BAILEY'S HARBOR, Wis. (NBC 26) — AJ Dillon's ideal Victory Monday ends with an order of garlic parmesan wings and wimpy cheeseburgers at AC Tap, a local dive on highway 57 between Sister Bay and Bailey's Harbor. Dillon loves the bar's food so much they will be catering late-night bites at his upcoming Door County nuptials with fiancée Gabrielle Toonen.
AC Tap owner Steve Mueller says he hasn't seen anyone on the Packers embrace Door County like Dillon has since the 1980s.
"We'll embrace him all too because he appreciates family," Mueller said of Dillon. "He appreciates community, more or less. because it isn't just all one community up here. You talk about all the little small towns, but Door County is basically like one big community of small towns."
Dillon's love for the Northeast Wisconsin peninsula began when Toonen brought him to Egg Harbor. He quickly fell in love with the area.
"Then I found I was dragging her up. She's like 'eh, I always go up there,' – like, 'we gotta go back up," Dillon said. He likes to follow Victory Monday with breakfast at Al Johnson's and the goats on Tuesday morning before returning to the Green Bay area.
After propelling the Packers to victory over the Seahawks, Dillon was honored with the first and only key to Door County on behalf of Destination Door County.
I got the key! 😁😁😁 I love Door County @mydoorcounty pic.twitter.com/YCm5FRNq4k
— AJ “The Sauce” Dillon (@ajdillon7) November 17, 2021
"It felt like the chamber of commerce," Dillon said of being presented with the honor. "I got some business cards, and I got some more places I got to go to explore now. You know, couple more places on my radar."
Dillon says he spends almost every day off in Door County along with summers and free time when he's not training elsewhere. To Mueller, seeing Dillon go out of his way physically to embrace his and other businesses in the area is a mark of his character.
It’s a great day #bestwingsinwisconsin pic.twitter.com/7CaVxtdCQz
— AJ “The Sauce” Dillon (@ajdillon7) November 15, 2021
"It's awesome. It's like he's one of us," Mueller said. "He wants to be part of the community, and we'll open our arms up to him any time. He's such a great guy and down-to-earth. For being a kid, I mean all the sports guys – they're just kids out of college, so to have the level head that he has, it's awesome."
Mueller says while an official collaboration is not in the works at the moment, AC Tap staff knows what to prepare when customers ask for "what AJ Dillon orders."
