By Rita Schlise, from the Green Bay Gazette May 1967
The Door Peninsula was a vacationland hundreds of years ago… when the Indians swam, fished, hunted, and played here.
Is it any wonder that the white man moved in? When he discovered that this delightful area was air-conditioned in the summer by majestic Lake Michigan on the one side, and the glistening, azure waters of Green Bay on the other?
From its southern boundary to the northern tip of the 60-mile long peninsula which is Door County, Mother Nature has bestowed breathtaking beauty. The Green Bay shore of the famed thumb is a succession of limestone headlands that break in sheer white cliffs to a rocky beach. The rugged cliffs and steep hillsides are broken by bays, harbors, and coves, with long stretches of sandy beaches in the harbors, and picturesque villages fringing the water.
Along the Lake Michigan shore, the land rolls gently to the water’s edge, with heavy stands of pine and cedars, and rolling sand dunes. Miles of clear sand beaches stretch along the shore, beckoning to the vacationer and promising the ultimate in vacationing pleasure.
Door County offers a complete family vacation program. For the fisherman, its waters abound in black bass, jumbo yellow perch, and northern pike. Its 250 miles of shoreline provide swimming and boating pleasures for both the novice and serious sportsman. Water skiers will enjoy darting in and out of coves and bays, and hundreds of shipwrecks make its waters a mecca for the skin-diver.
For those who want to rough it, the county’s many campsites provide any type of camping with excellent accommodations. Four state parks as well as 12 county parks afford miles of hiking trails and riding trails for the nature lover.
For those who prefer the resort type of vacation, Door County offers the ultimate in sophisticated service, food, and accommodations. There are excellent harbor facilities and marinas for the “old salts.”
As for flying enthusiasts, take your choice of the three airports which are spaces evenly along the peninsula, at Sturgeon Bay, Ephraim, and Washington Island. Air service to Green Bay has been initiated this year, with three daily flights from Sturgeon Bay and two flights from Ephraim and Washington Island.
A nationally recognized music festival and a summer theater provide fare for the culture lover. Unique shops reflect Door County’s growth as an art center, and the Peninsula School of Arts holds summer classes in painting, sculpture, ceramics, metalwork, and photography, as well as special children’s classes.
Five well-kept golf courses scattered throughout the county afford both beginners and pros some spectacular views while playing. Many find tennis courts are available.
It’s a mixture of the old and the new, where a fairyland of historic off-shore islands, lighthouses, sunken ships, and former Indian villages combine with the most modern resorts set in spacious surroundings.
Gourmets and gourmands will enjoy Door County’s traditional Fish Boil, an old peninsula custom evolving from lumbering days, where trout or whitefish and potatoes and plenty of salt are boiled out of doors in huge black kettles and served with gobs of melted butter.
No matter what the tourist’s taste or the type of activity he prefers, he will find it here, where the pace can be as leisurely or as hurried as one wishes it to be. It’s hard to imagine a more diversified vacation wonderland.
