After visiting Holy Hill on a blustery cloudy cold morning, the sun came out and the temperatures really warmed up: just in time for a short hike in Lion's Den Gorge!
Lion's Den Gorge is a 73 acre Nature Preserve in Ozaukee County. You have your choice of several different hiking trails. You can view a marshland, take a handicapped accessible trail through the woods, or enjoy a half mile of 90-100 foot bluffs overlooking Lake Michigan...which is what we did! Just look at these views!
The trail started on this well-maintained boardwalk.
Very shortly we were treated to this beautiful view!
The trail we took also went through a shady forest.
There were pretty bridges to cross.
Then it was time to descend down all these steps into the gorge! These steps lead you right to the beach!
It was fun getting off the trail and getting so close to the water. Here is a short video where you can hear the waves of Lake Michigan.
Now it was time to climb back up those stairs (which was not as fun as climbing down) to get back on the trail and back to our car. We decided to take the handicap accessible trail back because it was shorter and easier. This trail is straight and flat, but doesn't offer the cliff side views of the bluff trail.
The map below shows all the trails at the nature preserve. The curving trail running alongside Lake Michigan was the one we took at the beginning. This is the trail with the views, but both trails will take you to the gorge. We then took the one-way trail (steps) down into the gorge, but on our return trip we took the handicap accessible trail (which is the straight line) back.
By now it was late afternoon and it was time to reach our final destination for the weekend: Port Washington. We booked two nights at this gorgeous historic hotel located downtown. Once we parked our car, we never moved it again until it was time to go home for everything was in walking distance.
The Port Hotel is in-between a bed and breakfast and an actual hotel. You're not forced to mingle with other guests like you are at a typical bed and breakfast. My husband and I appreciate that as we are not fond of small talk and prefer our privacy. But the rooms and feel of the hotel had all the amenities of a bed and breakfast place. It's not a hotel, because there is no front desk clerk. Your room is open when you arrive and the key is waiting in the room for you. If you have any issues, you have a phone number you can call, and we had an issue...we were given the wrong key! So I called the phone number and they came right over with the correct key.
Other than the key incident, the rest of the weekend was wonderful. We loved our romantic, vintage room and took advantage of the fireplace even though it was late summer still. 😍
The first thing we did after checking in, was walk a few feet to the main business street to enjoy a fish fry. I googled "Best Fish Fry in Port Washington" and The Steerage kept coming up, so we went there. It was quite pricey compared to what we normally would pay for dinner-for-two but it was delicious and I couldn't even eat my entire portion, so we split it for lunch the next day with some smoked salmon I purchased at a local deli.
The Steerage is quite the experience. It is located in the basement of this chiropractor office, so it is not handicap accessible. It was really cool going down this long, dark, narrow staircase and seeing these nautical decorations and photos of the history of this old shipping town.
We always eat early when traveling, so it wasn't that crowded, although there were people around the bar and the booths were all full. They sat us right next to a party of four, which was kinda awkward, as we didn't have much privacy, but I didn't want to ask for a different table.
You can see how close we were to the other party in the photo below. It was hard to even get a photo of my hubby without getting the person in the photo right next to him.
Hubby ordered a clam chowder soup in addition to his fish fry but he didn't think it was that great so I don't recommend their soup.
The fish fry on the other hand was the best! I highly agree with the google reviews. You got two large portions of Panko-encrusted cod (now you understand why I only had room for one!) and a generous amount of steak fries.
It's always hard taking photos of restaurants because I want to respect people's privacy. I did get a photo of the bar because it's only staff mostly visible in this photo, but the booths, which are on the opposite side of the bar, were loaded with people so I didn't want to take a photo. There were cool vintage booths though, made with solid wood and had tall backs. They have a great video on their website HERE where you can see the entire restaurant beginning with its location, down the dark stairway and into their establishment.
Well I hope you enjoyed my little hike in Lion's Den Gorge and hearing about The Port Hotel and The Steerage restaurant. Next week I'll be back with tales of the rest of our visit to this charming little Old Shipping Town of Port Washington.
Ageless Style is a monthly style challenge and link up for women of all ages. Each month we pick a different theme and style an outfit based on that theme. This month's theme is: ""What Would You Wear to a Fall Event?" and was picked by Cathy
This month Cathy challenged the ladies of Ageless Style to pick an outfit that you would wear to a fall event like "taking kids to a pumpkin patch, apple picking, or a hayride; hiking or driving through places with changing leaves, football games, bazaars and festivals: whatever happens in your part of the country."
The only activity I do from that list is hiking or driving to see fall foliage, and ya'll know this gal does a lot of hiking! Hiking is my favorite activity and hiking in the fall in the best: the weather is cooler, there are no bugs, and the beautiful fall foliage is amazing!
Now, I normally wear active wear when I go hiking, but because of Cathy's challenge, and the fact that we went hiking straight after church, I had regular clothes on for this hike. I tried to pick an outfit that was both church appropriate (we attend a very casual church) and an outfit I could easily wear hiking.
I opted for loose, lightweight olive green utility pants from Target, a long, loose white sweater with a tank underneath for extra warmth, a lightweight scarf, and some fashionable boots.
I did have jewelry on since I was hiking after church, but I would normally not wear jewelry hiking. I wore a necklace in case I got warm and had to take my scarf off, but it also peeks out a bit with the scarf on too. I picked a multi strand bracelet and drop brown stone earrings.
I cannot recommend these Target utility pants enough. They are so comfy I can't stop wearing them. I am so over skinny jeans, and although I still have a few pair of skinnies in my closet, I've been slowly replacing them with other styles of jeans.
I was perfectly comfortable hiking in this outfit. The loose, lightweight clothing allowed me to have plenty of movement underneath and they kept me warm yet not too hot.
The boots I wore are the "Crown Vintage Marley Bootie" from DSW. Now, I would normally not wear fashion boots while hiking, I always wear my Merrell Hiking Boots. But, I made an exception since it was a fashion challenge, and I was completely awed by how comfortable these boots were! They held up well for the entire hike. They have a really good rubber grip on their soles too to prevent slipping.
Finally, here's a short video showing all the beautiful foliage we saw on our hiking adventure. Enjoy.
Be sure to check out what all the other ladies are wearing and link up with below too!
This is the final post of a travel series to Shenandoah National Park. If you'd like to start at the beginning, go HERE. Day Two is HERE, and Day Three is HERE, and Day Four, Part One is HERE.
Our very last hike in Shenandoah National Park was our hardest hikes, but it was one of the most beautiful hikes of them all. The weather was absolute perfection: a sunny, 70 degree day. We were on the quest to see two more waterfalls: Doyle River Falls and Jones Run Falls, but we had no idea the entire trail would be filled with lots of waterfalls!
The Doyles River Trailhead is a beautiful trek through the wilderness that takes you along cool, clear mountain streams to two unique waterfalls. There is one stream crossing where you have to walk on rocks to cross.
If you only go to the Doyles River Falls (we went farther to see Jones Run Falls) the trail is a 3.3 mile round trip hike. It is rated as Moderate, although I would probably rate it as Difficult because on the return trip, you are hiking straight uphill all the way. However, we did just hike a long hike in the morning too, so our energy could have been depleted from that. It takes 2 hours and 15 minutes to hike and has an elevation gain of 1,189 feet.
There are so many smaller waterfalls along the trail where one could stop and take a dip and get refreshed!
This is Upper Doyles Falls. It has two levels or drops, and of course my crazy adventurous son had to climb on top of it.
This waterfall is only 28 feet tall (it looks so much taller than that, doesn't it?), but it so beautiful!
I always enjoy waterfalls where you can get to the base and look up rather than from an observation deck above.
We saw lots of wildflowers on this trail, like this perennial geranium.
This was one of my most favorite photos my husband took of our vacation. I just love how it captures the scenic beauty of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the distance with the water in the foreground.
There were so many great rock formations on this trail!
This is the Lower Doyles River Falls. This one is taller, at 63 feet.
The lower falls may be taller, but I was far more impressed with the beauty of the upper falls.
Well at this point, you could turn around and go back the way you came, but my hubby and son really wanted to see Jones Run Falls. I wasn't sure that was a great idea, as we were pretty spent by now, but this was our last day in the park and we wanted to make the most of it, so we pushed on.
I couldn't believe all the beautiful, moss covered rocks on this trail.
The Jones Run Trail coming from the Doyles River Fall Trail was BEAUTIFUL. It was very rugged however, and muddy, and there were a couple of treacherous areas to get through. As always, I was grateful to have my poles for stability.
I always feel when I'm hiking these type of trails that I'm in a magical fairyland. Oh, this trail was stunning! Water flowing, moss covered rocks everywhere...it was breath taking! And did I mention how peaceful it was? We hardly ran into anyone on the trail and felt we had the whole forest to ourselves!
Although we were so tired, the extra miles were worth it because Jones Run Falls is beautiful. It is only 42 feet tall, but it is like a wide semi circle and the water flows gracefully over black rock.
We were so proud we made it!
If you only wanted to hike the Jones Run Falls Trailhead, it is a 3.2 mile round trip hike, rated as Moderate, with an elevation gain of 1,045 feet. It takes 2 hours and 30 minutes to complete.
There is also a loop called the "Browns Gap Hike" where you can see both the Doyle River and Jones Run falls. That hike is a 6.5 mile circuit hike, rated as Moderately Strenuous, and takes 7 hours of hiking time with an elevation gain of 1,400 feet. We didn't have seven hours, so we just hiked to the waterfalls and back. I think we added about two miles to our trip, making the total 5.3 miles or more.
We couldn't believe all the other stunning waterfalls that were on this trail. I swear, the whole trail is nothing but waterfalls, and only two had names. My son asked "I wonder why they name some falls and not others?"
If you love water, waterfalls, and magical forests, this is the hike for you! I think it's also a great hike to get away from the crowds, as not a lot of people were on this trail.
And finally, here is a video of Jones Run Falls so you can get a little glimpse of the moving water that photos just can't capture.
Well, that concludes my Shenandoah National Park travel series. I regret to inform you that I don't know when or if I'll be taking another vacation. We usually take a fall vacation but this year with the uncertainty of the times and the rising gas prices, we are hesitant to plan another road trip. It makes me sad. I long for the $2.00 a gallon gas and world peace we had before the current administration took over. We do hope that we will at least be able to drive to Indiana in late summer and early fall to spend some time with the grandkids, but with the downward spiral our country is taking, who knows if that will be possible. I pray that at least that little bit of joy will not be taken from me too.
Hoping for Better Times Ahead! Have A Great Day! Amy
