I first met Robert Thompson while walking with my dad and sister through the apple orchard in the campground at which we had just become seasonal campers. He was talking to the trees. My dad quickly led us in the other direction.

Later on, we came to learn that Bob, as we came to call him, was an actor at the Peninsula Players Theatre, an outdoor theater a few miles north. Bob was a sweet man, one of many surrogate grandparents we acquired around the campground. He took my sister and I under his wing and got us involved with the theater. You see, if you ushered or helped to direct cars in the parking lot (something we were much too young to do at first), you got to see the play for free. Thus began my love of the theater, of the butterflies in my stomach and the electricity in the air when the lights dimmed and the curtain pulled back. (He always inquired what nights we would be attending, and he if he was in that particular play, he wouldn’t let the any of the cast leave until they had all signed our playbills.)

The very first Peninsula Players show opened on July 25, 1935, though they didn’t open on their current location until the summer of 1937. Those early performances were presented under the stars, with a canvas top added in 1946, a permanent roof in 1957, and with continued improvements to present day. These days, the shows can go on, rain or shine. There are a number of videos (with auto-generated captions) on their website where you can learn even more about their history.

Each season, the Players puts on five shows. This season, the shows are I Ought to be in Pictures (June 18 – July 7), The Angel Next Door (July 10 – 28), Million Dollar Quartet (July 31 – August 18), Mary’s Wedding (August 21 – September 1), and The Stranger (September 4 – October 20).

If you are interested in purchasing a ticket for an upcoming show, you can do so on their website, by calling (920) 868-3287*, or stopping by the box office during regular hours. (There are handling fees for online or by phone but not in person.) The theater is located at 4351 Peninsula Players Road, Fish Creek, WI. (Note: There are discounts for students eighteen and under, as well as for groups of fifteen or more.) Get there early – walk the beautiful grounds, have a beverage, depending on the time of year, you can also catch a breathtaking sunset before the show starts (it’s like the grounds are magic – it’s always beautiful).

If you are interested in signing up for ushering, you will want to call early before the season begins. Spots fill up quickly.

*One summer, Pen Players accidentally printed their posters and various advertisements with the last two numbers of their phone number inverted – which happened to be our phone number when we first moved up there. We fielded a lot of calls for them that season. 🙂

In August of last year, I wrote a series of posts about my city, Green Bay, WI (USA). I thought I’d take this opportunity to write a series about my other home. When I was nine, my family moved from a suburb of Chicago (Arlington Heights, IL) north to Door County (my first move across the IL/WI border). I spent the next nine years of my life (and a few summers after that) living in a tiny town called Egg Harbor. (At the time we moved, the town’s population was 187. Today, they’ve managed to reach a whopping 300.)

Door County itself (the peninsula on the Northeast side of the state, which juts out into Lake Michigan and forms the bay of Green Bay) is a series of small towns lined up along two highways that each run up one side of the peninsula. We still refer to the land as a peninsula because DC is a handmade island. In 1881, a canal was cut through a small tract of land that connected the ‘island’ to the mainland, creating a bypass for ships headed for the port of Green Bay.

This was done due to the ominously name Death’s Door, the passage of water between the tip of the Door County peninsula and the closest island north of it, Washington Island. According to the Wisconsin Historical Society, from 1837 to 1914, the passage claimed twenty-four sailing vessels, and the ‘adjacent islands, shoals, and bays claimed’ another forty. You can sail over this passage today, either in your own vessel or by the ferry that shuttles people back and forth to Washington Island.

Don’t worry. If you prefer to avoid such ‘thrills’, DC has plenty of other things you can do (though there is fun to be had up on Washington Island, too). One such (must stop) spot is Cave Point County Park. You can pack a picnic, eat lunch, and then walk along the cliffs and explore the rocks below (if the water levels are low enough). I previously wrote two posts about Cave Point – the cleverly titled “Cave Point” and “Another Cave Point Post”. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Another spot you must plan to visit is the Skyway Drive-In movie theater. They are open mid-May to mid-October, and they have managed to keep their prices SUPER reasonable, especially given a single ticket/entrance is ten bucks (summer 2023 price) for a double feature. They book movies week to week, announcing on Monday what will show starting the following Friday (though if they catch movies on the break, they’ll announce for a two-week period). You can find out what movies are coming up by visiting their website (where they also have an option where you can sign up for email updates) or by following their Facebook page.

The Skyway has all the typical movie-going snacks and beverages in their snack bar, and you can listen to the movie by old-school speak (first four rows) or via your car’s radio (use the ACC setting rather then ON! Though if you make this rookie mistake, no worries – they have a portable car jumper). You are allowed to bring your own beverages and snacks – just no glass, please.

The Skyway showed its first movie on July 26, 1950, and it has consistently run every summer since (making it the longest continuously running drive-in in our state). In 1999, brothers Jeff and Dale Jacobson bought the business from their parents (who had owned and operated it since 1981). I remember going here as a kid, and I even worked there every summer while I was in college. It’s still not officially summer for me until there’s been a trip to the drive-in.

Last, for all your cherry needs (seriously, don’t sleep on the doughnuts), stop by Woods Orchard Market just north of Egg Harbor. We in Door County like to put cherries in just about everything – wine, salsa, even bratwursts. (I promise that last one isn’t as weird as it sounds.)