By the end of a conference call with Norma Bishop, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Maritime Museum, and Monica Baer of Baer-Carlson Communications, I knew I would be taking a trip along the Lake Michigan shoreline on Highway 42 from Manitowoc to Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin in order to create a new logo.
Norma’s enthusiasm for branding that drive and the five cities along it — Manitowoc, Two Rivers, Kewaunee, Algoma and Sturgeon Bay — as the “Schooner Coast,” was truly infectious and I was going to see it for myself. So on a cold, gray Saturday, I hit the road to experience the history and mystery of those Great Lake harbor towns.
My trip began at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum (www.wisconsinmaritime.org), an impressive building on the mouth of the Manitowoc River. Don’t miss the opportunity to tour the WWII submarine, the USS COBIA while you are there.
Heading north on Hwy. 42 from the museum, you’ll pass the Manitowoc lighthouse and enjoy an awesome view of Lake Michigan the six or so miles to Two Rivers (www.ci.two-rivers.wi.us/), proudly boasting it is “The REAL Home of the Ice Cream Sundae” in its pretty Central Park.
Next on the drive is Kewaunee (www.kewaunee.org/) which has a quaint downtown and what must be a beautiful and bustling harbor in the summer months. Passing through Wisconsin farmland from Kewaunee, you enter Algoma (www.algoma.org), home to a stunning and award-winning boardwalk overlooking its signature red lighthouse.
Highway 42 merges with State Highway 57 at Sturgeon Bay, taking you to the end destination of the 60-mile Schooner Coast tour — The Door County Maritime Museum (www.dcmm.org/museum.html) — which is located in the heart of Downtown Sturgeon Bay and the host to more intriguing Wisconsin maritime lore.
From this trip, Norma and Monica’s input and a little Internet research, I developed this logo for the Schooner Coast. If you are ever visiting Door County from Milwaukee, Chicago or points south, I would highly recommend detouring from I-43 and taking this route through these five historically rich and picturesque cities — whether on the way there or the way back — it will be worth it.
Tyra Baumler
Owner, Tessera Design
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