Know&Go Guide: Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA
Located halfway up Wisconsin’s east coast, which is also the western shore of Lake Michigan, Sheboygan* has many epithets: ‘Malibu of the Midwest,’ ‘Bratwurst Capital of the “World”’ and ‘The Best Place to Raise a Family.’
The latter was conferred by Reader’s Digest in 1997 and it seems to holds true today, if all the happy families I saw enjoying the end of summer are anything to go by. I took a late afternoon, sunlit slow drive through the charming neighbourhood near my hotel to check out the architecture, which was eclectic to say the least – everything from two story dream homes to one which rivalled The Brady Bunch home in its mid-century design.
Downtown Sheboygan has that small town USA feel and I highly recommend strolling the streets, popping into the shops and chatting with the locals.
My first/last visit here, ten years ago during The USA 50/50 Challenge, was also coincidentally in September. This time, however, I was to experience the Labor Day weekend and to see how seriously Americans take the ending of summer is a thing to behold.
“Joining the epic line of locals queuing to get a late afternoon ice cream treat was a quintessential American summer moment.”
The Malibu of the Midwest and ‘Freshwater Surfing Capital of the World’ epithets arise from its pivotal location and shoreline that juts out into Lake Michigan, creating breaks that surfers love, particularly in winter. You can read more in the section below or click this link.
One reason for Sheboygan’s prominence is the arrival of John Michael Kohler in 1873, a first generation German immigrant who started a foundry to make farm implements. When he created a claw footed bathtub by enamelling a cast-iron feed trough, all bets were off and a titan of industry was born. You can read more about his achievements in ‘The history of Kohler’ section below.
*The town’s name most likely comes from the Chippewa for ‘passage or waterway between the lakes.’
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Excerpt from Sheboygan Press article by Maya Hilty:
People surf all along Wisconsin’s shoreline. Because Lake Michigan is long and narrow, a big north wind will build waves along southern areas of the coast, while a big south wind will build waves in northern areas, said Jacob Bresette, a surfer and owner of Lake Effect Surf Shop just north of Milwaukee.
Sheboygan is one of the most popular surfing locations in Wisconsin for a variety of reasons.
Thanks to the city’s central location along the coast, winds from many different directions — from the north or northeast and south or southeast — will create waves on its shoreline.
In addition, the city and harbor jut out into the lake, creating sheltered areas on both sides of the harbor that help create clean, ocean-like waves, Bresette said.
While surfing in Sheboygan is a year-round sport, the best months for waves are around September through March, when cooler, denser air pushes water into bigger and more powerful waves.
In the summer, there may only be two or three days a month of good surf, but moving into winter, there may be two or more good days a week, Bresette said. One of his most avid surfing friends logged every day he surfed for one year in Wisconsin and, impressively, had more than 100 days of surfing, Bresette added. -
What followed was everything from bathroom fittings to electric generators – one of which went to Antarctica with Admiral Bird.
He then founded a company town – in the manner of Titus Salt and his Saltaire – called Kohler (natch) on twenty-one acres of farmland west of Sheboygan proper. Here his workers had Bavarian style cottages in which to live and social clubs in which to play. The most notable of these started in 1918 “as a dormitory for single, male immigrant employees of Kohler,” but became so much more with English lessons and citizenship classes, earning the nickname ‘The American Club.’
It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and was reworked into a resort hotel in 1981 and has now morphed into the The American Club Resort Hotel, a five-diamond hotel, with a championship golf course – home to six golf majors, including the Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits – nine restaurants and a ‘Forbes Five Star’ spa.
After 150 years in business, Kohler is one of the major players in premium bathroom and kitchen fittings, along with power generators used worldwide in multiple industries.This entrepreneurial spirit lead to bigger and bolder things, starting with the Arts Industry Program and the building of museums & preserves to keep art at the forefront. They also take preserving the environment seriously, planting tens of thousands of trees in China, investing in water conservation systems in developing countries, while tackling waste and renewable energy.
Experience
Palatial resort on Lake Michigan
While I highly recommend you stay here, you can still enjoy this resort as a day tripper.
Bringing to mind that other epic wooden edifice, the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, the sheer scale of this place is amazing. With a spa, restaurants, boutiques, its own water park, fun zone and mini golf you’ll be spoilt for choice.
The resort is bound by water: Lake Michigan at the back, with a beach for swimming and surfing; and the Sheboygan River in front, perfect for walks along the waterway and dining in the marina’s restaurants.
This striking museum contains something quite unique: artist-built environments saved by a very dedicated patron of the arts, Ruth DeYoung Kohler II.
Essentially, if an artist turned their house into an artwork over many years, this is the place where they have been transported to and preserved as they were. This makes walking through this architecturally striking building a strange and confronting experience as the inner workings of these artists’ minds are alternately scary, beautiful and downright strange. a strange and confronting experience as the inner workings of these artists’ minds are alternately scary, beautiful and downright strange.
DeYoung Kohler spent considerable time and money finding all of these endangered legacies and bringing them here to this purpose built museum.
Open Tue, Wed, Fri: 10am-5pm, Thu: 10am-8pm, Sat and Sun: 10am-4pm.
Whether you want to surf in summer or deep winter (yes, that’s a thing here 🥶), skateboard or snowboard, this is the place to come for your all you equipment needs.
Run by the charming Andrew Jakus (above), this shop is stocked with all the goodies plus you can book lessons in all the disciplines: I was taken for a surfing lesson on Lake Michigan with the super fit and gentle, Mary Addy and I had a great time.
Open Winter hours: Tue-Fri 11am-6pm, Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 10am-4pm.
Tour the toilets they said…
When I first visited Sheboygan, this was the first stop of my town tour… to see the public restrooms... I’m serious. The restrooms are extreme examples of the tile makers art. We had a guided tour of both: the men’s has empowering and inspiring phrases around the mirrors and above the urinals; whereas the women’s was strewn with dresses and lingerie, but I think a few empowering phrases would have gone a long way there, too.
It’s such a fun idea that they are an attraction within an attraction. Rest assured there is ‘regular’ art here as well, inside and out.
Open Tue, Wed, Fri: 10am-5pm, Thu: 10am-8pm, Sat and Sun: 10am-4pm.
I don’t normally recommend a bathroom display center as an attraction, but this one has to be seen.
This building started life as a community centre for the town of Kohler, but was turned into a three level display complex with something to suit everyone from Marie Antoinette (or Elton John) to a Zen Monk. When you enter you are greeted by an impressive art installation of toilets and tubs stacked high against the wall.
While Kohler is now known for stylish bathrooms suites, the company was founded in 1873 by Austrian immigrant, John Michael Kohler, who made cast iron and steel farm implements. In 1883, he applied enamel to a cast iron horse trough, thereby creating the company’s first bathtub and the rest is history.
Open Monday-Friday: 9am–5pm, Saturday & Sunday: 10am–4pm.
Unleash your inner five-year-old!
I must admit that I was taken by surprise to discover that one end of the elegant Blue Harbor Resort was given over to this incongruous party palace.
Along with the Fun Zone and Mini Golf, you can send your children here for the whole day and get on with the serious work of enjoying everything else this resort has to offer… or spend every day here yourself!
Open daily during Spring Break and Summer, with weekends only all other times.
Further afield
Big things happening down on the farm!
If you want to learn about farming, food cultivation, animal husbandry and everything in between, then this is the place to come. If you’re lucky, you could even watch a calf being born in the birthing barn. It’s definitely worth the price of admission.
From ‘Field to Fork’ to ‘Common Ground’ and ‘The Cutting Edge,’ there’s so much to see and do here, come prepared to spend several hours expanding your knowledge of this most import industry, without which we would starve!
I’m so grateful to all the farmers who work 24/7 in all weathers to provide our staples. If it was left to me, we’d be in trouble!
Located in Manitowoc – a 30 minute drive north of Sheboygan – it’s open Thursday-Saturday 9am-4pm.
Consume
A lazy Sunday brunch over the water? Count me in!
After taking a red-eye flight from Seattle to Chicago, waiting in line for an hour to get a rental car, then driving two hours north to Sheboygan, I was more than ready to sit down and eat!
Located on the Sheboygan river, across the road from the Blue Harbor Resort, Driftwood was a welcome sight and Jackie, the lovely owner, had me seated and fed with efficiency. I managed to stay awake long enough to enjoy my unusual yet fabulous Scallop Eggs Benedict. Not a combination I had ever considered, but it worked a treat and I'll be on the lookout for said combination again on my travels.
The service was friendly and quick with every table filled with happy brunchers and lunchers.
Open Wed-Thurs 11am-8pm, Fri-Sat 11am-9pm, Sun 10am-3pm.
The taste of the Amalfi Coast in Wisconsin
Legendary restaurateur, Lino Autiero, hails from Positano, Italy – one of my favourite places – and his food is so authentic that I could have been in Positano.
Okay, you think, it’s Italian food, it’s the same everywhere. I say, no, absolutely not, as the further away from the home country it gets, the more diluted it becomes. The great food and relaxing ambiance was so convivial that my hosts and I ate and talked, with Lino joining in, for three hours.
Open Tue-Sat 5-9pm.
The roadside diner is a purely American creation and this one captures the zeitgeist.
With curated kitsch decorations and poodle-skirted waitresses, this diner, while not an original 1950s edifice, has all the swagger of one and a sense of humour to boot. The food is an elevated diner offering, with a full bar serving those lo-cal mimosa’s (see above).
One of two diners – the other being the original Harry’s Diner, closer to town – and Harry's Prohibition Bistro near the Blue Harbor Resort (below), owned and run by a local restaurant dynasty, it’s a fun place to eat all day long.
Open Tue-Sun 7am-2pm.
Verified Italian pizza on main street
This restaurant, Trattoria Stefano, Field to Fork and the Slo Food Market (below) are all run by local entrepreneur, chef and James Beard Award winner, Stefano Vigliette and his wife Whitney.
Only the 5th American pizzeria to receive the “Vera Pizza Napolentana” certification. For me, the Fonduta al Forno was the star of the show.
Coffee & Wine Bar Mon-Sat 8am-Close; Kitchen Mon-Fri 11am-2pm & 5pm-9pm, Sat 11am-9pm.
Speakeasy vibes on the Sheboygan River
This relatively new restaurant, from the family behind Harry’s Diner, is on the river behind Blue Harbor Resort. The vibe is old school with pressed tin ceilings and a Capone vibe.
There were queues for takeaway pizza when I arrived, relatively early in the evening. Always a good sign, and while the pizza was good, the pasta was amazing: Balsamic with shrimp.
Open Tue-Sat 5-9pm.
Feel like a local and line up for a cold treat in summer.
Summer only businesses have just three months to make their income for the whole year. Going by the queues, this one is bound to have met its quota and then some. They have two important things going for them: the product is delicious and they keep the prices reasonable, resulting in their customers making multiple purchases.
I had to have a banana split with dole whip and, rather than eat it on the lawn, I drove it very carefully back to my room at the Blue Harbor!
Open Summer only: Sunday-Thursday 11am-8pm, Friday-Saturday 11am-9pm
Purchase
Born from a personal tragedy, these products are now making everyone’s skin sing from happiness.
These all natural beauty products are so good they featured in the Golden Globe Awards goodie bags. The name is a play on olive oil – their super hero ingredient – and it sounds like ‘I love you.’
The young founder and creator of these products, Caitlin Brotz, is a passionate advocate of all things natural and “each item in the store is hand-poured daily or weekly by our staff to assure a fresh, high quality product.”
Open Monday-Friday 10:30am-5pm and Saturday 10am-3pm with everything available on their website at all times.
Nostalgic chocolates in an historic building
Housed inside the Old Interurban Station – which was built in 1925 and was one of the busiest the streetcar terminals in the city – this shop has been making the locals candy coated dreams come true since 1996.
Open 7 days, 10am-4pm.
A one-stop-shop of quality produce and products
This fabulous market, supporting local producers and sustainable agriculture, is the kind of place you wish was in your neighbourhood. They’ve got amazing, locally made products for home & kitchen and everything you could possibly want in fresh and local food.
Open Mon-Sat 8am-6pm, Sun 9am-3pm.
Rest
I was lucky to stay here during The USA 50/50 Challenge and was chuffed to revisit this palatial lakeside resort.
I arrived on Sunday of the Labor Day Weekend, the last official days of the American summer season, when the temperatures were over 90F and one thousand people were in house. I checked in for my three night stay and joined in the holiday fun, with a swim in the pool and a visit to the in-house water park, which was heaving with young and old alike on that day and the next.
My massive king suite was lake facing and had a balcony on which to enjoy the view and overlook the s’mores being made on the fire pit on the lawn each night. It was a very jolly and happy long weekend, with kids running everywhere and the restaurants and bars full the bursting with everyone having a great time.
However, by Tuesday morning all had changed. I was awoken by the cleaners vacuuming the balcony next door, discovered that breakfast was not available, as The Beacon Restaurant was closed, and that there were now only thirty-seven people left in house. It was also cold and raining. As I left to start my last day in Sheboygan, I walked out to discover my rental car marooned on an island of asphalt, with the parking lot in the process of being ripped up to be resurfaced, and the workers waiting for me to get the heck out of Dodge.
Word of warning: the USA takes the end of the summer season very seriously. It brought to mind the post credits scene from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, “You’re still here. It’s over. Go home. Go!”
This guide details all of the things The Packed Bag experienced. Please see Visit Sheboygan for more.