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It’s Maritime Time
This gateway city to Door County – also the Peninsula’s largest – has an intriguing shipbuilding history that’s easy to drive right past if you don’t know where to look. One reason is because a lot of it takes place on the water or in shipyards.
From military ships to fancy yachts and commercial vessels, too, this coastal town of about 10,000 people hosts a shipyard where all the industrial magic has happened since the late 1890s, bringing together modern technology and centuries-old craftsmanship.
Luxury-yacht builder Palmer Johnson may have exited Sturgeon Bay in 2016, but the shipbuilding tradition continues.
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For a glimpse at a working shipyard, book a two-hour narrated sail with Shoreline Boat Tours (late May through early October) that includes a peek at the 63-acre Fincantieri Bay Shipbuilding yard, which no longer offers tours due to its sensitive military work. On this outing, you’ll also learn about how the Coast Guard and lighthouses have aided navigation in the region for centuries, along with stories about early settlers and Native Americans planting roots here.
History buffs love the Door County Maritime Museum’s bayside location and its walk through the city’s nautical history, including a fifth-floor exhibit devoted to local shipbuilding history. Between May and October, there’s also a 40-minute guided tour of the John Purves, a restored 1919 tugboat.
Initially the tug operated as a floating radio station in the Caribbean during World War I before entering commercial service and eventually being donated to the museum in 2003, when a nearly six-year restoration began. The museum’s 118-foot lighthouse tower, which opened in 2021, offers exhibits as well as views of the working waterfront from the top-floor outdoor observation deck (open April to November only).
Sturgeon Bay is a highly walkable city, so wear comfortable shoes as you will likely exceed your daily average step-count. The shops, cafes and galleries of Third Avenue are a good bet, but another must-do stroll is the West Waterfront Promenade, which is a prime spot for watching boats passing through the canal bisecting the peninsula. Find it at either Otumba Park or the Maple-Oregon Street Bridge.
150 miles from Milwaukee to Sturgeon Bay
No matter what time of day, waterfront dining is not hard to find in Sturgeon Bay. This includes the two-story, glass-walled Sonny’s Italian Kitchen & Pizzeria perched along Sturgeon Bay at the foot of the Historic Sturgeon Bay Bridge, where an outdoor Tiki bar complete with a thatched-hut roof joins a menu of classic Italian pasta dishes.
If all you want to do is sip coffee along the water, Morning Glory by the Bay boasts walls of windows and outdoor seating at its historic Italianate-style building dating back to 1875. On the menu are crispy Belgian waffles and eggs Benedict.
For another peek at Sturgeon Bay’s past, Door County Granary reopened last autumn after a major restoration
of the 1901 waterfront granary structure and now houses a museum on the peninsula’s agrarian history.
