A vacation to Door County, Wisconsin

Two weekends ago my gal pals and I took a much needed weekend trip to the Hamptons of the Midwest. That's right, peeps, Door County, Wisconsin. After trying to get my girls up there for ten years, we finally were able to plan it and they adored it. It's about four and a half hours away from Chicago and great for a long weekend. There's tons to do no matter what your interests are from biking up the coast, parasailing, paddle boarding, kayaking, to lots of shopping and great beaches. However, there are a few things which you must do if you find yourself in the Scandinavia of the US.

Stop at the Walmart in Sturgeon Bay to stock up on food and supplies. Because no trip is ever complete without a trip to the local Walmart.

Rent a condo and cook half of your meals at home. We stayed at the Landmark Resort in Egg Harbor because this is where I've been staying with my family since I was a little kid. They've got an indoor pool that's open 24 hours and we made good use of it.

Cook an awesome dinner your first night in town.

Walk around the resort and take pictures of the scenery.

Get up early in the morning for a trek to Al Johnson's for some Swedish eats.

Take obligatory pictures of the goats on the roof while waiting for a table.

Take silly pictures in the gift shop while still waiting for a table.

Fill up on Swedish EVERYTHING, including meatballs, pancakes, and lingonberry preserves (not pictured).

Go to the beach because the sun is burning holes in your skin and the only cure is jumping in a large body of cool water.

Later on, for dinner, you must witness the famous Door County fish boil. We went to Pelletier's in Fish Creek for ours.

You will learn how to bone your piece of fish, but it won't work as well as in the pictures because whoever created this manual is clearly a fish boning guru.

But aside from the bones it'll be the best piece of whitefish (caught that day!) you've ever laid on your taste buds.

The next morning you will wake up early to make breakfast, check out of your room, and then drive along Hwy 42 to visit all the shops.

You will take more obligatory pictures with the faux humans at Nan & Jerry's Bait & Tackle in Fish Creek.

Then you will stop at every food market along Hwy 42 from Fish Creek to Egg Harbor.

You will see cherry pies at every stop along the way and kick yourself for not buying one. You were conflicted because Cafe Selmarie in Chicago makes the best damn cherry streusel pie ever ever ever but when you return you will find out that it's currently "out of rotation" from their shop. You will stare longingly at this picture of scrumptious cherry pies.

And really, what trip to Wisconsin is complete without a basket of deep fried cheese curds among the best friends a girl could ask for.