Door County Living - Winter 2025

Bold Looks

for laid-back living

rugs - lighting - accessories interior design - wall art accent furniture & more

editor Myles Dannhausen Jr.

copy editor

Sam Watson

creative director

Katie Hohmann

design associate

Renee Puccini

sales director

Jess Farley Nielsen

sales manager

Stephen Grutzmacher

inside sales manager

Claudia Rudzinski

courier

The Paper Boy, LLC

distribution experts

Todd Jahnke, Dan Farrell, Kevin Lawell

office manager

Ben Pothast

public notiices & digital content coordinator

Kait Shanks

chief technology officer

Nate Bell

contributors

Mike Bacsi, Remy Carmichael, Sally Collins, Anders Erickson, Jess Farley Nielsen, Tom Groenfeldt, Brett Kosmider, Kayla Larsen, Betsy Lecy, Charlotte Lukes, Jeff Malmgren, John Mielke, Larry Mohr, Robert Simonson

publisher David Eliot

owners

David Eliot and Myles Dannhausen Jr.

Door County Living, Inc. 8142 Hwy 57, Baileys Harbor, WI 54202

920.839.2120 info@doorcountyliving.com doorcountypulse.com

Volume 23 Issue 4

35,000 copies (17,047 mailed)

Door County Living, celebrating the culture and lifestyle of the Door peninsula, is published five times annually by Peninsula Publishing & Distribution, Inc., 8142 Hwy 57, Baileys Harbor, WI 54202.

To order a subscription, please mail a check for $25 to Door County Living, 8142 Hwy 57, Baileys Harbor, WI 54202. If you would like to advertise, please visit doorcountymarketing.com.

© 2025 Peninsula Publishing & Distribution, Inc. All rights reserved. Door County Living is a Peninsula Publishing & Distribution, Inc. company. Locally owned. Locally minded.

Story Seeds

People often ask me how this magazine comes together each issue.

But the answer for each edition is never the same. There are specific processes we follow to get the articles into edit and on the page and off to the printer, but where the ideas come from and how they get from idea to print is variable, and often with a longer timetable than you’d guess.

This is especially evident in this issue, where the seeds for most of these stories were planted years or even decades ago.

Take Maureen Mercier. I ran into her a few years ago and she mentioned she was going to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay to study art. I thought at the time it might make a good story about a mother of teenage boys returning to school. It didn’t happen at the time – the victim of so many stories stuck in my waiting room – but it was for the better. In this issue, it becomes a better story by Tom Groenfeldt (page 20) about an artist now creating inspiring work that challenges the notion of what art can be in a small tourism town.

Other stories in this issue have been on the back burner for even longer.

Eight years ago, not long removed from coaching basketball, I found myself lamenting the end of the era of cozy old gymnasiums where I grew up playing basketball in Door and Kewaunee counties. I visited a few and talked to old athletes. Len Villano joined me to take photos, but only this winter did the demolition of Gibraltar’s old gym finally give me the hook and the inspiration to finish the story on page 16.

I first heard about Mary Pat Carlson’s dream of a shared kitchen facility here two decades ago while visiting my parents at one of the farm markets where they would set up shop next to Carlson. On page 30, Betsy Lecy tells the story of the small businesses growing out of the kitchen in NWTC’s Learning and Innovation Center in Sister Bay.

And then there’s Bill Freyman’s model train set (page 40), a description that vastly undersells the layout in his Egg Harbor home. My grandfather’s train set was a bit of a legend in our house. I had vague, hazy toddler recollections of seeing the Dannhausen Express on the tracks years ago, but I assumed it was long lost.

Then, a couple of years ago, as my son was beginning to show an interest in

Watching a game in Algoma’s middle school gymnasium takes you back in time to an era where gyms were cozy and the crowd was part of the

trains, my uncle asked me if I would want the old family train set that had been sitting in a box collecting dust in his attic for years.

When I said yes, I didn’t know how much I had to learn to rehabilitate the set. But I found a local group of model railroad enthusiasts who pointed me to Mr. Freyman, who welcomed me for a visit to pick his brain and check out the layout in his home. Three years later, John Mielke writes about the fantastical version of Door County Freyman created in his model railroad room, and you’ll understand why I left that visit in awe.

I’ll never reach his level of railroad mastery, but he did help me get the Dannhausen Express rolling down the tracks again.

Here’s hoping these stories and others that didn’t take quite so long to come to fruition warm you in the cold days to come, and introduce you to another side of Door County Living. Thanks for reading.

– Myles Dannhausen Jr.

CONTRIBUTORS

MIKE BACSI lives in Baileys Harbor and writes about the local food scene for the Peninsula Pulse. When not writing, he’s rocking with local band The Cherry Tones.

Photographer REMY CARMICHAEL is a high school student from Baileys Harbor with a background in ballet.

SALLY COLLINS contributes regularly to the Peninsula Pulse and Door County Living. Her debut novel, Muddled Cherries, is available from local booksellers or online at sallycollinswrites. com.

Writer and editor MYLES DANNHAUSEN JR. has been searching out stories for Door County Living since 2005. He lives outside Sister Bay with his wife and three children.

ANDERS ERICKSON is a Door County native and Chicago-based bartender, writer and cocktail educator. He lives on the city’s north side with his wife and collaborator, Azusa Inaba.

JESS FARLEY NIELSEN lives in Jacksonport with her husband, son, and dogs, Berndette and Elwood Blues. Feeding friends and family feeds her soul.

TOM GROENFELDT of Sturgeon Bay writes about financial technology for forbes.com and The Financial Brand in addition to writing profiles of Door County artists for the Peninsula Pulse

has lived the cliche of leaving Illinois for Door County. Gibraltar classrooms taught him to love writing and he began his journalism career locally in 2002.

KATIE HOHMANN is the creative director of the Peninsula Pulse and Door County Living, and when she isn’t sitting at her desk, she’s standing at it. Her time outside the office is spent painting, paddleboarding and laughing in good company.

Door County native KAYLA LARSEN spent 25 years in the service industry before turning her eye toward the people and landscapes of Door County as a photographer. She and her husband, James, live outside Sister Bay with their son, Beau.

BETSY LECY is a journalism student at Northwestern University. A Gibraltar High School graduate and marathon finisher, she calls Fish Creek home.

Since the passing of her husband, Roy, in 2016, CHARLOTTE LUKES writes to fulfill his mission to help educate and inspire readers to learn, care for and protect our native species and the natural world.

JOHN MIELKE was a writer at Fortune 500 companies and at UW-Parkside. He and his wife, Patti, and their poodle, Riley, live on Rileys Bay.

After retiring from a 36-year career in technology, LARRY MOHR is back behind the lens for the Peninsula Pulse and Door County Living. You can often find him on the trail with his wife and black lab.

ROBERT SIMONSON, a native of Wisconsin, writes about cocktails and spirits for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and other outlets. He is the author of seven cocktail books and the Substack newsletter, The Mix.

SAM WATSON is an editorial assistant for the Peninsula Pulse. The UW-Madison grad lives in Baileys Harbor with her spouse and three cats – Desmond, Penny and Kermit.

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Farewell to Old Gyms

by MYLES DANNHAUSEN JR.

When the wrecking ball started tearing into Gibraltar’s old gym in June of 2025, it marked another stage in dismantling an era of prep sports.

The gym was built in 1936 as the centerpiece of Gibraltar High School; the rest of what is now Gibraltar Area School was built around it. The new gym was hailed at the time as a state-ofthe-art facility, and ushered in similar gyms in Brussels, Southern Door, Sevastopol and elsewhere.

The giant wooden arches that held up the 58-foot roof were manufactured by Unit Structures in Peshtigo, Wisconsin, and they held strong. Eighty-nine years after it was built, the gym was still in use for youth sports, classes and gatherings, though it had long since lost its usefulness for high school sports.

But the gym is now gone, set to join so many others long since replaced by shinier, more spacious facilities with high ceilings, bright lights and spacious sidelines with the charm of a Sam’s Wholesale Club. It will exist now only in pictures, in remnants of the floor that were saved and will be remade into art, and in sections of those giant arches that held up the roof, repurposed by the industrial arts program.

It will also remain in memory. Paul Woerfel (Gibraltar Class of 1970) played his high school ball in the final years of varsity basketball in the old gym.

“At the time, that gym was as good as anybody else’s,” Woerfel said.

Woerfel played when the feet of the front row of fans were often on the court, and the walls made even a small crowd feel like a packed house. End lines almost ran into stone walls or stages. A fast break with too much “fast” in it might send a player crashing

to the floor in pain, an ankle rolled or an arm gashed against padding that was largely for show.

John Berns played on the high-flying Southern Door teams of the mid1960s, the last days of the bandbox gymnasiums. He squeezed his feet tight to the wall at Sevastopol’s old gym, where he once saw a player sink a shot with one foot on the wall. He sweated out games at the old Casco gym, where they allegedly turned the heat up on Thursdays to make opponents melt on Friday. And he fought through Gibraltar’s full-court press in the old gym, where the court was so small that five players felt like seven.

“When you get it more compact, you can almost taste it, smell it,” Berns recalled. “That’s hard to beat.”

In Algoma, you can still find the closest thing to the Hickory High gym from Hoosiers at the middle school, where even eighth-graders now seem too big for the space and an upper deck balcony rings the floor. But that gym

CURIOSITIES

was once the place to be on a frigid Friday night, back when Algoma Hardwoods was doling out blue-collar jobs by the score, when the Sturgeon Bay shipyards offered all the shifts you could want, and Wolves basketball was a phrase to be feared in northeastern Wisconsin.

“You had nine home games and those were events,” said Jeff Ness, a 1968 Algoma graduate. “The gym would fill up by 7 pm during the JV [Junior Varsity] game. If we were playing Sturgeon Bay, it would fill before the JV game even started. There might have been 800 people in there.”

The atmosphere was electric.

“It was hot and it was loud,” Ness said. “People would hang over the backboard and that made free throws really tough for opponents.”

The Gibraltar gym’s size made it unusual, too. Like other gyms, the court was short of regulation size, but this one was so short it was marked by two center court lines, one each to denote “half court” depending on which direction you were going on offense.

“The worst gym to play in for other teams had to be the Gibraltar gym,” Woerfel said. “We had that stupid double line for the half-court line. We’d always run a 1-3-1 half-court trap, and the opponent couldn’t figure out which

line they were using. It was great for us, though.”

So great, in fact, that it helped the 1969 Gibraltar team go undefeated in the regular season behind the sharpshooting of Dave Voskuil. In three years, Voskuil tallied 1,464 career points, setting a county record that lasted 30 years – all without a 3-point line. The standing-room-only crowds who swarmed the court for those games remain the stuff of local legend.

The new fieldhouses are better for the coaches, for practice and for the players. But they will feel different, maybe less special. We know why the old gyms are no more, but we’ll miss them just the same.

Speaking Through Sculpture

In a county awash with artists, Maureen Mercier stands out for her issue-oriented work. Her sculptures in plaster and metals can be startling, arresting, disturbing and open to multiple interpretations. Simple decoration, they are not.

“My work is definitely conceptual,” Mercier said. “Because I’ve been a licensed massage therapist for 25 years, making work that’s representative of the body is a natural bridge for me. I’m a very tactile person, so working with my hands and making art about my hands just go together.”

Craig Blietz, who judged the 2023 Hardy Gallery juried exhibit in which Mercier was featured, cited her “Catfished by Objectification” as a brilliantly executed conceptual art piece. It consists of two slim chains holding padding from women’s garments, weighted by

silvery cast-metal breasts with prominent nipples.

“Women’s clothing often comes with those pads,” Mercier said. “They’re a pain in the butt, so oftentimes I pull them out and shove them in a drawer. ‘Catfished’ is a reference to getting caught by society’s expectation of what women’s breasts should look like – full, soft, round and without nipples. How big do women need to be to look desirable or presentable? I used my own breasts at the bottom of the strings to represent an actual breast, small in size and with nipples fully exposed, yet it is still caught on that line because of subscribed societal norms.”

“I don’t think you see enough of that [conceptual art],” Blietz said. “I think we see a lot of really well-crafted paintings, sculptures and prints. What draws me to this is the narrative trail that happens

here. And I think that everything from the title, to the way it’s hung, to what it’s hung with, and the descending order of things, is impressive.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Mercier’s work connects strongly with women. That’s reflected in the demographics of her Instagram followers.

“My biggest age range is 45 to 54,” she said. “Gender is 78% female. I don’t really get hung up on it, I don’t even really have that many followers, but it just kind of gives me an idea of whether what I’m putting out there is engaging people.”

Mercier received her B.A. (Bachelor of Arts degree) in Studio Arts with a minor in Women’s and Gender Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, commuting to class from Ellison Bay to complete studies she had begun years earlier in Madison.

The Green Bay arts program challenged students to explain their work, Mercier said.

“When I was in school, every time we had a critique, it was always, ‘What did you do, and why did you do it?’” she said. “‘What was the reasoning behind it, and how did you go about it?’ You had to stand behind the work.”

Sticking to a specific theme helped guide Mercier’s artistic process.

“I had already been making art about women and mothering and it felt right, so I stuck with it,” she said. “And six years later, I’m still working at it. It helps that I have really zoned in on that theme. I pretty much know that anything I make is going to be about women and motherhood, or about myself.”

Her college minor in women’s and gender studies also guided her work.

“I’ve spent a lot of time writing papers and examining issues of women,” she said. “I feel like I almost need to honor that education that I have by linking my art and that degree.”

encouraging even those who disagree with the message to examine their own beliefs, biases and experiences in relation to the art.”

Adam Fulwiler, executive director of the Hardy Gallery, attended undergrad with Mercier at UW-Green Bay.

“I was always struck by her ambition and commitment to her work during that time,” Fulwiler wrote in an email. “Since then, I have watched her practice mature into something more sophisticated. Maureen investigates issues such as body dysmorphia, reproductive rights and motherhood, using diverse materials like cast aluminum, plaster and found objects imbued with metaphorical meaning. Although her work frequently has a political dimension, it consistently provides multiple perspectives,

Though some galleries might balk at carrying provocative work, venues like the Hardy, the Miller Art Museum in Sturgeon Bay and the Peninsula School of Art’s Guenzel Gallery play an important role by offering exhibit space for work that might be difficult to sell. Mercier was invited to exhibit in the Hardy Gallery’s juried show 60 Years, Sixty Works, which closed the gallery’s 2024 season.

“I felt very honored to be recognized in that group of artists,” she said. “I feel like I’ve got a little bit of momentum happening right now, so I’m really trying to stay focused and continue to work.”

Still, the themes of individual pieces can change with time. That was the case for a cast aluminum V that started out as “Your Vote Is Your Voice” before the 2024 presidential election. The V has eight mouths, cast from Mercier’s own, referencing the potential for having the same woman president for the next two presidential terms.

“I was hopeful,” Mercier said. “We all get one vote, use it as your voice, make it heard by participating.”

Since that election, the V has come to stand for vigilance, she said.

Another piece, “Rarely Aggressive,” is a spiky black aluminum stiletto with porcupine quills sticking out the back of the heel. The unsubtle artwork was sold to a businesswoman of Mercier’s age.

Teresa Lind, a Chilton-based sculptor who taught Mercier at Peninsula School of Art, said the combination of message and craftsmanship in Mercier’s work makes is unique.

“Her messages are strong but she is careful about how she says things; they really make you think,” Lind said. “That is partly because her craftsmanship is so good, she’s not just putting up a sign. She clearly has spent time with her ideas to put them in the form that she does.”

Setting Stones

How Trilliant Diamonds keeps its shine

by TOM GROENFELDT

photos by LARRY MOHR

Before they moved from St. Thomas to Door County and launched their business eight years ago, Kelly and Manish Khemchandani did some research.

A native of West Bend, Wisconsin, Kelly wanted to be closer to her family. Her husband had left India when he was 19 and has family all around the world, but especially in New York and the Caribbean.

So they checked out Lake Geneva, Lacrosse, Minocqua, Eagle River, Lake Topeka and finally, Door County.

They found a spot in the Top of the Hill shops in Fish Creek and named the business Trilliant Diamond and Jewelry, after both a gemstone cut and the trillium flowers found throughout Door County.

They rented the store for three years, then bought it at the end of 2020 and doubled the shop’s size. Last year, they added a second location at the Dörr Hotel in Sister Bay.

Although the two shops are only seven miles apart, they both reach totally different demographics, Kelly said.

When they opened the hotel store, they were selling easy-to-buy pieces in the $500 to $1,500 range. But they sold out of their higher-end inventory and have increased their upper limit.

“The vast difference in the people we are seeing is incredible,” she continued.

“People who go to Sister Bay stay in Sister Bay. It’s quite odd. They’ll go to Baileys Harbor and Ellison Bay, and maybe some Ephraim, but that’s it.”

They are the only shop in the Dörr.

“Our aesthetic is very similar to the hotel’s – very clean, crisp, modern,” she said.

Some of Manish’s family manufactures jewelry in New York, and the shop sells their products along with work from several other artists and firms in the U.S., Japan, Italy, India, Indonesia and China.

“Sister Bay was originally intended to be a small boutique featuring a thoughtfully curated mix of styles and price points,” Kelly said. “While we remain committed to offering something for everyone, we’re gradually expanding the collection to include exclusive, high-end pieces – fancy cut diamonds, vivid colored gemstones and bold statement designs that will set Sister Bay apart from Fish Creek. We just need to fill our cases with the right things.

Manish designs some of the pieces –rings, necklaces, pendants, earrings and bracelets.

“We custom-create 90 to 95% of our engagement rings,” Kelly said. “We also

carry a nice contemporary line out of Florida by Frank Reubel. He is pretty well-known for his sculpted rings; several of our customers recognize his designs when they come in.”

He designed one custom ring featuring tanzanite, a rare blue gem, which is now showcased at the Fish Creek location, Kelly said.

“He also created a three-stone ring with a padparadscha sapphire [a rare pink-orange sapphire] flanked by two epaulette-cut diamonds, all set in a blend of yellow and white gold,” she said.

They have also made custom pieces featuring Door County.

“We had a customer come in here who loves Sister Bay – they’ve been coming for 30 years,” Kelly said. “So we made a solid gold Door County peninsula with the little diamond where Sister Bay sits.”

Most of their customers are women, but about one in 10 men who come in ask to see what the stores might have for them. The business is Wisconsin’s only outlet for John Atencio, a popular Denverbased designer who has stores mostly across the West.

Sister Bay carries a line of Obaku watches, Danish watches with Japanese movements that play off the designs of luxury watches like Patek, Movado or Rolex.

“We have a few Rolex collectors who come in and grab a couple at a time because the price point is just unreal,” Kelly said. “And they look so sleek.”

The watches go for $180 to $400. No matter the price point, Kelly said that jewelry is meant to be worn – you just have to be smart about how you wear it.

“Our FedEx guy, Brian, needed a highly durable replacement wedding band and chose black diamond ceramic – a material that is virtually scratch-proof,”

she said. “He knocks on doors with his ring instead of his hand, and after a year, it still looks brand new. However, we wouldn’t recommend this kind of impact for a ring with stones.”

She recommends storing jewelry in a jewelry box with compartments or in individual pouches to prevent scratching. She also advises to “regularly clean your jewelry using non-toxic cleaners or a soft cloth,” she said. “Remove jewelry before swimming or cleaning and visit your jeweler every 6-12 months to check prongs and settings. Part of our servicing includes checking settings and prongs to ensure stones are secure.”

Kelly, who recruited manufacturing engineers for a company in Grafton until a year-and-a-half ago, is enjoying retail.

“It’s fun,” she said. “It’s exciting. We get to meet new people every single day. Having a business in a small town is lovely, it really is.”

Campaign Encore!

Door Community Auditorium’s ENCORE! Campaign supports the creation of a new multi-purpose venue, education center, and gathering hall. With the working name of “The Annex,” the second facility will expand our offerings, deliver greater value to our audiences, and feature:

• Indoor and outdoor performance and gathering spaces – perfect for unique community events, salon-style or cabaret concerts, chamber music, jazz, lectures, or films, showcasing student, community, regional, and national talent

• The pairing of cultural events with food and beverage including occasional beer and wine service (the new venue is off campus and owned by DCA, not Gibraltar Schools)

• Music practice rooms for instrumental instruction not offered in the school

• A full catering kitchen for improved artist hospitality and catered special events

• Offices and collaboration space for DCA staff and other nonprofit organizations

• Expanded restroom and parking capacity, usable for DCA Mainstage events

• Solidification and preservation of this Fish Creek corner as an arts and education hub

FALL & WINTER

NOVEMBER

DECEMBER

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

MARCH

12 PASSPORT PROGRAM: Michael “Laughing Fox” Charette 7 p.m. 29 PASSPORT PROGRAM: Women of Americana: A Celebration of American Music - From Bob Dylan to Bonnie Raitt 7 p.m.

Incubating Success

Shared kitchen nurtures local growers and producers

by BETSY LECY

Cooking was Elizabeth Galecke’s first love, long before she became the owner of Galecktables, a vegetarian and vegan culinary business offering cookies and savory baked goods.

Cooking was a passion she carried since childhood, but one she never had a chance to pursue. That changed when she learned about the shared-use commercial kitchen at the Northeast Wisconsin Technical College (NWTC) Learning and Innovation Center in Sister Bay.

“I was ready to start something new,” Galecke said. “When I heard about the kitchen and how accessible it was, I decided to shift.”

Galecke is one of many entrepreneurs who turned to the shared NWTC kitchens in Sturgeon Bay and Sister Bay.

The kitchen program, which launched in 2018, was developed to support small businesses by providing affordable access to kitchen space and equipment. Both locations support nine active food processors, who have to be

“Food isn’t just to sustain your body, but it’s to sustain your community and to sustain the historic connections that your families have built.”

– Mary Pat Carlson

certified by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection to operate out of the space.

An Assist for Entrepreneurs

The vision for shared-use kitchens in the region started long before NWTC took the reins.

The idea originated about 20 years ago from Island View Orchard and Wildwood Market Owner Mary Pat Carlson, who was also a small-scale food manufacturing specialist for the University of Wisconsin-Extension.

Carlson wanted to make products for both her businesses, but quickly ran into roadblocks posed by food safety licensing requirements. That experience made her realize she likely wasn’t alone.

“I realized that there must be others out there who are going through the same steps,” Carlson said. “It can be rather tedious to figure out just what you need and how to go about developing products and getting equipment and setting up a kitchen in your own facility.”

So Carlson launched a regional effort that targeted Door, Kewaunee, Manitowoc and Brown counties to provide affordable spaces and technical assistance for entrepreneurs.

“If I was going to do this, I was going to drag along as many people as I could and try to make it easier for them,” Carlson said.

Her research resulted in the creation of the Algoma Farm Market Kitchen, a shared-use food processing business incubator that helped more than 250 businesses get their start and provided

the proof of concept that NWTC would build on.

For Carlson, motivation came from the community.

“Food isn’t just to sustain your body, but it’s to sustain your community and to sustain the historic connections that your families have built,” she said.

When the Algoma kitchen closed in 2016, it left producers with few options just as demand spiked thanks to the popularity of pop-up dinners, food trucks and artisanal food products. Fortunately, NWTC was looking for ways to fill community needs as it expanded to open a Sister Bay center.

A Popular Resource

Now, twenty businesses are on the waiting list for the Sturgeon Bay location, and three more are on the Sister Bay waitlist, said Stephanie Cataldo Pabich, NWTC’s kitchen assistant in Sturgeon Bay.

Storage space remains a limiting factor, Cataldo Pabich said, with each business

needing space in shared refrigerators, freezers and dry goods racks.

Meanwhile, those who secure a spot pay a one-time $150 membership fee and an annual $50 renewal fee, as well as a $12-per-hour rate to use the kitchen. That revenue goes into an enterprise account for purchasing and maintaining expensive kitchen equipment. The goal isn’t to generate profit, Cataldo Pabich said, but to create a springboard for small businesses to support innovation in their communities.

One example is Little Miss Addie’s Cupcakes in Fish Creek. Owner Krissie Carlisle said the Sturgeon Bay kitchen has been a significant stepping stone toward establishing her dessert business.

“It has given me time to be able to grow and build my clientele without having to come up with all that money up front,” Carlisle said.

She estimated that installing a commercial kitchen would have cost her at least $25,000, including $7,400 for sinks, up to $8,000 for an oven and upgrades for food-safe floors.

A Space to Experiment

The kitchens have also served as a space for experimentation. Faith Moore, owner of Kitty’s Coffee in Peninsula State Park, used the Sister Bay kitchen for about two years beginning in 2022. As a food truck operator, she needed a licensed base of operations to comply with the Wisconsin Food Code requirement that mobile food establishments return to a service base at least every 24 hours.

Moore mainly used the space for that base of operations and storage, while occasionally using the kitchens to make lemonade and cold brew.

Moore later transitioned to using a commercial kitchen in the park, but said the shareduse kitchen helped her discover what did and didn’t work.

“I think it really helped me with a lot of self-discovery with my business and the things that I did or didn’t want to do,” she said.

Costs, too, factor into the decision for those who use the shared kitchens.

“If I didn’t have this, I probably wouldn’t have opened last year at all,” Carlisle said.

“I had looked at renting a different place that didn’t have a kitchen, but I wouldn’t have a place to make any of my product.”

Flexibility is just as valuable for those business owners who only operate during the tourist season, like Gretchen Geurts, owner of the private chef and catering business Ohana Hospitality. Geurts runs her business from April to January, preparing cultural meals inspired by her global travels for small groups and events.

The kitchens support existing dreams while inspiring new ones. Grace Burgett, a Kohler High School student, has worked out of the Sister Bay kitchen for four years as Galecke’s assistant. Burgett is now working toward certification to launch Gracie’s Treats, her own venture within the kitchen.

“Once I stepped foot into the kitchen, I knew I would want to be working in that space,” Burgett said.

Geurts discovered the Sister Bay kitchen by chance while catering a wedding for her friend. Like Galecke, she said she never thought running her own business in Door County would be possible until she found the space.

“Having that kitchen there was definitely a blessing for me,” Geurts said. “I don’t think I would have done it otherwise.”

Simon Says

‘Anything

You can’t stop Carla Simon from competing

by JEFF MALMGREN

On a June day in 2013, 25-year-old Carla Simon and her stepfather, John Meudt, returned to their Arizona home after her Special Olympics volleyball practice nearby.

Simon stepped into the room of her mother, also named Carla, to recount the practice’s highlights. Instead, she found that her mom had died in bed.

Devastated, Simon sank into her sorrow at first. But, fortuitously, she had begun dabbling in distance running only two months earlier, and that helped her literally run away from depression as she used 5K races and half marathons to cope with the loss.

“I think her running saved her,” Meudt said.

Simon also realized running helped ease her mind as she navigated living with autism, which for her, manifests mostly in frustrations over the interactions of daily life, and challenges with self-image. So, over the past 12 years, she has completed more than 300 races, including the Door County Half Marathon, the Door County

Triathlon sprint race and the Peninsula Century Classic cycling event.

“The world might be frustrating,” said the 37-year-old Simon, who now lives in Manitowoc with her 82-year-old stepfather, “but when I’m running, it’s not.”

Finding Meaning in Marathons

Meudt may need to buy a bigger house if his stepdaughter keeps racing.

Simon has competed in an Ironman triathlon, seven half Ironmans, 40 marathons, more than 100 half marathons and a similar number of 5 to 10K races, plus countless Special Olympics events. So she has a huge collection of about 400 medals hanging in bunches like bananas around their home.

“It’s an obsession, in a way, but it’s a healthy one,” Meudt said. “You could sit around and get fat and watch TV and play video games, but she would rather be athletic.”

This year alone, Simon traveled to run the Publix Atlanta Marathon in Georgia, the Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach and the London Marathon in England. The Boston Marathon, which she ran in 2024, 2021 and 2020, ranks among her

Is Possible’

Door County Half Marathon and Nicolet Bay 5K

Registration is open for the May 2, 2026 Door County Half Marathon and Nicolet Bay 5K. The half marathon is capped at 2,000 participants and is run on a closed, road course in Peninsula State Park. Runners get a commemorative shirt and medal, full course support and a finish line party with One Barrel Brewing Co. beer and live music at Nicolet Bay. Register or learn more at doorcountyhalfmarathon.com.

favorite races in part because she had the opportunity to give a speech about athletes with disabilities as part of the weekend’s festivities.

“I always tell people, ‘Never give up on your dreams. Disability or not, anything is possible,’” she said. “My autism and disability don’t [control] me as much as I thought.”

Simon, who grew up in Madison, even ventured to Nice, France for the prestigious Ironman World Championship triathlon in 2024. She described the experience as “awesome,” remembering “the old buildings and the artwork and seeing the Mediterranean Sea, and swimming in salt water for the first time.”

In America, Simon has raced in 25 states and enjoyed plenty of sightseeing in cities and national parks along the way.

“Running helped her navigate the world,” Meudt said. “She would have been more closed in” without it.

Simon began competing in the Special Olympics as a sprinter, but her track coaches encouraged her to run longer races in 2013. So Meudt began driving Simon to 5K and 10K races around Arizona, which led to their 2015 road trip to the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Half Marathon.

That opened the floodgates. In 2016, Simon drove across the country for one or two marathons each month.

“It’s a good way to keep a positive mind,” she said. “The world can be a very difficult place to manage, and when I race, it’s a more inclusive place.”

Running also helped give Simon purpose after her mother’s passing.

“It showed me I’m strong and I shouldn’t sit around and mope,” she said.

Now, she purposely tries to find a race on the anniversary of her mother’s death.

“Every year, she knows when the date comes up,” Meudt said. “She had it pretty rough there when her mom passed.”

Simon the Swimmer

With a background in Special Olympics swimming, Simon loves triathlons even more than simply running.

She became a little overzealous the first time she swam in Lake Michigan after moving from San Tan Valley, Arizona to Manitowoc, Wisconsin in July 2022. Her stepfather accompanied her to the water and asked her to stay within eyesight.

“Well, she didn’t,” Meudt said with a chuckle. “I didn’t see her and got worried.”

So he called 911 and the dispatcher sent a rescue boat team to search for her while Meudt stood on the shore.

“One of the paramedics said, ‘I think I see something way out there. It looks like an arm coming over the wave,’” Meudt said. “Sure enough, it was her.”

They found Simon still swimming strong, unsurprisingly, because she works out 2-3 hours per day, 5-6 days per week.

“So it wasn’t a recuse, it was just kind of funny,” Meudt said. “Since then, I lay the law down: ‘You go out a couple hundred feet and swim back and forth,’ so I always have an eye on her.”

Watchful eyes also aid Simon during her marathon runs. Organizations such as MyTeamTriumph provide guides who accompany runners with disabilities.

“It’s big in the Door County community,” Simon said. “They help me so I don’t trip over obstacles and [remember] when to fuel up. Sometimes I’m not always good at hydrating.”

Simon also has a history of epileptic seizures and dyspraxia, which affects coordination and balance. She recently fell and chipped a tooth during the Run De Pere Half Marathon in November, but she endured and crossed the finish line with a smile.

A bloody, inspiring smile.

A Railroad Fantasy

There’s a place in Door County where trains pull into a picturesque Egg Harbor station. A little farther down the line, cattle cars load and unload at Horseshoe Bay Farms. You’ll find a large red and green beacon atop an observation tower in Peninsula State Park.

You might be thinking this must be some kind of fantasy land. Even when the Ahnapee and Western Railway ran in Door County, Sturgeon Bay was the end of the line.

But at Bill and Sarah Freyman’s home near Egg Harbor, the Calumet, Champaign and Egg Harbor Railway is beautifully real. For more than 70 years, Bill Freyman has had a love affair with

Freyman’s layout includes iconic Door County locations like Eagle Bluff Lighthouse, Horseshoe Bay Farms and Eagle Tower, but also adds whimsical touches like an alien landing and the Cave Point Photonic Hazmat-Neutralizer.

model railroading, specifically O-gauge toy trains.

It all started in 1953 when Bill’s dad bought him a train set that he still runs today. “Typical 1950s family,” Bill said. “Set [the train] up at Christmas, and then it’s back in the boxes.”

Bill and Sarah spent most of their adult lives in Champaign, Illinois, where Sarah was a teacher and Bill a school administrator. As their family grew, the trains came out again, and Bill’s interest reached a new level when he discovered a group of other people who were into O-gauge model trains.

“We’d meet every Saturday morning at 7:30 at the train shop, a couple of hours

before it opened,” Bill said. “We’d have coffee and doughnuts and talk about the latest trains.”

At Christmas, the owner of the train shop would bring out eggnog and brandy for the group’s regular breakfast gathering – and then hide the holiday hooch when the shop opened for regular customers.

About 17 years ago, Bill and Sarah decided that Door County would be the perfect retirement location, having vacationed in the area many times. The peninsula is centrally located with plenty to see and do, encouraging more visits from kids and grandkids.

Size Matters

In some respects, model railroad enthusiasts are a lot like sports fans and car buffs. Instead of Brewers versus Cubs or Ford versus Chevy, model railroaders have their favorite “gauge.”

For Bill Freyman of Egg Harbor, it’s the O-gauge. Steve Hellman of Sturgeon Bay sticks with HO-gauge. The mayor of Sturgeon Bay, Dave Ward, and Sturgeon Bay resident Bob Cozby – well, they’re firmly planted in the garden train or G-gauge camp. The difference in gauges is the scale or size of the engines, cars and even accessories.

In North America, HO-gauge is the most popular. At a scale of one to 87, if an HO car or engine is 6 inches long, the real McCoy is about 43 feet long.

O-gauge models are 1:48 – almost double the size. G-gauge trains, usually 1:22, are considered among the largest, and most hobbyists have outdoor or garden

layouts given the amount of space required.

If you live in a tiny house, consider Z-gauge at 1:220, or the ultra-space-saving T-gauge at 1:480.

“You have all you can do to put the Z-gauge on the track,” Ward said.

Hellman became interested in model railroading about 10 years ago when he saw an HO layout at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago. It was the size that captured his interest.

“You can get in a lot of railroading [in a given space], but it isn’t such a horrible test on the eyes,” Hellman said.

Ward grew up in Green Bay with an O-gauge American Flyer on a large layout his dad built. He also spent warm summer nights listening to the sounds of Green Bay and Western, Milwaukee Road and Chicago and North Western engines.

“Nobody had air conditioning,” Ward said.

“My brother and I slept in the upstairs part of the house. We had a story-anda-half, sort of a Cape Cod, and the windows would be open at both ends. You could hear that Elko [diesel engine] because it had a very distinctive motor sound.”

One day while walking down the street in Milwaukee, Ward spotted a G-gauge train and was hooked. He says it brings together his love of trains and gardening.

At the corner of Oregon Street and 3rd Avenue in Sturgeon Bay, passersby can get a look at Cozby’s G-gauge layout as it makes its way around his yard.

Like many other fans of model trains, Cozby received engines and cars as Christmas gifts when he was a kid. His collection of HO trains grew over the years. When he retired and moved to Sturgeon Bay from central Texas in 2019, he had a hundred passenger cars and nowhere to run them.

“I wanted something that I’d be proud of that people could see, so I decided to go with the larger scale that I could put outside,” Cozby said.

His layout even features a few mountains and a river. During the summer, the Saturday farmers markets and an annual car show are right outside Cozby’s front door, giving thousands of kids –young and old – the chance to see his trains.

“I get reactions from grandparents who remember trains as kids, and then the kids, their eyes just light up when they start hearing Thomas the Tank Engine blow its horn,” Cozby said. “All the noises and sounds are just like the real thing, and they are just fascinated by it.”

Cozby plans to add another loop this year, along with a village, a mill next to the river and a couple of trolley stations.

“One thing at a time,” he said.

Of course, the trains made the trip, but were relegated to the basement. “It’s not a place I would keep the trains longterm,” Bill said.

They’d find their long-term home when the Freymans decided to add on to the house. If they should ever decide to sell, it will be a great living room for the new owners. In the meantime, it’s a train room.

The train table is about 8 feet wide by 16 feet long. It’s on heavy-duty casters so it can be moved from the center of the room to one end for more living space.

“Sometimes model train layouts can be crowded and not leave much room for visitors to sit or stand,” Bill said. “I wanted to make sure we had plenty of room, so I limited myself in terms of size, which meant design challenges.”

Some model railroaders use the walls of train rooms for scenery backdrops. In

Bill’s case, large windows provide plenty of natural light. Visitors and guest operators can walk around the table and view the eclectic Calumet, Champaign and Egg Harbor Railway from all angles.

Over the years, Bill made sure his layout featured some of the peninsula’s most well-known locations, including the Eagle Bluff Lighthouse, the Door County Granary, and, of course, the Cave Point Photonic Hazmat Neutralizer.

“This is where we neutralize all hazardous materials with photonic rays and a cedar vapor,” Bill said. “We create the photonic rays from the atomic plant at the atomic exploratorium. It’s at Cave Point, in case you want to do some camping.”

With the help of a 3-D printer, Bill added Flash Gordon’s rocket ship from the serial films of the 1930s, and Gort, the weapon-vaporizing robot from The Day the Earth Stood Still. Yes, Bill is a sci-fi buff.

He describes the layout as a “bizarre Door County look,” complete with a goat on the roof of a building, “because you’ve got to have a goat on a roof,” Bill said.

And that’s where his version of model railroading can differ a bit from others. Some operate their trains with precise realism, including time period-specific scenery.

“Some of them are true artists,” Bill said. “I’ll run anything I want to run. I’ll mix what I want to mix. There’s no time period that I’m locked into. It works for me; I have fun with it.”

Part of the draw of model trains is the satisfaction that comes with designing and building.

“I really do think that the engineering is an appeal,” Bill said. “Whether it’s carpentry for building the layout itself, the electronics, getting everything to

work – it kind of keeps your mind going.”

Another draw is “the camaraderie, having the ability to share it with other people who are like-minded,” he said.

In Door County, running into a bunch of other model railroaders on a Saturday morning at the local train shop isn’t as easy as it was in Champaign.

The hobby has benefited from the internet and YouTube channels, making it easier for modelers to connect.

Technology has also changed how the trains are powered. Except for some scenery accessories, the heartbeat of Bill’s layout is a digital command center. He has converted many of his older engines to digital command systems, allowing him to operate the trains with handheld remote controls and even his phone or tablet.

Digital systems also expand possibilities for light and sound. One of Bill’s favorite model trains is a replica of the Illinois Central Railroad’s City of New Orleans, dating back to the late 1940s. One of its cars even has a little band inside that plays Steve Goodman’s iconic song, which shares the name of the train, as it “rolls along past houses, farms and fields” in the Egg Harbor train room.

Bill’s trains vary from passenger to freight, military to historic. He even has an O-gauge Polar Express, the train made famous in the movie starring Tom Hanks. During the holidays, Bill sets it up as a small display that kids of all ages can run in the welcome center at The Ridges Sanctuary in Baileys Harbor.

Even with more than 100 cars and engines, Bill does

HOBBIES

not consider himself a train collector.

“It’s just enjoyment. They’re toys,” he said. “I don’t say, ‘Hmm, that’s going to be worth something someday.’ I had a friend who never took any out of the box – he just collected. He didn’t have a layout, and he had hundreds of trains. His daughter kept saying, ‘Man, when he dies, we’re running all of them.’”

While he may not be a collector, Bill does enjoy adding to his collection. “Every once in a while, something comes out that I just have to have,” he said. “For instance, a couple years ago, a train shop in Atlanta, Indiana, Mr. Muffin’s Trains, had a custom run of Cherryland refrigerator cars from the Reynolds Orchard in Sturgeon Bay. The cars are lettered and painted for cars that ran up here. When stuff like that shows up, you think, ‘OK, I can buy a couple of those.’”

As with most hobbies and collections, there is one special train out there Bill wants – a locomotive built by General Motors that pulled the City of New Orleans and Panama Limited

“It had a beautiful sloped nose,” Bill said of the engine. “Lionel [a model train company] built that model a few years ago and I didn’t get one at the time. Eventually I’ll find it, and then I’ll have to figure out how much I’m willing to pay for it.”

One thing’s for sure: When Bill finds it, he’ll run it. If you listen closely, you might hear “City of New Orleans” playing as the train pulls into Egg Harbor.

Join us for reading and writing events for all.

This winter, take some “me” time at Write On, Door County and join us for one or more of our free readings and classes offered in person or online. Check out our library. Or bundle up and stroll our Writer’s Walk — 59 acres of trails that are the quiet spirit of Write On. We’ll have hot chocolate waiting.

Memoir Mondays

Four Mondays each month

Put your memories in writing as a legacy for family and friends.

What’s Your Story?

Fourth Sunday of every month

Join our open mic afternoon for writers of fiction, essays, memoir, and other forms of prose.

The Readers’ Cafe

Third Sunday of every month

Bring your book, find a quiet corner, enjoy light refreshments, and engage with other book lovers.

Book Clubs Welcome!

Schedule monthly meetings during our open hours. Special memberships are available just for book clubs. Call to reserve a monthly date and time for your group to meet here.

Our Calendar has details and even more winter events!

Become a member, donate, or find classes and events online.

carnivals

by MYLES DANNHAUSEN JR.

with photos courtesy of the JAMES KEMP COLLECTION

Door County has been making the most out of winter for a long time.

In the late 1930s, local leaders launched the Winter Carnival, a celebration of winter sports in Peninsula State Park and the icecovered waters of Ephraim.

The carnival grew out of the Winter Sports Club, an idea that began percolating in 1935, when the Door County Advocate reported that A.E. Doolittle, Leland Thorp, H.R. Holand and H.J. Sanderson would research the idea of creating a winter sports program in the county.

“The purpose of the club is to promote winter sports both in Potawatomi and Peninsula Parks,” the Advocate reported.

The fledgling club, primarily known for ski jumping competitions, got a boost in December of 1938 when J.B.W. Kemp, the district recreational director for the Works Progress Administration, suggested a threeday outdoor carnival in Peninsula State Park to showcase all of the winter activities available on the peninsula. The club jumped on the idea, and a week later, it was announced that the event would

include a pageant, ski jumping tournament, skating, hockey and tobogganing.

The carnival was touted in bold headlines at the top of the page in both the Advocate and the Door County News. Thousands came to the park and the ice of Ephraim in February 1939 to watch and try ski jumping, cross-country skiing, skating and even pond hockey on the lake.

The Winter Sports Club continued for many years to come, and would plant seeds for the creation of ski hills and jumps at Nor-Ski Ridge, Ellison Bay, Peninsula State Park and Potawatomi State Park.

Though the big carnival took place just once, the idea reemerged in many ways on the peninsula over the years, most successfully with Fish Creek’s Winter Games (now Winterfest) and Sturgeon Bay’s Fire and Ice Festival.

For a time, Sister Bay hosted a winter festival, too. In the late 1960s, Egg Harbor staged snowmobile races on the bay. More recently, Baileys Harbor hosted a 45-team pond hockey tournament and snowmobiling on Kangaroo Lake for several years, but winter’s fickle weather has always played with organizers’ plans.

Though that has never stopped Peninsulans from getting creative to entertain themselves in the long winter months when cabin fever knocks.

A man stands on a post in the ice as skaters line up to race on Ephraim Harbor.

carnivals on ice

As snowmobiling grew in popularity in the 1960s, races were held on the bay in Egg Harbor to promote sales and rentals. Photos courtesy of the Dannhausen family.

From 2013 to 2018, the Door County Pond Hockey Tournament took place on Kangaroo Lake, originally in conjunction with snowmobile races and dog-sledding on the ice. Poor ice conditions forced the tournament inland. Photos by Len Villano.

Where can one bowl on ice, toss bikes, launch a toilet seat and spit cherry pits without getting scolded?

It can only be Fish Creek’s Winterfest, the day when residents of northern Door County climb out of their seasonal slumber and take a peek at the world again, armed with chili, brats and beverages at Clark Park.

Locals and visitors gather under the tent in thick layers of winter wear for warmth, dancing and stumpf fiddling, with the occasional stroll to compete in the games outside. It’s a good time and a big fundraiser for many nonprofits and educational groups.

Photos by Remy Carmichael.

Sturgeon Bay’s Fire and Ice Festival is a highlight of winter in the city, featuring ice carving, snow sculptures, a candlelit hike, fireworks, live music and a gala at Stone Harbor featuring eclectic performances. The event fills the street with people checking out stunning creations in ice and snow. Photos by Rachel Lukas.

THURSDAY: 2-6

FRIDAY & SATURDAY: 12-6

SUNDAY: 12-4 Locally grown meads,wines, ciders, and champagne method bubbles produced in small batches on site.

Cult Classic

LaVyrle Spencer’s words endure

by SALLY COLLINS photos by KATIE HOHMANN

When LaVyrle Spencer’s fifteenth novel, Bitter Sweet, hit the shelves in 1990, it wasn’t just another addition to the Midwest romance writer’s long list of New York Times bestsellers. For Door County, it became something else entirely: a point of pride, a love letter to the peninsula and – in the decades since – something of a cult classic.

“It’s one of those books that hangs with you after you read it,” said romance author Valerie Clarizio. “I think the appeal for readers in Door County is simply that LaVyrle was a big-name author who’d set a book here, probably one of the first big-time authors to do so. When the Wisconsin Romance Writers group was active, many in the group said they got hooked on romance novels after reading a LaVyrle Spencer book.”

The novel follows Maggie Pearson, a feisty forty-year-old widow who returns

to Door County for a wedding and finds herself face-to-face with her high school sweetheart, Eric Severson. Still sporting those Nordic good looks, he’s now a fishing boat captain trapped in an unhappy marriage to a (gasp) career-focused woman. Their reunion sparks an affair – equal parts tender and turbulent – as they navigate the sweetness of rekindled love alongside the bitterness of circumstance and disapproval. It’s entertaining, spicy and intense.

And it’s not flawless – some depictions and storylines feel dated, especially the villainization of Eric’s wife, and Door County itself has grown and changed – but the emotional core endures. As reader Patti Podgers puts it, “It’s not a literary

masterpiece, but the heart of the book celebrates something that’s still here.”

And Spencer didn’t imagine Door County from afar. She did her due diligence, staying at the Thorpe House Inn in Fish Creek, then owned by Christine and Sverre Falck-Pedersen; and embarking on a charter with Captain Paul’s Charter Fishing Fleet based in Gills Rock. She folded the peninsula’s landscapes, harbors, businesses and small-town rhythms

directly into her story, with exacting detail:

“The ride from Fish Creek to Gills Rock covered nineteen of the prettiest miles in all of creation[…]. From the flower-flanked Main Street of Fish Creek itself the road climbed […] swinging to the shore again and again: at the picturesque little village of Ephraim with its two white church steeples reflected in glassy Eagle Harbor; at Sister Bay where Al Johnson’s famous goats were already grazing on the grassy roof of his restaurant; at Ellison Bay with its panoramic view from the hill behind Grand View Hotel; and finally at Gills Rock.”

For locals and visitors, reading Bitter Sweet can feel like flipping through a family album: familiar streets, familiar shorelines and the tug of Door County nostalgia. There’s fish boils, cherry orchards and a plethora of lines that make the peninsula seem magical no matter the season: “Was there another place on earth where wildflowers bloomed so profusely as in the Door?” and “October came and Door County donned its autumn regalia – the maples blazing, the birches flaming, and the apple orchards hanging heavy with their blushing burden.”

That enduring quality has given Bitter Sweet an unexpected kind of power. Mary Sawyer, manager of

the Baileys Harbor Library, has lost count of how many seasonal patrons tell her the book sent them on their first Door County getaway. “One woman even told me she moved here because of LaVyrle Spencer,” Sawyer said.

Peter Solma, owner of the Peninsula Bookman in Fish Creek, hears similar sentiments and still stocks both hardcover and paperback editions of Bitter Sweet. “LaVyrle had a huge following when the book came out,” he recalled. “A lot of people came to Door County after reading it – from Nebraska to New Mexico. The interest is evergreen. And it is a nice novel.”

For Podgers, the novel became more than just a vacation read. She still owns her original 1990 copy, dust jacket and all. “I was enchanted,” she said. “It’s like [Door County] fan fiction –romantic, relatable if you’re a visitor or resident here. It brought to mind all the adventures I had while vacationing.”

When she eventually relocated from Janesville to Fish Creek in 1999, Podgers couldn’t find a book club. Former Fish Creek Librarian Holly Somerhalder encouraged her to start one, and in the winter of 2000 she gathered eight women together. They called themselves the Bitter Sweet Bookies. Now, more than twenty strong, the group meets regularly at Write On, Door County. “The common denominator for us is reading, a love of reading,” she said.

And 35 years after its publication, Bitter Sweet continues to be read and discussed throughout the peninsula. And while other novels have come and gone on the bookshelves of Door County’s locals, visitors and libraries, this one seems to stay. Every Door County branch library still has a copy – now worn, water stained and layered in Scotch tape – yet standing the test of time.

Squirrels and Their Kin

by CHARLOTTE LUKES and photos by ROY LUKES

My home is in an upland hardwood forest of sugar maples, basswood, American beech, ironwood and a few hemlocks. This is the normal area where gray squirrels live – they numbered over a dozen in my yard this spring – but there are also some red squirrels, flying squirrels and eastern chipmunks here.

These animals are all in the scientific order of Rodentia, commonly referred to as rodents. They have

continuously growing incisors in both jaws, so they do a lot of gnawing and chewing. Other animals in the rodent family are chinchillas, mice, rats, guinea pigs, hamsters, beavers, pocket gophers, woodchucks and porcupines.

The squirrels belong to the Sciuridae (say-OR-ih-dee) family. That name is taken from the Greek Skiouros, meaning shadow tail. Other members of this family include chipmunks, marmots and prairie dogs.

If you have ever observed a gray squirrel, you’ll know it uses its large bushy tail for many things. It can almost act as a semaphore, like a signal telling other animals how they feel. It can also be a partial umbrella, shielding them from snow, rain or hot sun.

Gray squirrels have several color forms, with black ones sometimes seen in our area. Increased melanin in their bodies produces the striking black fur color.

The town of Olney in southeastern Illinois is known for its large population of white squirrels. These are albino versions of the gray squirrel, and they have made that town famous.

Gray squirrels, red squirrels and flying squirrels are active all year long. They do not hibernate. Gray squirrels build up more body fat and a thicker fur coat for winter, and grow

more hairs around their ears to insulate them.

Chipmunks don’t hibernate but enter a state of torpor. These small striped creatures pack lots of food into their cheeks and carry it underground into their dens. When the snow and cold of winter come, they stay below ground and sleep for extended periods, but wake up to eat some stored food.

Two types of chipmunks are found in Wisconsin. The eastern chipmunk is our resident and is larger than the least chipmunk, which is seen more in farnorthern parts of the state.

You can tell them apart by noticing the stripes on the body near the rump. The least has stripes that reach the tail. Eastern chippies, which are 8 to 10 inches long including the tail, have stripes that end before nearing the tail.

My late husband Roy and I saw our first marmot while hiking in the Rocky Mountains near Aspen. These furry rodents are larger than prairie dogs and can be found in many mountainous areas of Asia and Europe as well.

Marmots are large, weighing up to 24 pounds and living in small family groups, or sometimes alone. They are true hibernators for up to eight months of the year.

Prairie dogs can tunnel in the earth down to a depth of 14 feet and extend these underground tunnels for 12 to 100 feet in length.

Prairie dogs also live as family groups in grassy fields of North and Central America. We saw our first prairie dog town when we visited Wyoming’s Devils Tower in 1993.

Roy set up his tripod and photographed several as they pushed some muddy earth around in search of food. Prairie dogs are much smaller than marmots, weighing up to 4 pounds with a length of 12 to 16 inches including the short tail.

Amazingly, these small creatures can tunnel in the earth down to a depth of 14 feet and extend these underground tunnels for 12 to 100 feet in length. They do not hibernate, but they go into a torpor and will be active during warmer spells in the winter.

The black-tailed prairie dogs and their activity benefit bison, which graze in the same territories.

Decades before white men came to the western plains, tall grasses dominated the landscape. Heavy grazing by the bison changed the climax tall bluestem and needlestem grasses to subclimax species like buffalo and grama grasses, which benefited the prairie dog colonies.

Prairie dogs prefer heavily grazed meadows for their town, and once the short grasses took over, the prairie dogs maintained the subclimax landscape. This, in turn, benefited the bison, which prefer short grasses.

DOOR TO NATURE

When Roy and I lived in the Ridges Upper Range Light, we fed lots of birds, and the dominant squirrel there was the red squirrel. They are more abundant in the conifer forests than the gray squirrel.

Both live in my woods, and it’s interesting to watch them interact. Red squirrels move much faster than grays, but occasionally give in to their larger competitors.

When the snow cover is deep, the red squirrels will make tunnels and move around without getting in the way of the gray squirrels. They may even store some food in these hidden passageways.

Red and gray squirrels are considered tree squirrels. The red’s genus is Tamiasciurus, which comes from the Greek Tamias, meaning “one who lays up stores.”

The red squirrel and the Douglas squirrel of the West are characterized by their sputtering and scolding chatter. As sentinels of the forest, they make up for their small size by being the noisiest of the squirrels.

One of the smallest in this group is not often seen. It is the thirteen-lined ground squirrel, which inhabits the interior farmlands of our county.

This tunneling creature is found in prairies from Texas to southern Canada. These striped and spotted squirrels are 7 to 11 inches long and can sometimes be seen running across a quiet country road.

As winter approaches, they go into a torpor and will remain deep underground. Their body temperature falls, and a normal heartbeat of 200 per minute slows to 17 until the warmth of spring returns.

Try to keep your gray and red squirrels off the bird feeders and just enjoy their antics as they scurry around picking up fallen seeds. They must endure the harsh winter outdoors while you enjoy the comfort of your heated home!

Perhaps the best view in all of Door County. Relax on the water in historic Fish Creek all year long. Enjoy the warmth and charm of an antique-filled Tudor guest house. Create an intimate dining experience in our fully appointed kitchens or unwind in your spacious living room with a crackling fire in the fieldstone fireplace. Create your own distinct Door County memories.

920-868-2284 • 888-868-2284 info@harborguesthouse.com 9484 Spruce St., Fish Creek, WI 54212

Coyote Comfort

by MIKE BACSI

It’s 11:30 am on a Wednesday in mid-March. Horizontal freezing rain mixed with snow blurs the view of the Kangaroo Lake causeway. The weather app suggests avoiding nonessential driving. Yet here comes another ice-encrusted car, wheels crunching through the slushy parking lot of the Coyote Roadhouse.

The Wednesday lunch regulars – a couple from rural Baileys Harbor and another from Fish Creek – are already in their respective spots at each end of the small bar. The Fish Creekers, Lea and Dick Hinkle, are 20 years into their Coyote lunch tradition.

“It’s our bar,” Lea said when asked about their attendance streak, adding

“we’re lucky to have such great food and people at a place in the middle of nowhere.”

The Hinkles make the weekly drive from their condo without fail. And if they have to miss a Wednesday, they call the bar so the staff doesn’t worry.

Such loyalty to a restaurant doesn’t develop overnight. To get a sense of the establishment’s long appeal and history, look closely at the wall behind the bar. There you will see the initials of early northern Door revelers carved into the wood grain.

The boards you are looking at, as well as the stone wall at the entrance, were originally part of a building located on the grounds of what is now Peninsula State Park. As the story goes, in the 1920s and ‘30s, this building was a

private residence and club, and a place for good times among friends during Prohibition when public consumption was not an option.

The building was sold in the 1940s and moved to its current spot on the shores of Kangaroo Lake. Over time, there were several transfers of ownership and changes in name.

Loyal customers will tell you how the place was once only large enough to accommodate seven bar stools and a pinball machine. If you wanted to watch TV, the owners would welcome you into their connected residence for a seat on the living room couch. Less like a bar and more like hanging out at your friend’s house, everyone knew everyone and had a great time.

Multiple remodels and expansions over the years transformed the tiny beer bar into a full-service restaurant.

For the past 15 years, the Coyote tradition has been nurtured and preserved by Carrie and Scott Graybill. Carrie’s mother, Carole Groth, is one of three current owners. Carole’s husband and Carrie’s father, Warren, was the driving force and friendly face of the restaurant from 2001 until his passing in 2009.

At that time, the Graybills were tiring of the daily grind of corporate careers in Chicagoland. As frequent visitors to Northern Door, the lure of a major life change was beginning to call to them, and they quickly decided to pack up and move to help with the Coyote.

Thee Get-Away to Relaxation!

“Help” doesn’t sufficiently describe it. The Graybills quickly found themselves fully engaged in the intense, fun and hectic world of running a popular restaurant. Warren left behind an operation that was humming along, so the transition period was brief.

“The train was rolling – we just needed to keep it fueled up,” Carrie said.

When COVID-19 hit, many restaurants chose to close or greatly reduce their offerings. The Coyote continued serving its full menu, accommodating a steady stream of hungry locals and visitors through a to-go window – a gesture that increased the restaurant’s already strong base of loyal customers.

In the post-COVID years, the restaurant’s added popularity translated to two-hour dinner waits in peak season. On one summer evening, the restaurant’s tiny kitchen served a whopping 340 covers – restaurant speak for meals ordered.

When reflecting on the current state of affairs at the Coyote, Carrie said, “we’ve gotten much busier over the years, but it’s still a local bar at heart. In the off-season, when our creaky entry door opens, all heads turn to see who’s coming in.”

The Hinkles make the weekly drive from their condo without fail. If they have to miss a Wednesday, they call the bar so the staff doesn’t worry.

Reunions at the bar – whether with a returning snowbird or just a pal you haven’t seen for a week – are warm and boisterous. The atmosphere is cozy, earthy and welcoming. But for many regulars, the consistent quality of the menu is key. The offerings, listed on a paper placemat menu, are classic pub food with nightly specials.

In the Coyote’s kitchen, Serafina Garcia and Erika Ruiz – a mother-anddaughter team – have been cooking together for years. Many customers choose to have their meals at the bar to enjoy the back-and-forth with Amy, the weekday bar manager (who prefers to go by only her first name). Amy specializes in cracking Dad jokes and

teasing the regulars (for example, ask for a little ice and she might return with a single ice cube in a shot glass).

In contrast to the early years, the late-night bar scene at the Coyote has become not-so-late. Usually by 9 pm, the last bowl of “Hold on to Your Shorts” chili has been served and the last Guinness pint poured. The exception is hot summer nights when Kangaroo Lake cottage-dwellers flipflop their way over to sip a cherry margarita.

Many of the Coyote’s food and beverage vendors call on Wednesdays, lining up outside of Carrie’s “office” (a small booth in the bar). On his route for DePere’s Kay Distributing, Matt Bley recently waited for his turn to pitch the latest offering from New Glarus Brewing. He passed the time by sharing his thoughts on the restaurant: “I’ve got 100 stops during my week, but this one is special.”

Bley grew up in Jacksonport and recalls fishing off the nearby Kangaroo Lake causeway as a kid. He continued, “It’s really unique – a super homey feel with great food and great people. I love it.”

The Coyote Roadhouse is located at 3026 Cty E in Baileys Harbor.

The Bitter Truth

The mystery of Washington Island’s favorite concoction

by ROBERT SIMONSON

photos by REMY CARMICHAEL

How can a product be ubiquitous and mysterious at the same time?

Well, it can be done. Look at Heinz ketchup. It’s in every restaurant, every home. But what do any of us know about how it’s made or what it is about the formula that makes it forever the king of the condiment market?

There’s a can of WD-40 in most every garage in the nation, but can anyone say what’s in that stuff that makes your door hinges stop squeaking?

In the liquor world, arguably the greatest mystery product is Angostura bitters.

You need it to make an Old-Fashioned and a Manhattan and many other cocktails. The brown bottle with the yellow cap and oversized paper label is instantly recognizable, stocked in grocery and liquor stores the world over. Few products have benefited more from the worldwide cocktail revival of the past quarter-century.

The Good Doctor

A bottle of Angostura bitters is a particularly common sight in Wisconsin bars, where the brandy Old-Fashioned is a favored drink. And one Door County bar in particular, Nelsen’s Hall Bitters Pub on Washington Island, consumes more Angostura than any other in the world (but more on that later).

And yet, in 19 years of covering the cocktail beat as a reporter, I have found

contacting Angostura akin to navigating the Vatican. I don’t know where to start, and I rarely get anywhere.

So, when I received an invitation to visit the Angostura facilities in Trinidad last year, I could hardly say no. Angostura was celebrating its 200th year in business and, for once, wanted some press attention. Here was my chance to finally fill in some of the many blanks in the Angostura story.

As befits a product like no other, Angostura bitters has a history like no other.

Dr. Johann Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert, a native of Germany, moved to Venezuela in 1820, settling in the town of Angostura along a narrow stretch of the Orinoco River (Angostura translates as “narrow,” so you are drinking narrow bitters.)

Siegert was a surgeon in the army of Simón Bolívar, the military leader and statesman who led Venezuela to independence from Spain. By 1824, he had developed his own brand of bitters, which was used to aid the various stomach ailments of the Bolívar soldiers. The mixture became popular.

The bitters were named after the town, not Angostura bark, as is commonly believed. By 1846, the town Angostura was renamed Ciudad Bolivar. So technically, Angostura bitters are named after a place that no longer exists.

The good doctor died in 1870. After that, his sons Carlos, Alfredo and Luis took over. Seeing the situation in Venezuela had grown quite volatile, they moved the company in 1875 to Trinidad, which had long been an important port of call for the company, and where they enjoyed the protection of the British monarchy.

Venezuela

Ciudad Bolivar (previously named Angostura)

Angostura the brand is now based in a sprawling industrial plant to the southeast of the city.

By the late 19th century, Angostura had found its way into many cocktails as a flavoring agent. It competed for that market with many other bitters brands, all of which had begun life as medicinal

The Secret Chamber

The blending room is the beating heart of Angostura brand mythology. It is here that the bitters are made. And it is the only room in the complex where photographs are not allowed.

The blending room is not a particularly impressive sight. It’s a mid-sized,

like the sort of office a supervisor would occupy at a factory.

Angostura goes to great lengths to make sure the formula for its bitters is never stolen or copied. There are circles within circles of secrecy. According to the tour guide who led us through the room, only five people know the

of the plant’s staff knows exactly who they are. It is they who prepare the botanicals for the grinder. They do this work in the elevated, shuttered room. When traveling, the Manufacturers are not allowed to be in the same plane, as a precaution.

The botanicals used in the bitters arrive to Port of Spain in coded parcels. You won’t find any sack or barrel on a Port of Spain pier labeled “Cloves: Property of Angostura.” The ingredients are identified by a numbered code. Each botanical has a number, and those numbers are never repeated; with each delivery, the numbers are changed.

Also, Angostura purposely imports ingredients that have nothing to do with making bitters, just to throw people off the scent.

Terrence Bharath, then the chairman of Angostura, explained some of the secrecy, and he explained some of that secrecy as he led an hour-long tour of the facility.

“We’re one of the few concessionaires in Trinidad that does not have to describe what’s coming in when our botanicals come in,” Bharath said in the meeting. “The people who grow the botanicals for us are under a very strict relationship with us, whereby they sign a secrecy document and they’re not

allowed to grow for others. And so the ingredients in those bitters are very unique.”

So there’s secret suppliers, secret shipping methods and secret blenders.

The Washington Island Connection

Being from Wisconsin, there was one question I had to ask Bharath.

Nelsen’s Hall on Washington Island survived Prohibition by selling Angostura bitters as a

medicinal product. It continues to sell Angostura by the shot today; if you down a shot, you can join the “Bitters Club.”

For decades, Nelsen’s Hall has boasted that it is the biggest account for Angostura bitters in the United States. Is this true?

“I believe there’s some truth to that,” Bharath said. “We’ve invited them [here].” It’s a “very important account for us.”

For that bit of information alone, the trip to Trinidad was worth it.

February 7th to 8th, 2026

Bitters by the Numbers

30

Percent of Angostura’s revenue that comes from sales of bitters

298 million

Revenue from Angostura Bitters sales in 2023

170 Countries where Angostura bitters is sold

85

Percent of the worldwide bitters market controlled by Angostura

Celebrate hometown fun on the shores of Green Bay! Stumpf fiddle contest, quirky games, live music, beer

Building with Bitters

by ANDERS ERICKSON

photos by AZUSA INABA

Angostura bitters is finally growing into its oversized label. What once took months, if not years, to burn through is now being poured by the ounce – not in the shot glass (this time), but as the base spirit of cocktails.

And it’s not hard to see why: unlike other aromatic bitters that fade into a thin sharpness on their own, Angostura carries a rounded complexity from its proprietary spice blend. While it’s often described as tasting “like Christmas,” I liken it to an unsweetened amaro turned up to eleven. At 44.7% alcohol by volume, its balanced fullness makes it

an unexpected yet worthy stand-in for a traditional base spirit.

In last winter’s magazine, I shared my own bitters-based cocktail, The Noble Beast, in the In Your Glass column “The Sweet, the Strong, the Festive.” This time, I’m returning to Angostura to show how it can shine as the foundation of a drink.

The Trinidad Sour

The Trinidad Sour is the best-known bitters-based cocktail, created by Giuseppe Gonzalez in 2009 and inspired by Valentino Bolognese’s Trinidad Especial a year earlier.

Gonzalez paired Angostura with spicy rye whiskey and a generous pour of sweet almond orgeat. The result is a bold cocktail that’s surprisingly light on the palate.

Though it’s traditionally served with a lemon twist or no garnish at all, I like to add a few mint leaves to bring a refreshing herbal lift with each sip.

RECIPE

• 1 oz (30 ml) Angostura bitters

• ½ oz (15 ml) rye whiskey

• 1 oz (30 ml) orgeat syrup*

• ¾ oz (22.5 ml) fresh lemon juice

• 3 mint leaves for garnish

Shake all ingredients with ice. Double strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with mint leaves.

The Tradewinds Negroni

Created by Justin Elliott in Austin, Texas, the Tradewinds Negroni is a modern riff on the Negroni in spirit, if not in ingredients.

Angostura provides the drink’s bitter backbone, while twice the usual measure of sweet vermouth keeps it in balance. An orange liqueur brightens the mix, making this cocktail both approachable and unforgettable.

RECIPE

• ¾ oz (22.5 ml) Angostura bitters

• 1.5 oz (45 ml) sweet vermouth

• ¾ oz (22.5 ml) triple sec liqueur

• Expressed orange oil and peel for garnish

Combine all ingredients in a mixing glass. Stir with ice until chilled and strain into a lowball glass filled with ice (or one large ice chunk). Express orange oil across the top and garnish with peel.

* Traditional orgeat starts with raw almonds and is a bit involved to make, but here’s a shortcut recipe that provides delicious results.

Homemade Orgeat (shortcut)

• 450 g granulated sugar

• 300 g unsweetened almond milk

• 1 tsp orange blossom water

• ½ tsp rose water

• ½ tsp almond extract

In a medium saucepan, combine sugar and almond milk. Stir over low heat until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat and add orange blossom water, rose water and almond extract. Stir to combine.

The Bitters Buck

This drink follows the standard buck template of spirit, citrus and ginger beer –only here, Angostura bitters takes center stage.

A touch of sugar softens the edges, while fresh mint lifts the aromatics. Simple and refreshing, it reimagines the idea of bitters and soda in the most satisfying way.

RECIPE

• 1 oz (30 ml) Angostura bitters

• ¾ oz (22.5 ml) fresh lemon juice

• ¾ oz (22.5 ml) semi-rich simple syrup (1.5:1)

• 3-4 oz (90-120 ml) ginger beer

• Mint sprig for garnish

Shake all ingredients except ginger beer with ice. Strain and pour along with ginger beer into a Collins glass filled with ice. Garnish with mint sprig.

December

Hope

December

Art

December

Smells Like Pot Roast

by JESS FARLEY NIELSEN recipe by DAVID NIELSEN photos by KATIE HOHMANN

Every Monday, the Cornerstone Pub in Baileys Harbor features pot roast with all the fixings as its dinner special.

My coworker and friend, Louise, and her husband, Duke, are pot roast enthusiasts (though she will tell you rump roast is her roast of choice).

Most Tuesdays, we hear in the office how delicious the Monday pot roast special was. Louise often brings her leftovers for her lunch and right about noon fills the office with the aroma of slow-cooked meat – yum.

It’s one of those smells that kicks my appetite into overdrive and steers me down memory lane to childhood, when pot roast was a regular part of the dinner rotation for me and most of my peers. Pot roast is the quintessential

comfort meal for a cold-weather day, drumming up memories of the past while filling our bellies for the future.

Our family tends to cook our roast in the oven. It is a great meal to prepare and roast all day on slow and low. This recipe is designed so you can make this meal relatively quickly, but you can turn the temperature down and extend the cook time for hours to make this one-pot meal taste even better.

You can also transfer the recipe below into your crock pot, set it and forget it, and come home after a fun-filled day of your favorite Door County winter adventures to a meal ready to eat. Eat and retire in front of the fireplace surrounded by your family, full bellies and smiles reflecting a full and delicious life.

At our house, my husband, David, is the pot roast aficionado. Making pot roast is my opportunity to be sous chef and allow David to take the lead. The recipe below blossomed in the Nielsen family. Although carrots and celery cook in the pot with the roast, David started to sauté up a side of glazed carrots to serve with our roast. This step is optional, though I thoroughly recommend adding it in. The glazed carrots are still a bit crunchy and have not had the nutrients cooked out of them in the roasting pan.

Aside from that first taste, the best part of this meal is removing the lid from the Dutch oven for the first time. Watching the steam escape from this pot is a sure sign dinner will be served up quickly. The roast at this point should basically be falling off the bone in the pot filled with vegetables and cooking liquids.

Pot Roast Recipe

Serves four

Ingredients

• 3.5-4 lb. pot roast

• 1 Tbsp olive oil

• 2 cloves garlic, smashed

• ½ large onion, diced

• 1 leek, sliced and diced

• 1 small shallot, diced

• Sprigs of rosemary, thyme and sage

• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter (optional)

• 1 cup red wine

• 1 ½ cup beef broth

• 2 medium carrots, cut into ½” medallions

• 8 red potatoes, skin on, cut in halves or quarters depending on size

• 2 stalks of celery, cut into 1” segments

• Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350°F. Rub pot roast with kosher or flake salt. On the stove top, heat Dutch oven to high heat and add olive oil. Sear the roast in the pot, one side at a time, until every side is browned. Turn the heat down to medium.

Add garlic, onion, leek, shallot, herbs and butter (optional). Sauté long enough for the alliums to soften and the herbs to release their aromas. You may need to add butter to the sauté if there is not enough fat drippings released from the roast in the pan. Trust your gut.

Add red wine and beef broth. Add a splash of the wine to the pan first to deglaze any drippings or meat bits, then stir around the roast to loosen everything up for 2-3 minutes. Add the remainder of liquids to the pan, adding more depending on the size of your roast. The meat should be three-quarters covered by the liquid in the pan.

Add carrots, potatoes and celery, and a pinch of salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste. Put the lid on the roast and place in the oven. Bake at 350°F for half an hour, then lower heat to 300°F and bake for an additional two hours. The roast can be removed from the oven once the internal temperature reaches 200°F.

Start the glazed carrots when you are half an hour away from the roast being finished. The Bordelaise pan sauce takes about 10 minutes. You can make this after the roast is removed from the oven and resting.

Glazed Carrots

Serves four

Ingredients

• 3-4 medium carrots, chopped into consistently sized sticks

• ¼ cup brown sugar

• 1 tsp salt

• Fresh thyme, destemmed

• 2 Tbsp oil

• Small bunch Italian parsley, diced

• 3 Tbsp unsalted butter

Add all ingredients except for parsley or butter to a bowl with a lid. Shake it all up so the carrots are liberally coated in the sugar mixture.

Heat a medium-sized cast-iron or skillet to medium heat. Add the butter. Once the butter is melted, add the coated carrots and sauté for 15-20 minutes. Continue to stir the carrots throughout the browning process to ensure they do not burn. Cook until they are fork-tender, then remove from heat. Toss with the fresh parsley. Set aside.

Bordelaise Pan Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp butter

• 1 shallot, finely diced

• 1 garlic clove, smashed

• Sprigs of fresh herbs – thyme, parsley, rosemary

• 1 cup cooking broth from the Dutch oven

• ½ cup red wine

Heat a small saucepan. Add the butter, shallot, garlic and herbs to the pan. Sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add the broth and wine to the pan. Bring to a slow boil, turn down the heat, and cook the liquid down to half. Strain the sauce into a gravy bowl for serving.

To serve, place roasted potatoes and glazed carrots on the plate. Place a piece of forktender roast on top. Drizzle the bordelaise sauce over the meat and vegetables. Sprinkle with more fresh parsley. Salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Key

$ $$ $$$ B L D

RESTAURANT GUIDE

$10-15*

$15-20*

$20*

Full bar

Beer and wine only

Outdoor seating available

Kids’ menu available

Offering breakfast

Offering lunch

Offering dinner

Reservations accepted

Open during winter (hours may vary)

*Price range based on average dinner entrée (if available)

BAILEYS HARBOR

AC Tap

9322 Hwy 57 (920) 839-2426

$ L D J T

Baileys 57 7998 Hwy 57 (920) 839-2114

$ B L T

Chives Restaurant 8041 Hwy 57 (920) 839-2000

$$$ L D T (

Cornerstone Pub & Restaurant 8123 Hwy 57 (920) 839-9001

$$ B L D J T {

Coyote Roadhouse 3026 Cty E (920) 839-9192

$$ L D J T {

Located on the shore of Kangaroo Lake offering a full-service bar, appetizers, lunch and dessert selections in a casual and comfortable setting. Children’s menu available. Family friendly.

Restaurants are listed in alphabetical order by town. Information is subject to change. Contact individual restaurants for hours of operation. Inclusion in this directory should not be considered an unqualified endorsement by Door County Living. Restaurants are encouraged to email us with up-to-date information at info@doorcountyliving.com.

DCBC Eats

8099 Hwy 57 (920) 239-8181

$$ L D

Gatsby’s Grille 7680 HWY 57 (920) 560-0103

L D $$ J (

Harbor Fish Market & Grille 8080 Hwy 57 (920) 839-9999

$$$ B L D J { ( T

A full-service restaurant in the heart of Baileys Harbor. Distinctive waterfront dining with a casual upscale vibe. Seasonal, pet-friendly garden seating.

Inland Door County 8085 Hwy 57 (920) 717-6116

$$$ B L JT

PC Junction

Corner of A and E (920) 839-2048

$ L J {

Pizza Czar

Corner of A and E (920) 839-2048

$ D J {

Roost + Banter 8093 Hwy 57 (920) 839-0060

$$ B L {T

Located on the corner of 57 and Howard, Roost + Banter offers a full coffee and Rishi tea menu with breakfast sandwiches and bagels. Our lunch has sandwiches, salads, and soups with vegan and gluten free options available. Indoor and outdoor seating with a great view, Open daily year round.

Sway Brewery & Bakery 2434 Cty F (920) 241-2562

$ B { T The Blue Ox 8051 Hwy 57 (920) 839-2271

$ L D { The Thirsty Cow Taphouse 7899 Cty A (920) 839-9991

$ L D T

Top Deck Restaurant & Bar 1420 Pine Dr. (920) 839-2331

$$$ B D J { ( Vino! Vino! at Stone’s Throw Winery 3382 Cty E (920) 839-9760

$$ L D T

BRUSSELS/LITTLE STURGEON

Chaudoir’s Dock 10863 Cty N (920) 493-7075

$$ L D { Gilmo’s Bar & Bistro Wavepoint Marina Resort, 3600 Cty CC (920) 824-5440

$$ L D J T { ( Idlewild Pub & Grill 4146 Golf Valley Dr. (920) 743-3334

$$ L D { Joe Rouer’s Bar E1098 Cty X (920) 866-2585

$ L D T {

Rouer’s Grand Slam 9710 School Road (920) 493-6556

$$ L D

Rouer’s Roadhouse 8649 Cty C (920) 824-5100

$ L D Sawyer Harbor Pub & Grill

36963 Cty Rd. M (920) 493-6558

$$ L D T

Sunset On Riley’s Point 6952 Cty M (920) 824-5130

$$ D J T { The Belgian Delight 1100 Cty C (920) 825-1111

$$ B L D (

CARLSVILLE

Carlsville Roadhouse 5790 Hwy 42 (920) 743-4966

$ L D T Door County Coffee Co. 5773 Hwy 42 (920) 743-8930

$ B L J T {

Rusty Tractor 6216 Hwy 42 (920) 743-8704

$ B

Wild Man Pizza 5781 Hwy 42 (920) 868-0953

$$$

EGG HARBOR

Big Easy Bagel & Beignet

7755 Hwy 42 (920) 868-9600

$ B L T {

Burton’s on the Bay 7715 Alpine Road (920) 868-3000

$$$ B L D

Burton’s on the Bay is an upscale waterfront restaurant within the Alpine Resort that offers delicious daily cuisine with stunning views of the bay. Both indoor and outdoor dining options are available. Burton’s on the Bay is open May-October, serving breakfast, lunch

Burton’s on the Green 7670 Horseshoe Bay Road (920) 868-3000

$$ B L D J

Burton’s on the Green is Alpine Resort’s golf course clubhouse restaurant offering delicious cuisine crafted by the culinary team of Burton’s on the Bay. Burton’s on the Green is open year-round, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. Hours of operation change with the season. Visit alpineresort.com or call for restaurant hours.

Carrington 7643 Hillside Road (920) 868-5162

$$$ D J T { (

Casey’s BBQ & Smokehouse 7855 Hwy 42 (920) 868-3038

in 2008. Matthew, a Door County native, wanted to put a Door County twist on Southern-style BBQ by using cherry wood to give our meats a rosy cast with a delicious, mild smoked flavor. Also offering a fabulous fish fry, locally famous burgers and many other tasty treats.

Cupola Cafe 7838 Hwy 42 (920) 868-2233

$$ B L T

Fika Bakery & Cafe 4614 Harbor School Rd (920) 868-5105

$ B L {

Fireside Restaurant 7755 Hwy 42 (920) 868-4800

$$$ D J T

Greens N Grains Deli 7821 Hwy 42

vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and raw-food cuisine. The deli also features a juice bar with freshly pressed veggie juices, fruit smoothies, a healthful bakery, tea bar and organic coffees.

Log Den 6626 Hwy 42 (920) 868-3888

$$ L D J T { ( MacReady Artisan Bread Company 7828 Hwy 42 (920) 868-2233

$ L D J T { Mezzanine 7821 Horseshoe Bay Road (920) 786-7698

$$$ B L D

Pizza Bros 4633 Market St. (920) 868-5257

$$ L D

Salute Wine and Beer Lounge 7778 Hwy 42 (920) 868-3247

$$ T {

Shipwrecked Brew Pub 7791 Hwy 42 (920) 868-2767

$$$ L D J T {

Stone Hedge Golf and Pub 4320 Cty E (920) 868-1861

$ L D

The Orchards at Egg Harbor 8125 Heritage Lake Road (920) 868-2483

$ L J {

Village Cafe 7918 Hwy 42 (920) 868-3342

$$ B L J {

Villaggio’s Steak House 4655 Cty Rd. E (920) 890-2190

$$$ D J (

ELLISON BAY

Blue Bear 12029 Hwy 42 (920) 854-3284

$$ B L D

Featuring a locally sourced menu created from scratch in our kitchen. Offering an extensive selection of

both gluten-free and vegan options. Full bar with craft cocktails, local beers, sustainably sourced wine and specialty coffee drinks. Brew Coffee 12002 Hwy 42 (920) 421-2739

$ B L T { Della Porta 12029 Hwy 42 (920) 854-9400

$$ D

Authentic southern Italian cuisine. With 20 years of experience cooking in the finest restaurants, our chef is excited to present their vision to you and all our guests. We refuse to compromise on quality in our restaurant. That’s why we source our fresh ingredients from local farmers markets. No matter what time of year, you can be sure you’re eating the best of the season.

La Piazza 12029 Hwy 42 (920) 264-0895

An outdoor Italian wine bar. Stop for a drink, stay for the food!

A selection of Italian small plates including great gluten-free & vegan options – until 10 pm. Plus wood-fired Pizza Napoletana and desserts. Over 48 Italian wines, from Northern Italia to the southern islands of Sicilia & Sardegna we have a wine for you to enjoy, all estate grown. And, of course, signature cocktails and beer.

$$ L D

Mink River Basin 12010 Hwy 42 (920) 854-2250

$$ B L D J T { (

Osteria Tre Tassi 11976 Mink River Rd.

$$$ D T (

EPHRAIM

Anatolia

9922 Water Street, Unit 7 (920) 633-4011

$$ L D

Bad Moravian

3055 Church St.

$$ D T

Chef’s Hat 3063 Church St. (920) 854-2034

$$ B L D J T { (

Cultured 2570 Cty Q (920) 512-3821

$ B L T

Good Eggs 9820 Brookside Lane (920) 854-6621

$ B L {

Klaud’s Kitchen 10420 Water Street (920) 854-3005

$ B L D J {

La Sirena

9996 Pioneer Ln

$$$ D J {T( Old Post Office Restaurant 10040 Hwy 42 (920) 854-4034

$$ B D J { (

Pearl Wine Cottage

3058 Church St.

$$ D {

Prince of Pierogi 9922 Water St, Unit 6 (920) 421-8619

$$ L D {

Peninsula State Park

Clubhouse Restaurant 9890 Shore Road (920) 854-5791

$ B L

Sip 10326 N. Water St. (920) 857-5602

$$ B L D T {

Summer Kitchen 10425 Water St. (920) 854-2131

$$ B L D J { (

Sunset Harbor Grill 10018 Water St. (920) 854-6565

$$ B L D J

Wilson’s Restaurant 9990 Water St. (920) 854-2041

$ L D J {

FISH

CREEK

Alexander’s of Door County 3667 Hwy 42 (920) 868-3532

$$$ D J T { ( Backroads Deli 3903 Hwy 42

$$ L J

Barringer’s Restaurant 1 N. Spruce St. (920) 868-5445

$$$ L D { T ( Bayside Coffee

The Shops at the Bayside (920) 495-8338

$ B L J

Fish Creek’s only waterfront cafe.

Beautifully situated across the street from the town dock. Outdoor seating with a view. Featuring piping hot or iced Colectivo coffee, espresso drinks and Rishi teas, breakfast and lunch sandwiches, salads and bakery. Open May-August.

Bayside Tavern 4160 Main St. (920) 868-3441

$ L D J T

For an unpredictably great time, visit Fish Creek’s favorite tavern. Serving cocktails, beer and our famous Bayside Coffee. Our shortorder menu features hearty house-made soups, sandwiches, burgers, housemade pizza, Friday fish fry and Smilen Bob’s chili. Open daily year-round!

Blue Horse Beach Café 4113 Main St. (920) 868-1471

$ B L J T { CUT 4135 Main St. (920) 333-8813

CUT isn’t just a restaurant; it’s a statement. A bold, multi-level dining and event destination where fire fuels every flavor and experience. From high energy

lounges to seductive dining spaces, every detail is designed to impress. We cut through the ordinary to create an experience that lingers, a space that captivates, and a fire that never fades.

English Inn

3713 Hwy 42 (920) 868-3076

$$$ D J T ( Fish Creek Market 4164 Main St. (920) 868-3351

$$ L Hill Street 4149 Main St. (920) 868-5282

$$ L D T

Julie’s Park Cafe & Motel 4020 Hwy 42 (920) 868-2999

$$ B L J { ( Kettle Black Fish Boil 4158 Main St. (920) 868-5215

$$ D (

Loft

4170 Main St. (920) 868-5242

$$ L D J {

Not Licked Yet 4054 Hwy 42 (920) 868-2617

$ L D {

Pelletier’s Restaurant

Founder’s Square (920) 868-3313

$$ B L D J { (

Shiny Moon Café

4164 Main St.

$$ B L T

The Cherry Hut 8813 Hwy 42 (920) 868-4450

$$ L D J {

Welcker’s Lounge 4192 Main St. (920) 868-5037

$$$ B L D ( White Gull Inn

4225 Main St. (920) 868-3517

$$$ B L D J T ( Serving breakfast, including the famous cherry stuffed French toast as featured on Good Morning America, as well as a full menu daily. Featuring fish boils in

the summer, fall and select winter nights, along with candlelight dinners. Reservations recommended for dinner.

Wild Tomato Wood-Fired Pizza & Grille

4023 Hwy 42 (920) 868-3095

$ L D J T {

FORESTVILLE

The Bullpen 213 W. Main St., #9691 (920) 856-6199

$$ L D T

The Hen House Bar & Grill

131 W. Main Street (920) 856-6950

$$ L D T

GILLS ROCK

Shoreline Restaurant 12747 Hw. 42 (920) 854-2950

$$$ D (

RESTAURANT GUIDE

JACKSONPORT

Island Fever Rum Bar & Grill

Cty V and Hwy 57 (920) 823-2700

$ L D J T {

Little Bit of Coffee 6332 Hwy 57 (920) 823-2408

$ B D

Located in Jacksonport at the Square Rigger Lodge, you will find us serving delicious coffee, quiche and baked goods. Serving small plates Tuesday and Thursday night. Come for the coffee and linger for the great water view!

Scotty’s Grub + Pub 6269 Hwy 57 (920) 818-0178

$$ L D

SISTER BAY

Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant 10698 N. Bay Shore Dr. (920) 854-2626

$$ B L D J T

Base Camp Door County 10740 N Bayshore Dr. (920) 421-0733

$ B L

Boathouse on the Bay 10716 N. Bay Shore Dr. (920) 854-3223

$$$ L D J { Flip-flop into Boathouse on the Bay for outside seating and majestic marina and sunset views. Stay for the people, great food and specialty drinks. With patio seating, the upstairs Fly Bridge Bar, and dining with floor to ceiling windows, you can’t miss the beautiful panoramic views.

Carroll House 2445 S. Bay Shore Dr. (920) 854-7997

$ B L J CHOP

2345 Mill Road (920) 854-2700

$$$ D J T { ( Door County Creamery 10653 Bay Shore Dr. (920) 854-3388

$ L D {

Drink. Shop.

Door County Ice Cream Factory 11051 Hwy 42 (920) 854-9693

$ L D J {

Dovetail Bar & Grill 10282 Hwy 57 (920) 421-4035

$$ L D J Fat Belly 10621 N. Highland Rd (920) 854-3500

$$ L D { Goose & Twigs Coffee Shop 2322 Mill Road (920) 854-3212

$$ B L {

Happy Coffee 10678 S. Bay Shore Dr., Building 2

$ B L J T { Husby’s Food and Spirits 10641 N. Bay Shore Dr. (920) 854-2624

$ L D J T { LURE

Intersection of Hwys 42 and 57 (920) 854-8111

$$$ D J T { (

McEvoy’s Culinaria & Catering

2602 S. Bay Shore Dr. (920) 854-8029

$ L D T {

Northern Grill & Pizza 10573 Country Walk Dr. (920) 854-9590

$$ L D J { One Star Burger & Dogs 10440 Orchard Drive

$ L D

Pasta Vino 10571 Country Walk Dr. (920) 633-4037

$$$ D Rad House Cafe 10580 Country Walk Ln Unit 10.

$ B L J { Roots Kitchen 2378 Maple Dr. (920) 854-5107

$ L T { Savor Barbeque & Taphouse 10635 N. Bayshore (920) 365-2748

$ L D { Sister Bay Bowl 10640 N. Bay Shore Dr. (920) 854-2841

$$ L D J T

Famous for its Friday-night perch fry and its prime rib, this throwback to yesteryear is located in the heart of Sister Bay, open year-round. Featuring a full dining room, grill and bar, plus Northern Door’s only bowling alley. Stabbur Beer Garden at Al Johnson’s 10698 Bay Shore Dr. (920) 421-4740

$$ L D { Sub Express at Sister Bay Mobil 2579 S. Bay Shore Dr. (920) 854-6700

$ B L D J T { The Cleat 10961 Hwy 42 (920) 854-3200

$ L D J T The Waterfront 10947 Hwy 42 (920) 854-5491

$$$$ D Thyme Restaurant + Catering 10339 Hwy 57 (920) 421-5112

$$ L D { J T ( Thyme Restaurant,

tucked into a quiet meadow in Sister Bay, delivers a farm-to-table dining experience, featuring inventive dishes crafted from fresh, locally sourced ingredients. The inviting yet refined atmosphere includes an open kitchen, a stylish bar, and a spacious patio for seasonal outdoor dining. Open year-round, Thyme also offers a oneof-a-kind setting for private events, with its distinctive hoop house venue and beautifully designed property.

Wild Tomato WoodFired Pizza & Grille 10677 N. Bay Shore Dr. (920) 854-4685

$ L D J T {

ZaZa’s Pizzeria 10553 Country Walk Dr.

$$ L D

STURGEON BAY

5th and Jefferson Café

232 N. 5th Ave. (920) 746-1719

$ B L D {

Betsy Ross Family Restaurant

239 Green Bay Road (920) 743-811

$ B L D

Birmingham’s 4709 N. Bay Shore Dr. (920) 743-5215

$$ L D J T

Blue Front Café

86 W. Maple St. (920) 743-9218

$$ L J T (

Brick Lot Pub & Grill

253 N. 3rd Ave. (920) 743-9339

$ L D J T

Brygga Plates & Pours 107 N. 1st St. (920) 746-0700

$$$ B L D J T{( Cedar Crossing Restaurant & Bar 336 Louisiana St. (920) 743-4200

$$$ B L D J T (

Chaser’s Sports Bar & Grill

1217 N. 14th Ave. (920) 743-6997

$$

Cherry Lanes

Arcade Bar

127 N. 4th Ave. (920) 818-0093

$$$ D

Corner Café

113 N. 3rd Ave. (920) 743-1991

$ B L J T ( Crate — Sushi & Seafood

136 N. 3rd Ave. (920) 818-1333

$$$ D T { (

Door County Fire Company

38 S. 3rd Ave. (920) 818-0625

$$ L D J T

Door County Sandbox 1023 Egg Harbor Rd. (920) 818-0134

$ L D

Drömhus

611 Jefferson St. (608) 333-4553

$ B L D T {

Elmo’s Woodfired Pizza

143 N. 4th Ave. (920) 818-0408

$$ L D T

Fatzo’s

46 Green Bay Road (920) 743-6300

$ L D J T {

Get Real Café

43 S. Madison Ave. (920) 818-1455

$$ B L D

Gloria’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant

23 W. Oak Street (920) 818-1733

$$ L D J T

Greystone Castle

8 N. Madison Ave. (920) 743-9923

$$ L D J T

Hidden Bridge Pub 2049 Cty S (920) 743-4807

$$ D

Hoffman’s Red Room

66 S. 3rd Ave. (920) 743-3913

$ L D T Kick Coffee

148 N. 3rd Ave. (920) 746-1122

$ B L T {

Kinara Urban Eatery 25 N. Madison Ave. (920) 743-8772

$ L D T

Kitty O’Reilly’s Irish Pub

59 E. Oak St. (920) 743-7441

$$ L D J T { Lodge at Leathem

Smith

1640 Memorial Dr. (920) 743-5555

$$ L D J T { (

Lolo’s

231 Michigan St.

$ B L T

Melt Bistro

2189 Cty DK (920) 825-7272

$ B L T {

Melt Bistro (inside Renard’s Cheese) serves delicious, homestyle comfort food with an elevated twist. Menu items are made to order from scratch using only the freshest ingredients. Many selections feature our own handcrafted artisan cheeses. Pizza, hot and cold sandwiches, mac & cheese, soups, salads, a wide selection of alcoholic and nonalcoholic beverages, Chocolate Shoppe ice cream and more. Breakfast is available all day. Open daily yearround. View our menu at RenardsCheese.

com.

Mill Supper Club 4128 Hwy 42/57 N. (920) 743-5044

$$$ D J T

Morning Glory by the Bay

306 S. 3rd Ave. (920) 818-0711

$$ B L

Morning Glory

Restaurant

7502 Hwy 42 (920) 743-5355

$ B L J

Nightingale

Supper Club

1541 Egg Harbor Road (920) 743-5593

$$$ D J T

With a rich history dating back to the earliest 20th century, join us for dining, classic vibes, and great tunes.

Old Mexico 901 Egg Harbor Road (920) 818-1500

$$ L D J T {

Poh’s Corner Pub 164 N. 3rd Ave. (920) 743-3938

$ L D T

Prince of Pierogi

846 Egg Harbor Rd.

$ L D

PTY’s Kitchen

50 S. 3rd Ave. (920) 818-1300

$ L D T

Samuelson’s Creek Pub & Grill

1009 S. Oxford Ave. (920) 743-3295

$$ L D J T ( Scaturo’s Café 19 Green Bay Road (920) 746-8727

$ B L J T { (

Sonny’s Italian Kitchen & Pizzeria 129 N. Madison Ave. (920) 743-2300

$$ L D J T (

Sunrise Food & Drinks 1463 Egg Harbor Rd. (920) 818-0157

$ B L T Sturgeon Bay Yacht Club

600 Nautical Dr. (920) 743-6934

$$$ L D ( The Gnoshery 23 N. 3rd Ave. (920) 818-0727

$ B L D TJ

The Gnoshery is the county’s premier board game cafe. Filled with fun, games and great “Gnoshables” – food and drink that make your experience a truly memorable one! The Spot Downtown 229 Louisiana St. (920) 818-0124

$$ B L D J T { Trattoria Dal Santo 147 N. 3rd Ave. (920) 743-6100

$$$ D T ( Waterfront Mary’s Bar & Grill

3662 N. Duluth Ave. (920) 3690

$$ L D J T {

VALMY

Donny’s Glidden Lodge Restaurant 4670 Glidden Dr. (920) 746-9460

$$$ D J T { ( Institute Saloon 4599 Hwy 57 (920) 743-1919

$ L D T

The Hitching Post 4849 Glidden Dr. (920) 818-1114

$$ B L D J ( Valmy Happy Hour 4418 Whitefish Bay Road (920) 743-6236

$ L D J T

WASHINGTON ISLAND

Albatross Drive-In

777 Main Rd. (920) 847-2203

$ L D {

Bread & Water Café 1275 Main Road (920) 847-2400

$$ B L {

Cellar Restaurant at Karly’s Bar and Dance Hall 1265 Main Road (920) 847-2655

$$$ L D J T { (

Hotel Washington 354 Range Line Road (920) 847-3010

$$$ D T { ( Island Pizza At the ferry dock (920) 847-3222

$ L D

Jackson Harbor Soup 1904 Indian Point Road (920) 847-2589

$ L { KK Fiske Restaurant 1177 Main Road (920) 847-2121

$ B L D T

Le Café and The Distillery at Fragrant Isle Lavender Farm 1350 Airport Road (920) 847-2950

$ B L { Nelsen’s Hall Bitters Pub 1201 Main Road (920) 847-2496

$ L D T { Red Cup Coffee House 1885 Detroit Harbor Road (920) 847-3304

$ B L

Sailor’s Pub 1475 South Shore Dr. (920) 847-2105

$$$ D { ( The Point Grille 164 Green Bay Road (920) 421-3663

$$ L D

DEATH’S DOOR