A mostly food guide to 48 hours in Door County

And...anyone want to back my future bookstore?

Door County, Wisconsin is often called the Cape Cod of the Midwest. Both are narrow peninsulas on the easternmost side of their states, and both rely heavily on tourism. Both are full of lighthouses, boutiques, bed & breakfasts, regional foods and old-timey, nautical vibes.

But where Cape Cod has clambakes, Door County does fish boils. And of course, Door County juts 70 miles into Lake Michigan, not the Atlantic Ocean.

Door County is bigger and has a smaller population, so it’s less developed and has more empty stretches of parks and lake views. It also feels much more casual. That’s not to say there aren’t nice places or a lot of money. There are both. (The majority of homes are vacation homes and the lots of homeowners are from Chicago.) But the vibe is farmstand chic.

Like so many kids in Wisconsin, I grew up visiting Door County. I stayed at my best friend’s grandmother’s house a few times, but my family most often camped in one of the six state parks. By summer 2023, I hadn’t been in years (and the last time I had I was subjected to ice fishing).

I remembered Door County as being beautiful, but kitschy. There are long-running gimmicks, like the fish boils or the goats on the roof at Al Johnson’s. There are pirate tours and doily decorations and cherries turned into every kind of food product imaginable. Stuffy restaurants with mediocre food but pretty views. In my head it was dated, a place for families or retired people.

I am so sorry for my ignorance. Door County is the best place ever. Top five favorite places I have ever been. Ever. Anywhere in the world. By the end of the weekend we were looking at real estate to open a wine shop/bookstore (still daydreaming about it, if anyone wants to back me! Seriously…)

This was still the Door County I remembered. Sailboats on sparkling blue Lake Michigan. Maple trees for miles in Peninsula State Park. Dozens of shops selling jam and pottery and hats that say “unsalted and shark free.”

But in many ways, Door County had grown up. Millennials had moved to town during the pandemic and opened restaurants and inns, bringing more eclectic wine lists and Instagrammable interiors.

There are tons of exhaustive Door County guides out there. But if you only have a weekend, here’s everything we did, a mix of classic and new, that made us fall in love with the place.

How to spend a weekend in Door County

Getting there: If you’re flying, you’ll fly into Green Bay and rent a car.

Where to stay Roots Inn & Kitchen. I loved this inn in Sister Bay owned by a man from Door County who had been working out of state as a lawyer when he decided to give it all up to follow the hospitality dream.