Charlie's Smokehouse in Gills Rock had a deli-like counter displaying a wide variety of smoked fish. I bought a small container of a salmon and whitefish spread, a packet of saltine crackers, a bottle of water, and a cup of coffee and enjoyed the breakfast sitting on warm concrete steps back at the marina. Small boats came and left. Seagulls orbited while fishermen cleaned their morning catch.

From Gills Rock, I crossed the bay, rounded the northwest corner of Door Peninsula (Wisconsin's 'thumb'), and chased the breeze south. Much of the shoreline consisted of white limestone cliffs with high-dollar homes perched upon them overlooking the vast blue expanse of Green Bay. Most had sturdy wooden stairs leading to rocky shores below; one, a spiral stairway. I bypassed the deep bay leading into Ellison and took a direct open-water steer to its far point - about four miles. Reaching that wooded  shore, I eased the Klepper onto green moss-covered rocks and got out to walk around and stretch my legs which were beginning to cramp in the tight cockpit. In heavier seas, they would get plenty of exercise kicking the rudder pedals but the voyage south was smooth. Seven-and-a-half hours after leaving Detroit Harbor, I glided into the Yacht Works Marina at Sister Bay and reunited with the Apres Ski and crew. 

After a cold beer and buffalo wings from JJ's Restaurant, I walked to the Liberty Garden Lodge. A desk clerk confirmed the No Vacancy sign out front. The sympathetic clerk phoned a half-dozen other motels to no avail. With the busy Labor Day weekend, every room in Sister Bay was taken and there were no campgrounds along the lake. My only option was to paddle out to Horseshoe Island, another four miles distant.

Door County is one of my favorite vacation destinations.  It is beautiful, full of state parks and lighthouses.  The Door Peninsula juts out into Lake Michigan, creating Green Bay on the western side of the peninsula.  On the Lake Michigan side, you can go to Cana Island lighthouse, where you have to cross the water by foot to get there.  Sometimes you can just step along the rocks and stay dry, but sometimes the water level is higher and you can't stay dry.  Or sometimes a goofy relative thinks it would be funny to push you into the water. 

Ridges Sanctuary near Bailey's Harbor on the Lake Michigan side is a nice nature preserve through the swales (back beach berms from higher lake levels).  It is somewhat hidden, so it is less touristy than other destinations in Door County, but it has wonderful walking trails. 

Peninsula State Park on the Green Bay side has camp sites, walking/biking trails, beaches, boat rentals, and an ampitheater with hilarious plays in the summer. 

Sister Bay on the Green Bay side has a unique restaurant - Al Johnson's, a Swedish restaurant that has grass on the roof.  For the goats.  My cousins (and sister) worked there during the summer (they lived nearby).  The girls were waitresses in Swedish outfits with clogs and their brother was a bus boy.  It was actually his job to carry the goats up to the roof everyday. 

Another Door County tradition is the fish boil.  A bunch of fish cook in a big pot and the stuff that floats off them while cooking drip into the fire and create the big flame.

You can take a ferry to Washington Island for a day of biking and fudge eating or shopping.  From there you can take a ferry to Rock Island for some hiking and primitive camping (no motor vehicles). 

The usual touristy things are there - the junk shops, t-shirt shops, ice cream shops, and golf courses.  But if you want to enjoy nature, visit one of the 5 state parks, 18 county parks or 300 miles of coastline.

We drove through Door County. It was nice, but it was off season, so there wasn't a whole lot to do. Plus we were kinda anxious to get to where we were going.. And we only had 2 weeks to go from Texas to Michigan and back, and we were taking the long way around. Oh, the constraints of reality...