Don't Come for the View!

As I said before, our visit to Port Washington wasn't quite as we remembered the town from our visit years ago.  Perhaps we were younger and blinded by love. (it was our anniversary, after all and we had left toddlers at home with the grandparents)

All I noticed on this visit to Port Washington is that the view of the power plant is EVERYWHERE.  It sits right on top of downtown and spoils what could be a picturesque little town.  Not that I have anything against power plants, working for the nuclear plant in Zion fed our growing family the first years of our marriage, but I don't think I've ever seen one right on top of downtown like this before.

It's been there since 1935 so I know it was there before.  Funny what you notice at different times in your life.  I also probably paid absolutely zero attention to anything natural at that time in my life.  Wonder what I was looking at?  Blinded from all those diapers and cleaning up after 4 dogs most likely.

What is there to look at?  Well, the town has two lighthouses.  Folks started settling here in 1835 and due to its location midway between Sheboygan and Milwaukee it became a frequent stopping point for passenger and cargo steamers. Back then places like this weren't really easily accessed by roads. Can you just imagine this place barely carved out of the landscape and folks stepping off steamers?

I really liked the 71 foot art deco styled Pier Light that was built in 1935.  The pier itself was only one of two maritime WPA projects approved in 1931.  These dates sound familiar?  These big building projects of the pier, light and power plant must have been a big boost to the economy during the Depression.

The other lighthouse in town has been there since 1860 and is currently a museum.  It's $4 to go inside and they were closing up shortly so we just took a look from the outside and moved along.

There was no way we were getting out of Port Washington without stopping in their chocolate shop though.  The Chocolate Chisel was easy to find, but deciding what to buy wasn't quite as easy.

We left with $30 worth of chocolates.  I preferred the bark over the truffles but thought they were overpriced for what my taste buds were expecting and Wayne didn't seem too impressed with his choices either.  If you don't sample much chocolate the way we do you'd probably be wowed, but they were prettier than they tasted.

And if $30 sounds like a lot of money for chocolate to you, think about the last thing you spent that amount of money on.  Not hard to do, is it?  We spent the same amount of money on lunch at the Newport Shores and all we got was a small plate of battered fish and fries and a BLT with a side of soggy rice pilaf.  And two glasses of water.  There was a view of the lake, but mostly it was a view of their parking lot and the big sign that proclaims you will be charged $20 to park if you don't eat at the restaurant.

Tomorrow I'll finish up sharing my recent Labor Day trip to Door County with a series of posts about Cave Point County Park.  New trips on the horizon over the next few weeks so I better get caught up!