The Ridges Sanctuary is a great place to learn about the natural history of Door County.  Walking through the property is like walking through a living exhibit showcasing how landscapes change with time.

The landscape is a pattern of Ridges and Swales and each set of ridge and swale is a different type of habitat full of native flora and fauna. Wait! What is a “Ridge” and a “Swale?” Have you ever noticed the ripples waves make in the sand as they crash on land then retreat into the sea or lake? Ridges and swales are a much larger version of those ripples. As the water of Lake Michigan shrink back, it leaves behind ripples in the landscape that become home to a variety of native plants and animals. The ridges are the high points of those ripples, and the swales are the lows. Trees grow on the ridges and the swales hold water for fish, dragonflies, and frogs.

Hiking on one of the ridges

On the boardwalk over one of the swales

The sanctuary is like a time machine because the ridge and swale furthest from the shore once looked like the ridge and swale closest to the shore. As you walk inland, the land becomes drier and the plants change and the type of creatures who live there change.

If you are interested in lighthouses or naval navigation, there is a set of range lights located on the property. The upper range light is located inland at the top of a house and the lower range light was once located on the shore of Lake Michigan. The lower range is still standing, but the shore has moved further away, so it is now also located inland. The purpose of the range lights is to give ships a guide to safely navigate into Bailey Harbor. Captains line up the upper and lower lights, so they are in a straight line to avoid shipwreck.   

Mom and I with the light from the upper range light and in front of the lower range light house

You can explore the sanctuary on your own or join a tour. My parents and I opted for the tour. Our guide identified plants and animals, informed us on scientific projects happening in the sanctuary, and gave us the historical background for the area. We were also able to go into the house of the upper range light. The knowledge our guide shared with us is well worth the extra $5 per person.

Cost:

$5 to walk the trails solo or $10 for a guided hike with a knowledgeable volunteer.

Tips for visiting:

·        Bring your lunch. There is no food to buy on the property, but there is an area outside Cooks-Albert Fuller Nature Center with tables and benches to enjoy a packed lunch or you can go to a nearby park and eat on the shore.

·        Comfortable walking shoes. The tour is about 1.5 - 2 hours and I recorded 1.7 miles on my Garmen watch.

·        Bring a water bottle. There are no drinking fountains in nature, so bring your own hydration.

Looking out the window of the upper light. The lower light is at the end of  boardwalk.

Accessibility

There is boardwalk from the quarter mile between the nature center and range lights and also between the upper and lower range lights. If you need the use of a wheelchair, there is a Trackchair, or all terrain wheel chair, available at the nature center. Reservations need to be made 1 week in advance and can only be used on the designated trails. The Trackchair is free to use with either a membership or the $5 trail fee. Find out more here: https://www.ridgessanctuary.org/trackchair/

Website:  https://www.ridgessanctuary.org/

One of the frogs that calls the swales home.