Saturday, July 16, 2011

Trees held us in on all four sides

Through the trees

Being a lifelong resident of Wisconsin, it's hard to believe I hadn't made it to Door County before last weekend. As is so often the case, what finally spurred me to make my way into the thumb of the mitten was a concert. Combined, that is, with good friends and the prospects of tasty regional treats and pretty scenery. I wasn't disappointed on any count.

Fish boil:

Fish Boil, Pelletier's

It's a Door County tradition: fun to watch and fun to eat! The picture shows the "boil over" conflagration, but cannot capture how brow-singeingly hot it was right there for ten or fifteen seconds. Yow.

Outdoors:

View from Eagle Tower
Dusk at Fish Creek Beach

Door County - Fish Creek in particular - is lovely country. We hiked in the woods, traversed the downtown area, climbed a rickety 75-foot tower in Peninsula State Park, visited a lighthouse, and enjoyed various views of a calm, blue Lake Michigan.

Concert:

Jeff Tweedy, sold out

Jeff Tweedy in Fish Creek wasn't something I was likely to miss. In keeping with the casual weekend getaway atmosphere, the whole show felt laid-back and relaxed. Banter flowed more freely than usual, and we got to hear a total of four new songs in solo form. Between the Vic shows earlier this year and our basement show, I'd heard two of them before, but "Dawned On Me" and "Open Mind" were both first-timers. (I picked up shades of Madonna in the rhythm of the former's solo verses, but nobody else seemed to share that particular association.) The showpiece of the night was an eerie, intense version of "Bull Black Nova." Sometimes the unlikeliest acoustic songs are revelations.

All that, plus more cherries than you can shake a stick at. Door County, I'll be back!

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