It’s November in Door County, Wisconsin, and the residents are starting to play. All summer and into autumn leaf-peeping season, vacationers have thronged the 75-mile-long peninsula between the waters of Green Bay and Lake Michigan, about 150 miles north of Milwaukee. But now is the in-between time. “We’re like those tenacious leaves that cling to the trees once the color has faded,” says Susan Gigot-Klein, who works at the Blacksmith Inn. “November is when we take a breath after the busy season and enjoy this place.”
It’s also the ideal time for visitors to explore the peninsula in peace. At the White Gull Inn, a staff member suggests starting with a trip on the Washington Island ferry. “If you leave right now,” she urges one guest, “you can make the next departure and catch the last one back. They don’t run as often this time of year.”
The ferry offers a dramatic glimpse of the two waterways that define Door County. Lake Michigan often roils boisterously, but locals call it “the quiet side” because Green Bay draws more commerce. The bay side has “harbors and sunsets and less wind,” says Kathleen Mand Beck, whose gallery overlooks Green Bay.
Similarly, The Door’s inland turf is profiled by two parallel features: state Highway 42 on the bay side and state Highway 57 on the lake side. Narrow country roads connect the two-lane highways and meander past dairy farms, cherry orchards, horse pastures, and artists’ studio homes.
Among the latter, the Potters Wheel Gallery has been a fixture in its wooded Fish Creek setting for 52 years—ever since owners Ginka and Abe Cohn turned the barn into a studio. When a visitor strolls in, Abe’s hands are buried in clay, while Ginka sets up for the Potters Guild show that they host every fall. (Her own forte is dance, which she still teaches at age 84. Her secret? “I recommend marrying a younger man,” she says. “Abe is 82.”) Though the gallery’s regular season runs from Memorial Day through October, the Cohns offer private appointments.
You won’t go hungry in Door County any time of year. For an authentic visit, you must experience a fish boil. The event is easy to come by during spring and summer; by November, availability tapers to the year-round Friday event at The White Gull Inn. Here, master boiler Tom Christianson regales the crowd near the bubbling vat on the inn’s terrace until the flames signal it’s time to grab a seat inside, where waiters deliver plates of steaming whitefish, potatoes, and tangy coleslaw.
For tasty Mexican food, you can’t beat James and Kris Johnson’s JJ’s La Puerta, on the waterfront in Sister Bay. The Johnsons also own Waterfront, a chic restaurant next door where their chef/son Jesse creates a scrumptious Mediterranean stuffed whitefish paired with lemon-herb risotto.
Between meals, diversions range from hiking to shopping. Ecology Sports, in Sister Bay, stocks high-quality brands geared for outdoor activities. The Door County Maritime Museum justifies a visit to Sturgeon Bay, the county’s largest town (population 9,171). Nearby, the 1,178-acre Potawatomi State Park lures hikers and climbers willing to scale its observation tower for jaw-dropping views.
Wherever you go, after a few days and nights in Door County during the off-season, you’re likely to feel right at home. When you arrive at Waterfront for dinner, you nod to Bryan Nelson and Joan Holliday, the Blacksmith Inn owners sitting across the room. And James Johnson comes over to say hello, recalling your face from his other restaurant, next door. Then Celeste Wegman and her husband, Dick, walk in and invite you to join their table for a drink. Just this afternoon, you met them while perusing drool-worthy home furnishings at her City Farmer shop in a converted barn. They all want you to stay longer, to come back, maybe to move here. And become a local.
County Fare
Lodging: Rates at The White Gull Inn in Fish Creek range from $147 to $445, including breakfast. Reserve a seat at the Friday-night fish boil; 888/331-8601 or whitegullinn.com. Rates at Blacksmith Inn on the Shore in Baileys Harbor range from $125 to $255, including breakfast; 800/769-8619 or theblacksmithinn.com.
Dining: Waterfront, in Sister Bay; 920/854-5491 or jjswaterfront.com. JJ’s La Puerta, in Sister Bay; 920/854-4513 or jjswaterfront.com/jjslapuertahome.htm. The Whistling Swan Inn & Restaurant in Fish Creek; 920/868-3442 or whistlingswan.com.
Exploring: Orchard Country Winery & Market, purveyor of the apples above, 866/946-3263 or orchardcountry.com. For state park information, visit dnr.state.wi.us/org/land/parks.
Shopping: Ecology Sports, in Sister Bay; 920/854-5724 or ecologysports.com. Dovetail Gallery & Studio, in Egg Harbor; 920/868-3987 or dovetailgallery.com. Potters Wheel Gallery, in Fish Creek; 920/868-3371 or potterswheelgallery.com. The City Farmer, in Ephraim; 920/854-7501 or thecityfarmer.com.
Editor’s Pick: After visiting Potawatomi State Park, grab dinner at The Inn at Cedar Crossing (920/743-4249 or innatcedarcrossing.com), and catch a performance at the Third Avenue Playhouse (920/743-1760 or thirdavenueplayhouse.com). If you’re lucky, a Wisconsin band called Copper Box (copperboxsite.com) may be on, and you’ll soon be humming their polka version of Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb.”
