Sun 14 Jul

Looks like another lovely day, though I believe the temperatures/humidity are supposed to be heading up to less comfortable territory soon. Might have to turn on the A/C this week if it gets too bad. The fan in the bedroom last night was very adequate, and we have the oscillating fan on a stand going in the dining room today. So far, so good. I'm enjoying the opportunity to wear summer clothes for variety. This was an absolutely fabulous mini-weekend getaway. We got to leave earlier than expected on Friday afternoon which was a bonus for me. We checked in to the simply lovely Chateau De Pere and had some extra time. We drove down to look for a nearby winery but they were only open for tours/tasting on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. We drove to Heritage Hill State Historical Park because the chef said he thought they might be having some kind of wine/beer tasting. (It had happened the night before.) Heritage Hill is one of those parks where they have costumed folks re-enacting historical daily activities, but they were just about to close. We learned, however, that they are having Laura Ingalls Wilder days on June 27-28 and they will have the actors who played Almanzo and Nellie present for the festivities. We plan to drive back for just the day on Sat 27 Jul as we would enjoy this. They expect to have extra demonstrations and activities available as they do expect a crowd. We returned to the hotel and went for a nice walk on the Fox River Trail, pretty much right outside the hotel. We returned around 5 pm and cracked the bottle of champagne that came with the room. Our dinner reservations were at 6:30, and the dinner was phenomenal! The sauce on my mussels was heavenly, and the beef bourgignon was amazing. I had a chocolate lava cake for dessert and dad had profiteroles so we shared. Breakfast featured little individual quiches that had been baked the night before. You unwrapped them and popped them in the microwave for a minute, and they were amazingly fluffy and tasted just-baked. Well seasoned with fresh herbs - delightful! There were some croissants that were not particularly fresh, but that was the only lesser quality thing. Juice was Minute Maid in bottles in a cooler, and they also had ample bottled Dasani so we took extras for the day. They also had a bowl of fresh fruit available. We walked to the nearby bakery after checking out, but it was nothing special. We drove up to the farmer's market and cruised the booths for about an hour, getting some fresh beets and french beans. We had an hour to kill before lunch, so we parked at St Brendan's and walked the Fox River Trail from their end for an hour to work up our appetites and get some steps on the Fitbits. Lunch was the restaurant week offering from St Brendan's on the sunny deck (with umbrellas) with the river view and a beautiful breeze to accompany excellent food. We had a great salad with strawberries, candied cashews, cubed cheddar and a mild viniagrette on mixed greens, an awesome grilled cheese with bacon, lettuce, tomato on very hearty bread, homemade sweet potato chips, and dessert was their most excellent rhubarb crisp! We ate well! After lunch, we drove up to Door County in continuing abundant sunshine. We stopped at Piggly Wiggly in Sister Bay so I could get some scones for lunches this week, then drove to Newport Park for a very nice 2 hr 20 min hike. They even gave us a deal for half price on our park sticker since I told them we had just bought our sticker before we got a new car so Michael inherited a new park sticker when he bought the Matrix. We had the Europe Bay trail pretty much to ourselves, so we ended up with over 20,000 steps on the day. Driving back through Sister Bay, I spotted the Door Co Creamery store. The chef at Chateau De Pere had showed us a newspaper article about the cheesemaker here who makes most excellent chèvre. We were able to talk with this guy directly and he was very knowledgeable and friendly. He suggested he could make us a tasting plate to enjoy at the tables outside with a glass of wine. We didn't need another large meal, so this sounded perfect. What a cap to a lovely weekend to enjoy first-class cheeses and charcuterie in the late afternoon/evening sunshine with pinot noir and the house doggie and very cute toddler providing entertainment. We had excellent gelato for dessert as the icing on the cake. (I had fig/roasted almond gelato - the best I ever had!) Don't worry about using data this month. Odds are you won't use the full allocation for your plan as none of us have come close, even when using more heavily. Have fun! Am marinating large portobello halves to grill tonight. Found the recipe in Cook's Illustrated, of course. Earned some extra calories with my walk. Ice cream sandwich, here I come! Food: 8:45 am Chocolate croissant, 1/2 grapefruit, 107 g blueberries, coffee 11:45 am Frosted sm cranberry scone, large peach, 11 TJ's mini 12 grain crackers, 1 oz ramp chèvre 6:00 pm 6 oz black sangria, large marinated portobello cap, leaf kale, onion bun, 3/4 c sauteed haricot verts 8:15 pm Mint ice cream sandwich Exercise: 6:50-7:40 am Ballet DVD 7:40-8:15 am Cardio dance DVD 7:00-8:00 pm Walk with Dad