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Door County Fish Boil
Fat and fiery orange, the sun slowly melts into Green Bay, providing one of the best free shows on this popular peninsula. With sailboat halyards gently clanging in the breeze, visitors gather along the shore in resort communities such as Egg Harbor or Jacksonport to watch the spectacle.
It's a perfect way to end a day of exploring beaches and back roads. Free attractions dot these routes, including shops and galleries you can browse in towns reminiscent of New England. Students at Birch Creek Music Center in Egg Harbor give free concerts.
You'll discover the area's nautical history at several attractions, some free and some charging minimal admissions. The Door County Maritime Museum, with facilities at both Gills Rock and Sturgeon Bay, chronicles the region's commercial fishing industry and on-going ship building traditions. You also can tour Eagle Harbor Lighthouse above Green Bay in Peninsula State Park or the soaring Cana Island Lighthouse just off the Lake Michigan shore.
On the narrow peninsula, lodgings usually cost less on the Lake Michigan shore than in the popular bayside towns of Fish Creek, Ephraim and Sister Bay.
If you're set on staying along Green Bay, consider splitting costs with friends or extended family at newer condominium complexes. These multiroom suites include kitchens, so you can limit eating out. Remember, too, that in shoulder season (after Labor Day and before Memorial Day), rates can drop by up to 30 percent.
Inland eateries often serve great food at lower prices than shore restaurants. Don't miss a Door County fish boil of whitefish, potatoes and onions cooked in a huge kettle over an open fire. It's usually a bargain at peninsula restaurants and a tasty prelude to sunset.
Reviewed April 2004.
