What a gorgeous getaway in Door County! The weather was perfect, the flowers were beautiful, and I found the perfect memory to bring home! First, the flowers! There's something about the air in Door County - everywhere you look their flowers are always fabulous.
Then we came upon Carlson's Island View Cherry Orchard and the lovely Mary Pat! This lady has such a wealth of knowledge about the early days in Door County cherry orchards. Her husband's family has had this orchard for over 100 years. She tends their shop that sells all things cherry and was able to tell me all about the interesting building this shop occupies.
Below are the pictures of this shop, a former migrant worker shack! What is now a cheerful, brightly painted shop, was at one time a temporary home for migrant cherry pickers.
This building was divided into about a dozen small cubicles - each with a door, a front window, and a back window. The original wood floors are still there. The fact that was hard to believe, was that each cubicle (roughly 10' x 10') would provide 10-12 workers with a place to lay their head after a long day of picking cherries in the Carlson's orchards. Mary Pat told me of how her husband's grandmother would cook and feed all of them outside this shack each day. Most of the workers were men, but not all of them . . . those were close quarters!
Probably even more interesting, is the fact that after WWII, German prisoners walked these very floors! I have read that about 508,000 pails of cherries were picked by German prisoners! A book entitled, Stalag Wisconsin, has all kinds of information about the German POW's and their role in Wisconsin cherry and apple orchards after the war.
Every year, we take part in a Fish Creek tradition as we walk down Main Street to a park situated on the shores of Green Bay. Visitors and locals alike head to this small park just before sunset and sit quietly watching as the sun slips below the horizon. As soon as the last sliver of sun fades away, the whole crowd breaks out in applause!
And last of all . . .
. . . the tangible memory I brought home this year is a Santos Cage Doll. I wrote about their rich history a few months ago and you can read that post here. I had hoped to make one, and I still might. But for now, I'm really glad to have her. Either you just love them or you really do not like them - I think they're great! Here she is trying out a few spots in my home. I think she'll stay on the hearth!
-Nan
