1. To Get To This Idyllic Island, You'll Have To Cross Death's Door
Wisconsin's Door Peninsula has more than earned its nickname the “Cape Cod of the Midwest.” It's home to cherry orchards and porch-lined inns; cloyingly sweet small towns and sweeping Lake Michigan views. And off its shores sits Washington Island, a time-stands-still getaway where limestone beaches and lavender fields provide a backdrop that is, to many, a perfect distillation of Door County's unique pleasures.
To get there, all you have to do is cross a six-mile underwater graveyard.
Long known as Porte des Mortes -- Death's Door -- the unpredictably turbulent stretch of Lake Michigan between the mainland and Washington Island is steeped in macabre history. It claimed both indigenous tribespeople and French fur trappers before it turned its appetite to ships: All in all, over the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, more than 250 vessels met the same grim fate navigating the waters.
Today, en route to a lovely cottage vacation or a stay in a historic hotel amid the waves, you’d never know the strait’s unforgiving history. Though the waters that gave the county and the peninsula its name remain some of the most turbulent in the Great Lakes, they’re now a thoroughfare for ships, ferries, and intrepid divers.
Here’s what to expect if you find yourself at Death’s Door -- and the paradise that lies on the other side.
Comments
0 comment