March

AMERICA’SOUTBACK >by Bill GravesDOOR PENINSULA,WISCONSIN“YOU’VE GOT TO ADMIRE PEOPLEWHO MARCH TO THE DRUMMERTHEY HEAR.”Middle America is normally not a placewhere some people think to look for lighthouses.But with coastlines on both LakeSuperior and Lake Michigan, Wisconsinhas more than 50 of them; at least 33 are still operating.The first lighthouses were built on the Great Lakes in the1820s. By 1900 there were 344 of them. New technology hasgreatly lessened their importance for ship captains now navigatingthe Lakes. But on a black and stormy night, when onboardelectronics fail, those shore-based lights may be theonly aids left for a skipper to find his way.In northeastern Wisconsin, the 300-mile shoreline of theDoor Peninsula once had 13 lighthouses. For many earlymariners, the lighthouses did not come soon enough, as this80-mile-long peninsula is skirted by rocky shoals draped withthe remains of many a wooden-hulled ship.Ten lighthouses are still operating. One, open to the public,is on Cana Island, joined to the mainland by a causeway.Built in 1869, it has a circular staircase that every lightkeeperhere – or maybe his wife – surely cursed at one time or another.Twice a day somebody had to climb its 102 steps. The lightwas originally fueled by lard or whale oil, then kerosene andthen acetylene. It was finally lit by electricity in 1945.Dwight Zeller, the assistant site manager, explained thatmost coastal lights are now beacons like they use at airports.But here they still use the original Fresnel lens that was madein France. It has circular prisms that gather andbend the light, causing it to converge into a powerfulbeam. At 85 feet above water level, it can beseen as far away as 18 miles.“How do ya’ clean it?” I asked.“We use a one-to-one mix of distilled water andalcohol with a few drops of Woolite,” he said, thenlooked at me curiously. “That’s a rare question.”“What’s a common one?”“Let’s see ... probably about ghosts in thelighthouse,” he said. “I tell them no ghosts yet,but we have some on back order.”Lighthouses and rusticcamping define DoorPeninsula for some. Forothers, it’s enjoying asummer breeze off thelake and a root beerfloat at Wilson’s IceCream Parlor – a staplefor more than 100 years.Dwight showed me the light source – a 200-watt bulbthat’s mounted on a rack of four bulbs.“If one goes out, the rack automatically rolls and a newbulb slips in to replace the bad one,” he said.Driving across the peninsula to the bay side, I passed a driveintheater that dates to 1950. It’s still showing movies every nightin the summer. And there’s an undisturbed osprey’s nest spreadingover the top of a cellphone tower, and a restaurant with a sodroof. You’ve got to admire people who march to the drummerthey hear. One more thing: no fast-food restaurants here – DoorCounty has worked hard to keep the chains out.The place survives on tourists and summer residents. Beforeroads were built in the 1930s, steamships made overnighttrips here in the summer carrying vacationers from Chicago.I stopped in Ephraim, the only “dry” town in Wisconsin.Some residents have twice tried to change that. The last timewas in 1991. They voted to keep the no-alcohol ordnance by a75 percent plurality – again, that drummer. Not only can younot buy booze here, I discovered that you can’t buy milk oreggs either. No law against it, just geography. There’s no grocerystore in town.But you can get world-class root beer floats at Wilson’s IceCream Parlor. Roy and Diane Elquist run it,helped by their children and other kids. Roymakes fresh root beer every other day.“The secret is in the serving of it,” Roysaid. “Our root beer comes out of the tap at 32degrees.”Try that on a hot day in August – best at sunset.Welcome to America’s Outback. qBill’s email address: roadscribe@aol.com.Next month Bill will be in Knoxville, Tennessee.90 March 2012 TRAILER LIFE www.trailerlife.comGo To:.comUser GuideContents