Our first family vacation with our three month old Weston went amazingly well. We chose a low-key but beautiful destination in northern Wisconsin, called Bayfield! I cannot wait to go back again and I’ll explain our favorite parts of Bayfield and our trip below.

Day 1:

Get breakfast at The Fat Radish. This was tied for our favorite restaurant the whole time we were up north! 

Then do some shopping before you jump on the ferry to go to Madeline Island. You can buy tickets day of for the ferry, and any type of vehicle (or no vehicle) is allowed, but the costs do vary. Caution: On one the ferrys, there is no splash guard in the front so you WILL get wet if you leave your windows open in your vehicle or if you are standing there.

Madeline Island is about the size of Manhattan so not easily walkable. With our infant, we chose to drive, but bicycling or moped would have been a fun option! I guesstimate that half of Madeline Island is the state park, Big Bay State Park and one road has the bars/restaurants/shops that you will see when you get off the Ferry. Also, like Vegas and Rome, you can drink anywhere on Madeline Island!

• Make sure to check out Tom’s Burned Down Café. There is no words to describe this gem. 😊
• Next, we spent 4 plus hours exploring Big Bay State Park and still didn’t see it all. We found out that the path through the forest, even though it warned us that it would be muddy, was VERY muddy. If my husband did not have legitimate hiking boots on and gave me a piggy back rides, my shoes and socks would have been soaked and muddy.

We grabbed some pizza at Manypenny Bistro. We really wanted the fish fry but it was sold out. I found out that Whitefish is a real fish that is up north Wisconsin so I really wanted to try it. We don’t have that as a fish option in southern Wisconsin.

Day 2:

We went to Manypenny Bistro (there are only a handful of eating options in Bayfield haha) and I got some whitefish benedict! It was pretty tasty. 😊

We then went on an Apostles Island Cruise. We would have preferred to kayak but having a newborn makes that difficult lol. The cruise was interesting but was over three hours and felt very very long after about an hour and a half. Each of the Apostle Islands have their own story and history which is cool to learn about but we ended up getting pretty bored near the end of it. In the beginning of the cruise, there were a couple of younger adults with booze that we were appalled at (the cruise started at 9:00am) but by the end we were jealous of them!

We spent the rest of the day exploring all of the streets of Bayfield and I snagged myself a magical fleece that I wear as often as I can. The Howl store has all of your outdoorsy wear! I also got a couple Christmas gifts at the Norwegian store, Joanne’s Scandinavian!

On the way back to our AirBNB, we stopped at an awesome bar called Adventure Club Brewing, soon to be brewery. They had outdoor games, seating, a bonfire pit, and so much more! This place continues to expand, so definitely check it out!

For dinner, we checked out Maggie’s. The restaurant with all the flamingo décor you could ever want to see in your entire life!

Day 3:

If we didn’t have a newborn, we probably would have hung close to Bayfield and hiked more of the trails at one of the many parks in the area BUT instead we took a mini road trip.

Right away we grabbed breakfast at Café Coco which was tied with The Fat Radish for the best food in the area!

My husband wanted to go to Superior, WI, thinking it was a fun place to go from his childhood. It was not, don’t go there. Instead drive 5 minutes further to Duluth, MN!

Duluth had a plethora of restaurants, breweries, shopping and a boardwalk.

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• One brewery you should purposely stop at is Bent Paddle Brewing Company. And if you are hungry, don’t fear, restaurants like OMC Smokehouse deliver right to you in the brewery! YUM!!

Bayfield and its nearby northern cities made for a fun but relaxing trip. IF you are looking for a less chaotic but charming vacation, definitely check this city out! 😊