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Part 2: If you tie off your lines at Municipal’s wall, as we did, you too can stroll up the hill past Gibraltar Town Hall, built around 1880.
By Cynthia Barnes — Spring
2004
Alibi Dock and Municipal Dock are the gateways for boaters, with 27 transient slips—and more room along the walls—between them. They can accommodate boats up to 50 feet LOA (and up to 120 feet along the walls). If you tie off your lines at Municipal’s wall, as we did, you too can stroll up the hill past Gibraltar Town Hall, built around 1880 when the village was a lumber and fishing center. The Gibraltar Historical Association offers guided walking tours from June through September, but we followed our primal instincts and made a dash to the fish boil, instead.
BACK AT THE BOIL
The boilmaster carries our feast through the crowd, and we happily follow. Inside the dining room, friendly waitresses serve up fish steaks and potatoes. The side dishes of corn and rye breads and an excellent cole slaw—plus large pitchers of melted butter—are brought out family-style. I ask for Tabasco and am mocked by the entire table.
Mmmmm, melted butter. The fish is tasty and mild, and the cherry pie that arrives for dessert—made with locally grown cherries—is worth the $17.75 price of admission ($10.95 for kids) all by itself. Vowing never to eat again, we make our way back to the dock. Along the pier, couples walk off their dinners, chatting with other boaters. Voices float across the harbor. “Can I borrow a corkscrew?” “Do you want to go for ice cream?” “Good night…”
Among the voices are those of Tim and Katie McKenna, who cruised up from Chicago with their sons aboard their Carver 560, Daddy O. They’re staying 20 nautical miles south in Sturgeon Bay and hopping back and forth between villages to explore. They make the trip once or twice a year, and enjoy rollerblading and hiking, eating and shopping. “Only for toys,” says seven-year-old Trevor. His two younger brothers and their parents say they all enjoy going to Wilson’s, in nearby Ephraim, for ice cream.
I make a note of this as I climb back aboard Carisma for our own cruise down to Sturgeon Bay, where we plan to tie up at Stone Harbor Resort, our own home base for the rest of the trip. Its marina has 20 slips for transient boaters, with rooms at the resort starting around $140 per night. (Bonus: If the weather turns too inclement to cast off, rental cars are available just across the street at the delightfully retro Holiday Motel.)
>> Next page >> Part 3: Everyone is familiar with the stereotypical Wisconsin diet of cheese, bratwurst, and beer, and we cover all the bases. Page
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