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Door to the Door

A longtime gateway, Sturgeon Bay also is a great getaway.

The 1883 lighthouse on Sherwood Point is one of three in Sturgeon Bay.

It would be natural, for a tourist, to arrive in Sturgeon Bay and just keep going. It would also be a mistake.

The rest of Door County has all the tourist trappings. But Sturgeon Bay has appeal of its own.

"Most people want to go farther up on Door County, for all the shops and such," says Bill Munroe, a volunteer at the Door County Maritime Museum. "But this is a working town. We like it down here. We like it very much."

Tourism always has gone hand-in-hand with industry in the town, where a waterway separates the high-profile northern Door from the agricultural southern Door.

The first summer resort opened in 1879, across from stone quarries at the mouth of the fish-shaped bay. In 1882, the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal lengthened the long bay into a shortcut to Lake Michigan, and shipbuilding companies grew with the increased traffic. At the peak of World War II, nearly 7,000 workers at four shipbuilders were launching a new ship every five days.

Now, the town has just two — Palmer Johnson, which builds luxury yachts, and Bay Shipbuilding, now making double-hulled oil barges to replace such single-hulled carriers as the Exxon Valdez. In the Maritime Museum, "A Job Well Done" tells how the city boomed during the war, and other exhibits tell dramatic stories of Great Lakes seafaring over the years.

Today, Sturgeon Bay is geared mainly toward tourism. Boats carry tourists instead of cargo, the rail line now is a bicycle trail, and mansions have been turned into B&Bs, more than in any other city in Wisconsin. Two state parks flank the town, one renowned for its rocky shoreline and one for its sand beaches.

So, it's fun to be a tourist in Sturgeon Bay.

Cruise views

One Memorial Day weekend, I hit all the main sights, starting with Big Red, an 1882 fog-signal building that glows fire-engine red in early evening, when I walked to it along the canal pierhead.

With the 1899 lighthouse tower behind it, the canal station on Lake Michigan is a twofer for lighthouse fans, and there's a third lighthouse at the other end of town, on Green Bay's Sherwood Point.

That lighthouse I saw on a cruise aboard a 1937 former Chicago fireboat, also painted fire-engine red. With its wisecracking captain, Bob Erwin, we went under the Michigan Street lift bridge.

Chugging along, we passed Potawatomi State Park and then the 1883 lighthouse on Sherwood Point. Leathem Smith, the Sturgeon Bay shipyard owner who invented the self-unloader, drowned off the point in 1946 after the hull of his yacht swamped in a squall; a bulkhead had been removed so the previous owner's father, President Franklin Roosevelt, could move around better in his wheelchair.

Heading back down the bay, past Sunset Park and the giant gantry above Bay Shipbuilding, we went under the lift bridge again and entered the ship canal. It made Sturgeon Bay a busy port, but now it's used mainly by sport fishermen, yachts and the Coast Guard.

Hike sites

From the canal station, Rustic Roads 77 and 9 follow the lakefront to Whitefish Dunes State Park, where long sand beaches curve around Whitefish Bay. I followed the Red Trail above the dunes and then into a meadow, through an unusual mix of reindeer moss, prairie wildflowers, juniper and ferns — the result of a sand-dunes ecosystem in boreal-forest conditions.

Near the visitors center, the loop dipped into thick beech-maple forest and, joining the Brachiopod Trail, followed cedar forest along rocky shoreline. A dwarf lake iris bloomed at forest's edge, and dozens of columbines grew from rocks that were studded with fossils.

On the Green Bay side of town, Potawatomi State Park occupies the headlands on the west side of Sturgeon Bay. From the top of the observation tower, 225 feet above the water, I could see Sherwood Point Lighthouse and boats puttering around Sawyer Harbor, site of the first resort.

From the base of the tower, I walked the first miles of the 1,000-mile Ice Age National Scenic Trail, which shares part of the park's spectacular, 3½-mile Tower Trail before it heads west toward Minnesota.

There's a third place to hike right in town, on the trails of Crossroads at Big Creek, a nature preserve. Five miles of trails fan out from the learning center; I walked along a shady, cedar-lined creek, through prairie meadow and on to a small astronomical observatory.

The weather was lovely, so there was no reason to be sedentary. But if I'd felt like it, I could have stayed within a three-block radius of my inn and had a great time. From my room at the Barbican, I could walk a block to the shops, restaurants and coffeehouses of Third Avenue and a block to the bayfront and the bridge; the Maritime Museum and Door County Cruises dock are just across the water.

Food finds

It was my birthday, so I splurged on dinner at Sage, a bistro that's pricey but also friendly and unpretentious.

When I admired the citrusy aroma of the sage sprig server Jennelle Berg brought with the bill, she said it came from her own garden and offered to dig some up for me to take home. When I came in the next day, she gave me a pot. Now, I can guess why readers of Wisconsin Trails magazine once voted Sturgeon Bay "Wisconsin's Friendliest Town."

I also enjoyed a $10 plate of garlicky mostaccioli from Dal Santo's and picnic fare bought from Kick Coffee. I shopped on Third Avenue, checked out the booths at that weekend's Market Square Fine Art Fair and would have hit the many gift shops on Jefferson Street if not for the great weather.

And after each foray, I got to walk back to the Barbican, squeezing past fragrant lilac bushes and perennial gardens on my way to the front hall, where my handsome room lay behind a swinging bookcase.

I did get "bridged" on my visit to Sturgeon Bay; just as I drove up to the 1931 bridge, the bells started ringing and the arms lowered. I was the first in line, so I got to watch the keeper poke his head out to check the traffic, then scurry across to check the pedestrian walkway, too, before he raised the bridge.

So, I had to wait. Of course, I could have taken the highway bridge and bypassed town. But now I know more about Sturgeon Bay, my days of rushing through are over.

Trip Tips: Sturgeon Bay

Getting there: From the west, take Interstate 94 and Wisconsin 29 to Green Bay but don't follow 29 into town; instead, take U.S. 41 north two miles, then Interstate 43 around Green Bay to Wisconsin 57.

Accommodations: The Barbican Inn is really three Victorian buildings, side by side amid flower gardens on a quiet street just a block from the business district. Eighteen attractive suites with early English decor each have fireplaces and double whirlpools, $125-$200; most are $145 on weekends, a good value. A basket of homemade sweet breads, hot fruit compote, juice and coffee is delivered in the morning. Rooms have small fridges and VCRs. 1-877-427-8491, www.barbicanbandb.com.

The 1952 Holiday Music Motel, a block closer to the lift bridge, is that rare bird: a small, nonfranchise motel that's quite nice as well as inexpensive. The owners sold the motel in 2007 to a group of music lovers and musicians, including Jackson Browne, who organize the annual Steel Bridge SongFest, proceeds from which support the preservation of the bridge.

A fire that summer closed the hotel, and it will reopen the summer of 2008 with a music studio and rooms decorated by musicians. Double rooms are $91 in summer and on fall weekends, $70 in spring and on fall weekdays. 920-743-5571.

Potawatomi State Park has a disabled-accessible cabin that sleeps six and has a kitchen, bath and air conditioning, $30. To reserve, call 1-920-746-2890. Campsites can be reserved at 1-888-947-2757, www.reserveamerica.com.

Stone Harbor is a sprawling resort and convention center along the bayfront, two blocks from downtown; 1-877-746-0700, www.stoneharbor-resort.com.

There are 14 members of the Wisconsin B&B association in and around Sturgeon Bay, some on Lake Michigan or Green Bay. The best known are the Inn at Cedar Crossing downtown and the White Lace Inn, two blocks away; check www.wbba.org.

Dining: Sturgeon Bay has an unusually good variety of places to eat. Elegant but unpretentious Sage is the place for a special occasion, with a menu that changes seasonally. Entrees are $19-$38, 1-920-746-1100, www.sagedoorcounty.com.

Across the street, Dal Santo's offers good Italian food as well as entrees like Norwegian salmon and whiskey-glazed tenderloin, $17-$19. On the corner, the Inn at Cedar Crossing has a wide-ranging menu of comfort food at reasonable prices.

Around the corner, Perry's Cherry Diner offers burgers and shakes in a cheerful atmosphere. On the other side of the bridge, up the hill on Green Bay Road, Scaturo's is a nice family restaurant with an impressive bakery and fish boils on weekend evenings; there's a covered patio in back.

And the Bluefront Cafe has moved to the west side of town, where it serves a nice variety of dishes -- ribeyes and polenta lasagna, coq au vin and fish tacos -- as well as such specials as curry-braised lamb shank with couscous, $16. 920-743-9218.

2008 events: Saturday mornings through October, farmers' market at the corner of Michigan Street and Fourth Avenue. Sundays in July, free concerts at 7 p.m. on the bay by the Door County Maritime Museum.

May 3, Shipyard Tours. May 17-18, Door County Lighthouse Walk. May 24-25, Fine Art Fair. June 12-14, Steel Bridge SongFest. July 12, Jefferson Street Festival. Aug. 2-3, Classic and Wood Boat Show. Sept. 20, Harvest Festival.

Nightlife: The Third Avenue Playhouse schedules plays and acts, 920-743-1760, www.thirdavenueplayhouse.com.

Cruises: Door County Cruises gives 1½- or 2½t-hour narrated tours of the bay and ship canal on a former Chicago fireboat through mid-October. Tickets are available at the boat, cash only, or from the Door County Maritime Museum. 920-495-6454, www.doorcountyfireboatcruises.com.

Door County Maritime Museum: It's next to the lift bridge and open daily. 920-743-5958, www.dcmm.org.

Door County Historical Museum: The small museum at Michigan Street and North Fourth Avenue is free and worth a visit.

Parks: At Potawatomi State Park's camp store, DC Bikes rents canoes, kayaks and bicycles, 920-746-8663. Whitefish Dunes State Park is for day use only; both parks can be visited on a daily pass, $7 for residents, $10 for nonresidents; www.wiparks.net.

Crossroads at Big Creek is at the junction of Wisconsin 42/57 and County Road TT, or Michigan Street. Admission is free, www.crossroadsatbigcreek.org.

Bicycling: The crushed-limestone Ahnapee Trail runs 31 miles from Sturgeon Bay to Casco (east of Green Bay). From a parking lot on Neenah Avenue, two miles south of its junction with Wisconsin 42/57, the trail heads into the countryside through a wildlife refuge, www.ahnapeetrail.org.

Information: 800-301-6695, www.sturgeonbay.net.

Last updated on October 22, 2008

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