25 Coolest Midwest Lake Vacation Spots
Whether you're searching for serenity or want to make a splash, we have the place for your perfect lakeside vacation in states such as Michigan, Wisconsin, Missouri, Ohio, Minnesota and Iowa.
Cool community: Door County, Wisconsin
On a jagged peninsula that's just 70 miles long and 10 miles wide, you'll find the "Cape Cod of the Midwest." Why the nickname? Well, to start, there are lighthouses (10, including Cana Island light at left), beaches (about 30) and forested state parks (5) along more than 300 miles of shoreline.
There are pretty little towns, too, clustered around glittering Lake Michigan bays. The county's 30,000 or so year-round residents work hard to pique visitors' interest. Even as residents welcome new art galleries and upscale clothing and home-decor boutiques, they haven't forgotten their past.
Folks still gather for evening fish boils; hand-laid stone walls still divide pastures; and cherry orchards that date to the 1800s are still carefully tended and brought to bloom. Just the simple act of eating a fresh slice of cherry pie or taking a bike ride along the shore in Peninsula State Park makes you part of the community.
Resources: Midwest Living's Door County Trip Guide and Door County Driving Tour; Door County Visitor Bureau
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