The first sign we saw, before we found our house for a month, warned us not to take rocks from the beach. I hope they don't check me at the border.
This is the last house on our summer trip. Described as "across the street from the bay," we didn't think it would actually be that way. But it was. Here is the house, our view of Green Bay, a few sunsets, and moon glows.
The house is owned by a couple with a mixed marriage; he's from Texas and she's from Wisconsin. They currently live in College Station.
We had a hard rain for a few minutes that set the waves rolling. The lady of the garden in the middle is at a farm near our house. The freighter on the right shows that Green Bay harbor still actively loads ships.
We are in a peninsula of Michigan, in Door County. Door County is known for its orchards, especially cherries. We even have an apple tree by the house. Even though we are in Wisconsin, the pretty orange flower is called a Michigan lily.
These ugly yellow things on the plate are called cheese curds. They are an unprocessed milk product, sort of like the curds in cottage cheese, and squeak when you eat them. The more the squeak, the better the curd. These are very squeaky.
As we have driven across the peninsula, we have seen more fields of soybeans, alfalfa, and corn than you can imagine. Following up with the corn and alfalfa, there are dairies everywhere. Just don't go by one with your windows down.
All of the alfalfa that is not rolled into bales is picked up with machines like this and put up for silage for dairies.
The area of Brussels has been the home of Belgian immigrants since the early 1800s. There is a very strong Catholic heritage among the immigrants. One of the immigrants arriving in Wisconsin in 1855 was Adele Joseph Brise. Four years later, according to multiple sources, Brise was visited by the Virgin Mary three times and given the charge of teaching the Catholic faith to the children of the area. She carried on her mission for over thirty years, including the founding of a school, chapel, and convent. The chapel was called Our Lady of Good Help. The chapel was later renamed Our Lady of Champion, the area of Brise's birth.
In 2009, the Catholic Church began a formal investigation into the appearance of the Virgin Mary, called a Marian Apparition by the church. The apparitions viewed by Adele Brise were approved by the church in 2010. This is the only approved Marion Apparition in the United States.
Behind the church lies a garden with stations of the cross and a little chapel. There are many little chapels across this area. When the Belgians arrived, there were few roads and even fewer churches. The families built their own little chapels for worship.
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