Travels to the "Door"... another Grand Adventure!

 

Memoirs of a Geezer

  

Reflections and Observations -- A Bright Passage from the Fantasies of Youth to Illuminations of Advanced Maturity!

This Episode:      Travels to the "Door"...   Another Grand Adventure!

As a privileged white geezer male citizen of the planet we currently inhabit, I am additionally privileged to be afforded opportunities to abandon the rigors of daily toil in order to engage in a bit of holiday time...  you know, vacations, time off, periods of leisure activity...  (Slothfulness?...  Nah!)

Somewhat recently, my wife, SweetHeart, our beautiful daughter, Bethie, and two of our incomparable grandchildren, Seany and Phi Phi, journeyed north to savor the delights of Door County (hereinafter referred to as "DC" in this writing!), that remarkable region at the tip of Wisconsin's geological "Thumb." 

My own father and mother took their children to DC when the writer was just 8, perhaps 10 years old.  (I can't rightly recall, but perhaps my elder brother will remember our ages at the time of our inaugural visit.).  My father, having been a Special Agent in the FBI, and having spent much of his illustrious career as a trainer of police and sheriff's departments (and their inhabitants, of course!) throughout the Midwest, was often feted by commercial and civic mavens in the form of special rates on such things as lodgings, to cite a single example.  

I've enjoyed the flavors of DC since early childhood.  SweetHeart and I have been reprising our "concerts" in and to the Door for more than 40 years, that is, whenever time and finances allow us to do so.  

On our most recent expedition, we witnessed and ascended the newly-constructed, truly magnificent Eagle Tower in Peninsula State Park, a park that is to many residents and tourists alike the jewel of Wisconsin's State Park system.  With the readers' kind indulgence, a brief history of the new tower and its construction:

Members of the Friends of Peninsula State Park raised $750,000 to rebuild the tower after deconstruction of the old tower was announced in 2015.  (The actual cost was ultimately significantly higher!)

The DNR closed the tower in May of 2015 due to structural and safety concerns.  After an unsuccessful fight to save the tower it was deconstructed in September of 2016, leaving a hole at the top of Eagle Bluff, and in the hearts of generations of park visitors.  But the FOPSP quickly turned eyes to the future, launching a fundraising campaign to raise necessary funds to rebuild the tower. That was the first estimate for the cost of reconstruction.  (Aerial view of ramp and tower, at left!)

The DNR determined that if a new tower was going to be built it had to comply with the *Americans with Disabilities Act, calling for a new design that would provide equal access to all individuals. That sent designs in a drastically different direction.  Hence the spectacular RAMP system (partially pictured above, right)!  

New signage (soon to be installed) will remind people of the long journey to build the third, 60-foot tall and 95-step version of Eagle Tower (the first was built in 1914, the second in 1932), and one of many features that makes this park truly special.  But the heart of the Eagle Tower experience still comes at the top, one that requires no interpretation.  (Readers are encouraged to experience the climb and the view themselves!)

No journey or expedition is complete, nor worth its possibly tedious recounting, without a bit of pictorial foolishness!  (But that may come a bit later in these proceedings...  if we can discover whose camera was used to make the photographs!  Oh, wait, look to the left...  SweetHeart helps already exhausted husband climb the first of 95 steps...  made to the 2nd step prior to taking a short nap!  It's Geezerhood, you see!)

Bethie generously provided the cost of this year's lodgings -- The Open Hearth Lodge in "rural" Sister Bay.   (YoYo the dog was one of our companions, and the owners and staff made him quite welcome!)  In addition, she engaged a power boat from a rental service in Sister Bay.  Bethie performed superbly on the wake board, leaping gracefully into the skies from the churning wake!, while Seany did equally superbly on water skis.  After a couple of aborted attempts, PhiPhi rose from the waters of Ellison Bay on the wake board and also performed beautifully.   I piloted the vessel for all three aquatic athletes, something I hadn't done for many years previous to this occasion.  (It comes back to one, sort of like riding a scooter, or falling off a two-wheeler!)

Once again, during this visit, we dined and feasted lavishly...  Wild Tomato for pizza and salad, Julie's at the Park, a fish boil at The Postoffice in Ephraim, not to mention ice cream from Wilson's, gelato from The Creamery, breakfast and great coffee from Blue Horse in Fish Creek.   (Where's LeRoy??)  

Oh yes, lest one forgets!  We saw a live theatre play at Northern Sky Theatre in the aforementioned park.  It was not a particularly memorable performance of Whatever Happened to...  (someone's name or some such like that...).  Some of us, perhaps all of us,  enjoyed certain parts ofthe performance, and it's always interesting to witness live theatre, in spite of its content and story line.  Could have benefitted from some stage props, etc.  E.g.  An image of the fancy green car owned and driven by the eponymous but unseen character, perhaps a bit of football paraphernalia, maybe an image of a tavern, a farm scene...   All could have been accomplished via posters or projected images...  just a thought...  I don't claim to be a playwright or set designer, just an unschooled and erstwhile critic of the non-professional ilk!  

[That's a very fine image of Seany, Bethie and PhiPhi at right (along with perhaps an odd passer-by / interloper)!  At the play, there were two people just behind a foursome photo of SweetHeart, Bethie and Grandkids (not shown in this piece), but the pair seemed interested in being immortalized on film!  If they inquire, I'll send them a copy for a modest fee, plus postage, of course!...  These things aren't cheap!!]

(* A Special Note:   Our beautiful daughter, Alie, she a PhD professor at Marquette University, was and is a great supporter of the Americans with Disabilities Act.  Alie worked with her and our dear friend, wheelchair user Larry Keller, to investigate first-hand if various features of the Act were being appropriately interpreted and placed into common practice!  Prior to earning her PhD degree from the University of Wisconsin - Madison, she played a major leading role at a prominent disabilities organization during the time the ADA Amendments Act was being developed; the act was passed in 2008!).  

(Please Note:   One hopes to be back soon-ish with another edition of "Memoirs of a Geezer."  Many of our revered readers may wish to keep eyes on the site in rabid anticipation of the next remarkably fine posting, chronicling the amazing adventures of the perpetrator and his beloved companions!  The gorgeous photo exemplifying the notion of "being back," was created by the superb eye of ace photographer, SweetHeart!)

Humbly Submitted, 08-30-2021 --  Joel K.