A Weekend Away

View from our cabin

I spent the weekend in Door County WI.  My parents rented an absolutely beautiful cabin in the woods, about a half mile away from Lake Michigan.  We enjoyed some much needed time away and time together as a family.  Sadly, my son and his girlfriend could not join us and neither could my husband.  They were missed, but they were fulfilling obligations that they had at home.

We spent our first night at the cabin.  I cooked a fish dinner for all of us, ending the meal with ice cream and Door County cherry ice cream sauce.  Door County WI is famous for their cherries, so when in Rome……  I stocked up before we left on frozen cherries, cherry salsa, cherry pie filling, cherry jam and wine (not cherry).

Thankfully, although my dad would disagree, there was not access to local television.  There was a Packer game on Thursday night and he missed it.  Being a native of Green Bay, the Packer games are very important to him, even if they are having a losing streak.  Instead, we played Monopoly, something we haven’t done in years and dear old dad kicked our asses.  A win that he would not have been able to claim had the Packer game been accessible.  He proved that some things never change, his ability to win any board game is one of them.

Door County, like any tourist trap, is filled with shops of all kinds.  We spent our Friday, driving up the coast and stopping at shops at our leisure, mostly browsing, but I did buy a couple things to bring back.  We went to a wonderful fish restaurant for lunch, enjoying a bowl of whitefish chowder.  No, it does not taste like clam chowder, but to have clam chowder on the shores of Lake Michigan would not be very authentic, so whitefish it is!

Every year my mom and I take my youngest to Door Shakespeare, an outdoor theatre that performs Shakespeare in the summer.  Friday night we went again and saw the Merry Wives of Windsor.  It was a lot of fun and the play was hilarious.  They tend to modernize that plays they perform, so while they are using the play that was written, as is, they are set in modern times.  For me, that change makes them easier to follow.  Because let’s be honest, Shakespeare can be difficult to comprehend.

Door Shakespeare Theatre

Our final full day started out with a rousing game of mini golf, another Door County staple.  Since there were 6 of us, we broke up into teams.  I learned that I am terrible at golf, of any kind.  I felt like I was doing ok until my mom told me that all but 2 of the holes were par 2.  It didn’t matter though, we had fun and laughed a lot.  Our day ended with smores in the indoor fire place.

I write about this because time with family is so important.  We get one go around on this big blue rock. We need to embrace all the time we can with those we love.  Personally, I have been trying to be more intentional with family time by accepting invitations when they come my way and by extending them.  It took me a long time to get the point in my life where I truly know that family is everything.  They are always there for you no matter what.