If your mind and feet are burned out during a week of EAA AirVenture, one idea is to take a day off in Green Bay, Wisconsin, which is 45 minutes northeast. The Green Bay Packers have an interesting museum and do tours of their stadium:
Right next door is Titletown, a paradise for kids with a steep hill covered in real grass, live music, epic playgrounds, etc. All free. There is a great 5th floor restaurant with an outdoor terrace overlooking the stadium. Taverne in the Sky, part of the LodgeKohler hotel.
The National Railroad Museum is a few minutes away by car and has roughly 80 locomotives and cars to look at, plus a diesel-powered train to ride.
Finally, there is Cabela’s on the way home:
The Cabelas in Fort Worth has a taxidermied elephant. This is shocking enough, even in Texas, that the store has put a plaque next to the elephant explaining that elephants are in fact culled due to overpopulation in parts of Africa due to a lack of natural predators, and this is one of those.
Rented a house a few weeks ago, on the bay, 20 min north of the city.
Had a lovely and relaxing vacation, love northern WI.
Too bad there were never any real wild lions in Wisconsin.
Surprise! Here are your long-lost Wisconsin cousins – mountain lions. https://www.liveoutdoors.com/hunting/221261-cougars-on-rise-in-wisconsin/
Cabela’s has always been a little “over the top” with their theme stores but look at it this way: they employ some taxidermists, model-makers, aquarium personnel (my local Cabela’s has an aquarium) and it’s kind of an in-store tourist attraction to get people’s imaginations going. I can’t imagine it adds anywhere near as much to the bottom line as some superfluous Disney exhibits do. In the Cabela’s nearest to me, I did notice that the people staffing the firearms department were quite knowledgeable and honest, so I can handle a little decorations.
We know Macy’s ain’t gonna do that! Lol.
Bass Pro Shops in Memphis, TN has a similar model that is “over the top” and is a definite tourist destination as well. The Bass Pro Shop in Memphis has taken over an old stadium and even added a hotel. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memphis_Pyramid
One wonders whether Titletown would even be possible near NYC and how much it would cost to take the family for a fun day out.
I can (almost) imagine Titletown in a place like NYC. On the 2nd Day: “More than 500 piles of human feces and 3,300 needles were discovered in the grass, four people were shot, and five security guards quit their jobs. The entrance price of the park has been raised to $64.95 per person, $32.95 for each child per half-day pass, and the security check at the entrance has now been augmented with the same scanners used by the DHS at Denver International Airport.”
Then we have bay shore and door county thats right down the road little further ..absolutely amazing summer or fall…there’s baybeach amusement park for the kids and adults with a Rollercoaster..wildlife sanctuary right across the street ..go cart racing at Kastle karts ..but I must admit there’s so much to list nothing beat going about half hour or so more north ..oconto co. Had the hugest black bear strolling down the ride of road ..a tree lined back road right behind County Y ..that bear was as big as the Saturn we were in!! but more so up about an hour same way but to the left of divide on 41 north ..toward iron mountain …there is the most beautiful 😍 sights I’ve seen in my life. I lived on the east cost and have moved as far as Fresno California..nothing i seen till this day compares..I recommend stopping at the12 foot falls . Even in a wheel chair you can Easily get to the first falls right off the parking lot …green bay, its a wonderful place to live and have a family with such resources and nature all around us..not to mention the hospitality of these small towns in between!!! But I do wish it was more like before ..now there are many drug problems..a small percent of homeless..some prostitution and in recent years .. gun violence .