A fish boil is a traditional dining experience found only in Door County.
Freshly caught Lake Michigan whitefish is the prime ingredient of a traditional Door County fish boil prepared at the Old Post Office Restaurant, Ephraim.
oatmeal cookies fresh from the oven. SR 42 winds to an end in nearby Northport, where we came upon a lineup of cars and RVs boarding a ferry to Washington Island. We didn’t have time for the half- hour trip (across the infamous Death’s Door Passage), needing to hustle back to Ephraim for a 7 p.m. dinner reservation, but we spoke with a couple who had just returned. She said she enjoyed shopping at the various craft studios, while he said it was a great place—if you liked watching paint dry. Sound familiar? RV campers should make note that Washington Island Campground offers 45 sites, most with water and electricity. For visitors seeking further offshore adventure, there’s a passenger-only ferry that continues on to tiny Rock Island, a forested state park that’s laced with hiking trails and is home to Pottawatomie Lighthouse. Built in 1836, it was the first light to serve Wisconsin’s shoreline. Back in Ephraim, we weremore than ready to sample Door County’s most unique and legendary dining tradition—a fish boil—at the Old Post Office Restaurant. Assembled with fellow diners in a courtyard behind the restaurant, we watched as the resident “boil master” stoked a bonfire beneath a large cauldron filled with saltwater and chunks of Lake Michigan whitefish, potatoes, and onions. As
the cooking process neared completion, he doused the fire with kerosene, creating quite a conflagration. As the oohs and aahs subsided, we were led inside where a team of servers presented steaming platters of tasty whitefish, butter-drenched potatoes, and salads. A spectacle nowadays aimed at tourists, fish boils originated in the 19th century as a quick and economical means of feeding Scandinavian lumberjacks being deployed to clear land for farming. Well fed and thoroughly rested following our second and final night at Peninsula State Park, we set out to explore the Lake Michigan side of the peninsula. This necessitated a short drive north once again on SR 42 to Sister Bay to connect with SR 57, a well-maintained two- laner that traces the lakeside shore south to Sturgeon Bay. Our return to Sister Bay was timed just right for a Swedish pancake breakfast at Al Johnson’s—and permission to climb atop the roof for some photos of Al’s goats. Just a few miles south of Sister Bay on SR 57 we reached Baileys Harbor where, following some cryptic directions provided by the Door County Visitor Bureau, we set out on winding County Road Q that eventually led us to our first objective of the morning, Cana Island Lighthouse.
DOOR COUNTY
COAST TO COAST FALL MAGAZINE 2017
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