Day 3 - Exploring and Beach Day in Sheboygan

Due to some unforeseen circumstances we are forced to stay in Sheboygan until at least Monday.  In the morning we made breakfast on the boat again and did some shopping.  We had to pick up some supplies and found a local Walmart.  On the way back we decided to try out a pizza place that was mentioned to us by some permanent boaters here.  The place was called Fay's Pizza and was very good. I would defiantly recommend it.

We spent the rest of the day playing on the beach and enjoying the waves. Around noon we prepared the dinghy for the trip over to the beach. The wave height was about 2 - 3 footers, and with four people and a boat full of beach items we were bouncing and splashing around pretty good. In fact on our way back it seemed to be worse as we caught air in the dinghy a couple of times.

  Peyton immediately jumped in as we came into the beach.  After he went in the water he helped me pull the boat to shore.  Susan and I pulled it up to the beach, which means picking it up and carrying it being careful not to drag it on the sand.  After getting the boat up onto the shore we decided that we need a hard bottom dinghy verses the inflatable bottom we have, then we would not have to be so careful.  The dinghy also has a 9.9 horse older Johnson on it, so it is pretty heavy. Picking up is necessary because repeated abuse from the sand could cause leaking over time.Once at the beach the kids had a good time. Peyton and Pierce enjoyed the waves and swimming in the lake.

After the beach we decided to go to town and check out two bars in town.  The 8th Street Ale Haus was our first stop.  This place was quite nice, 30 tap beers and great service.  They also had a full service restaurant as well. We should have eaten there, but I wanted to check out the original Legend Larry's.  The wing sauce here is award winning and world famous.  The National Buffalo Wing event has awarded Legend Larry's sauces year over year.  The wing eating contest has used their sauce for the wing eating contest in Buffalo NY for a few years in a row now.  One of my friends from college has married into the family and started his own bar in Green Bay.  I have to admit I was not impressed at all with the wings here in Sheboygan. They were not meaty at all (much better wings in GB I must say).

The weather this week is not the greatest for crossing. The wind direction continues to switch and it is very windy.  We will have to figure out what to do.  If we do not go across we will be going north or south; not sure yet, but only time will tell I guess.

Day 2 - Saturday July 20, 2012

Waking up on vacation!!!   Always RIGHT!!!!  After a long night, the boys didn't sleep in as long as I would have liked, and of course Appa was right on schedule with her 5AM wake up call (thanks Paul for taking her out this morning!), but waking up on the boat in a new city is always nice.  On the dog's second potty break, Peyton and I were on the main berth listening to the most horrible sounds of birds.  For the life of us, we couldn't believe the cackling that we heard outside the boat.  We are used to waking up to the sound of sea gulls either flying around, or in some cases enjoying a fish on our bow, but these noises were truly unique to us.  It even sounded like some of the birds were laughing.   When Paul returned he asked us if we heard the birds.  We both responded with a resolute YES, and asked what was going on out there!!!   He laughed as he began to explain that there was a device on the dock that is motion activated with fake birds rotating on a rod and making these horrible noises!    I guess what a great way to keep the sea gulls away, but lucky us it is right next to our boat!

After filling our bellies with breakfast on the boat, we were off to investigate the marina, pool and showers in order to get our bearings.   We are staying at Skipper Buds Harbor Center Marina, which is the main marina here in Sheboygan.  They have nice and clean showers, which is always a major plus when staying on the boat, and the pool area is quite nice.  They have a great ship's store that is geared towards kids, with cheap candy galore!!   Peyton and Pierce had eyes wide open when going in there, and even tried to rope us in to buying candy and ice-cream at 10AM...  for those of you  that know me, there was no way that was going to happen!

Then off to the city to check out all the fun things we could do.   I knew from Sheboygan's tourist site that they have a farmer's market every Saturday, so that was my first goal.   We drove a short distance in the truck to find a row of easy up's near a park.   As we got out and approached the place, we quickly found out that we were in fact not at the farmer's market but found the art fair.   Once a year, this town puts on a arts weekend festival at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center.   We decided to check it out and let the kids run a little bit, unfortunately Pierce didn't really want anything to do with it.   After only getting 8 hours of sleep the night before (he is used to 10-12 on average) he was quickly crumpling into a whining mess of a kid.  Needless to say we quickly walked the art fair, and saw some truly amazing works of art.   If only my pocket book could handle a piece of art that cost around $700 I would have brought home some amazing pictures, however I profess to being a cheap skate, so we bought some spicy nuts and headed off to try to find the farmers market.

The boys began the daily hunger game, and we quickly found out that they didn't eat enough in the morning.  After a constant "I'm hungry" for about 30 minutes we decided to stop for an early lunch.  Paul, always the coffee connoisseur, selected The Weather Center Cafe, a local coffee house on the river.  I didn't mind hoping that it would be as good as the Weather Vane, back in Menasha!  Overall it was good, according to Paul the coffee was good, and Peyton ordered a HUGE burrito.  To my amazement, he actually ate most of it and Pierce continuing his downward spiral to a whiny mess kept getting louder and louder.  We tried to make a fast exit out of there, but ended up with a 10 min potty break thanks to Mr. Whiny!!  On the way back to the boat, for some much needed R&R and a NAP, we stopped at the candy store as I figured I needed something for bribing....  I mean, positive rewards!  The Victorian Chocolate Shoppe was good, but in all honesty their caramels can't compete with some of the shops we have back home.

Once at the boat, it was downstairs for a much needed nap for both Pierce and myself.  Peyton decided to take the dinghy for a spin and I think Paul worked on the blog.   After waking up it was off to the pool for some much needed refreshment.  Pierce is getting amazing with being able to swim around by himself in the water with his super happy orange floating device, and Peyton is such a good swimmer that I never have to worry about him.  So I was able to enjoy some quiet time watching them have a good time, and quickly needed to join in the fun because it was just too hot to sun bathe next to the pool.  It was much more comfortable in it!

We ate dinner poolside and then in true Lake Michigan vacation tradition, wrapped up our evening with ice-cream at the South Pier Parlor.   We tried to dinghy it there, but found out that putting the dinghy at the docks reserved for "Mega Yacht Parking" would prevent us from actually getting out of the boat.   It was hilarious, but we drove it back and took the truck over.

Overall a GREAT and relaxing day!  As much as I may whine and contemplate to myself with stress when the kids get unruly, I really do enjoy these vacations and really ground myself with how fortunate and blessed I am!

Sheboygan or Bust!

This year we are starting out behind schedule as usual. My mother retired this week and had a party Thursday night! We are so happy for my parents; can't wait to see what adventures they go on now.... So anyway that limited our pre-packing to be all set to go on Friday. My plans on Friday were delayed by a group of friends from college days.  One I have not seen in about 5 years was in town. However, I did ask for some help after we hung out for awhile. My friends were able to get me back on track after a short bit.

The drive here was great until we got into town and the mapping system sent us down some residential roads. The route was lined with low hanging trees, so low that they hit the windshield on the boat. This caused a big mess, as the tree breaks up and falls into the boat. We did not leave Neenah until shortly after 6pm. After fueling the boat in Sheboygan at a station with pure gas(only took three stops to find one, thanks Qwik Trip, we did not arrive until 8pm.

Once at the launch at Skipper Buds - Harbor Center Marina things went realitivly well. Susan got a jump on putting things back together while I figured out what to do with truck, trailer and launch the dingy. The marina is very nice and the river walk here is very pretty. Tomorrow we will have explore as tonight we need some rest as we did not have everything in order until after 11pm.