10 Free Things to do in Washington Island That You Shouldn't Miss

Fair Isle seeks to inspire curiosity, connection & compassion through story. We offer handpicked books and fair trade gifts from around the globe, and feature island & Door County authors as well as bestsellers in fiction & nonfiction for adults and children. Jewelry, home goods, garden & gift items are purchased fairly from artisans working to lift themselves out of poverty. Located next door to Red Cup Coffee & the post office at the first stop sign off the ferry.

The Island Lavender Company is located in the heart of Washington Island at the Historic Island Dairy, where acres and acres of lavender fields are farmed and hand-made lavender products are produced. The Island Lavender Company carefully harvests each bundle of lavender during the "Blooming Season" from July though mid-August. Each bundle is gently dried in our aged wooden lavender drying barns to protect the vibrant colors and aromatic scent of the fresh cut lavender. After drying, the buds are removed from the stems in our exclusive "Lavender Spooler" and rigorously cleaned in our custom "Lavender Bud Centrifuge". After extensive cleaning, the lavender buds are inspected assuring the highest quality. At the end of the summer growing season each plant is carefully harvested and trimmed by hand for our specially designed "Lavender Steam Vapor Boiler", to separate the aromatic lavender oil through a copper condensation cooling tower that stands almost 8ft. tall, producing our lavender essential oils and lavender infused waters. The Lavender Buds and Lavender Essential Oils are prepared for culinary, personal care and home good products. Even the dried lavender stems are available and wonderful to use in BBQ and wood fires, filling the air with the intrigue of aromatic lavender. Fair Trade Prices and Quality Farm Local Products.

The Historic Island Dairy Building was completely renovated in 2010 from a building that sat vacant for 40 years into a multi-use community facility to save and preserve the memory of one of Washington Island's most important local historic businesses, which was dairy farming. The Historic Island Dairy preserves 100 years of the working memory of the Island community with new economically sustainable non-dairy uses including two commercial kitchens, a full floor open wood cathedral ceiling ballroom, business incubator facilities, vintage Scandinavian poster displays along with international cutting edge art exhibits, lavender farm market, panoramic balcony vistas, sitting and strolling gardens, acres of lavender fields and home for The Island Lavender Company. This meaningful historic Island destination has been completely renovated after sitting vacant for more than 40 years. As a result of the development of refrigerated delivery trucks in the early 1960's, dairy products were delivered from larger commercial facilities off the Island and the local island dairy production was closed. Now bearing the name "The Historic Island Dairy", the building features a permanent Washington Island history exhibit to remind us of the Island people and events that laid the foundation for all of us to protect, nurture and build upon today...and into the future. In 2016, the Historic Island Dairy will celebrate the 100th birthday of the founding of dairy production on Washington Island.