Added: 04/15/2006 |
Green Bay and Madison, Wisconsin -- Plenty to See and EnjoySince the time of the glaciers the Fox River and Green Bay region has supported several Native American cultures with its rich fisheries, waterfowl, wild rice, forests and water. Archeological evidence shows these early people inhabited the Red Banks area on Green Bay's east shore as far back a few thousand years BC. Green Bay is the county seat of Brown County. The city is located at the head of the Bay of Green Bay and the mouth of the Fox River.
The city of Green Bay is a port on the Bay of Green Bay, an arm of Lake Michigan. The Fox River divides the city into east and west sides which are connected by four bridges. Green Bay is home to the National Railroad Museum, the Neville Public Museum with exhibitions of art, history, and science, and to the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. Pride of place at the National Railroad Museum goes to the 1.1 million-ton 1941 Union Pacific Big Boy locomotive, one of many such trains that served Green Bay's still-enormous freight depot.
Opposite the airport, stands Wisconsin's biggest casino - Oneida Bingo and Casino. Tribal history, and the way in which profits from blackjack, video poker and bingo have improved education and social and health facilities, are examined at the Oneida Nation Museum. Few cities are as closely associated with a sports team as Green Bay is with the football Packers.
The Green Bay Packers professional football team has been based in the city since 1919. It's the smallest city in the US to have a major-league professional sports franchise and the only one to own a team. The Green Bay Packer Hall of Fame is stuffed with hands-on displays, movie theaters and memorabilia and offers more than enough to satisfy any football fan. Packer fans can also tour adjacent Lambeau Field.
Madison, Wisconsin, just over an hour west of Milwaukee is a stimulating, youthful metropolis. Downtown is neatly laid out on an isthmus between lakes Mendota and Monona, with the white granite State Capitol sitting on a hill at its center, surrounded by shady trees, lawns and park benches. Capitol Square is the site of a fun farmers' market. Madison Civic Center houses a professional repertory theater and art museum and also presents concerts and touring shows.
Frank Lloyd Wright designed the Unitarian Meeting House, in the late 1940s. It has sweeping, dramatically curved ceiling and triangle motif, and is a true work of art. The lakeside Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center is a more recently realized example of Wright's grand vision. The Center, with its curves, arches and domes is very intimate and full of architectural detail. It echoes the State Capitol building just a few blocks away.
The University of Wisconsin is the spirited, liberal-thinking center of the area. The Memorial Union holds a budget cafeteria and pub, the Rathskeller, with vaulted ceilings and live music most nights. The UW Terrace offers beautiful sunset views over Lake Mendota. Williamson Street, on the city's near-east side a few blocks from Monona Terrace evinces its countercultural community roots.
Just down a bit and enjoy what's around you in Wisconsin.
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