Green Bay

We learned awhile ago that the Dixie Chicks were going to be in concert in Green Bay this past weekend. We love their music and we've never visited Green Bay, so we decided it would be fun to spend a few days there. It would have been fun to take in the football game on Sunday too (Lions vs. Packers), but tickets were a little pricey, so we decided not to do that. We did, though, visit Lambeau Field, including a stop in their gift shop, which is, and I'm not exaggerating here, as big as the ground floor of a Macy's department store. Lots of green and gold everywhere. Green Bay is only about 105,000 strong, and with the surrounding cities, I suspect the metro area doesn't exceed 200,000. Yet, the stadium and the Packers NFL franchise is as big and strong as most any other can be. It was fun to get a feeling for that. It would be like having an NFL franchise in Cedar Rapids/Marion, Iowa.

A statue of Vince Lombardi is prominently displayed just outside, along with several others.

Of course, when I learned that the National Railroad Museum is there, I wanted to visit it. In 1958, Congress named it a national museum, though I'm not exactly sure what other status that gave it. Overall, the museum is smaller than lots of other fine railroad museums I've visited around the country. Nevertheless, they had a very nice and nicely displayed collection.

I liked this erection drawing of one of the Big Boy locomotives, one of my favorite old steam engines. I suppose you can't make it out, but the detail was amazing.

One of the most important items in their collection was this British-designed engine that was used during World War II to pull Dwight D. Eisenhower's headquarters train.

There was also a car from a French "gratitude train." Such a set of cars was delivered to the U.S. by the French people to express appreciation for the tons of war relief our nation provided.

I also enjoyed seeing this aerotrain, a development of the Electromotive Division of General Motors in response to a desire of the rail companies in the 1950s to come up with a sleek looking engine and cars to lure passengers to continue to use rail service. It wasn't very successful, but it sure has a look.

We also visited the Green Bay Botanical Park which was loaded with beautiful gardens and many, many blooming flowers. In this garden, kale was used not as a vegetable but as an accent.

I liked the way this bee was completely absorbed in gathering nectar. It seemed almost stuck to the blossom and didn't mind my presence at all.

This Irish inn was one of the fun places we found for lunch. We enjoyed another meal at the Titletown Brewery and Restaurant.)

St. Brendan's Irish Inn had a neat backbar and lots of stained glass, and they offered several authentic Irish dishes and brews. I had corned beef and cabbage and a Guinness.

A state historical park is home to a collection of buildings, most of which have been relocated there or are constructed replicas. Several sections of the collection highlight periods of fur trade, commerce, and early settlement.

On a pretty, comfortable, sunny day, we strolled around the various scenes.

Then the culmination of our visit was the Saturday night concert by the Dixie Chicks. We loved the music, loud though it was. We are obviously not seasoned concert goers these days, as we would more enjoy staying seated for a performance. The mostly younger crowd couldn't resist standing so that they could move around and, often, sing along, but it was a fun experience.

We also enjoyed familiarizing ourselves with the geography of the region, and the drive over and back with lots of beautiful fall colors emerging along the way. We might also have visited the Oneida Nation's casino in order to contribute to the area Green Bay economy.