TO ANSWER THE QUESTION “What makes Green Bay green?” go back about 400 years to when French fur traders first explored the area. They found the lower part of the bay was often coated with bright green algae, a fragrant slick that gave rise to the name La Baie des Puants or “the bay of stinking waters.” The English were kinder, settling on the less malodorous and more forthright moniker of Green Bay.
Today, things are markedly different. Green Bay and the adjacent Door Peninsula presents some of the most scenic waterfront on the Great Lakes, along with history, dining and shopping districts. While Green Bay is preoccupied with the Packers of NFL fame, this shipping port offers visitors more than football-related attractions, although Lambeau Field Stadium and Packers Hall of Fame are not to be missed.
Just south of downtown, National Railroad Museum features a vast collection of railroad objects, photographs, manuscripts and rotating exhibits. Trains on display include the Union Pacific #4017 “Big Boy,” weighing in at 1.1 million pounds, the Pennsylvania Railroad #4890, an art deco-styled electric locomotive, and other notable rolling stock.
The 47-acre Green Bay Botanical Garden is a must-see, particularly the Kaftan Lusthaus (a Scandinavian-style summer house), the Schierl Wellhouse and Garden of annuals and herbs, and the Vanderperren English Cottage Garden.
Just northeast of downtown lies the 80-mile-long Door Peninsula and Door County, one of Wisconsin’s most visited tourist destinations, featuring acres of cherry and apple orchards, limestone outcroppings, and dunes. The peninsula got its name from the dangerous passage that lies between its northern tip and Washington Island, an area littered with 18th- and 19th-century shipwrecks. The French colorfully dubbed it Porte des Morts, which translates to “Death’s Door” in English.
Fortunately, today’s boaters don’t have to navigate Death’s Door, thanks to the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal, which connects Sturgeon Bay on the west side of the Door Peninsula with Lake Michigan to the east. Several famous lighthouses mark the canal and channel such as Sturgeon Bay Canal Lighthouse and Sherwood Point Lighthouse.
WHERE TO DOCK
WHERE TO DINE
