Our base of operations for our stay in northeast Wisconsin was the small town of Oconto. This is a historical area that was once part of New France and the site of a Jesuit Mission in late 1669. There is a marker in town remembering Nicholas Perrot, a French fur trader, diplomat, and influential person who was a mediator between the Menominee and Potawatomi tribes in the late 1600’s. There are many historical homes in town and several of them are on the National Register of Historic Places. Just outside of town is the Copper Culture State park. There is a Prehistoric burial ground designated with a National Historic marker. We went on the weekend to the Copper Culture Museum where we watched a short video of an early excavation and a guide showed us artifacts and talked about the early people who lived in the area 5000 years ago.

A short distance north, and just across the state line, is Menominee, MI. We drove there to see the Menominee North Pier Lighthouse. A lighthouse has been on this pier since 1877. There is a small sandy beach nearby for wading and swimming. We stopped at a cheese and gift shop and enjoyed looking at the clothing, sports related clothes and gift items, meats and jams, and, of course, cheeses.

We made just a short trip to Green Bay where we checked out the shopping mall and visited Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers. The area was filled with tourists like us taking pictures and enjoying the bronze figurative sculptures of Curly Lambeau and Vince Lombardi by the husband and wife team of Julie Roblatt-Amrany and Omri Amrany in front of the building. Many were gathering for the stadium tours which included seeing the field itself that we could not see from the atrium. We enjoyed browsing the pro shop and seeing photos of some of the famous athletes that played there.

Scott’s sister Susan was with us part of the time we were in this area. It was fun having company to share our sightseeing adventures.