You may not think of sailing, surfing and scuba diving as typically Midwestern activities, but east central Wisconsin is so chock-full of lakes and rivers that it is slowly evolving into a vacation destination for people from around the region. Throw in a climate that’s buffered by Lake Michigan, plenty of resort, conference and cultural facilities, and the promise of Packers football, and you’ve got a year-round meetings destination with a strong hint of vacationland on the side.
Green Bay
Green Bay is at the geographic center of fandom for the NFL’s Green Bay Packers football team. You’re made aware of this the moment you arrive at the airport, says Beth Ropson, director of sales for the Greater Green Bay CVB.
“Whoever visits our city will see that as soon as they get off the plane,” she says. “Our airport says ‘Welcome to Packer Country,’ with some photos and memorabilia around.”
This devotion is partly inspired by the fact that the Packers are the NFL’s only community-owned, nonprofit team, making their event-ready stadium, Lambeau Field, a shrine to the city as much as the team.
But you don’t have to like football to love Green Bay, and there is a lot for spouses and the football-averse to do. The National Railroad Museum exhibits more than 70 locomotives and railcars plus numerous other exhibits, and also has a large exhibit and banquet hall for meetings and receptions. Heritage Hill State Historic Park is northeast Wisconsin’s premier history museum, covering the period from Green Bay’s fur-trading beginnings to the end of the 19th century.
Outdoors, the New Zoo of Brown County features everything from penguins to giraffes, and is surrounded by 1,560 acres of trails. And Green Bay also has no shortage of golf courses, from the University of Wisconsin’s 9-hole Shorewood Course to the Royal Scot and Green Bay Country Club’s 18-holers.
The KI Convention Center downtown is the Green Bay area’s largest conference facility, and is available for events of up to 3,600. The attached Hotel Sierra has meeting rooms, an auditorium and a ballroom. Other meetings-friendly properties here include the Radisson Green Bay Hotel & Conference Center (attached to the Oneida Casino near Austin Straubel Airport), Comfort Suites Hotel & Conference Center, Holiday Inn Green Bay Stadium, Ramada Plaza Hotel and Tundra Lodge Resort & Conference Center.
Door County
Located on a peninsula jutting far out onto Lake Michigan, Door County has long been a recreational hub nicknamed the “Cape Cod of the Midwest.” While 95 percent of visitation to its 19 communities is leisure-based, meetings form an important part of the mix, says Mary Denis, director of marketing and sales for the Door County CVB.
“We concentrate on small meetings and small groups—auto clubs, bikers, weddings,” Denis says.
Sturgeon Bay is the largest town in the area, and most meetings-friendly properties are here or in Sister Bay or Egg Harbor. The largest options are the 161-room Stone Harbor Resort & Conference Center in Sturgeon Bay, Alpine Resort and Landmark Resort in Egg Harbor, Rowleys Bay Resort in Rowleys Bay and Hotel Stebbins in nearby Algoma.
Given the vastness of Lake Michigan and the protected waters offered by adjacent Green Bay, sport fishing is popular and many charter boats take groups out in search of whitefish and other species.
Back on shore, fish boils are a popular group activity. The classic Wisconsin fish boil involves an outdoor fire with a large kettle, according to Denis.
“You get a big kettle of water going with salt, potatoes and carrots in it, then boil that for awhile until the potatoes are soft,” she says. “Then you put a basket on top with whitefish in chunks, put kerosene on the fire so [the increased temperature] boils the fish oils off. Then you take the baskets out and the whitefish just falls off the bone. It’s great buffet-style eating.”
Shipwreck diving is also popular due to Lake Michigan’s clear water and numerous historic wrecks, which create an underwater playground. (Some wrecks can also be seen from boats.)
Thanks to the artist-colony history of several Door County towns, the peninsula also has a concentration of arts and culture with outdoor theaters as well as galleries, and visitors seeking relaxation can just sit by the water and watch the sun rise and set.
Lake Winnebago
Lake Winnebago is Wisconsin’s largest lake and its shoreline features several noteworthy cities and parks. At its southernmost tip is Fond du Lac, which has numerous meetings-friendly properties such as the Holiday Inn, Ramada Plaza, Comfort Inn and Days Inn. At its western edge is Oshkosh, which is most famous for the Experimental Aircraft Association’s annual Fly-In, known as EAA AirVenture. AirVenture is the world’s largest airshow and for one week each year, over 10,000 planes arrive to make modest Wittman Airport the world’s busiest.
Lately the show has attracted 800,000 spectators per year, and the EAA AirVenture Museum now provides a year-round place to learn more about aviation’s history and future. Meeting spaces are available for groups.
The more traditional Oshkosh Convention Center was renovated in 2009 and one of its walls is entirely windows to take advantage of the center’s riverside location. Planners might also consider The Waters, a 1903 lakefront house that has been renovated into a popular event space. With its fireplaces, crystal chandeliers and porches, it offers a beautiful setting for up to 300.
To the north, the Fox River has 18 communities alongside it that are collectively known as the Fox Cities. Pam Seidl, director of marketing communications at the Fox Cities CVB, says while paper production remains a major industry here, Neenah is famous for its foundry, which casts manhole covers for cities as diverse as Iowa City, New York, Paris and Phoenix. Seidl describes the Fox Cities as an urban destination, in contrast with Door County’s rural-leisure focus.
“We are known for an urban setting, really nice shopping at stores you’re not going get in some of the smaller towns. So we get [a mix of] weekend getaway travelers, meetings and conventions, and some sports tournaments,” Seidl says, noting that Sports Illustrated had listed Appleton as America’s No. 1 small sports town.
Appleton is also the largest of the Fox Cities and home to the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center (PAC), a beautiful facility with multiple event spaces that attracts touring companies of Broadway shows—even before they hit larger cities such as Milwaukee or Madison, according to Seidl.
“We’ve been lucky because of the strength of ticket sales to pull in some Wisconsin premieres of shows like Jersey Boys, Wicked and The Lion King, as well as our local performing groups,” Seidl says.
The Radisson Paper Valley is the Fox Cities’ main convention hotel and is right across the street from the PAC. Other meetings properties include the Best Western Bridgewood in Neenah, Holiday Inn of Appleton and Hilton Garden Inn Appleton/Kimberly.
Also, just west in the town of Green Lake is the Heidel House Resort & Spa, which offers three restaurants, its own 60-foot yacht and the Evensong Spa, which accommodates groups for activities including chair massage, skin care and guided group meditation.
Other attractions in the Fox Cities include the Bergstrom-Mahler Museum in Neenah, which focuses on glass blowing and glass art, while in Appleton, the Hearthstone was the world’s first home lit by hydroelectric power and today serves as a museum.
Sheboygan
The city of Sheboygan is on the shores of Lake Michigan and carries a distinction that probably wouldn’t occur to most meeting planners: It’s the freshwater surfing capital of the world, according to Amy Wilson, tourism director at the Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce.
“We’re the ‘Malibu of the Midwest.’ We hold the world’s largest freshwater surfing event, the Dairyland Surf Classic,” she says. “Sheboygan’s in a unique situation because it juts out about five miles into Lake Michigan, and that creates waves in excess of 25 feet between Labor Day and April 1st.”
Wilson says visitors who are in town on Labor Day weekend, when the water is still warm, Wilson says, can see advanced surfers in action.
“[They do] some pretty amazing things on the waves,” she says. “That’s a great time for spectators to watch, or to get on a paddleboard and paddle out.”
Those who prefer being on the water rather than in it can check out Sail Sheboygan, the only freshwater training center for U.S. Sailing, which hosts a variety of events and competitions and has small vessels available for charter.
Back on land, Sheboygan County is awash in meetings options thanks to three major resorts: the AAA Five Diamond American Club in Kohler, where the Whistling Straits golf club hosted the 2010 PGA championship; Osthoff Resort at Elkhart Lake, a AAA Four Diamond resort with a spa that ranks in the world’s top 50; and the Blue Harbor Resort in Sheboygan. From October through December, Blue Harbor Resort will renovate its lobby, guest rooms and outdoor spaces and perform extensive architectural changes to allow for views of Lake Michigan and the hotel’s beachfront.
Paul D. Kretkowski writes frequently about travel, food and sports. He is also the founder of Beacon, a blog about foreign policy.
