Come Early, Stay Late - and Enjoy A Summer Break in Beautiful Central Wisconsin
Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo
Hard to believe, but the Wausau city fathers tore down a perfectly good vacant S. S. Kresge Co. building - lunch counter and all - to create a vibrant open space in downtown Wausau called the 400 Block. On Wednesday evenings during the summer, Concerts on the Square, food trucks and lots of people can be found there. Come early to the reunion and this experience could be yours!
Play Ball!
The old granite walls of our youth are still there, but everything inside is different. Beginning in 2014, Athletic Park began a 7-year, multi-million dollar renovation which created a baseball stadium worthy of the Northwoods League two time champion Wausau Woodchucks. If you have open time in your schedule and like baseball, there will be four opportunities to see the Chucks in action during the reunion. Wednesday, July 27: 12:05 PM and 6:35 PM, Thursday, July 28: 6:35 PM and Sunday, July 31: 1:05 PM. Besides watching a fun baseball game in a great setting, rumor has it you can buy a "baseball bat of beer".
Bend Clubs, Create Divots and Embarrass Yourself In Front of God and Everybody
27 miles to the south in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, you'll find the 18-hole Sentry World golf course designed by Robert Trent Jones, Jr. in collaboration with Bruce Charlton and Jay Blasi. A recently completed overhaul has added to its reputation as the best course in Central Wisconsin. Additionally, Golf Channel recently named it as one of the 20 most scenic courses in the nation.
Bike the Trails
The 83-mile long Mountain to Bay Trail, which runs between between Green Bay and Wausau, is one of the longest in Wisconsin. In addition to this trail, the metro biking community has been working hard to make the region bicycle friendly so you can ride to your heart's content through the haunt's of your past. Learn more at Bicycle Wausau.
Drowned In the River
In 1872, 40 men lost their lives bringing timber rafts through the Wisconsin River's Big Bulls Falls in Wausau. Now mostly tamed by a hydro-electric dam, a side chute is a World Cup caliber kayaking course. So here's an opportunity for you to check out your floating skills where men of old have been less fortunate. However, it would appear COVID has killed off local kayak rentals for this spot, or for the much tamer local waters available elsewhere in the area, so you'll need to bring your own Hawaiian outrigger.
Eat Wisconsin Cheese (Curds)
A short trip south will take you to Mullins Cheese factory. If you like to buy cheese from people you can watch make it, then this is the place for you! Hours: Monday - Saturday: 8am - 5pm; Sunday: 9am - 5pm
Fly Into the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum
The Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum is internationally renowned for its collection of bird related art and every year it sponsors the "Birds in Art" competition which draws submissions from around the world. Hours: Tues, Wed, Fri 9am–4pm, Thursdays 9am–7:30pm, Sat–Sun Noon–5pm
Pick and Eat Massive Amounts of Berries
OK, so maybe these berries aren't harvested from plants growing under northwoods powerlines, but how can you beat this mosquito free opportunity? Although the Folgers coffee can "harvest bucket" is long gone and Mom can't be found in the kitchen dumping a year's worth of Dominican Republic sugar production into the jam making process, this could be tons of fun nonetheless. Do it at the Lakeview Berry Farm.
Hike the "Mountain"
According to the Oxford English Dictionary, Rib Mountain is technically a "hill" because it is less than 2000' in elevation. But maybe, just maybe, after participating in the climb to the top and return as guided by classmate and world famous Norwegian explorer Phil Berg, you may want to reconsider this technical definition for terrain which is 58' short of being a mountain.
Sample the Suds
Long gone are the days of the decaying Mathie-Ruder Red Ribbon brewery building which closely hugged the edge of Grand Avenue and allowed pigeons to attempt aerial bombardment as you rode by on your bike. Today, in addition countless poorly lit dives where you can slop down the suds, Wausau has it's own micro-brewery - Bull Falls Brewery. Sample away in the Tap Room.
Immerse in Days Gone By
What was once "the" Marathon County Museum building of our grade school field trips, is now the fully restored turn of the century home of a Cyrus and Alice Yawkey. The $3 million spent to restore the home in 2008 honors and illuminates the grandeur of the city Wausau was when "Pine was King." Open weekdays except Monday: 9:00 am - 4:30 pm. Weekends: 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm.
Pepto Bismol Please!
If you enjoy eating piles of greasy food which just came out of a deep-fryer that last had its cooking oil changed in Moline, Illinois five months prior, we have just the place for you! This culinary extravaganza becomes that much more enjoyable if the oinking at the trough is followed numerous refreshments in the beer tent, a half a dozen ears of corn-on-the-cob, and THEN several dizzying trips around on the Tilt-a-Whirl where you share your previous dining experience with 20 or so complete strangers. If you are at a loss for where such a life-changing event could occur, hangout until Tuesday after the reunion and you are on your way to the Wisconsin Valley Fair. August 2-7, 2022.
Not enough? Well then, check out the Wausau/Central Wisconsin Convention & Visitors Bureau's website. Their Wausau Central Wisconsin Official 2021 Visitors Guide has lots of other great ideas.