While Joel was paying homage to the Packers at Lambeau Field, I explored the beautiful country of Door Peninsula. The peninsula was named for a French expression meaning “door of death”. It referred to the hundreds of boats that were lost in the swirling waters off the point.

We looked out over Green Bay on the newly built Eagle Tower in the Door Peninsula State Park. The 60-ft timber tower offers sweeping views of the Bay and the peninsula and looks down over the forest canopy.

The historic Eagle Bluff Lighthouse, opened in 1868, is today a museum. For almost 60 years the lighthouse guided boats through the treacherous waters of Green Bay’s Strawberry Channel.

The Lautenbach Orchard started out as a dairy farm and orchard and then moved entirely into fruit orchards, especially cherries. About 30 years ago, they decided to grow grapes and make wines with their fruits. We tasted a few of the wines and the cherry condiments.

Our second winery was at Door 44, named for the latitude at which the grapes are grown. The wines all reflect qualities of the local soil and climate. The young couple who created this winery, Maria Milano and Steve Johnson, were inspired by the Napa wine country and wanted to bring the same skill and wine complexity to Wisconsin. They created a huge business and we were impressed with these wines.