April 29, 2007--Behind the Door

Ever since we have gotten to Wisconsin we’ve heard people tout Door County and the fact that we "just have to visit". Since our time is now so limited and it was supposed to be ok weather, we decided to use this weekend to step behind the door and find out what is so unique about this Wisconsin county. Wanting a special room in celebration of Marc’s upcoming birthday I made reservations at a place that looked just great and had a large suite with fireplace, kitchenette, king size bed, patio, and blessed of all, a two person whirlpool tub. Birchwood Lodge did not disappoint.

We enjoyed great weather Saturday as we raced to Appleton to breakfast at Perkins, our favorite coffee shop here in Wisconsin. From there, we wound the tedious freeway past Green Bay and on towards Sturgeon Bay. Marc peeled off on a county road, Wisconsin having some of the best we’ve ever seen, and hugged the shoreline of Lake Michigan past farms and mega-homes on the bluff.

After crossing the steel decked drawbridge at Sturgeon Bay we were on our way north on Hwy. 42, the main artery for reaching the villages of the peninsula. Actually, since the lower peninsula is dissected from the upper by a river, we figured we were now on an island. It didn’t take us long to hit the first village of Egg Harbor which happened to have an inviting beachside park. Time for a stop. Now one of the first things I noticed as I got off the bike was this sign. Coming from Oregon, where all beaches are public property, this just cracked me up. A special sign to keep your feet wet or the private property gods will wreck your day!

On our way towards our destination we came across Door County Winery, which was highly touted in all the tourism brochures. A stop was definitely in order and for $2/each we took the short tour, which was totally underwhelming. The tasting however was free. The winery is housed in a historical old schoolhouse with original wood floors. Given the short growing season, the wine made here is primarily fruit based rather than grape-based; in fact, grapes were only reintroduced in 2000 as previous to that the climate was too harsh. Thank global warming for some things—the county now gets so little snow and freezing temps as to be able to make a quasi-decent Chardonnay and a very good Cabernet. However, at $24/bottle it was out of our price range!

The Door Peninsula is very bucolic but we found the villages very overrated, to the point where we didn’t even get off the bike. Tourists were few and far between this day with the exception of foot traffic in Fish Creek, but you can tell that is the staple of this area’s diet. The marinas were sadly still without boats this early into the season, although we did note that there are more boats for sale here than anywhere we’ve ever been. And we’re not talking 12 foot Lunds here; we’re talking 30 and 40 foot yachts! It was great fun however to slowly motor through them all, tweaking our heads left and right as we passed: Egg Harbor, Fish Creek, Ephraim, and finally Sister Bay, where our lodge was located.

Sunday dawned beautiful and after delaying until 8 a.m. when our lodge served its free continental breakfast, we again headed north to Hwy. 42’s end. We passed Ellison Bay and through Gills Rock to arrive at Northpoint, which is where the highway ends and there is a ferry to take you towards the Lake Michigan offshore islands for $14 roundtrip pp. On the way here, for a short stretch, is a marvelously twisty section of highway known as the Anderson curves.

Backtracking a bit to hit the other main artery through the county we headed towards Baileys Harbor on Hwy. 57 with the idea of seeing the Cana Island Lighthouse. Door County has numerous lighthouses but most of them are sequestered past state park gates which will cost you plenty as a non-resident to enter, so we did not. As we chased south towards Bailey’s Harbor, we also noticed the cloud cover chasing us just as fast and the temperature dropped a good 10 degrees by the time we caught a few photos at a the municipal park. Alas, the lighthouse, viewed against the sun, was barely visible and not photographical. We elected to skip the sauntering back roads we had planned for the rest of the morning and keep to the main road to make time in escaping the rain. One last photo from the drawbridge at Sturgeon Bay and I put the camera away as we made time back to Stevens Point.

Door County is heavily frequented by Chicago residents as a weekend escape and is filled with very nice inns, lodges and B & Bs. I think in season it is probably very beautiful although during our sojourn it appeared much as other areas of Wisconsin. Coming from the west where scenery changes are very dramatic in comparison, it takes awhile to realize the nuances of change in a state like Wisconsin where it all appears the same. The differences are very subtle; a slight rise in the topography and a brief change in the trees. Standing next to the great lakes and hearing the waves and gulls and smelling the water is much the same as standing on the Pacific, save for the tang of the salt air, which is sadly missing. However, Door County is definitely a worthwhile destination although I wouldn’t consider it one worth driving cross country for. It’s very relaxing, and maybe that’s about all one should expect from behind this door….

To see more ride photos you can watch the video here: