You`ll love Door County, people told us when we moved to the Chicago area 15 years ago. The camping is great there, they said. Beautiful views, lots of beaches, good places to eat-just like a little Cape Cod, except it`s in the Midwest.
So we went, pitched our tent, and the temperature immediately plunged into the 40s. We cooked and then washed greasy dishes in heated water that quickly turned cold. We bundled up in sweaters, huddled in sleeping bags and held our hands over the lantern and the Coleman stove, trying to revive life in numb fingers. Then it rained.
Even the dog whined.
Flash forward several years to the late 1980s.
”Let`s go to Door County,” I said to two of my daughters, now grown. They looked at me as though I had lost my mind. Bad memories die hard. ”We`ll stay in a motel,” I added. ”Will you pay?” they asked. (Old habits die hard, too.) It won`t be too expensive, I told them, and we`ll split it three ways.
So we went back-again and again and again. The wonderful time we had been promised so many years ago materialized. Our most recent trip was in July, and we`re planning another trip next month. And at this point, we are talking about looking at real estate.
This is what we love about Door County: Biking, hiking, eating and shopping-not necessarily in that order.
And this: Driving to the top of the hill overlooking Ephraim, and suddenly having that picturesque town and magnificent water view spread out below us; watching the goats eat the grass on the roof of Al Johnson`s Restaurant in Sister Bay; hearing and seeing the waves slap the sides of the huge cave at Cave Point County Park; quietly stopping our bikes to watch a family of deer grazing right by the bike path in Peninsula State Park; sipping a glass of wine at the water`s edge of Green Bay during intermission of a performance by the Peninsula Players in Fish Creek.
The list goes on.
A hefty drive away
Door County is a finger of land that juts out from Wisconsin into the waters of Green Bay and Lake Michigan. It`s about 240 miles from Chicago, closer to 300 miles if you`re driving from the western fringe of Du Page as we do.
All that water gives Door County more than 250 miles of shore line, and prompts the inevitable comparison with Cape Cod in Massachusetts. There are certainly similarities; I`ve spent at least 15 summers on Cape Cod. Like the Cape, Door County has an abundance of wonderful views, spectacular beaches, clean air and friendly people.
Also like the Cape, there can be bumper-to-bumper traffic during the summer, absolutely miserable weather and, in certain spots, a honky-tonk atmosphere of commercialism that detracts from the beauty.
But when you get to know and love a place, you develop a game plan for bad weather and pass up the honky-tonk spots (unless you like go-karts and the like).
The first part of our game plan is staying in a motel rather than a tent. Peninsula State Park, which borders on Green Bay side near Fish Creek, has 470 campsites scattered through 3,700 acres and is a beautiful spot with many happy campers; but I`ve gotten to the time of life when I like electric lights, a clean bathroom, a bed with a firm mattress and sheets, and no mosquitos. Sleeping bags don`t do it for me anymore.
So we stay at a place called Helm`s Four Seasons in Sister Bay. It`s more homey than fancy; what I like best about it is that we get a room with a screened porch that overlooks the water. Happiness is coming back in late afternoon, after hours of biking and hiking, pouring a glass of wine, slicing some sharp cheddar cheese and relaxing on the porch while we decide the most urgent question of the day, where we`ll go for dinner.
Important stops
There are two main roads going into Door County, Wisconsin Highway 42, which goes along the Green Bay side, and Wisconsin Highway 57, along the Lake Michigan side. They merge in Sister Bay. We take Wisconsin 42 because there are two important stops along that road that we always make before getting to our motel.
The first is at the Peninsula Players Theatre to get tickets for whatever happens to be playing. It`s said to be the oldest professional resident summer theater in the country, and it has to be one of the most charming. The little bar that serves drinks before the performance and during intermission is a stone`s throw from the rocky shore of Green Bay. On clear evenings, you can sit and watch the sun sinking into the water before the show starts.
The second stop, an important part of the game plan, is at Ray`s Cherry Hut, on Wisconsin 42 just a few moments past the turnoff for the Peninsula Players. During cherry season in July, there are big boxes of cherries open for sampling (and buying) while you shop. This is where we load up on snacks- sharp, three-year-old Wisconsin cheddar, smoked whitefish and garlic sausage-that will be our screened porch snacks for the next few days. (Our motel room has a little refrigerator.)
We always go to the same place for dinner the first night (this first-day ritual could be termed obsessive-compulsive). The bowling alley in Sister Bay, called Sister Bowl, has some of the best food in Door County. Friday is fish fry night, but this is primarily heavy meat-eating territory: prime rib, steaks and slabs of ribs. There`s always a wait, so we bowl a line until our table is ready.
We bowl afterwards too, trying to get in shape for the next morning`s breakfast at Al Johnson`s, where the goats eat the grass on the roof outside and the waitresses inside dish up Swedish pancakes and lingonberries. (The Bowl and Al Johnson`s are easy walking from our motel.) I always spend a long time mulling over the menu before ordering what I always do-paper-thin pancakes with a side order of Swedish meatballs.
The weather was perfect this year when we were there in July, although I understand the end of July and August brought the same rain we had in Chicago. Perfect weather meant a lot of time on bicycles.
Peninsula State Park has about 10 miles of bicycle paths and dozens of miles of back roads that have little traffic and are good for biking. In addition, there are 20 miles of hiking trails. Our favorite bike-hike combination is riding to a beautiful scenic overview called Eagle Terrace, locking the bikes and then hiking Eagle Trail, a steep, challenging trail that has some magnificent views. Part of the trail goes right along the water, where we stop and sit on the rocks and wade around a little.
Rentals available
Bikes can be rented inside the park entrance (Edge of Park rentals, just off Wisconsin 42); another bike rental is across the street from the park, Nor Dor Sport and Cyclery, on Wisconsin 42. You just park your car, rent a bike and go. Our rentals were $3.50 an hour for 3-speed bikes; 6-speeds are $5 an hour. (There are other bike rentals throughout Door County.)
We always see people biking along Wisconsin 42, which I think is about as crazy as anyone can get. There are enough back roads that are great for biking without risking one`s life on the heavily traveled road. The bike rental shops have detailed biking maps of these roads; we have loaded bikes on the car and driven to such places as Ellison Bay and Gills Rock (at the end of the peninsula) and then biked back roads to Newport State Park, which is on Lake Michigan. Usually we`re too hot and tired for any hiking once we get to the park, so we just nap on the wide, sandy beach for a while.
Fish boils are almost synonymous with Door County. Whitefish, potatoes and onions are put in a big pot and boiled over an open fire outside; it`s a great spectacle and a natural for the camera. The meal then comes to you with lots of butter and lemon and a hefty wedge of cherry pie for dessert. Many places have fish boils, but the best known are at White Gull Inn and Pelletier`s Restaurant, both in Fish Creek. Reservations are essential.
High on my list of must-dos is an evening at the Birch Creek Music Center near Egg Harbor. This is a big barn-like structure out in the middle of a field that offers fantastic nights of music, ranging from jazz, big band, pops and classical.
We save browsing and shopping for rainy days. Certainly, there are enough shops on Door County to spend an entire vacation shopping, if that`s your thing; again, comparing it to Cape Cod, this lovely peninsula could easily become over-commercialized. All of Cape Cod was well on its way to that fate when President John Kennedy established a large part of it as a National Seashore, and so preserved much of the rustic and wild beauty. In my mind, Door County doesn`t need any more stores or commercial centers.
Wheat amid the chaff
But we certainly have our favorites. Even if there are no rainy days, we make sure we get to Chelsea, a big old barnlike store on Wisconsin 57 (outside of Sister Bay) that is filled with things we want to buy. And we do. The clock on my dresser comes from Chelsea, and so do the candlestick holders on my dining room table. Next door to Chelsea is Tannenbaum, a Christmas store. I usually hate Christmas stores; Christmas is one day a year, why do we need year-round stores? But there`s always the exception to the rule-walking into Tannenbaum is like entering an enchanted land.
We always go to Waterfront Jeweler, a little spot in Ephraim where Russell Zabler, from the Chicago area, designs and sells lovely jewelry. Tom Murray`s Irish House, on Wisconsin 42 in Fish Creek, backs onto Peninsula Park and is another stop. This year, when we pulled into the parking lot, we noticed there was a fake deer in the backyard of the shop. Then the fake deer raised its head and started munching a tree, and we realized this was the real thing.
We never want to come home, but this year was particularly hard-probably because the weather was so consistently good. We decided to ease into our departure by first driving to Ellison Bay and getting an ice cream cone at the Berch Tree, a little ice cream parlor on Garrett Bay Road.
It didn`t quite work out that way.
We got our ice cream cones, and then wandered next door into the Berch Branch, which carries everything from place mats and rag rugs to handcrafted country furniture. That`s where we lost our minds. One daughter bought a chest, the other bought a desk and I got a hutch. ”Don`t worry, we`ll get it to you out in Du Page, we used to live in Glen Ellyn so we know where you are,” assured Dick Johnson, who owns the store with his wife, Mary Ann. So we gave him our credit cards and stood there dripping ice cream while he wrote up the order.
We were in such a daze after that, we still didn`t head back. Instead, we swung into Peninsula Park for one last bike ride.
And then we stopped at Ray`s one more time, to get cheddar and smoked whitefish to bring home with us.
For three people who spent most of their vacation biking and hiking, we spent a lot of money.
”There`s only one thing to do,” said one daughter as we finally headed back to Chicago. ”We have to buy a place up here.”
From a miserable experience in a cold and wet tent to tantalizing thoughts of buying a little place-our relationship with Door County has come a long way.
