July up here is not subtle. The days are long, the beaches are packed, and the towns are humming.

It is loud and alive and a little crowded… but it’s completely worth it. It might annoy some, but patience goes a long way.

Just remember, you’re in Door County.

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This week in The Best of Door County Weekly:

The first fish boil of my life happened by accident.

It was the summer of 1995, maybe 1996.

My wife, Kelly, and I were up for one of our early trips together, playing our first round of golf together at Peninsula State Park Golf Course - long before they ever had the 6-hole, par 3 we now enjoy.

We were paired with a father and son who had clearly been coming up for years. They knew every hole. They were so friendly - they were the kind of guys who made a golf round feel more like a conversation.

Somewhere on the back nine, the father asked if we had ever been to a fish boil.

We had not.

In fact, we had never even heard of one.

They explained the whole thing. The whitefish. The potatoes and onions in the big iron kettle. The fire building for an hour. And then the boilover, when the master fires a burst of flame under the pot and the water comes rolling over the sides. It sounded amazing.

We were at the White Gull Inn that same night.

I do not remember what we talked about at dinner.

I remember the fire.

I remember the boilover.

I remember trying to figure out how to get the bones out of the fish (they actually had to come over to help me).

I remember Kelly saying to me that this was one of the neatest things we have ever done.

And I remember thinking that Door County just got a lot more interesting.

That was thirty years ago. We have been back to The White Gull Inn fish boil more times than I can count. It never gets old. The boilover still makes people flinch. The cherry pie at the end is still mandatory. And every time, I think about two strangers on a golf course who changed how we experience Door County.

If June is when Door County eases into summer, July is when it hits full stride. The Fourth of July fireworks, the Folk Festival, the Plein Air Festival, Northern Sky Theater under the stars, Peninsula Players, the cherry harvest beginning in the orchards, and the fish boil on a long summer evening.

It is the most complete month on the calendar and the one that keeps people coming back to the same cottage for decades.

I put together a complete guide to July in Door County that covers everything worth knowing. Events, outdoor adventures, beaches, dining, where to stay, and the practical tips that separate a great trip from a stressful one.

Read the July Door County guide here.

Door County real estate moves fast, and every week something interesting changes hands up here. Whether you are dreaming about owning your own piece of heaven someday or just curious what the market looks like, this is your weekly peek behind the curtain.

This one just sold and it is easy to see why.

A brand new three bedroom, three bath condo at Redtail Ridge in Fish Creek closed July 2 at $489,900. At 1,704 square feet the unit features an open concept kitchen and living area, nine foot ceilings, large windows, first floor laundry, and a garage.

It is a quarter mile from the entrance to Fish Creek Park with trail access right into the village.

Redtail Ridge is Fish Creek's newest residential condominium community, designed for easy low-maintenance living in one of the most popular villages in the county.

Units are available for purchase and can be rented on terms of 60 days or longer.

If Door County real estate is on your radar, this development is worth watching

My wife Kelly has strong opinions about Door County restaurants. She has favorites in every village, preferences about which fish boil we go to, and a very clear view on where to get breakfast on a Sunday morning (it’s either the Village Cafe or the Rusty Tractor, but I’ll talk about those another week). But if you ask her about lunch, the answer is almost always the same.

Summer Kitchen in Ephraim.

It sits on Highway 42 between Ephraim and Sister Bay, surrounded by flowers and hanging baskets that make it look like your grandmother planted the most beautiful garden in Wisconsin and then opened a restaurant in the middle of it.

And the soup bar is the whole reason to go.

Five homemade soups every single day. Fresh baked bread alongside them. You can order a cup, a bowl, or the Taster's Cup, which lets you make as many return trips as you want and try everything on the bar.

The spicy tomato dill is the one people talk about. The cream of mushroom has its devoted followers. Kelly (and my son Tyler) have a system and they never leave disappointed - that system includes the chicken dumpling soup with a lot of bread. No carbs to be seen here ( 😁 ).

The cashew chicken salad in a pita is the other must-order. Every lunch entree comes with a trip to the soup bar automatically, which means you are getting more food than you planned on and leaving happier than you expected.

Summer Kitchen is open daily from 7 a.m. and runs through the season. Go for lunch. Order the Taster's Cup. Trust Kelly (and Tyler) on this one.

10425 Water Street, Ephraim.

Visit the Summer Kitchen on Facebook.

Sister Bay closes out the Fourth of July season in style with Freedom Fest on Saturday at Marina Park.

The waterfront comes alive with food vendors, kids' activities, bungee trampolines, a boat parade through the harbor, and fireworks over Green Bay at dusk.

It is one of the most scenic fireworks settings anywhere in the county, with the water reflecting the bursts overhead and the bluffs visible across the bay.

If you missed the Fourth or just want one more summer evening on the water before July really gets rolling, this is the one.

Here is something most people do not know about the golf course where our fish boil story started.

The Peninsula State Park Golf Course has been operating inside the park since 1921, making it one of the oldest golf courses in Wisconsin. The 18-hole course was designed in an era when golf architecture meant working with the natural landscape rather than reshaping it, and the result is a course that winds through stands of white birch and cedar with glimpses of Eagle Harbor appearing through the trees on several holes.

Today the course draws players from across the Midwest who want to experience something that does not exist at most golf facilities.

Eighteen holes inside a state park, with a short course option for newer players (and for some that just enjoy a shorter round), and the kind of setting that makes a triple bogey feel forgivable.

It is also where two strangers once told a young couple from out of town about a fish boil. So there is that.

The Fourth of July weekend brought mostly good weather with temperatures in the low to mid 70s. This week looks similar. Highs staying in the mid 70s most days with rain chances Wednesday and Thursday.

Sunrise this week hits around 5:27 a.m. Sunset comes just after 8:33 p.m., giving you right around 15 hours of daylight to work with. The days are still long but starting their very slow lean back toward fall - I know, I know. I don’t like it either.

You have time. Not unlimited time, but time.

Green Bay water temperatures are running in the upper 60s to low 70s, which is as warm as it gets up here. If you have been waiting for the right week to get in the water, this is probably it.

The cherry harvest is close. Most years the tart cherry season kicks off in the third or fourth week of July, and the farm markets are already stocking up.

Keep an eye on Wood Orchard in Egg Harbor and Seaquist north of Sister Bay for the first signs of fresh fruit hitting the shelves.

I wrote this week's newsletter while listening to The Grand Illusion by Styx, which came out in 1977 and was the album that turned them into one of the biggest rock bands in the world.

Come Sail Away is the one everyone clicks to, but in reality, it’s my 5th or 6th favorite on the album. The title track is a seven-minute piece of arena rock that somehow also manages to say something about ambition and illusion and the gap between who we think we are and who we actually are. That’s deep.

When I was a kid, I used to listen to this album on repeat as my dad drove us to Hayward for our summer vacation. I remember the warped 8-track we had of it… such memories.

Anyway, remember last week when I said Fleetwood Mac was number four on my favorite band list? Well Styx is my third favorite band of all time.

It’s great music for a summer afternoon.

If you have not put this one on in a while, give it another listen. It holds up better than you might expect.

Door County is one of the most dog-friendly destinations in the Midwest, and if you have ever watched a golden retriever discover a limestone beach for the first time, you understand why people bring their dogs up here.

We want to see yours.

If you have a photo of your pet enjoying Door County, whether it is a dog on a dock, a cat watching the ferry from a cottage window, or something different entirely, send it our way. We will feature the best ones right here in future issues.

Send your photos to [email protected].

Tell us your pet's name, the village you were in, and anything worth knowing about the moment. We will take it from there.

July goes fast up here. Fall will be here before you know it.

If there is a trip you have been meaning to take, a restaurant you keep saying you will try, or a fish boil you have never quite gotten around to, this is the month.

Do not let July slip by.

See you up here,
Brian

thebestofdoorcounty.com

I’ll drop into your inbox every Tuesday. Make sure to let me know what you think at [email protected]

Brian.

The Best of Door County Weekly