Door County, WI: Fall 50 + Exploring Sister Bay
While I enjoy running a couple days a week, my husband, Dom, absolutely loves running and typically does a run every day. In the past few years, he has trained for a few marathons, but this fall he decided to take a break from marathon training… and instead trained for an ultramarathon. If you aren’t familiar with those, an ultramarathon (sometimes just called an ultra) is any race that is longer than a marathon (26.2 miles).
The ultra that he chose to run was the Fall 50 in Door County, Wisconsin, which takes place in October every year. Runners start at the north end of Door County and run 50 miles, either solo or as a relay team, to the south end of Door County. Only 151 people finished the entire 50 miles as solo runners, and Dom came in 7th place; he was 5th place for men age 39 and under, which was especially cool because top 5 in each division earned medals for placing. We had to stick around the post-race tent for several hours to get the medal, but it was worth it to see everyone congratulate Dom as we were leaving. The vast majority of the racers were part of relay teams, so they, like me, can’t imagine running a full 50 miles – let alone running it fast enough to come in fifth place.
While we were up there, we were able to do some exploring – so this post goes over the coffee shops and restaurants we tried, a review of the bed & breakfast we stayed at, and a brief review of the Fall 50. I loved every second that we were in Door County, so I’m already hoping we can go again next year and try more places.
Coffee Shops in Door County
While we were there, we stayed in the village of Sister Bay. It’s about 3/4 of the way to the northernmost point of Door County and on the west / Green Bay side of the Door County peninsula. We were able to try two local coffee shops there, and my amazing friend Lily was also in the area while we were visiting, and she brought me an incredible latte from a Baileys Harbor coffee shop, so I’ve included that one as well.
One thing to note is that Door County is known for its lack of chain restaurants, hotels, etc. – so you won’t find a Starbucks north of Sturgeon Bay (the southernmost town in Door County).
Analog Ice Cream and Coffee in Sister Bay
We stopped at Analog on our way out of town. It’s right off the main road in Sister Bay, and incredibly cute – there’s outdoor seating, coffee, ice cream, and a great bakery selection. I had a delicious pumpkin spice latte (perfect for October in Sister Bay) and Dom originally didn’t get anything, but after looking at the bakery items while the barista was making my latte, decided he wanted a scone. He said it was amazing; if we’re back in Sister Bay, this is the shop we’ll go to again.
Roost+Banter in Baileys Harbor
My friends, Lily and Brendan, happened to be in Door County the weekend of the Fall 50, so they came and supported Dom with me for most of the race. It was a ton of fun, and Dom always says seeing people along the route always gives him a boost. They brought me a vanilla latte from Roost+Banter in Baileys Harbor, where they were staying for the weekend. It was incredible – I think it was my favorite of the three lattes I had that weekend.
Skip Stone Coffee Roasters in Sister Bay
I stopped by Skip Stone while Dom was running his race – it was also right off the main road and I knew I had a little time before I saw Dom at the next crew stop, so I grabbed a latte. The latte was just okay, but the vibes of the coffee shop were incredible – they had great decor inside and it was in a really cute, yellow building.
Sister Bay Restaurants
We were able to try two different restaurants in Sister Bay, and I highly recommend both of them.
Thyme Restaurant
For a late dinner after Dom’s race, we went to Thyme Restaurant. All of the food that we ordered was incredible and the employees were all really nice. The vibes inside were also great – it’s mostly lit by Edison-style bulbs at night and felt incredibly cozy. I’m not a wine expert, but it seemed like they had a good selection.
The restaurant only has a handful of tables and is first come, first served – they don’t take reservations. They also have a couple large tables that they may seat multiple small parties at; this happened to us, and unfortunately one of the people next to us spoke really loudly and we still talk about how unbearable the guy was. (Obviously not holding that against the restaurant, though!)
Dom and I split a few items on the menu and like I mentioned earlier, everything was delicious. We had the Bread Basket, the Spicy Thai Chili Cauliflower Bites, and the Risotto; I would get all of it again, but I think they rotate their menu periodically, so I’m not sure how often most items stay on there. The dessert options sounded amazing, but since we were there for a late dinner, they were already out of the one that we were hoping for (I think a carrot cake).
Grasse’s Grill
Grasse’s Grill was within walking distance of our bed & breakfast and it had a Beyond Burger on the menu, so it was an obvious choice for dinner once we arrived in town. It had great reviews and it lived up to them – everything was delicious, our orders came out way faster than we expected since every table was taken, and it was really cozy inside. I started with their apple cider donut hard cider and an order of the cheese curds; Dom and I both ordered a Beyond burger and fries. There aren’t too many tables inside, so I imagine there might be a little bit of a wait during peak tourist seasons in the summer and early fall.
One thing to note is that they close for the off season, so when I was writing this post in December, their site says they’re closed for the season and they’ll be back in April.
Bed & Breakfast: Goose & Twigs in Sister Bay
We were a little last minute on booking our room for the weekend, and by the time we were looking, a lot of the available bed & breakfasts and local hotels had a three night minimum. Dom ended up finding Goose & Twigs, and we were relieved that they 1) didn’t have the minimum and 2) had great reviews online. They also have a coffee shop, but we weren’t around while it was open to try it out.
Our room was comfortable and seemed recently updated, it had a good amount of space, and parking was easy – they even had an Tesla charger in their parking lot. They use an easy to use mobile key system which was convenient. Our only complaints were that we could hear the TV in the neighboring room for a little while, and the mini-fridge was a little loud in the middle of the night, but both of those are obviously relatively common in any hotel.
Review of the Fall 50 Race
I’ve crewed for Dom in quite a few races now, and we both felt like the Fall 50 was incredibly well organized. They had an insanely high number of volunteers, the race route vs the driver / crew route was well-marked, there was plenty of parking for solo racer crews at least, and they seemed to have a great system for drop bags and nutrition options that anyone could have. They also had a special finisher tent for solo runners only, which was warm (the general finisher tent wasn’t), had extra food options like different types of soup, and had a PT helping to stretch people out.
Parts of the race weren’t as scenic – there was one long stretch of road that was over a mile long, which seemed a little boring from when I was driving on it. Other parts were especially pretty, though – especially through Peninsula State Park. When we go up on another trip, I want to spend more time there. I think they have a really nice golf course there, too.
One thing I didn’t realize until literally the day before the race was that if I met up to give Dom food or water outside of the designated relay exchange point stops, he would be disqualified. That wasn’t well noted on the site (I just happened to see it in the race guide PDF), so just something to be aware of.
