Green Bay, Wisconsin
The Oneida Nation reservation sits just west of Green Bay, one of several Native American tribes that call Wisconsin home.
Step-on guides and private tours of the reservation tell the history of the Oneida people and highlight tribal headquarters, the organic farm and the Oneida Nation Elementary School, known as the “Turtle School” because the building is shaped like a turtle.
At the Oneida Nation Museum, guides lead visitors along wooded nature trails and through gardens and past a replica longhouse, runner’s hut and maple syrup camp. Inside, visitors can handle furs and tools at hands-on exhibits or learn how to make corn-husk dolls or traditional pinch pots.
No trip to Green Bay would be complete without becoming an honorary cheese head during a tour of the famed Lambeau Field. When guests make their way down the players tunnel, the sound of 80,000 cheering fans and thumping game-day music comes on as they walk onto the field, said Beth Ulatowski, director of sales for the Greater Green Bay Convention and Visitors Bureau.
“It gets me every time,” she said. “It’s one of those goose-bump moments.”
The Packers Hall of Fame’s new high-tech, interactive facility opened at Lambeau in September. In the exhibit of Vince Lombardi’s office, a large conference table has a built-in touch screen that allows visitors to sort through and read digital versions of Lombardi’s letters.
Stillwater, Oklahoma
Much like Laurel Canyon with folk music or New York City with punk, Stillwater, Oklahoma, was the birthplace of Red Dirt Music in the late 1970s and early ’80s. A couple of college students rented an isolated farmhouse, known as “The Farm,” that became a hub for musicians who gave birth to the edgier, grittier version of country music.
“It’s somewhere between rock and blues and bluegrass and country,” said Kylie Vincent, vice president of marketing and sales for Visit Stillwater. “It’s an interesting style, and it’s storytelling in nature.”
Red Dirt music is still prevalent today at iconic local venues like the Tumbleweed and Eskimo Joe’s, or during impromptu jam sessions in front of coffee shops. Festivals such as the Calf Fry and Bob Childers’ Gypsy Café always feature local Red Dirt bands and musicians.
Visit Stillwater can help planners arrange events around live music performances or connect them with local musicians to perform at their events. Although The Farm burned down in 2003, Visit Stillwater staff once took a FAM group to the site with a musician who spent time there during its heyday. She played acoustic songs and told stories about the early Red Dirt days.
Eskimo Joe’s is the college town’s world-famous bar with its world-famous face. The bar has been selling T-shirts since day one, all bearing the recognizable logo of Eskimo Joe and his dog, Buffy. The shirts are now printed in Stillwater at the company’s screen-printing factory, which groups can tour.
