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Issue 18 June 2009
In This Issue
Shhh! Secrets of DC!
Music Festival!
A Special Place: Top Deck Restaurant


Door County - Lookin' Good!    
June Sunset Egg Harbor
June Sunset - Egg Harbor
 
 
 
Pier Water 
Especially in Door County!  See the line at Gomy's Goodies in Egg Harbor
 
 
The Black Knight Final 
See the Knights in Armor at The English Inn in Fish Creek (crafted by Hands On Art Studio - where you can create art too)
 
 
 View from Florian II
 View from tableside, Florian II Restaurant - Baileys Harbor
 
 Bruschetta Nautical Inn
Bruschetta, Nautical Inn Restaurant, Sturgeon Bay
 
 

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Greetings!
 
Finally summer and Door County is at its best! Your June issue of Navigator News(tm), our monthly publication, is here!  
 
We'll keep bringing you some unique insights through Navigator News(tm) - this issue is particularly exciting!  
 
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In The News! 
  1. The June 2009 Giveawayis already running . . . have you entered yet?  A wonderful 2-night stay in Egg Harbor can be yours!  Tell your friends about it!  And the May Winner will be posted soon!
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Some Secrets About Door County

By Donna Marie Pocius
Special to DoorCountyNavigator.com
 
Ask the locals in Door County about some of their secret places to go, and they will kind of wish you hadn't.
 
They may prefer to keep places like Dairy View Country Store, Whitefish Dunes State Park, Harbor Fish Market & Grille and Fred and Fuzzy's Waterfront Bar and Grille to themselves. 
 
But this is the Navigator News, after all. So, let's spread the words about some Door County secrets.
 
Dairy View Country Store off the strip
A lot of the secret places to go in Door County are located off the Hwy. 42 strip. So the adventurous may have already discovered Dairy View Country Store by now at 5169 Cty. Rd I, Sturgeon Bay (near Carlsville), www.dairyview.com.
 
This is a great place to buy homemade ice cream, walk through a corn maze and learn about the dairy industry on a tour.
 
"A lot of people do not understand the true business of dairy," says Roxanne Schopf, owner. "And everyone probably has rural roots in their family. So, we just bring them back."
 
Step back in time on a self-guided tour, which includes a stop at the air-conditioned viewing room, overlooking the 24-hour milking parlor.  Cows, wearing swanky computerized chips, are milked in a big group.
 
Opposite the parlor, you can see displays that tell Bridgeport Waterfront Resort the story of "calf to cow" with fun facts like "a calf weighs 80 to 100 pounds at birth" and "drinks one gallon of milk at first feeding."
 
Following a tour, indulge in better pecan or another flavor of ice cream-all made in Dairy View's ice cream processing center. The butter pecan is the house favorite "and still our No.1 seller. We worked on it for a year to get it perfect," Schopf says.
 
Whitefish Dunes State Park and quiet trail
Walk off the ice cream at Whitefish Dunes State Park, a hidden Peninsula treasure, affording 14 miles of hiking trails on Cty. Rd. WD, Sturgeon Bay, www.wiparks.net.
 
Don't miss the park's diverse yellow trail (this writer's favorite). While on this 4.2 mile trail, you walk through a hardwood forest, cross meadows, smell a pine plantation and go past a creek.
 
Come on a breezy day, and hear the wind whistle through the pines.  Signs along the way explain how park staff is managing the forest.
 
"This trail is not used often, so if you are looking for solitude, hike it," says Carolyn Rock, park naturalist.
 
Harbor Fish Market and Grille
And if you are looking for fish, you may already know about Harbor Fish Market and Grille, housed in an architecturally interesting 150-year old building at 8080 Hwy. 57, Baileys Harbor, www.harborfishmarket-grille.com.  The experienced chef and staff-many have been around since opening day more than 10 years ago-have good connections in the seafood market.
 
"The world is getting smaller.  Fish in the ocean is in our kitchen in 24 hours. We work with fresh producers and look for high quality we are known for," says Carl Berndt, the restaurant's owner.
 
In addition to original art and the intimate view of Lake Michigan, also look for the traditional New England lobster boil on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday evenings. It's a l.5 to two pound Maine lobster, with baby red potatoes, corn on the cob, New Zealand mussels and steamed clams as well as Maine lobster bisque and Door County cherry bread pudding.  Whew!
 
"A lot of people have fish boils, but we have the lobster boils," adds Berndt. 
 
Fred and Fuzzy's hard to find, but worth it
When you are on the west side of the Peninsula, try to find Fred and Fuzzy's Waterfront Bar and Grille, 360 Little Sister Rd., Sister Bay.  Good luck.  It's near Bay Ridge Golf Course and a part of the Little Sister Resort, www.littlesisterresort.com.
 
"There are still a lot of people who have not found us. We are still a secret," says Greg "Fuzzy" Sunstrom, co-owner.
 
Locals like the place for its live music on Tuesday Scandinavian Lodge Bannernights. Vacationers adore it for the friendly staff, kids' menu and casual ambiance. Everyone loves being so close to the water. "You are basically sitting on the water. It's a relaxing place to come," Sunstrom says. 

Midsummer's Music Festival
Working the Small Room

 
By Donna Marie Pocius
Special to DoorCountyNavigator.com
 

The violinist David Perry is breathing hard and fast as he rotates and pulls the bow. Meanwhile, violist Sally Chisholm rolls her eyes to look at him as if to ask, "What's next?"   
 
The audience seems to see as well as hear it all from "ring-side" seats at a Midsummer's Music Festival concert.  These chamber music performances, held The Shallows Resort Bannerin small and intriguing venues throughout the Door Peninsula, have a way of connecting musician to musician and spectator to musician and place. After the concert is over, the audience may partake in a reception and opportunity to meet each other as well as the performers.
 
"It's intimate. A small group of people are sitting very close to musicians. And it's all connected somehow socially-that is what Midsummer's Music Festival tries to make a distinguishing factor and bring back to chamber music," said James Berkenstock, Midsummer's artistic director.
 
The nonprofit organization has just released its 2009 concerts, which begin in mid-June and run through July 8 and then again from Sept. 3 through 6.  Included is a "Gallery Visions" program of concerts at the Hardy Gallery, Ephraim; Peninsula Art School, Fish Creek; and Woodwalk Gallery, Egg Harbor; on June 19 through 21, respectively.

 

"We have turned a lot of spaces into concert halls," Berkenstock said.
 
Midsummer's Music musicians will play a different program "Peak of Perfection" later. Concerts take place June 26 at Ephraim Moravian Church, June 27 at Trueblood Performing Arts Center, Washington Island; June 28 at The Clearing, Ellison Bay; and July 1 at Shepherd of the Bay, Ellison Bay. 
 
"Color of Passion" concerts are slated for June 30, July 2, 3 and 6 at private residences and other venues. Then, "Expressions of Genius" program for winds, strings and piano is played on July 5 at The Clearing; July 7 at Shepherd of the Bay, Ellison Bay; and on July 8 at Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Ephraim.
 
More concerts on Labor Day weekend and other details are online at www.midsummersmusic.com.  
 

A Special Place: Top Deck Restaurant & Bar

 
 by Donna Marie Pocius
Special to DoorCountyNavigator.com
 
What's it about: Top Deck is a restaurant and bar on the grounds of Gordon Lodge, 1420 Pine Dr., Baileys Harbor.   It's open to the public for lunch and dinner from noon to 9 p.m. Dinner entr�es are served beginning at 4 p.m.  The menu items available all hours include salads, soups, pizzas and sandwiches.  The kids' menu has pasta choices, burger and grilled cheese sandwiches and more.
 
As for dinner, there are seafood choices as well as specialties such as tenderloin scaloppini and North Bay ribs.    
 
Why it's special: The food is good (try the vegetable sandwich, and they make a great cup of Berres Brothers Wisconsin-made coffee here) and reasonably priced, considering the restaurant's famed location and recent major renovation.  Top Egg Harbor Lodge BannerDeck, as its name suggests, hovers over the water. So, from any table in the restaurant or on the outside deck or patio, you have a fantastic view: North Bay waters, waves, sunset, birds and trees.  Top Deck has a rich history (check out the 1930s photo on the fireplace mantel), and a renovation in 2006 updated the restaurant and restored vintage qualities, too.  There are shiny wood floors, a pitched ceiling with wood beams, comfortable dining chairs, a cool centered bar and floor to ceiling windows. Friendly service and an experienced chef, too. Hear live music on Wednesday and Sunday nights.
 
Quick facts: Top Deck at Gordon Lodge, 1420 Pine Dr., Baileys Harbor, www.gordonlodge.com, 920-839-1061