An Afternoon in Sheboygan

This is the second post of a travel series of our anniversary getaway to Door County Wisconsin.  To start at the beginning, go HERE.

In last week's travel post I started a new series of our anniversary trip to Door County, Wisconsin.  On our way to Door County we decided to spend the night in Sheboygan Wisconsin.  Sheboygan is a town right on the lakeshore of Lake Michigan, about an hour north of Milwaukee. 

My husband and I LOVED Sheboygan.  In fact, we loved it more than Door County and are now planning a trip back next summer with the grandkids.  It is such a clean city, everything seems brand spanking new, the beaches are beautiful and they reminded me of the white sand beaches in Pensacola Beach Florida.  

We only had one afternoon and evening to spend in Sheboygan, and we did a lot, starting with lunch downtown at Field to Fork, and then a visit to Bookworm Gardens.  After the gardens, we headed over to Kohler-Andrae State Park.

This park is so beautiful!  It is mostly known for its beaches and sand dunes, but there is camping, hiking, biking, and a nature center too.

I grew up in Milwaukee and spent a lot of summers on Lake Michigan beaches, but this beach was so different.  The water was so warm and clean, and there were no dead fish on the beach like there is in Milwaukee.

It was a pretty hot and humid weekend so we weren't in the mood for much hiking, but we did walk a small part of the Dunes Cordwalk.  This is a two mile trail that runs parallel to the Lake Michigan shoreline.  You can see active and stabilized sand dunes, internal wetlands, and a dry-mesic white pine forest on this trail.

We loved the views of the natural sand dunes with the Lake Michigan backdrop on this trail.

Anyone who knows me knows I love birds and I am an avid bird watcher, so I was excited to go on the Black River Marsh Boardwalk.  This trail promised me waterfowl, but it ended up being a total disappointment.  The marsh was so thick with cattails you couldn't even see the water!  If you can't see the water, you can't see birds.

Even though there was no water, it is a short, nice boardwalk trail and is very interesting in its own way.

This was about my only view of water.  It made me wonder why the park allowed it to get this way, and if it was good to have it so thick with cattails or if they should have dredged it a long time ago.  I don't know.  It was kinda sad to me, so I checked with AI and no, it is not good at all.  Here's what AI had to say about it:

No, it is not okay for ponds to get too full of cattails

. While a small, managed stand of cattails can provide habitat and filter nutrients, an uncontrolled overgrowth can lead to serious problems for the pond's ecosystem and your enjoyment of it. 

Negative consequences of excessive cattail growth

• Reduced open water: Cattails have dense root systems called rhizomes that spread laterally and can quickly take over shallow areas. Over time, they can even creep into deeper waters, causing open water to shrink.
• Accelerated aging (eutrophication): As cattails die and decay each year, they add a large amount of organic matter to the pond bottom. This buildup of nutrient-rich muck, or sludge, accelerates the natural aging process of the pond, making it shallower and more hospitable to nuisance algae and weeds.
• Decreased oxygen levels: A thick growth of cattails can block sunlight from reaching the water and inhibit wind from circulating oxygen into the pond. Low oxygen can stress or kill fish and other aquatic life.
• Blocked infrastructure: Extensive cattail growth can clog important pond structures like drain pipes, emergency spillways, and irrigation intakes, potentially leading to flooding or maintenance issues.
• Reduced biodiversity: By forming a dense monoculture, cattails can outcompete and crowd out other, more desirable native plants. This reduces the overall plant and animal diversity of the pond ecosystem.
• Interfered recreational use: Overgrown cattails can make it difficult to access the water for activities like fishing, boating, and swimming.
• Increased pest habitat: Dense, stagnant cattail stands can create ideal breeding conditions for mosquito larvae. They also provide cover for other pests like rats and snakes. 

So according to AI it sounds to me like the park should have taken care of their cattail problem a long time ago before it got so out of control.

On the other hand, it was cool walking through such tall reeds.

I never saw any waterfowl since there wasn't any water, but I did see some pretty monarch butterflies enjoying this Purple Loosestrife...another unwanted, invasive species. 

After our visit to Kohler-Andrae State Park, we headed back into town and got a great view of Sheboygan's most famous hotel The Blue Harbor Resort.  I looked into staying here for our anniversary, but my frugality wasn't comfortable with it.  The hotel has an amazing waterpark, but I knew we wouldn't get our money's worth out of it as I can't swim so the only thing I would enjoy would be the Lazy River.  I would love to come back with the grandkids someday, then I'd feel like I got my moneys worth because they would get a lot of use out of the waterpark.

I ended up choosing a boutique hotel called The Watershed Hotel, which ended up being the perfect place to spend the night for my husband and I.  The room was large and decorated in a modern style, which is our preference and we had a beautiful river view.

Our first stop back in town was to head to the beach and check out the old schooner Lottie Copper which sank in 1894.  It was recovered and put on display in Delan Park for people to walk through and examine.

It really is amazing walking through the remains of this ship because you get a understanding of how large the ship was...I kept telling myself "And I'm only in the bowels of the ship, there was an entire top deck plus masts".

This was an amazing experience but we were disappointed that the information about the ship was impossible to read.  The glass was very old and weathered, making it unreadable.  Only at the end of our tour did we find one sign that was readable.

This was the only sign we could read.

Now we were off to check out the lighthouse, but right across the street we spotted this house, garden, and waterfall.  We were so impressed, we had to walk over there and check it out.

It was such a gorgeous home.  It looked like they modernized an old brick home, but in a tasteful, appropriate way.  I can't even imagine the cost of the renovations, or what the value of this home must be.  Whenever I see places like this I wonder who lives there and what do they do for a living; do you do the same?

There is a very long concrete and stone breakwater in Sheboygan that you can walk out on if you dare.  At the end of it is the Sheboygan Breakwater Lighthouse.  The inside is not open for tours, but you can walk around the outside.

The lighthouse is 55 feet tall with a working fog horn.  It was built in 1915.

Even though the breakwater is very wide and safe, I was not able to make it to the end.  I was fine, when there were stones on one side, but when the stone breakwater ended and it was just concrete, I got very dizzy and nervous and had to turn around.  I told my husband to just go on without me, but he didn't want to,

The way the breakwater is surrounded on sides by such deep water was just terrifying to a non-swimmer like me.

But I felt fine when the stone barrier was there.

Sheboygan has a beautiful riverwalk filled with great restaurants and shops.  I wish I had better photos, but the sun was so harsh and strong it was hard to take good pictures.  I did snap a photo of the back of Parker John's where we ended up having dinner.

I wasn't hungry for ice cream, but I thought this little ice cream shop was adorable.

We did get a close up of the amazing Blue Harbor Resort.

And here is what I had for dinner:  Loaded Macaroni and Cheese.  Not part of my usual diet, I know, but boy was it good.  It was so rich, I was only able to eat a small part of it.  In fact, both my hubby and I ended up having the leftovers for lunch TWICE while in Door County.  This easily could feed four to six people.  Why do they make serving sizes so large?  Anyway, we got a lot of meals out of this, so it was a good value.  Would you believe it even has BBQ pork inside?  Yum! It was delicious.  I would definitely order this again.  Hubby ordered a burger and enjoyed his meal too!

And that concludes our day in Sheboygan Wisconsin.  The next morning, we were up early and headed for Door County!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

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Bookworm Gardens