Want to be ON the water? Then this is the place. Located about 7 miles north of Manitowoc on Memorial Drive (which goes right along the Lake Michigan shoreline), the Lighthouse is a 67-room hotel with a decent restaurant and lounge; both affording a view of the Lake from over the rip-rap that prevents the place from being washed out to sea. Pay a little extra for a lakeside room and listen to the waves all night long -- it's heavenly. Website: www.lhinn.com
From journal Manitowoc: A Wisconsin Maritime City