May 19, 2024 | Events
Hello! It’s been ages since we last posted. Spring is finally here and we are back in Gills Rock, Door County! So happy to be back. It’s absolutely beautiful up here. So quiet and peaceful watching the sunlight glint off the waves.
The boats are coming back, which is always a welcome sight. New this year, but one many of you will remember, is the Shoreline boat that Captain Jim Robinson ran so many lighthouse boat tours out of. The boat is now owned by FOPPI – Friends of Plum and Pilot Islands, which is a nonprofit group dedicated to maintain and improve the Plum and Pilot Island lighthouses and buildings. You’ll be able to charter a boat trip right from our Marina! Friends of Plum and Pilot Islands | Lighthouse Boat & History Tours, Washington Island
Evy’s Craft Shop is open again this year. She has a lot of new hand-crafted products, and also new vendors whose offerings include homemade jewelry, bath bombs, and lotions. Evy has also expanded her Diamond Dot assortment, which are very popular. Come check out the new offerings!
As for the Motel (our quaint Shoreline Resort), we have some updates to share. Due to popular demand, we have converted another room into a King Bed with Dual Reclining Sofa. We also finally have some new chairs out on the deck this year and are also planning on adding a propane-based fire pit soon!
Dog Friendly: We have a total of 3 rooms that are dog friendly. 1 King room and 2 Double Queen rooms on the ground floor. If you plan to bring your dog, give us a call or book online (just be sure to pick one of the dog friendly rooms and specify whether you have 1 or 2 dogs). Unfortunately, we cannot accommodate any other types of pets.
The Shoreline Restaurant is under new ownership this year and are currently open for dinner each week Tuesday through Saturday!
Have a larger group? There are condominiums in the Shoreline Village too. We aren’t involved in these but are happy to share contact information.
Lastly, we are partnering with the Harbor Inn Algoma (formerly Harbor Inn Motel) this year! If you plan a visit up and would like to take a break on the way up (or down), we can offer a package deal. Algoma is approximately 1hr 15min south of Gills Rock, on the Lake Michigan shoreline. If you are interested in finding out more, give us a call! 920-854-2900
As always, when you come visit, at least one of us is onsite the entire summer, and we do love to meet our guests, so if you don’t see us out and about before the end of your stay, be sure to knock on the door to say hello. Evy is often over at the craft shed, which is the building with the rounded roof just down from Charley’s Smokehouse!
Hope to see you soon!
Mark & Evy
Oct 20, 2023 | Events
Hello Everyone!
The Fall 50 Run kicks off tomorrow, 10/21/23. Our little Shoreline Village community will be hopping with pre-race festivities! We are excited to experience it again. We will take photos and update the website during our offseason, which is fast approaching!
For those of you who don’t know about the Fall 50, it’s a 50 mile run that starts in our little village in Gills Rock and ends in Sturgeon Bay. It can be run solo or as a relay team. The course goes along the shoreline and the runners get to experience the awesome fall colors along the way.
Fall 50 Course Details – Explore Each Leg of Your 50-Mile Journey
Aug 5, 2023 | Events
Hello friends!
First of all, a brief update. (Feel free to skip down to the section titled Things to do in the area)
Somehow we missed posting during all of July. Here’s how it happened. It was June and we were gearing up for a busy season. Then we blinked. Now July is over and it’s August already. What the heck! Anyway.. The July 4th fireworks in Hedgehog Harbor were spectacular. We had such a large crowd in our little village here. The live music was great and the food was too! You should have been here! Oh well, maybe next year..
In other news, Evy’s Craft Shed is now open. It is in the building with the rounded roof next to Charlie’s Smokehouse (Their smoked fish is what makes them famous, but they do have ice cream too! – And for boaters coming to the village just to make a quick trip to Charlie’s, you can dock right next to the cabin on the water behind their shop. They allow customers to make quick stops there.). Right now Evy’s Craft Shed doesn’t have any set hours as the Shoreline Resort demands a lot of Evy’s time. But just give us a call if she’s not open and if she can spare enough time, she will open up the shop for you. Evy has some of her own paintings and jewelry in the shed, and also carries beaded jewelry and lawn ornaments from other artists. She also carries craft kits that can be worked on in the store or taken with you. She has some food and beverage items as well.
When we purchased the Shoreline Resort & Marina last September, we didn’t really realize how much we would grow to love the place. We knew it was in a scenic spot and we were ready for a new challenge. But now it’s become home to us and we are starting to realize just how special of a place it is. We absolutely feel so blessed and we love to share the experience with our guests. It’s so neat to hear a new guest walk out on their balcony or porch and say “Wow!” Many of our first-time guests tell us “We will be back!” That’s always good to hear. We have gotten to know many of our guests – several of whom come back multiple times each year!
We plan to continually improve the Shoreline Resort to make it the sparkling gem it deserves to be!
THINGS TO DO IN THE AREA!
Shopping: Charlie’s Smokehouse, Top of the Thumb, Simply Scandinavian, Hedgehog Gifts, Hill House, and Evy’s Craft Shed. Bea’s Ho-Made (pickles, jams, pies) and Uncle Tom’s Candy (chocolate) are a mile or so away from the resort.
Dining: The Shoreline Restaurant is open for dinner on Tues/Wed/Thur. Other close restaurants are 5 minutes south in Ellison Bay.
Parks: Gills Rock Town Park is about a 2 minute walk. Mariner’s Park is also very close. Port Des Mortes Park is about 2 miles away (take the stairs down to the water for a spectacular view). Liberty Grove town park is 4 miles away (sandy beach!)
Museum: Death’s Door Maritime Museum is a 2 minute walk.
Boating: The Island Clipper goes out to Washington Island several times per day (you can bring a bike on the boat for no additional charge or purchase tickets to the Viking Train), and the Yankee Clipper goes to Plum and Pilot islands. HOME | Island Clipper
Other: The famous curvy road is about 1.5 miles East on 42. The Washington Island Car Ferry is 2 miles East.
We hope you enjoy your visit!
-Evy & Mark
Jun 27, 2023 | Events
Hello!
It’s been 20 days since the last update (where does the time go?). Summer has officially begun! Life is Good!
It’s crazy how beautiful the sunsets are here. Even when the weather doesn’t cooperate, that stubborn sun will sometimes poke some rays through for a spectacular view. Or later at night, it is the moonlight that steals the show. Sometimes the bay is peaceful. And sometimes the water comes to life and churns! The waves crash against the breakwater, sending up a huge spray of water. It’s quite amazing to watch no matter what the weather is.
We love to see how a newcomer’s face will light up as they stand out on their balcony and behold the view for the first time. As a recent guest once said, “I love it how we are right on the water!” We agree wholeheartedly. Both of us feel so blessed to be able to stay here onsite.
We have our two dogs here now. Sadie and Oscar. They’ve both gotten used to being “resort dogs”. When Oscar is off-leash, he will sometimes jump right up into your lap if you’re sitting outside. (He doesn’t shed, but please let us know if you don’t like dogs or are allergic.) When things calm down in the evening, Mark will bring the dogs around to meet the guests. One recent guest said that the nightly visits by the dogs were the highlight of her trip. Speaking of dogs, we have 3 rooms which are dog-friendly. If you’d like to bring your dog, give us a call or check the website to see if a dog-friendly room is available. At this time, we don’t allow other pets. (Sorry!!)
Our seasonal boaters have started to arrive. It’s nice to see the boats in the marina again. If you have a boat and would like to dock in the marina, give us a call! The costs to maintain the marina are quite high but we try to keep our fees low. If you’re looking to dock for dinner or shopping, we charge only $20 for 2 hours for most boats, pending availability. The same fee applies for pickups/drop-offs too. If you have a boating business and want to do business out of our marina, give us a call and we can discuss pricing.
In other news, we hired more housekeepers! Woo hoo! Mark is especially happy about this because he had to clean a room for the first time on his own and got to experience first-hand all of the work involved. It has given him an even greater appreciation for our housekeeping staff!
Lastly, we have decided to allow for 1 night stays, pending availability of housekeeping staff. We charge a bit more because of all the linen and cleaning costs involved, but we understand that sometimes people can only fit a 1 night stay into their busy schedule. This option is unavailable from the website, so give us a call if you are only looking for 1 night.
Hope to see you soon! July 4th is coming up quick! The fireworks are set off right on the bay. Those staying at the resort get a fantastic view!
Mark & Evy
Jun 7, 2023 | Events
Hello! Happy June!
For our loyal customers, we are very sorry that you didn’t get a postcard this year! We didn’t know about them (excuses, excuses), but we will be sure to get them sent out next year!
So far this year we have been learning (and doing) a lot! Half of the rooms have been updated/refreshed. The reviews so far have been positive, but we do get requests to leave some rooms with the “Classic” look. The 3 king rooms with reclining sofas have proven very popular, so we might have to convert more rooms in the offseason!
Evy has been painting the doors and adding flower pots to spruce up the appearance from the parking lot. We are slowly working on improving signage, so you may see signs of that when you visit (pun intended). In other news, Evy gave Mark a bunch of new photos to add to the website, so he’s got to figure out how to do that pretty soon!
The marina is looking a lot better after some recent repairs and is now ready for our seasonal renters. We will be adding signage for transitional renters as we’ve found out that people like to dock their boats and go to eat at the Shoreline Restaurant or to do some shopping.
Some recent challenges: (oh, the joys of owning a business)
- Our main phone stopped working recently due to a service outage! We have a cellphone that we use, so that number has been posted on the website as of today (June 7).
- We lost the majority of our housekeeping staff when their car broke down on a trip out of state and are unsure if they are coming back. So, we are looking for some additional part-time housekeepers! Spread the word!
Even though there have been some challenges (learning opportunities), we both LOVE being here at the Shoreline Resort and we LOVE meeting all of you!
-Mark & Evy (Home/Office: room 107)
Apr 24, 2023 | Events
Hello!
We have been busy getting rooms ready for the new season! About half of the rooms will be remodeled with new paint schemes. I know that some of you love the traditional sunny bright yellow accent walls and half of the rooms still have that color scheme this year. But prepare yourself for some new colors in the other rooms. Evy is very creative and likes to make each room unique!
We are moving our office / living space to room 107 this year. I apologize in advance for those of you who love this room and book it every year. I hope you try out a new room. Each room has its own unique view of the water and that gorgeous sunset.
Evy has unblocked rooms as we get them completed, but if you search online and don’t find availability, give us a call and we can figure out if we can accommodate you. If you are in the area and just want to stop by and say hi, please do so. Give us a call so we can come out and meet you. It’s a small motel – only 14 rooms, but we can’t find each other half the time when we are busy working. If you stop by, you may indeed hear Mark outside yelling “Hey Evy! Where are you?” 🙂
We will have 3 king size rooms with reclining sofas, a new dresser, and a big screen TV this year. 2 or 3 of the double queen rooms will also get new dressers and a big screen TV. We have a lot of plans in mind for ongoing and future renovations. Time and budget constraints will dictate how fast we can get them done though. Some of these are:
- New sliding glass doors to provide a clearer view of the water and sunset! (next year for sure but maybe some later this year)
- Expanded kitchenette areas for those that like to prepare their own meals! (next year for sure but maybe some later this year)
- Outside doors will receive a new fresh color (ongoing – will be done in the next month or so)
- White decks and trim will be repainted (ongoing – will be done in the next month or so)
- Bidets! (ongoing)
Marina update! The missing blocks have been dredged up and put back in place! The breakwater wall will be repaired soon. One of the finger piers was damaged by the ice chunks that flowed in and out of the marina and we are working on getting that repaired.
For those of you that love the restaurant, they will be open Tue/Wed/Thur this year.
If you will be staying with us for longer than 4 days, we can provide your room with a toaster oven / air fryer (available upon request).
We look forward to seeing you!
-Mark and Evy
