![[bicyclist near Chippewa Falls, WI]](http://images.midwestweekend.com/graphics/biker_chippewa.jpg)
![[The Mississippi Queen in La Crosse, WI]](http://images.midwestweekend.com/graphics/mississippi_queen.jpg)
![[web site logo]](http://images.midwestweekend.com/graphics/title_and_tag.jpg)
![[Map of the region with icons representing activities]](http://images.midwestweekend.com/graphics/midwest_icons.jpg){kind=icon}
People in other states join in the adoration; every year, the North Shore is voted the top destination in Lake Superior magazine's annual reader poll.
When to go: If you don't like crowds, now is an excellent time; the crowds have gone back to school or work and bugs on trails have died back. The fall-color rush starts the third weekend of September, and weekend reservations will be hard to get through the third weekend of October, when Minnesota schoolchildren have a four-day break and the entire shore books up.
The best color is on the inland maple trees, where peak comes in late September, a week earlier than
along the shore.
What to do: Hike the trails. Ride the Gitchi-Gami Trail (to combine hiking and biking, see Walk 'n' roll). Through mid-September, go on a guided kayak tour from Grand Marais. Play at Gooseberry Falls. Have a picnic on Palisade Head. Skip rocks, stack a cairn or hunt for agates on the beaches.
Events to catch: Sept. 26-28, Unplugged VII: The Northern Harvest music
and arts festival at North House Folk School in Grand Marais. Sept. 26-Oct. 5, Crossing Borders Studio Tour. Oct. 17-19, Moose Madness
Festival in Grand Marais.
Where to stay: Whatever you choose, reserve it now.
Where to eat: Finally, restaurants are preparing food as splendid as the surroundings; see
Dining on the North
Shore.
Past fast plans: Exploring the Porkies, Voyageurs National Park, See the world in Winnipeg
Mackinac Bridge Walk across Michigan's Mackinac Straits. Once a year, on Labor Day, people can walk across the five-mile span, the third-longest suspension bridge in the world. Sept. 1.
Wisconsin State Cow Chip Throw in Prairie du Sac, Wis. There's chip-chucking contests in this Wisconsin River town, but also music, kids' games and an arts and crafts fair. Sassy folk singers Lou and Peter Berryman perform Friday night, and the Tournament of Chips parade is at noon Saturday. Aug. 29-30.
Wilhelm Tell Festival in New Glarus, Wis. This Swiss town near Madison has been putting on an outdoor William Tell pageant, with one performance in German, since 1938 (pictured). A children's lantern parade is on Friday, and festivities include yodeling, an arts show and ethnic fashions. Aug. 29-31.
Harley-Davidson 105th Anniversary in Milwaukee. The whole town is the venue for this big festival, which features a Bruce Springsteen concert Saturday, street parties, concerts by Foghat and the Foo Fighters, bike shows and riding competitions. A 4½-mile parade from 9 a.m. Saturday ends at the Summerfest grounds on Lake Michigan. Aug. 27-31.
Western Minnesota Steam Threshers Reunion in Rollag, Minn. Revel in the past during this show of antique machinery, which includes rides on trains and a carousel, square dancing, roving musicians and nightly jamborees. Aug. 29-Sept. 1.
Great River in southwest Wisconsin: Along the Mississippi between Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge and Onalaska, over bottomlands and bogs.
Central Lakes in western
Minnesota: Between Fergus Falls and Osakis, with lots of prairie wildflowers and birds.
Red Cedar
in western Wisconsin: A serene stretch along the Red Cedar River from Menomonie to the Chippewa
River.
Mesabi
in northern Minnesota: A hilly trail (pictured) that passes lots of gorgeous mine-pit lakes between
Grand Rapids and Eveleth.
Root River in southeast
Minnesota: Goes through the leafy Root River Valley between Fountain and Houston, passing the
adorable village of Lanesboro.
Lake Wobegon in central
Minnesota: A journey through a mythic landscape, with lots of steepled churches, between St. Joseph
and Sauk Centre.
Old
Abe in western Wisconsin: A bucolic path along the Chippewa River between Chippewa Falls and Cornell,
with heron sightings likely.
Badger in southern
Wisconsin: Slices through cheese country from the far edge of Madison to the Illinois border.
Paul Bunyan in northern Minnesota: Lots of great fall color and lakes along this trail from Brainerd/Baxter to Walker.
Grand
Rounds in Minneapolis: An urban dream on parkways along the Mississippi River and Chain of
Lakes.
As often as not, vacationing couples find they're in a mixed marriage: One likes to shop, one likes to bike or hike.
What to do? I've seen dozens of men patiently waiting on benches as their wives and girlfriends scour the shops, although these days, women are just as likely to ditch their husbands to travel with their girlfriends.
But it needn't be an either/or proposition. Pick one of the destinations below, and you'll find both great shopping and great riding (or running, or skating) routes, along with great restaurants in which to relax afterward.
Where to ride: Chicago's 18-mile Lakefront Trail (pictured). Where to shop: The Magnificent Mile, Oak Street, the Loop, Old Town, Navy Pier.
In the tourist axis around Lake Pepin, three great old buildings have opened with new owners, just in time for the fall rush.
On the Red Cedar River in Downsville, Wis., the Creamery Restaurant and Inn has reopened as the New
Creamery, and new owners Paula and Terry Vajgrt are adding a cafe, wine bar and gallery.
Down the bluffs and across the Mississippi River in Red Wing, Greg Norton has opened Norton's Downtown in an old J.C. Penney store on Main Street, across from the St. James Hotel. A few blocks away on Fourth Street, Deb Bylander has reopened the 1876 Pratt Taber Inn, Red Wing's first B&B and now its newest.
The western Wisconsin bluffs and Mississippi River Valley draw tourists all year, but the whole world wants to go in fall, especially to Red Wing, only an hour south of the Twin Cities. So we got a head start, driving to Downsville to ride on the Red Cedar State Trail, one of the state's most scenic.
In Wisconsin, boys like to go fast.
That's why they invented the outboard motor (Cambridge), the Harley-Davidson motorcycle (Milwaukee), the race car (Menomonie) and the snowmobile (Sayner).
Here's where to go to pay homage to your favorite machine.
Menomonie, the race car. This western Wisconsin town was the home of Harry Miller, whose
pioneering cars won the Indy 500 12 times; cars with his engines won another 29 times. The Rassbach Heritage Museum is showing the Golden Submarine, a race car
Miller built for driver Barney Oldfield in 1917 for $15,000, the equivalent of $282,488 today. It's part
of the exhibit "Harry Miller: Automotive Genius,'' running through Oct. 26.
Sayner, the snowmobile. In the northeast Wisconsin town of Sayner, the Vilas County Historical Society Museum exhibits the 1924 "motor toboggan'' built by Carl Eliason and his models through 1953. In nearby St. Germain, the Snowmobile Hall of Fame shows famous models after Polaris began manufacturing them in 1955.
Cambridge, the outboard motor. Half an hour east of Madison, Norwegian immigrant Ole Evinrude
built the first outboard motor in 1906, testing it
on Lake Ripley. The Cambridge Historic Museum
contains displays about Ole and his engines, and spring-fed Lake Ripley still draws boaters and
tourists.
Milwaukee, the Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Arthur Davidson and Bill Harley were childhood friends of Ole Evinrude and credit him for parts used on Harley's first engine in 1905.
Their motorcycle has achieved cult status and now is celebrated at the new Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee.
My niece loves a big Rottweiler named Rza, so her travel opportunities are limited.
But one October, I rented a lake house near Cable, Wis., that allowed dogs, and both of them came. And we all had a great time: When Rza's happy, everyone's happy.
"This is probably the best weekend of her life,'' said my niece, after we’d spent the day romping on the lawn and in the nearby forest.
For vacationers, houses have many advantages over hotel rooms. Pets are allowed in some, and they're great for small children or teens, because the kitchens allow families to save a bundle on restaurant meals. And they're good for travelers who aren't related — say, a group of girlfriends — because most have more than one bedroom plus sleeper sofas.
In lakes country, houses often come with a canoe or rowboat and are better located than hotels, away from highways and right on the water. Sometimes, they're available when hotel rooms aren't.
There are more vacation houses to rent than ever, thanks to the shaky economy. Many owners are seeking
extra income by joining such rental services as the huge Vacation Rentals
by Owner, which lists 230 properties in Wisconsin's Door County alone, and HomeAway, which is smaller but has a more easily navigated site.
Soon, summer will be over, temperatures will cool down and everyone will start thinking the same thing: Time to plan a weekend bike trip.
Autumn is a great time to try out a new bike trail, not only because of fall colors and invigorating weather but because so many small towns throw harvest festivals in September and October.
Food always is the main draw, and there's nothing bicycle tourists like more than food. Grape harvests result in wine festivals and Oktoberfests in a river of beer; that goes over pretty well, too.
So why not pair a bike ride with a fun little festival? Here are some ideas.
Elroy-Sparta Trail: Sept. 12-13, Ben Biken BBQ Bash in Sparta (that's Ben pictured), the northern trailhead of this 32-mile, three-tunnel trail in southwest Wisconsin. Add three other trails for a 101-mile system.
Paul Bunyan State Trail: Sept. 13, Arts and Crafts Fair/A Taste of Pequot in Pequot Lakes. Sept. 13, Ethnic Fest in Walker. Sept. 20, Nisswa Festival and Smokin' Hot BBQ. Sept. 26-28, Chainsaw Sculpting Invitational in Hackensack.