There are so many things to do and places to go in Door County that it is hard to pick what to do. There never seems to be enough time to do everything. There's boating, golfing, a nature center, several parks, biking, hiking, shopping, eating (one of my favorite things to do!), and a host of other things to do and see in Door County. Because I enjoy Door County so much I wanted to share some of my activities and experiences there. One of those was a visit to Lautenbach's Orchard Country Winery and Market.
If you like wine, a really fun thing to do is to visit several of the wineries in Door County (Door Peninsula Winery is another popular Door County Winery). Orchard Winery, located on Hwy 42, just south of Fish Creek, Wisconsin was one of our stops during a fall trip to Door County.
In addition to a winery and fresh Door County cherries (when in season), the main market building on the grounds offers many different specialty food items as well as fresh baked pies. Also offered are scenic trolley tours of the area and tours of the winery. Other seasonal activities at the orchard include horse drawn sleigh rides, haunted hayrides, and a winter wine fest.
When my husband, my oldest grown son, and I stopped at the winery it was later in the afternoon in the middle of the week. The last winery tour for the day had already ended. We were disappointed to have missed out on the tour, but instead we headed to the wine tasting bar in the main building. At the tasting bar we were given a list of all the wines offered by the winery. There are over 30. Complimentary tasting of up to 8 wines is offered to all patrons over 21 years of age.
After mulling over the choices for a few minutes we started sipping wines. The winery specializes in fruit wines, particularly cherry, because of the great cherry growing climate in Door County. They also offer one homegrown grape wine made with red grapes grown on the winery grounds, a wine named Audrey Grace. It is a dry wine, a new offering from the winery. The grapevines were planted just a few years ago to see how they would perform in the cool, short growing season of Door County.
Although the winery specializes in fruit wines, they have other offerings made with various grapes, but those wines are not made on the premises because those fruits are not native to the area. Some of the other wines are made on the premises but with juice bought just for that purpose. For instance, our hostess at the wine bar told us the juice for their semi dry wine called Swedish Lingonberry is imported from Sweden.
Other wines that we tasted and really enjoyed were the Autumn Harvest wine, a cranberry apple wine; Sweet Cherry wine, a nicely sweet wine made with Door County cherries; Strawberry Lyte, not a diet wine but a delicious lighter-tasting wine; Blackberry Blend, a very good wine that tasted like sweet blackberries; and Red Raspberry Lyte, another lighter-tasting wine that's a combination of white grapes and raspberries.
We were told the top selling wine at the winery is the Blackberry Blend. The number two seller is the Red Raspberry Lyte. The winery's best-selling cherry wine is their Cherry Blossom wine.
After tasting several wines we headed over to the bottled wine section of the store and stocked up on our favorites. Back home, we'll be able to enjoy the wine and reminisce about our trip to Door County.
If you like to travel and explore, there are many ways to go about it. You can, for example, book a trip to some faraway exotic place and enjoy whatever comes your way. I've done that many times and almost always had a good time. I also like to just hop into my car and drive and see places. I've driven across the country several times and never tire of the sights and beauty of our great nation.
However, if I could wish for one thing, it would be more straightforward, unbiased information about the places I am going to see. Sure, there are travel guides and glossy brochures, but for the most part they are advertising. Traveling and visiting places can be expensive, and I'd like to know the real scoop - what real people have to say about a place. Well, the other day I was looking for information on Door County, a place that I'm thinking of visiting on a future trip. If you haven't heard of Door County, it's in Wisconsin and covers a gorgeous peninsula in Lake Michigan. It's also one of the nation's most popular vacation spots.
What I was looking for was more than just the usual Chamber of Commerce website or what I could find on a search engine. I wanted to see actual reviews of Door County restaurants, lodging, shopping, events, and activities. I cannot emphasize enough the difference between a real, detailed review and an advertisement. Ads can certainly be a good thing, but they are designed to entice you to go to a place and buy something. Once you get there, the restaurant may not be at all what you thought it would be, or the hotel or lodge is next to a highway, which the ad, of course, never tells you. An event or attraction might be run down or closed, or it's terrific - you just don't know. Reviews tell you about such stuff so you know what to expect. To me, that's invaluable information.
Not all reviews are the same, of course. In this day and age, you can find online "reviews" and opinions on just about everything. In fact, the Web seems to have given birth to a whole subculture of folks who delight in either praising things into high heaven or ripping them to shreds. This means grossly exaggerated positive or negative opinions that don't help at all.
What I found is that it is actually possible to find websites that have actual reviews and not just ads, and where the reviews all have substance and then some. One site I found was so detailed that a review on a market told you about the owners, what special cheeses they have, and what wine selections are best there. It even included pictures of the layout. Or I picked a town or village and saw what they had to say about a certain cottage or inn. Instead of a general description, a good review-based website walks you through the facility, pictures and all, and describes everything in an informative conversational style. By the time you get there, you already know the place. Same for activities. If you golf, there should be detailed course descriptions as well as advice. If you plan a sailing cruise based on a review website, you should already know what to expect before you even get there.
If you're really lucky, detailed, helpful reviews and descriptions are not all that's available. Innovative, progressive web designers may even add videos and podcasts, all neatly organized in a common format. In some categories you may find dozens of videos, all using a common interface. This way you cannot only read about places, but also see them in video.
As far as I am concerned, review-based travel and tourism sites provide the best information. This is what travel guides should be like. If you plan a vacation to Door County WI, or any other place for that matter, skip the usual promotional websites and check out one with reviews instead. It's better, more useful information.
Both Dorrie Ruplinger & Chris Robertson are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Dorrie Ruplinger has sinced written about articles on various topics from Lose Weight, Home and Lose Weight. Dorrie Ruplinger is a featured writer for . Visit the site for more. Dorrie Ruplinger's top article generates over 110000 views. to your Favourites.