Take Me Away, Calgon! A Final Slice of Cherry Pie, Cheese Curds, Saag Paneer and Delta-8 in Door County, Followed By 36 Hours in Chicago
A Midwestern detour infused with Delta 8 and lavender hemp honey. Plus: What’s the deal with the new Delta Variant, Delta 10?
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Hey there,
Do you hear it? The crunch of leaves. The fading light. The air just a touch too cool. HBO releasing a really intense and painful series about marriage and unconventional modern relationships. Time moves backwards (Mercury retrograde starts September 27). You decide to start rewatching all episodes of The Sopranos for the next several months. It’s autumn! Hello lovely Libras, welcome to your season!
Before I jump into Door County, a mazel tov is in order for single siren Shani Silver who is self-publishing her first book on “A Single Revolution.” Somehow, I am brimming with lighters, but perhaps she’s right about striking a match. Pre-order your copy as soon as it’s available and let’s all cross our fingers we find love in a hopeless place. Otherwise, you’ll just be swimming in flammables for this mismatched metaphor. Or is it?!
Around The Web
My dear friend Kelli Korducki wrote this riveting expose on a cheerleading squad in a small town in Pennsylvania shaken up by an AI scandal and a manufactured blue vape pen where the punchline is far more bizarre than anyone would have expected.
Scottish tipplers Hendricks Gin and Lower East Side mensches Katz Deli teamed up for a delightful collaboration of gin-inspired pickles, using juniper and cubeb berries.
Non-alcoholic beverages are the buzz ex-drinkers are searching for.
Useless Farm is showing Canada’s got talent and disrespectful farm animals.
When it comes to the efficacy of psychedelics and therapy towards “wellness,” it’s all about “beautiful, boring boundaries.”
WTF Is The Other Delta Variant, Delta 10?
Spotted this week at the Hemp Garden: the Delta Variant! Not that one. The other-other Delta: Delta 10. Somehow, the cannabis industry is still going hard with logistical scientific loopholes to skirt archaic laws while somewhere in the world, a dad takes a whiff of an unmarked bag of pot and says, “Smells fine to me.”
Delta 9, as you may know, is the cannabinoid classification for THC that we all love to toke up, while Delta 8 is its more CBD-rich, less potent alternative. So, what’s the deal with Delta 10?
“Delta-10 can get you high, although it is much less potent than regular delta-9 THC. Anecdotally, delta-10 is commonly reported to provide energizing effects, whereas delta-8 is reported to be more sedating. Delta-10 is often compared to strains like Sour Diesel, Pineapple Express, or Super Lemon Haze, whereas delta-8 is compared to strains like OG Kush, Wedding Cake, and Purple Punch.
“To put it in perspective,” said Brown, “delta-8 is more like an indica and delta-10 is more like a sativa. They have two very different vibes to them. People who want to use a sleep aid, as an example, have used delta-8, [whereas] delta-10 gives you more creativity or perspective.”
Does it get you high? Yes. Is it real? Who knows. Frankly, this just shows how much easier it is to have a normal dispensary open up and call it day. Remember when there was something fun about discovering a world beyond indica or sativa as your two options before it started sounding like an MIT test? You have to appreciate the stab at ingenuity during the Wild West of Late Prohibition, though.
Put This On Your Spotify and Toke It
On that note, up-and-coming artist PawPaw Rod has a new song out called “LemonHaze” that I was cruising to yesterday on my CitiBike along the Hudson. Roll your problems up and smoke the pain away blow out all the bullshit is the mantra and strain we all needed this year. Get yourself someone who romances you and themselves with LemonHaze and radical honesty.
Take Me Away, Calgon! A Final Slice of Cherry Pie, Cheese Curds, Saag Paneer and Delta-8 in Door County, Followed By 36 Hours in Chicago
The traffic! The baby! The dog! The anguish of being a single witch in a city of millions of assholes! Take me away, Calgon!
Between the doom scrolling and trying to thrive amid a painful consciousness of humanity, it’s really hard to catch a break. Whether it’s nursing unintended the precious vulnerability of a recently tarnished heart, job hunting, dealing with grief, trying to maintain a social life in a global pandemic, putting yourself out there again and again, while trying to maintain dignity is tough.
Still, oversaturated by the forces that be, I decided to take up the opportunity to kindly invite myself to get the fuck out and go to Door County, Wisconsin—a place where I did not find love or reassurance, but did manage to enjoy the open air while sending photos to my sweet friend, The Green Fairy.
In the spring of 2021, Door County made a pledge: “Leave no trace.” It was part of their local commitment to sustainability that has a feel-good ethos of making travelers feel part of something bigger than themselves protecting natural resources in one of the Midwest’s most treasured seasonal destinations.
For the record: Everywhere should do this and follow through on it. Extra shout out to the Black Forager Alexis Nikole Nelson for talking about protecting indigenous wild rice grown in the Great Lakes Region and responsible environmental stewardship!
Best known for its scenic coastline of limestone bluffs, Door County is a peninsula studded with small towns jutting between Green Bay and Lake Michigan just across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Just delightful!
For those who are feeling antsy for a scenic escape within reach, this is a coveted treasure for three days of eating cheese curds, sampling heritage cider and whitefish, hiking, biking, and catching plenty of drama in the form of resident theater companies. The type of cozy cabin vibes that will either charm your pants off or bore you to death, depending on which kinds of vacation modalities you enjoy.
It’s tough to not make comparisons to Hudson Valley and the Catskills. Much like Hudson Valley, Door County has its own scenic byway, rustic cabins, multi-generational lodgings, family memories, and farms specializing in the fish boils and the craft of cheesemaking. Unlike the Hudson Valley and Catskills, you will never see this listed as a secret celebrity getaway because it’s more, “middle class fancy” (most of the celebs vacation across the Lake in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula).
For that reason, you have to love the charm of a place so earnestly committed to not being cool, where you can really feel the strained energy of a young guard ambitiously trying to make it happen. Give it five to ten years. In the meantime, break out that windbreaker and pack the bad attitude, Jenny! We’re listening to Don Cherry covers with grandma and grandpa!
Famously known for its cherry and apple orchards, it once the moniker “Cherry Town, U.S.A.” as one of the earliest and largest fruit orchards in the state that produces over 7 million pounds of tart Montmorency cherries. These cherries land in everything, from classic slices of cherry pie and chocolate-covered cherries to craft beer and cider. I snagged a slice at Seaquist Orchards in Sister Bay, whose formerly hand-harvested trees date back to the early 1900s, and had two different cherry-laced beverages at One Barrel Brewing Company: a Door County Trolley Red German-style lager with cherries and a sour cherry-raspberry.
Believe it or not, cannabis is starting to take off here. In Baileys Harbor, a small dairy farmer is currently transitioning into a hemp farm called Door County Cannabis Co., producing CBD and Delta 8 hybrids with a Wisconsin slant such as Ridges Rush (Trainwreck + Pineapple Express) and Sweet Sunrise (Runtz + Green Crack). Shockingly, none of their strains tap into Cherry Pie and the gummies aren’t made with local cherries. It would be cool to see that evolve and make more of a local connection. My favorite thing I found was lavender hemp honey with 500mg CBD from a local French woman with a lavender farm on Washington Island called Fragrant Isle.
Heritage cider is the secret weapon outshining the Wisconsin’s noteworthy craft beer, including a few grafted trees from upstate New York ending up in beautiful bottles at Island Orchard Cider in Ellison Bay, Wisconsin. Tapping into French- and English-style heritage cider making. owner Bob Burman started planting trees in 2005 and producing commercially in 2011. Inspired by his father-in-law from Brittany, he began making two original styles included a bright, brut apple cider in the Champagne method and a yeasty farmhouse cider that pairs perfectly with ‘Sconnie cheeses. Today, he makes award-winning ciders and variations through the fermentation lifecycle that includes oak-aged reserves, pear and lavender cider, ice cider, vinegars, and a pommeau called “Pomona.”
Just next door is Henriksen Fisheries, which produces some of the most incredible whitefish. During the pandemic, they expanded to include a commercial kitchen and storefront where you can pop in to buy their spreads made with local goat cheese and spice blend. Clearly a decent bagel shop is needed in this neck of the woods.
Death’s Door Spirits, formerly produced on Washington Island, has sadly gone out of business. You can still find the spirit locally, which is made with juniper foraged from private land on the island, along with peppermint Schapps—the only company I’ve come across that tried to make artisan Schnapps happen. I am not a fan of Wisconsin Brandy Old Fashioneds—made with Sprite and brandy—but will happily lap up the brandied cherries. Death’s Door, however, still exists as a location known for historically having the most shipwrecks due to its rocky shoals, dubbed Porte des Morts. Hence, [Death’s] Door County.
If you’re under the age of 50 and don’t have kids, you might find it a little sleepy, though I see the potential for adopting the carbon footprint-reducing benefits of the Farm Bill law that spurred tremendous innovation here.
Leaf peeping over cider doughnuts is a shared seasonal activity perfect for weed witching season at one of the area metaphysical shops. I didn’t get time to stop into StarGazers, Aurora’s Apothecary or Door County Rock and Gem, but I am happy they exist and did manage to pick up a maple leaf and some limestone rocks from the Niagara Escarpment to add to my collection. The weirdest thing I saw was an enormous “Paul Bonion” by Bill Reid, an onion-shaped sculpture carrying a blue ox at the Edgewood Orchard Galleries sculpture park in Fish Creek. I wasn’t even stoned, but the artist probably was.
My favorite thing about small towns are the artisanal craft makers, and I was a little disappointed the cold winters historically damage vines making it too challenging to producer something more drinkable than sweet wine like in the Finger Lakes (let’s test that theory again in 10 years with climate genocide). Considering how much limestone is here, I bet there would be some interesting minerality. Beyond that, it’s mostly sweet wines with the exception of Twelve Eleven Wine, a modern wine bar serving beautiful rose and Chardonnay using West Coast grapes within a pleasant indoor/outdoor setting where you can have a glass with grilled cheeses.
Among the unexpected eats: saag paneer at Wickman House—an upscale farm-to-table restaurant with Beard House aspirations currently helmed by a former protege of Vie under the tutelage of Chicago chef Paul Virant. It was maybe among the most formal dining I’ve done in the past two years, which felt bizarre considering the overall vibe in New York City and a charming escape reminiscent of the golden days of hipster dining in Chicago a decade ago. Drinks are strong here as the cocktail menu is ambitious, and the wine list was very impressive.
Ultimately, I left little behind—except two bags of cheese curds in Chicago on an unexpected 36 hour layover in Chicago. Grabbed a salad at Tortas Frontera at O’Hare (as I always do), followed by an adorable two-pack of Gelato joints at Ascend by MOCA in River North, where there was quite the line and yet everyone was just delightful. I smoked one before sinking into the tub at the Swissotel, which I reviewed a few years back for Fodors and was having a pretty phenomenal special compared to the ridiculously priced AirBnBs. Downtown, the riverfront redevelopment looks absolutely stunning and street closures have created a positive vibe that’s a warm welcome compared to my impromptu visit a year ago.
On my way out, I had very good garlic fries at Bolivar & Lincoln (an odd concept that’s a stab at a Venezuelan-Illinois connection, I suppose), followed by drinks at St. Lou’s Assembly before hopping on my weed broomstick back to New York.
Where are you excited to travel? Share in the comments.
FAQ: "How Do I Make Weed More Equitable?”
Interested in helping to right the wrongs of the past towards a more equitable future for BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ forerunners? Check out these organizations;
The Last Prisoner Project: Let’s get people out of jail for minor cannabis crimes and help reform the War on Drugs.
Cage Free Cannabis: Make sure your weed is doing some good to the environment, economy and repairing communities.
Cannaclusive: Calling for racial justice in corporate cannabis.
Women Grow: Creating safe, inclusive pathways for women in weed.
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