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Our Meal At The Shipwrecked Inn In Door County Wi
By Dorrie Ruplinger, Mon Dec 26th
During our latest camping trip to Door County, Wisconsin, westopped at the Shipwrecked Inn in Egg Harbor for dinner. Theybrew and serve their own beers and have a large menu. Eatingthere is an enjoyable experience, but learning about thefolklore and history of the building was a lot of fun too. Andlike the name suggests, there are overnight accommodationsavailable starting around $50 for a double. A sign near theentrance to the restaurant tells interested people to inquire atthe bar about available rooms. Shipwrecked first opened for business in the late 1800's. Thelumber industry in the area was booming. Shipwrecked ended upbecoming a popular place with both lumberjacks and sailors. In the 1920's Shipwrecked became one of Al Capone's favoredplaces. Door County in general was a favorite area for Al Caponeto hang out in because the "nooks and crannies" all over thecounty made it difficult for officials to track him down there.But Egg Harbor and Shipwrecked in particular were favored placesof Al Capone's. There are still tunnels under the building thatlead to various places around Egg Harbor that were said to havebeen used by Al Capone when he needed to make a quick "getaway."Folklore states the tunnels were originally created for ChiefTecumseh of the Ottawa Indian tribe for his use in quickgetaways from other tribes.
There are other stories about the tunnels under the Shipwreckedbuilding. If you ask one of the local people in the area, he orshe will likely be happy to tell you a few of them. One of thosestories says that in the early 1930's a couple of IRS"revenuers" came looking for Al Capone at Shipwrecked but werenever seen again because they somehow got "lost" in the tunnels. We ate at Shipwrecked in late Fall on a weekday evening. Therewere three adults in our party. Because Shipwrecked has theirown beers we decided to try their "Plank 'O Brews Sampler" whichincluded their Bayside Blonde Ale, Door County Cherry Wheat,Captain's Copper Ale, Peninsula Porter, Lighthouse Light, andthe current seasonal brew which was Pumpkin Patch. The Door County Cherry Wheat was everyone's favorite beer. Thebeer is made with Door County Cherries and a hint of cherryflavor could be tasted in the beer. Some of the comments aboutthe by our dining party were: "Very good;" "Nice hint ofcherry with no citrus taste like many other wheat beers;" "Nicelight flavor;" "No bitter aftertaste." "The has a nicefinish." The Captains' Copper Ale was the clear second place finisher inour tasting. It's a stronger with a rather bitter finish toit, but it has good flavor. Comments about the from ourgroup ranged from: "Lots of flavor; to "Tastes good;" to"Full-bodied but a little too bitter of an aftertaste." The Peninsula Porter is a dark heavy beer. Nobody in ourparty is a big fan of dark beer, but we thought the wasokay. Comments were: "Tasted of chocolate and coffee, but not myfavorite of the beers here;" "Not too bad;" "Has a coffee flavorwith no bitter aftertaste. A coffee lover would probably reallyenjoy this beer." The Lighthouse Light is Shipwrecked's light offering. I wasthe only one in the group who liked it. It had a lighter tasteto it, but was a little too bland for the other two members ofour dining party. The Pumpkin Patch is one of Shipwrecked's seasonal beers.It had spicy flavors in it. Some people in our party
tastedcinnamon in it; others tasted cloves and nutmeg. Only one memberof our party thought it had any pumpkin flavor in it and nobodyin our party cared much for it. We just didn't like the spiceflavors with the flavors. It wasn't a flavor combinationthat worked for us. The Bayside Blonde Ale was thought to be "okay" by everyone inour group. It was a creamy and didn't have any bitteraftertaste. After sampling the beers at Shipwrecked we decided to skipappetizers and salads, although the restaurant's signature saladcontaining leaf lettuce, field greens, pulled smoked chicken,cherry tomatoes, shredded carrots, shredded cheddar cheese, andseasoned croutons sounded delicious. The waitress recommended the restaurant's ribs; smoked chicken;and fried perch entrees. We decided to go with herrecommendations, order one of each of those items, and thenshare among us at the table. The fried perch was the clear winner of the three entrees. Theperch was lightly breaded and cooked to perfection. The side ofHawaiian coleslaw that came with the fish was also delicious.The Hawaiian flavor in the coleslaw came from pineapple andcoconut milk. The ribs were very tasty, but our rack had some sections thatwere overcooked and stringy - kind of like beef jerky. Overallthough, the ribs were good. There were several choices of sideswith the ribs. We chose the garlic mashed potatoes and Jasper'sbeans. The garlic mashed potatoes were rather disappointing.There were dry and didn't have much garlic flavor in them. Jasper's beans however were very good. There were a combinationof baked beans, kidney beans, black beans, bacon, onions, andthe house seasoning. "Very tasty," was how one of our diningparty described the beans. The smoked and barbecued chicken entrée was the least favoriteof the three we ordered. Although the portion was very generousand the chicken had a good smoky flavor to it; the barbecuesauce had been ladled on top of the chicken and was just sittingon the skin. The barbecue flavor didn't get in to the chicken.It just sat on top of it. The chicken came with the same blahgarlic roasted mashed potatoes as the ribs and the vegetable ofthe day which consisted of herbed carrots, green beans, andyellow beans. The beans were good. The carrots were rubbery. Because all the entrée portions were generous, none of us werestill hungry when our waitress offered us dessert but the cherryberry crisp a la mode she suggested sounded too good to pass upso the three of us shared it. We were very glad we did. It wasdelicious! It was served warm with whipped cream and a scoop ofice cream. It was so good two of the diners in our party nearlyfought over the last spoonful and said they would pick up thebowl and lick it clean if they had been at home. There were a few misses in our meal at Shipwrecked, but overallit was a pleasant dining experience with great service. I wouldgo back again. My recommendations if you eat there are to havethe Door County Cherry Wheat beer; the fried perch entrée; andcherry berry crisp a la mode (http://www.doorcountycountry.com/food/shipwreckedbreweryandrestauranteggharbor). About the author:Dorrie Ruplinger is a featured writer for http://www.doorcountycountry.com. Visit the site for info on Door County WI includingDoor Countyrestaurants & Door County shopping.
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