Before you come barreling into town, know that the sights around here are mostly south of town coming from Cave Point County Park. South of town along WI 57 at the southern end of Kangaroo Lake are my absolute undiscovered gems—Lyle-Harter-Matter Sanctuary and Meridian County Parks, which sandwich the highway and feature rough undeveloped trails past Niagara Escarpment rocks and one of the largest dunes in the county. (And remember as you sit and munch your granola bar, you’re halfway to the North Pole!)

A bit south of town and along a splendid stretch of beach is a decidedly different kind of vacation, an educational seminar (from $1,000 with superb food, far less if living off-site) at Bjorklunden (7590 Boynton Ln., 920/839-2216), more a relaxed, soul-searching means of personal growth than a for-credit school experience (though it is the northern campus of Lawrence University in Appleton). Participants can live in a recently reconstructed Norwegian-style lodge built of local fieldstone and undertake courses in humanities and natural sciences. Some midweek seminars are also cheaper. Just to stay at the lodge, which looks like a Viking ship, is around $400 a week, meals included. Visitors can tour from 1–4 p.m. Monday and Wednesday ($4) and check out the Norwegian stavkirke (church).

During the summer, the gardens of the estate host Door Shakespeare (920/839-1500, www.doorshakespeare.com), with evening performances daily except Wednesday.

The Town Hall (can’t miss it) has the local visitors information center (corner of WI 57 and CR F, 920/839-2366, www.baileysharbor.com), open daily in summer and fall.