Things seemed beautifully familiar on the drive up the Door County peninsula from Green Bay. Yet this was my first time in the area, in fact the first time in Wisconsin.
It was not until I drove past the Cape Cod Hotel did my inner mystery solve itself. This region of the upper Midwest that juts out into Lake Michigan has all the beauty of its east coast cousin with the addition of all the cheese curds you could ever hope to encounter.
Savory Spoon Cooking School owner Janice Thomas stands in front of her school located in an 1870s former schoolhouse.
Beyond the obvious, cheese, wheels and wheels of it, the peninsula attracts visitors year round with 300 miles of dramatic coastal landscapes, 80 galleries and museums, and endless epicurean opportunities from breakfast at Grandma’s Swedish Bakery at Rowley’s Bay Resort to lunch at Wilson’s Restaurant & Ice Cream Parlor in Ephraim (a Door County landmark since 1906 featuring an old-fashioned soda fountain with home-brewed draft root beer) to dinner at Parador, Egg Harbor’s newest restaurant serving classic Spanish tapas. Inspired by all the great food I even tried my ladle-holding hand at cooking at the Savory Spoon Cooking School located in an 1870s historic schoolhouse in Ellison Bay, conducted by Chef Janice Thomas.
Gary and Brian Renard of Renard’s Cheese create cheese curds in the wee hours of the morning.
Before heading home I picked up a couple of bags of cheese curds at family owned and operated Renard’s Cheese. I had several curd-loving friends that warned that I better not return home without them.
The competitive spirit is alive and well in Door County.
Photo Credits
All Photographs Are © Mark Edward Harris
Mark Edward Harris Photographer Bio
Mark Edward Harris’ editorial work has appeared in publications such as Life, GEO, Conde Nast Traveler, AFAR, The Los Angeles Times Sunday Magazine, The London Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Playboy as well as all the major photography and in-flight magazines. His commercial clients range from The Gap to Coca-Cola to Mexicana Airlines. He is the recipient of numerous awards including a CLIO, ACE, Aurora Gold, and Photographer of the Year at the Black & White Spider Awards. His books include Faces of the Twentieth Century: Master Photographers and Their Work, The Way of the Japanese Bath, Wanderlust, North Korea, South Korea, and Inside Iran. North Korea was named Photography Book of the Year at the 2013 International Photography Awards.
Website: Mark Edward Harris
Recent Guest Photographer Articles:
- Jack's Video Sports Bar
- From Landscape Photographer To Wedding Photographer
- New Johnson Street Bridge by Drone
- Living History: Lexington, Virginia
- Hells Canyon: The Cooler Side of Hades
Please Share Your Thoughts - Leave A Comment!