RTW: Field of Dreams

From YA Highway:

Road Trip Wednesday is a ‘Blog Carnival,’ where YA Highway's contributors post a weekly writing- or reading-related question to write about on our own blogs. You can hop from destination to destination and get everybody's unique take on the topic.

This Week's Topic:

If you could go on a writing retreat anywhere, 

where would you go & who would you bring?If time and money were no object, where would you shut yourself away to write the great American novel? And what friends, crit partners, or inspiring authors (living or dead!) would you bring along?

What a lovely question.  I love(d) to travel (back when time and money were less of an object), and I'm fortunate to have been able to visit many wonderful places - Cape Cod and New England, the Florida Keys, a few Caribbean islands, England.  Regular readers of the blog will know that the North Shore of Lake Superior, from Duluth to Grand Marais, is a regular favorite, a place where I find calm and inspiration.  

There are many places I'd love to visit - the list is too long to mention here - and I had a tough time deciding which ONE place I'd go for a writing retreat.  

I settled on Door County.  It's close.  It's convenient.  It's the Cape Cod of the Midwest.  Here's a bit from doorcounty.com: 

Door County Mixes Scenic Beauty with Arts, Entertainment, and Fun

With five state parks, eleven lighthouses and 300 miles of shoreline, this 70-mile long sliver of land that juts out into Lake Michigan combines pristine scenery with acclaimed performing arts, renowned galleries and shops, and pampering accommodations. Small wonder it was named one of the top ten vacation destinations in North America by Money Magazine and that each year more than 2 million visitors claim this jewel as their own.

Door County is a perfect blend of scenic landscape and quaint villages.  There are plenty of places to explore and find inspiration, to sit and enjoy the scenery and a cup of coffee or tea.  Life slows down in Door County.  Shops close early.  People are friendly.  It's artsy.  The cherries are amazing.  There is a great used bookstore and a cuckoo clock and stein shop in the middle of nowhere at a rundown resort on a small lake, which I like to call (in a terrible German accent), the Clockenschtein.

It's a writer's dream.  At least - this writer's dream.

As for companions - I'd have to go it alone.  I'm easily distracted by husband, children, That Metal Show, twitter, facebook, all of your blogs, etc.  So I would have to have a very strict schedule and only allow myself a certain amount of time for such interaction.  And if I brought along any writers, I would only want to sit around and TALK about writing.  

How about you?  Where is your dream writing retreat?

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