Understanding A Wisconsin Man…

Im a born and bread Minnesotan. Ive lived here most of my life. I am well travelled, having been to every state west and south of here as well as a great deal of the east and having lived in both Scotland and South Africa so i appreciate cultural differences, but, being a man of Minnesota as it were, its sometimes hard to shake off that cross border rivalry. I never take it seriously but i do like to poke fun of those from across the river from time to time in a light hearted manner. Anyway, in light of the recent tragedy that happened on the st. croix im wanting to look at things through a different lense, if only for the sake of ammusement. The question is, being someone that appreciates beautiful scenery and outdoor adventures, if a wisonsin man were to try to convince a minnesota man of the value of your great state where would you have me visit?

Visit the Turtle-Flambeau Flowage, Wisconsin’s Scenic Wilderness Waters Area. See http://www.turtleflambeauflowage.com for more info.

Too Easy….. Lambeau Field the Sunday after experiencing Game day at Camp Randall.

Golfer??? One of the best public golf courses in the country is located just outside of Green lake Wisconsin. Lawsonia has a woodlands course and a Links style course that are sooo beautiful…RR

To be perfectly honest, I don’t see a huge difference scenery wise. The west side of the state is almost a mirror image of the east side of MN. Northern WI, is a lot like northern MN. One of the big differences is the lack of really big water. We have a ton of lakes, but lack the monsters. Winnebago is the biggest at 143K acres, then Petenwell at 26K.

I think that some of the cooler places in the western half of the state are the Lake Arbutus area on the black river, and in the Wisconsin Dells area, where you have all of the stone cliffs around you.

Whitewater rafting on the Peshtigo river is a hoot. When you get into central Wisconsin, you’re in sandy, scrub oak and pine country. It almost has an Eastern South Dakota kind of feel to it, especially when you couple it with the fact that most of the bigger water in that part of the state are Wisconsin River Reservoirs.

An awful lot of people drive to LaCrosse to look out from Grandads Bluff year round, especially in the fall. I grew up with it, so I don’t get as excited about it as others.

This may be a hard pill for a MN fan to swallow, but I strongly suggest hiding the maroon for a day and hitting up a big Badgers football game. It’s consistently rated as one of the best atmospheres in college football, I’ve taken fans of other schools, and they’ve all enjoyed it.

Long story short, you may not see a ton of crazy things in WI that you don’t in MN, but there are plenty of things to do and see. And I’ll admit, I’m not the most traveled person. If I’m not heading somewhere to fish, or to take the kids somewhere, chances are I’m not going there.

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crappie55369 wrote:

if a wisonsin man were to try to convince a minnesota man of the value of your great state where would you have me visit?

Most outdoors-people I know aren’t much into convincing.

On a serious note. A trip to Door County is always worth any Minnesotans’ time.

Apostle Islands

Any one of the small cheese factories all over the state on the day they make cheese curds. Nothing says Wisconsin like that squeak between your teeth

Wisconsin is already over populated, no deer left on the landscape, all our fish are gone, ducks and geese are educated enough to skip us and go to Illinios, turkeys are a myth, and we got stuck with Milwaukee’S Best and pabst blue ribbon beer. Are sure you want to be converted?

Holy Crap Randy, don’t sugar coat it.

I’m a transplant from Iowa, but one of the coolest things I have done since moving to Wisconsin is take a kayak through the sea caves on Lake Superior.

There’s a place just across the Stillwater bridge called the Loch Ness, where …

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Just cross the border far enough to enjoy some New Glarus beer. Understand the police will hunt ya down if caught buying it bootlegged into MN.

Chuck Melcher wrote:

Understand the police will hunt ya down if caught buying it bootlegged into MN.

As recently reported in the news.

Loch Ness… the Apple River…. ah the 80’s…..

Brian Klawitter wrote:

Holy Crap Randy, don’t sugar coat it.

Forgot to mention, we also have an over abundance of slimy catfish that eat walleye jigs

On a very serious side, we have just about everything within a few hours from anywhere. That may sound a bit illogical, but I think WI has most things a sportsmen would like within a few hours’ drive. I live south-central WI and I can be almost anywhere in the state in 3 or so hours. That opens such a vast variety of things to do. Most of us have out pet things we like. Sometimes its activity based on convenience. But for those that don’t mind a reasonable amount of driving or are able to get a motel room, the sky is the limit.
We have 9 or 10 pools of the Mississippi, Lake Superior, Lake MI, tons of tributaries, Bay of green Bay (Door County), countless rivers and lakes, marshes, trout streams, water fowl, whitetail,black bear, turkey, various small game, trapping opportunities, kayaking, canoing, rafting, boating, hundreds of micro breweries, orchards, dense woods, rolling hills, flat land, ATV trails, bicycle trails…and our State Parks are incredible gems to this state. Our larger cities draw fantastic displays for our museums and other “cultural” activities.
For anyone that comes to WI and complains they are bored, you have to truly have a desire to do nothing because if you look in any direction there is a lifetime of things to do….

How about a sun up to sun down day on the water in August in Door County. King salmon in the morning on the big pond then big eyes during the day then back to the kings right at dusk. Thats a day!!

big_g wrote:

Loch Ness… the Apple River…. ah the 80’s…..

…and the cool cat fishing head lamps they sold!

big_g wrote:

Loch Ness… the Apple River…. ah the 80’s…..

Apple River Fest weekends at Float Rite park … yup it was the 80’s
Whatta ya s’pose the odds are we crossed paths a time er two G ?

I think the first response you got really touches on the differences to me. Flowages here in WI vs. big lakes in MN. WI doesn’t have a Red, Rainy, Vermillion, Winnibigosh, Mille Lacs type water for the most part.

One of my favorite spots not terribly far from Twin Cities is the Chetek chain. 5 lakes all navigable from one to the other, plenty of places to get a beer and a burger or better from the boat, ski show on the weekends, and some decent fishing to boot. It’s one of our family’s favorite on a warm summer weekend.

ET

Well I have drove all over our country and Canada, every state and providence I could find a piece of Wisconsin in them. Minnesota I would say is the same. And as far as a rivalry that’s just good fun.

I urge all Minnesotans to head over, spend the season fishing Wisconsin and let us all know what you think.

Randy Wieland wrote:

Wisconsin is already over populated, no deer left on the landscape, all our fish are gone, ducks and geese are educated enough to skip us and go to Illinios, turkeys are a myth, and we got stuck with Milwaukee’S Best and pabst blue ribbon beer. Are sure you want to be converted?

I know you aint speaking ill of PBR.

cougareye wrote:

I think the first response you got really touches on the differences to me. Flowages here in WI vs. big lakes in MN. WI doesn’t have a Red, Rainy, Vermillion, Winnibigosh, Mille Lacs type water for the most part.

One of my favorite spots not terribly far from Twin Cities is the Chetek chain. 5 lakes all navigable from one to the other, plenty of places to get a beer and a burger or better from the boat, ski show on the weekends, and some decent fishing to boot. It’s one of our family’s favorite on a warm summer weekend.

ET

Chetek chain is definitely worth the time. Fishing isn’t a world beater but you can usually stumble into a decent day.