The last few months have been pretty stressful over here, but I’m very lucky to be married to a sweet man that helps me take time away when I need it, especially when that time away is a short day trip to a new-to-me lighthouse.
To celebrate my birthday, we visited Wind Point Lighthouse just north of Racine, and it was a delight.
I didn’t know a ton about this lighthouse prior to visiting other than it’s one of the tallest lighthouses on Lake Michigan. (The tallest of them all is Point Sable in Michigan). So there’s no big claim to fame here, but it sure is nice.
Also, it’s one of the few lighthouses on the Great Lakes to still employ actual lighthouse keepers, which is, readers, my dream job. According to the Wind Point Light website, their job is to tend to the grounds and give tours. I would be very good at that.
Overall, the park surrounding the lighthouse was beautiful and you can walk right down to the shore of Lake Michigan. As always, I had to put my hands in the water to see if I could bear it. For being early April, it wasn’t too bad!
I’m hoping this is the first of a few lighthouse visits this year. Come later this week, I’ll be fully vaccinated and ready to do a bit of (very safe) sightseeing!
This winter, as we sat home in the midst of another snow storm, Michael and I dreamed up our third-anniversary vacation. After spending our first all the way in Jamaica (so much fun) and our second just over in Madison, we decided we’d stay closer to home but visit somewhere entirely new to us. Within an hour we booked a stay in Bayfield, Wisconsin.
I’ll get into all the charming local haunts in another post, but I wanted to dive in right away with how downright beautiful Bayfield and the Apostle Islands are. As we cruised down the hill into the town, we saw Lake Superior and Michael and I were truly in awe. Living in and growing up near Milwaukee, we are both very familiar with Lake Michigan and how it can definitely feel closer to a sea than a lake. But, honestly, from the second we got up to the shore, there was a major difference in how different Lake Superior felt. It’s massive and dark, and while the waters are churning, there’s definitely a sense of stillness around the lake. My friend told me prior to this trip that when he visited Bayfield, he felt like something was watching him. I didn’t get those vibes precisely, but there’s definitely something unique about the atmosphere.
But, I’ll be honest, what I loved the most were the lighthouses. I’ve been interested in lighthouses since I was young so indulging in a lifelong curiosity was pretty fun. We got to see the Raspberry Island and Devils Island Lights from the boat, and I really really loved it. And I loved how Michael shares my enthusiasm for them (we’re thinking about visiting again for a special tour where you get to go inside!).
After the tour, our interest in the islands was really piqued. Right after we disembarked, we turned around and got on the ferry to Madeline Island, the biggest of the Apostle Islands (and the only one with any inhabitants). We poked around in La Pointe, the village on the island, for a little bit before we made our way over to Big Bay State Park for some hiking.
This felt a lot like Cave Point County Park (for you Door County folks), but ten times bigger and a hundred times more serene. Michael and I spent a lot of time just listening to the waves and the loons. It was a good place to meditate or at least have a few moments of introspection. But it wasn’t the only state park we were visiting on this trip.
Also on this little jog, I got to see two more lighthouses – Wisconsin Point (in Superior) and Duluth Harbor North Breakwater Lights. That’s four lighthouses in one trip. Pretty darn good.
