We went to a goat parade!

For being the science-brained couple that we are, we do surprisingly little research on places before we go. We always do just enough to know where we're going, and if it's a "big dot" on our travel route, we'll plan excursions ahead of time and buy any event and activity tickets necessary. The rest of the time, we just see what's around. So when we planned to reach the Upper Peninsula of Michigan by way of Wisconsin, the UP was the "big dot," and Wisconsin was the "we'll see what it brings."

Southern Wisconsin brought Weather Hell. Our first week in the state was stressful and at times downright scary, so we hoped that changing locations would give us a clean slate. The day we were set to drive north had clear skies, but we still weren't out of the woods. The storms may have subsided, but we had strong wind gusts, which are oftentimes even more dangerous than thunderstorms on drive days.

The winds in our immediate vicinity were clocking even higher than our apps, but once we got off the Boondockers Welcome property, we expected to be able to deal with the gusts, as long as they really were only 45mph like the app was saying. We've driven in higher gusts than that, but it's not fun. We would need to be careful and take our time. The destination was Door County, the peninsula east of Green Bay, and our GPS was taking us up on the westward of two possible routes. This would route us through Fond du Lac and Oshkosh, meaning we'd be heading straight through the band of highest winds. If we could just get through Oshkosh and into Appleton, though, we would hopefully be in better shape.

The Wisconsin highways don't make things any easier. Many have construction, and the well-maintained ones have a concrete underlay, which when towing means we're riding along like this:

But by some stroke of good fortune, we successfully made it to the peninsula without getting blown over or needing to stop for Anthony to soothe his white knuckles.

So why Door County? Because we had no idea where we wanted to go in Wisconsin, and Anthony's former therapist recommended it. We saw that it was nestled between Lake Michigan and Green Bay and thought, we like lakes. And that was that.

We booked 8 days at Hy-Land Court RV Park in Ellison Bay, almost to the northern shore of the peninsula. We figured this way, we could travel the entire peninsula on the way there and on the way back, so we'd get to see most of it. When we arrived to Hy-Land Court, the lady in the office gave us the most informational papers we've ever gotten at a campground. Besides the typical campground map and pamphlet, we got an entire Door County magazine and the latest publication of Pulse, the county's newspaper. Everything we ever wanted to know about the area was in those pages, and after setting up camp, I sat down to do some reading.

That's when we realized, this county is lakefront living at its finest. Every season brings different vibes, with a whole host of events for the community to enjoy. We visited in their late spring/early summer season, which was all about boats, beer gardens, and botanics. The cherries were blooming and would be harvested later in the summer. Honeysuckles and roses gave lovely aromas to the landscape. We arrived on a Friday and each town was bustling with outdoor diners and people walking along the shore. I read announcements of the start of the outdoor concert series, where each town has a concert on a specific night of the week. I read advertisements for boat cruises and rentals. The peninsula is dotted with parks where we could go for a hike and get stunning views of sparkling waters, cliffsides, and lighthouses. The lady in the office even gave us tips on which back roads to take if we wanted to bike into town without using the main road. This week looked like it was shaping up to be exactly how we wanted to kick off our summer.

In the magazine, I read that twice a year the county hosts lighthouse festivals, where they offer extra lighthouse tours and open ones that aren't usually accessible to the public. The festivals are held in spring and fall, and so I looked up the date of the spring festival: June 8-9. That very weekend. I immediately went into the listing of tours and booked us a lighthouse sail for Sunday morning because Saturday was supposed to rain and Sunday looked like better weather.

The magazine was so thick that I hadn't even been able to look at the Pulse by the time Anthony came in from finishing his setup tasks. I told him it probably wouldn't have any additional information because this magazine seemed thorough. He read the newspaper anyway. A minute later, he asked if I knew about the Goat Parade. The what now?! Evidently, on Saturday June 8, the 10th annual Roofing of the Goats Parade was being held in Sister Bay, the nearest town to where we were staying. Anthony read on. "The parade will begin at 11 am at the southeast corner of Highway 42  (North Bay Shore Drive) and Mill Road in downtown Sister Bay and end at Al Johnson’s. It culminates with the first goats of the season climbing up to the roof." After the parade, the beer garden at Al Johnson's was having a fest with a Swedish pancake eating contest and live music. We were invited to don goat and Viking-themed clothing. Then we learned that drop stickers would be available. You buy a sticker, place it on the street, and if a goat poops on your sticker, you win a prize.

This was a no-brainer. We were meant to go to this parade. How else can we explain how we happened to end up in Door County, camping just a few minutes from Sister Bay, and arrived the day before Goat Fest?! We had our Saturday plan. Only, we hoped the rain would hold off because the goats aren't allowed on the roof in rain or snow.

This wasn't our first experience with goats on a roof since we began our RV travels. Back in 2022 when we were in the Smokies, we went on the Goat Coaster at Goats on the Roof. The name wasn't just for kicks. They really did let goats up on their roof! Sadly I didn't get any pictures of them because we were too busy going on every mountain coaster in the Smokies and laughing at all the kitschy souvenirs they had in their gift shop.

Saturday morning, we headed downtown to find a place to park. Already the area was bustling with people braving the rain to enjoy the goats. Part of Highway 42 was closed for the parade, so we took back roads around until we found a church parking lot where lots of other people were parking. We headed down the hill and found a spot right by the staging area, where the parade would begin.

Granted, it is a small parade. How many goats live in Door County, anyway? But they do it up with a couple floats, entertainers, and vehicles. No matter what, it's endlessly entertaining to see the goats have their annual heyday. Most were walking on leashes, but a few needed to be carried.

After the goats passed, all of us spectators followed the parade over to Al Johnson's so we could see the inaugural roofing. We felt one with the locals as we all crowded together, enjoying the spectacle.

We hadn't heard anything about the rain deterring the roofing, so they must be allowed up as long as the rain isn't too heavy. For most of the morning, it was somewhere between a drizzle and light rain. We all waited patiently, and after a few minutes, the first goat was ushered onto the roof, and we all cheered. The other goats followed.

We didn't stay for the festival at the beer garden because we didn't want to sit outside in the rain, but the live band sounded great and we loved seeing all the pops of yellow umbrellas in the hazy weather. It really brightened up the day. In fact, the whole event did! Rain or shine, we're always up for some goat interactions.

Certainly a unique event to say the least, but like us, you are probably wondering how this tradition came to be. We weren't sure if it is something that happens in other parts of the country, but after 41 states RVed, we hadn't run into anything like this. Is it actually a Swedish thing? I tried doing my research but came up short. The only goat-related Swedish tradition I could find is the Yule Goat, which symbolizes a spirit that comes before Christmas to ensure that the holiday preparations are going smoothly. There is a giant straw goat in the town of Gävle, built every year and the tradition is to see if it'll last until Christmas without being burned down. Small straw figurines and ornaments of the goat adorn Swedish trees, and that was when I learned, at 36 years old, that the little straw reindeer on my grandparents' tree wasn't in fact a reindeer at all.

As far as US goat traditions, I saw nothing about goat parades specifically, but there are a few goat festivals. Then of course there is the Smokies Goats on the Roof, but as far as I could tell, no real events surrounding that. All the articles that popped up were of the Door County parade. So we don't know for sure, but could this in fact be a truly unique experience here in Door County? That begs the next question: How then, did Phoebe know about it?!

According to the Al Johnson's website, the roofing of the goats began as a birthday prank between Al Johnson and real estate guru/Chairman Wink Larson back in 1973. After that, it became a thing, and now Sister Bay has its own goat farm where the goats get to live, when they're not grazing on the roof. The parade began in 2014 and the festival in 2017.

After the roofing of the goats, we took some time to walk around Sister Bay and visit some of the shops. The town is everything we love about lakefront living. Everything is so quaint and the shops had tons of little gifts, many of which were centered around mindfulness, Scandinavia, and of course, goats! Those are a few of my favorite things! We were chatting with the owner of one of the boutiques, and she mentioned that her nephew had a goat poop on his sticker last year, and he won a fat tire bike. That's a way bigger prize than we expected! We thought the prize would be a hat or something! Not too shabby, Door County. We see you, and we like you.

For the rest of the week, when we would drive through Sister Bay we would often see the goats hanging out on the roof. Most of the time they'd be grazing, but one day they were laying in the sunshine. We'd always know if they were up there before we could see for ourselves, because people would be standing on the side of the road taking pictures. It really is quite the spectacle!

The following morning, we were all set and ready for our lighthouse sail, but unfortunately it got canceled due to the rough waters in the bay. Still, we couldn't be too disappointed, because if we had booked the Saturday sail, we would have missed the parade that put us in the mood for a week of Door County fun! Honestly, as small and quick as the parade was, if we had known about it ahead of time, we would travel specifically for something like this. It's exactly the type of experience we love to have in our RV life. It gave us a sense of the local culture, it was weird, and it involved animals. Door County may not have started off as a "big dot" in our travels, but it fast became one!

And don't worry about us not getting to do something lighthouse-themed during the Lighthouse Festival Weekend. We found another tour where we could get our lighthouse fix. All that and many more Door County excursions will be highlighted in the next post. Sign up using the form below and you'll get notified as soon as it releases!