Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
They'vealsogotextraordinaryhandcraftedcheeses,andusethemtocreatesandwichesand
salads.
Information
Sister Bay has a quaint
tourist information center
(416 Gateway Dr., 920/854-2812,
www.cometosisterbay.com
)
in a refurbished log schoolhouse.
Plunked along the decline of a steep hill and hollow tunneling toward a yawning bay, El-
lison Bay's facade isn't initially as spectacular as Ephraim's, the architecture isn't as quaint
as Fish Creek's, and it's a fifth of the size of Sister Bay. Nonetheless, there is something
engagingabouttheplace.Itbeginswithwhatmaybethebestviewfromthehighwayinthe
whole county. Atop the 200-foot bluff on the south side of town, you can see clear to Gills
Rock, farther up the peninsula. Founded in the early 1860s, the village originally served as
a hub for lumber, courtesy of the operations in nearby Newport State Park. As recently as
the 1930s, the town's commercial fishery led Wisconsin in tonnage—perhaps the reason a
local restaurant is credited with the first fish boil.
Sights
The name is often misinterpreted as an approximation of the 130 lovely acres overlooking
the northern fringe of Ellison Bay (north on WIS 42, then left on Garrett Bay Rd.), but
in fact,
The Clearing
(12171 Garrett Bay Rd., 920/854-4088,
www.theclearing.org
) refers
to something a tad more metaphysical—closer to “clarity of thought.” A contemplative re-
treat for the study of art, natural science, and the humanities, the school was the result
of a lifetime's effort by famed landscape architect Jens Jensen. Much like contemporary
Frank Lloyd Wright, Jensen's maverick style and obdurate convictions grated against the
entrenched elitism of landscape architecture in the early 20th century. His belief in the in-
separabilityoflandandhumanitywasconsideredfoolish,ifnotoutrightheretical.ADanish
immigrant, Jensen arrived in the United States in 1884 and became more and more enam-
ored of the wild Midwestern landscape while simultaneously cultivating his radical notions
of debt to the earth and the need to connect with it despite living in a rat race. While in
Chicago creating the parks that made his name, he began buying land around Ellison Bay.
By the 1930s, everything had jelled into a cohesive plan, and he spent the next 15 years
establishing his retreat according to folk educational traditions in northern Europe.
The grounds contain a lodge, a library, a communal dining area, and cottages and dorm-
itoriesforattendees.SummerclassesareheldMay-Octoberandlastoneweek,thoughsome
