Cape Cod of the Midwest

For the long Labor Day weekend, we decided to stay close to home and be tourists in our neighboring state. Just 3 hours drive north into Wisconsin, we found ourselves in Door County, where some call it the Cape Cod of the Midwest. We’ll be honest and admit we were skeptical at first, but we were wrong!

Granted, we have never been to Cape Cod, but we did however find Door County to be charming, quaint and relatively affordable. We camped at Potawatomi State Park, and drove in a loop around the peninsula, stopping wherever we saw anything that interested us.

We found an art gallery in Egg Harbor, stopped at numerous souvenir shops and country stores, sampled delicious apple cider in Ellison Bay, and eventually found ourselves coming back to Sister Bay time and again. For us, the main draw at Sister Bay was the extremely high quality and delicious ice cream and cheeses at Door County Creamery. With ice cream in hand, we would join the crowd to observe the goats on Al Johnson’s rooftop, maybe get a bratwurst next door and then wander into Kind Goods to find handmade wares.

On a sunny day, we rented a tandem bike and toured Potawatomi State Park, climbing up an observation tower with views into Sturgeon Bay. Or, we simply sat around the campsite and read.

Door County was a surprising gem. Watching people read on their porches, take their boats out, mill around each of the bays – the slow and relaxed pace gives a surprising shot of fresh energy. Sometimes we don’t need to put huge distances between home and vacation to get a real break from everyday life.