Printable Version

Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com

Published - Saturday, April 19, 2008

Reporter discovers plenty to make La Crosse feel like home

By KJ LANG, La Crosse Tribune

Moving into a new community is never easy. Once your moving buddies decide to bail out and leave you with a pile of boxes stacked on your living room floor, you begin to realize two sad facts. No. 1: You have a lot of unpacking ahead of you, and No. 2: You’re alone. You could just get cable TV and forget about it, but I advise, for sanity’s sake, to get out and know the community.

Back in the day, actually up until about 2000, La Crosse had a Welcome Wagon that eased the process of learning about the city, said Barbara Hegge, a La Crosse resident who worked with the Welcome Wagon for 13 years. Hegge would pull up to your front door with a basket full of goodies and a welcoming smile. She’d hand out city maps, coupons, maybe a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk, and answer questions about the city and all it has to offer.

When I moved into La Crosse six months ago, I had no Welcome Wagon, but I found my own ways to learn about the city. Here’s my advice for getting to know any new community and what I’ve found to be some of the most fabulous facets of La Crosse.

Get lost

This is hard to admit, but one of the best ways to get to know a new community is to get lost and find your way out. I’ve done this a few times by accident and other times on purpose. Either way, it seems to lock in certain landmarks, and if the town isn’t too large, like

La Crosse, it is not too hard to find your way back home. If you go by car, remember to fill up the tank. If you decide to walk, make your search around town more goal-oriented by traveling from one rummage sale to the next as the weather warms up and sales abound.

If you decide take a drive outside La Crosse, a great area to get to know is the Wisconsin Great River Road, Hwy. 35, which winds along with the Mississippi River through 33 historic river towns with a lot of character and great places to stop and grab a bite to eat. Find out more at www.wigreatriverroad.org

Be outdoors and explore

If you’re a nature lover like me, you’ll want to know where all the trails are to get out and enjoy the beauty of this region. I joined a women’s recreation group mid-winter that introduced me to the winding trails of the Hixon Forest aboard snow shoes and skies. I’d recommend Hixon Forest trails, which are easily accessed at the trail head off Hwy. 16. I also recommend the trails through the La Crosse River Marsh and the hike up Grandad Bluff. The La Crosse Area Convention & Visitors Bureau, 410 Veterans Memorial Drive, has a number of maps for hiking and biking trails and more information online at www.explorelacrosse.com

Find physical activity

Whether dancing to Latin and international music in a Zumba class at the YMCA or sweating off weekly worries on the treadmill, physical activity not only keeps you healthy, but it improves your mental state. There are numerous gyms in La Crosse listed in the Yellow Pages and plenty of opportunities around town to learn yoga, martial arts, tap dancing and more.

Music works miracles

Music is a great way to unwind from work. I joined a community choir and have been rehearsing the Latin text and complex musical phrases of Antonin Dvorak’s “Stabat Mater.” But, there is no need to be that extreme. La Crosse is a great community to explore the arts. Upcoming concerts and activities are easily accessible in the Tribune’s live! section Thursdays in the newspaper or online every day at www.myliveonline.com.

Know the tourist spots

The last thing anyone wants when moving into a new community is to have guests come and be bored. That’s why it’s important to know what tourist spots your friends and family will enjoy seeing when they come. Here are a few tourist spots in the Coulee Region that I’ll be sure to take family and friends to visit.

Norskedalen: Maybe it is my Norwegian heritage that makes me particularly bias in this choice, but even the drive to this nature center amid coulees, prairie creeks and fields is beautiful. It is also a chance to travel back in time by taking a walk through a 1800s pioneer log homestead or viewing artifacts from Norwegian settlers. Find out more at www.norskedalen.org

Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe: This is an enchanting place, from the Romanesque-style domed Shrine Church peaking up amid a wooded backdrop to the stained-glass windows that glow inside the votive chapel. The shrine, located on Justin Road, will be dedicated July 31. Find out more about it at www.guadalupeshrine.org.

Downtown: Not many cities have maintained the historic look of downtown La Crosse. Just taking visitors downtown to the antique stores, specialty shops and art galleries can be enough entertainment to keep them coming back. The Hixon House Museum will add a little history to the downtown tour. Tours of the museum are May through October. More information is at www.lchsweb.org.

KJ Lang can be reached at (608) 791-8226 or klang@lacrossetribune.com.