Getaways to Door County, Chicago and North Dakota

Shopping and Sand Galore

Solitary beaches and browsing at great shops; Senior Home Editor Carol Schalla craves both, and they don’t have to be mutually exclusive.

PERFECT GETAWAY Art galleries and specialty shops full of all sorts of treasures cluster on the busier Green Bay shore of Door County, a 75-mile-long peninsula that juts into Lake Michigan from eastern Wisconsin. Footprint-free sand and unaffected towns edge the Lake Michigan side. With no chain in sight, there’s great food all over.

Carol stays at a friend’s place on a three-mile beach along Whitefish Bay on the Lake Michigan side. She rattles off her favorite activities: "walking the length of the bay in the early morning; hearing the waves as I drift off to sleep at night; reading books and sunbathing on this big, empty beach during the day. " Early one morning, Carol recalls, "My friend and I watched two young deer frolic in the lake. We held our breath and hoped they wouldn’t see us as they splashed and chased each other. "

Carol tends to bypass busy Green Bay-side villages like Sister Bay, Fish Creek and Ephraim. "Towns along the water are charming and incredibly scenic, but the inland area is so serene, lush green woods, rolling farmland and cottage industries. You never know what unique little shop in an old schoolhouse you might run across, " she says.

INSIDE TIPS Edgewood Orchard Galleries in Fish Creek for landscapes of local scenes. Cherry Pie at Perry’s Cherry Diner in Sturgeon Bay. Memorable shrimp baskets at Mike’s Port Pub in Jacksonport along Lake Michigan. Gordon Lodge with cabins on a Lake Michigan peninsula. Door County Chamber of Commerce (920/743-4456; www.doorcounty.com).

Chicago for the Whole Family

How does one manage a vacation with four kids? Easygoing Associate Art Director John Meek, whose brood ranges in age from 1 to 11, says, "There’s got to be something for everybody. "

PERFECT GETAWAY For John and his wife, Molly, Chicago, where they lived for nearly 15 years, fills the bill.

Within walking distance or quick cab rides of each other in the area around North Michigan Avenue, the city offers shopping, top museums, almost every sort of restaurant, dozens of hotels and Navy Pier with the Chicago Children.s Museum and an amusement park. The kids love American Girl Place and The Lego Store. Lincoln Park Zoo is another favorite. "It’s free, and it's pretty compact. You can easily do it in half a day, " John says.

A Cubs game also leads the agenda. And for the kids, the train ride to northside Wrigley Field is an adventure. John and Molly might sample one of the city’s many art fairs, particularly in the Gold Coast or Old Town neighborhoods. On the way home, the Meeks hit Ikea, the monster home goods store in Schaumburg, a northwestern suburb. John says, "The kids actually enjoy it as much as we do. "

INSIDE TIPS Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Chicago Downtown has a rooftop pool. CityPass, for reduced admission to museums and attractions. Twin Anchors in Old Town near Lincoln Park for great ribs. For king crab legs, Half Shell on Diversey Parkway. Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Co. in Lincoln Park for a tasty oddity, pizza potpie. Chicago Office of Tourism (877/244-2246; www.877chicago.com).

Exploring Lewis and Clark Country

Editor-in-Chief of this magazine since its inception in 1987, Dan Kaercher recently logged nearly 20,000 miles exploring the Midwest for his Best of the Midwest® and Taste of the Midwest books and Public Television shows. (Dan’s now traveling for his third book/TV project on the region’s parks, to be released in 2007.)

PERFECT GETAWAY Dan’s a history buff, and of the hundreds of Midwest historic sites he’s visited, those in uncrowded central North Dakota around Bismarck, the capital, stand out. He appreciates the rolling wheat fields and rugged Missouri River badlands, punctuated by ranches and country churches. Local history is rich, thanks to the Lewis and Clark Expedition and large Northern Plains Native American communities that thrived here long before that.

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark spent more time in North Dakota than in any other state. Near Bismarck and Mandan (38 miles north), re-created Fort Mandan shows the sort of quarters the expedition occupied during the winter of 1804-05. Nearby, the first-rate Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center is filled with exhibits that portray the era. Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site and On-A-Slant Indian Village reveal the life Sacagawea (Sakakawea to North Dakotans) lived prior to joining the Corps of Discovery. Dan says, "Don’t miss stepping inside a real Mandan earth lodge. "

INSIDE TIPS Birdwoman Canoe Adventures, to paddle the Missouri River, sleep in a tepee and learn to throw a tomahawk. German-Russian specialties at Kroll’s Diners in both towns. Bismarck-Mandan Convention & Visitors Bureau (800/767-3555; www.bismarckmandancvb.com).

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