There is no Motel 6 in little Bayfield
and certainly none on the forested
islands sprinkled on sparkling Lake
Superior like disconnected green beads. But the humorist and motel pitchman Tom Bodett might feel at home there.
In the Apostle Islands, they leave the lighthouse on all through fall.
Not to go off like the anti-child W.C.
Fields here — because Bayfield and the Apostles are as family-friendly as it gets in summer — but when autumn nights turn cool and kids return to school, this region on Wisconsin’s upper lip is at its soul-soothing best.
The hard work of making a living in a tooshort summer is in the past, winter is a worry for another day, and attention turns to enjoyment
of the fruits of that labor.
Yes, fruits — literally. At a baker’s dozen of hill-top berry farms, flower farms and orchards, buy-local foodies can choose from
pick-your-own or ready-picked raspberries, blueberries and blackberries (usually, through
August) and through September and October from apples, pears, grapes, plums, dried flowers and jams and jellies galore. The 49th annual
Bayfield Apple Festival, the one
weekend each year that Wisconsin’s smallest
official city turns into a teeming, hungry metropolis,
runs October 1-3, culminating with
the popular Apple Festival parade down Rittenhouse Avenue on Sunday afternoon.

The lighthouses built to ensure safe travel on this great lake were long ago automated, but the romance and history of keepers and their
rugged living conditions are eternal. Stories of keepers and their quarters are told during the 15th annual Apostle Islands Lighthouse Celebration August 25 to September 11, when Apostle Island Cruise Tours pay special attention to that era. Perhaps the best lighthouse experience is at Raspberry Island, where visitors can get off the tour boat, climb the steep stairway to the gloriously restored lighthouse and keeper’s quarters and, from the very top, get a keeper’s-eye view
of the lake and surrounding islands in the autumn garb.
For other ground-level island experiences, camping is allowed on 18 of the 21 islands that make up Apostle Islands National Lakeshore and hiking trails abound. One great mainland trail that takes hikers above the celebrated sea caves carved by Lake Superior wave action begins at
the Myers Beach boat landing about 18 miles west of Bayfield off Highway 13.

Superior golf
And where better than the edge of the greatest Great Lake for superior golf. At Apostle Highlands Golf Course, high above the city, players get views of Lake Superior and the Apostle Islands from 13 of the 18 holes. A fully
stocked clubhouse, bar and food service are available for post-round relaxing. Even nongolfers

enjoy the panoramic views of the Apostle Islands and Lake Superior from the clubhouse deck.
Autumn is a great time to experience the undeniable charms of Madeline Island, the only island with year-round residents. Ride the ferry from Bayfield for the two-mile, 20-minute ride
over Chequamegon Bay. Take a walking tour of historic La Pointe, where the Madeline Island
Museum will tell stories of the voyageurs and missionaries, Indians and fishermen who lived and labored on “the rock” long before the summer
pleasure crowd arrived. And take the time to peddle out to Big Bay State Park to walk its wild barrier beach. Madeline Island Golf Club
boasts water and marina views and a Robert Trent Jones Jr. design that features double tees and double greens to get 18 holes out of a ninehole layout. What other course in Wisconsin requires a ferry ride to reach the first tee?

Dennis McCann is a freelance writer and club champion at Apostle Highlands Golf Course who divides his time between Madison and Bayfield.