BTLA: When in the Cheese State... (Wisconsin, Part 1)

Monday, October 16, 2023

When in the Cheese State... (Wisconsin, Part 1)

Kelvin and I traveled to the Midwest again (his first time in Wisconsin!) to attend my cousin Ryan's wedding. Since the kids were in school, we let them stay at home with super babysitter, Gloria, and spent the 1.5 days prior to the wedding exploring Eastern Wisconsin adult-style.

Appleton has Vietnamese food!

We checked out the nearby (larger) town of Appleton via Segway, which was neat! The last time we were on Segways was in 2011 (Costa Rica) and the company owner/ guide gave us a brief refresher.

The tour took us along the Fox River, which was an important North-flowing river which helped the area's paper mills thrive, and through which barges could get to Lake Michigan.

The fall colors were lovely!

We learned that Appleton is claimed as the hometown of Harry Houdini (although he only lived here for a year).

This house was majorly decked out for Halloween!

My parents (who drove from Virginia) joined us on Thursday and, on Friday, we drove about 45 minutes from New London to Green Bay, home to the Packers football team! Kelvin booked a tour at Lambeau Field, which, although we are (now) Niners fans, and my Minnesota-native Dad continues to (I think) root for the Vikings, was really interesting.

Cheese head!

We learned about the early history of the team, founded by Curly Lambeau, as well as the amazing coach Vince Lombardi (for whom the Superbowl trophy is now named), who turned a losing team into multiple-year Superbowl Champions in the sixties.

The Stadium (and scoreboards!) is HUGE! And the metal bleachers come down very close to the field, which is unique among NFL Football stadiums.

My Dad remembers watching the historic (freezing) "Ice Bowl" in 1967 in which QB Bart Starr, snuck across the goal line with 13 seconds left to beat the Dallas Cowboys.

Go, Pack, Go!