Milton House and Wineries - Saturday, October 28, 2017

A while back we bought a Groupon for two tours of the Milton House Museum in Milton, Wisconsin and today we decided to take advantage of them.  This is their off season so we had to call ahead and schedule a tour but it was really worth it.  The Milton House is a National Historic site and is the last remaining underground railroad station in Wisconsin.  The tour takes you through the Milton House which was a hotel, through the tunnel that was the route of slaves who were trying to escape and into the log cabin where all the food was cooked.  It also includes a lot of history of Milton and Milton Junction, two cities that were merged 50 years ago.

They wouldn't let me take pictures of the inside but here are a few pictures of the outside.

Our next stop was NorthLeaf Winery just a block or two down the road.  They had some really good wines including a Peach Chardonnay for those who like sweeter wines, a dry oaked chardonnay, a merlot, a raspberry pinot noir, a good port.  I hope to go back and try more of their wines.  I don't think they grow any of their grapes.  They bring in grapes from California, New York, and even Wisconsin and then make all of their own wines.

Then before heading home, we stopped at Pieper Porch Winery and Vineyard on the south side of Waukesha.  This is a favorite winery of mine.  They used to have a grape/apple wine that was heavily oaked that is so good but they did not have it this time.  They still have a lot of great fruit and grape wines and the place was really hopping.  In the summer it would be so nice to just sit on their patio and enjoy a glass of wine.

Camping at Harrington Beach State Park, October 6-8, 2017

This was our fifth annual cold weather camping and we chose to try a walk in site at Harrington Beach State Park.  Our site (W1) was a decent size site.  It was a nice walk from the parking lot (we brought a cart which made a world of a difference hauling our stuff).  The site has very little shade but is quite secluded in tall grasses and bushes (and is a bit of a ways away from the other walk in sites).  A decent pit toilet is shared with site W2 but the very nice flush toilets and showers are not that far of a walk.

The pit toilet shared with site W2

The split to sites W1 and W2

As you can see from the photos, we dealt with a fair amount of rain and even wind.  Fortunately, the rain was on and off enough so that we were able to cook all our meals over the fire and even get a hike in Saturday morning and then Saturday evening the sky cleared and the stars were amazing.  Until the moon came up, it was so dark we even were able to see the Milky Way.  When the wind was off the lake, we could also hear the waves from our campsite.

On our hike, we saw some deer along the Whitetail Trail.

Then we walked the Quarry Lake Hiking Trail which is a really neat trail.

We also checked out the waves of Lake Michigan.

Back at the campsite, the rain picked up again in the afternoon but we were rewarded with a beautiful full rainbow.

Finally, who can't resist a good campfire, something we were really able to enjoy Saturday night.