“We’ve been coming here every year since 1986,” Dolores Molmar said as she and her husband, Les, beheld the Village Green’s buffet of made-from-scratch pancakes, fruit compote and exquisitely light hashbrowns. Their son treats them to an annual stay at the Ephraim, Wis., bed and breakfast for Christmas.
Chris Farina, her sister and their husbands have come here for their annual getaway for 10 years.
The allure goes beyond Village Green’s breakfast, and afternoon tea, and quilts, framed postcards, fireplaces and other details. There’s also proximity to bayside bluffs, fruit and wine tastings, sailboating, ice tubing, and candlelight skiing. There’s even ziplining from tree to tree.
Few places offer such fresh-baked Americana as Door County, a finger of Wisconsin cradled between Green Bay and Lake Michigan. Driving north from Green Bay’s airport, cheeriness blossoms in hay bales shaped like tractors, pumpkins stacked to mimic human anatomy and pun-drunk roadside signs.
Door County orchards yield 13 million pounds of cherries a year, the local favorite being the Montmorency. Science offers plentiful reasons to eat this tart cherry: Its natural melatonin improves sleep and wards off jet lag, anthocyanins fight inflammation and prevent diseases, nutrients protect the brain. But taste trumps medicinal purposes: This little red superfood is downright addictive.
And following midsummer cherry harvests are apples, from effervescent honeycrisps to ginger golds.
Scandinavian settlers populated Eagle Harbor in the 1850s; today Ephraim (long “e”) charms with historic buildings — schoolhouse, fire station, Wilson’s old-fashioned soda fountain (homemade root beer!) and crisp white inns illuminated by night.
Bicycling south 20 minutes from the lodge, I reach Peninsula State Park, a 3,700-acre hiker/biker paradise of deep-woods trails and crisp Green Bay-side paths. Scenery includes the homey Eagle Bluff Lighthouse and rocky outcrops aimed at islands. Park campsites are available, but make summertime reservations a year in advance.
Near the park’s main entrance is Nor-Door Sport/Cyclery and Julie’s Park Cafe, specializing in healthy made heavenly. Just south is downtown Fish Creek’s Brilliant Stranger, where cool finds include ReFab recycled vintage, and Egg Harbor’s Village Cafe (cherries served in wraps!)
Orchard Country Winery and Market beckons from Highway 42 with tasting bar, sampling stations, seasonal pit-spitting and pumpkin-bowling competitions, and myriad gift-worthy fresh fruits in every conceivable form. In Door County, life’s more than a bowl of cherries. It’s also a wine, jam, pie, chocolate, granola or salsa of cherries, whatever your pleasure.
Reach Robin Tierney at [email protected]
