A Visit to Cana Island

The author’s daughter, Greta, dancing in the shadow of a lighthouse. Submitted.

No Door County bucket list is complete without a visit to Cana Island in Baileys Harbor. The picturesque lighthouse towering over the treetops, looking out into Lake Michigan’s vastness, draws a person in. You want to know more, explore, and learn about what life was like on this dot of land in the early 20th century, what shipwrecks remain beneath the surface. 

Unless you’re a three-year-old. In which case, you’ll just want to ride the tractor-pulled hay wagon over and over.

As we bounced and jostled over the rocky causeway on said hay wagon, my three-year-old, Greta, whooped and giggled like it was a carnival ride. “Again! Again!” she said when we reached our destination. Thankfully, the promise of a return hay wagon ride was enough to keep her little legs moving toward the lighthouse.

She had a lot of questions as we meandered through the tight living quarters, walking on creaky floors and peering into empty wall-papered rooms. She wondered if Anna and Elsa from Frozen live there, if bats visit at night, and where they keep the toys. As we walked the perimeter of the lighthouse, she decided the shadow stretching across the lawn made a perfect dance floor. And as I learned more about the shipwrecked Frank O’Connor on a trail marker, my daughter asked if there were mermaids swimming among the ruined steamer.

It was a morning of unexpected delights and conversations, topped off by hopping from one large rock to the next on the shore, finding seagull feathers and tiny mussel shells. I inhaled the freshwater breeze and took in the epic beauty until my windswept toddler asked if we could ride the wagon for the umpteenth time. 

“Yes,” I relented. “We can go back and ride the wagon.”