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October 8, 2015
Menomonie's golden oldiesIn a Wisconsin college town, antiques shops and an ornate theater stand fast amid pizza shops.
In the western Wisconsin college town of Menomonie, shops and restaurants come and go. One building will stay for the ages: the Mabel Tainter Memorial Theater, built of bulky sandstone blocks backed by brick. Lumber baron Andrew Tainter built it in memory of his daughter Mabel, who died at age 19 of a burst appendix, and the town has kept up its glorious golden interior, fit for a Moorish princess. This year, its 125th, is The Year of the Mabel in Menomonie. Best bets for the weekendSeek romance in a covered bridge, but watch out for werewolves.
It's a covered bridge kind of weekend, with the Madison County Covered Bridge Festival in central Iowa and the Covered Bridge Art Studio Tour in eastern Wisconsin. You can see them any time on our three-state road trip. More slow-paced travel: horseback-riding and bicycling. West of Minneapolis, the 15 miles of the Luce Line State Trail between Winsted and Hutchinson is newly paved. Ride these bike trails and you'll get to a party: The Fox River Trail in northern Illinois, to St. Charles for Scarecrow Fest; the Brown's Creek State Trail in eastern Minnesota, to Stillwater for Harvest Fest; and the Interurban Trail north of Milwaukee, to Cedarburg for Oktoberfest. Some rail trails still have trains on them. From Petoskey, Mich., a Steam Railroading Institute train travels to Fife Lake, which is on a 21-mile loop of the North Country National Scenic Trail and has been named a Trail Town. You'll also see the fall colors on Amtrak, which is cheap if you reserve early: $24 between Milwaukee and Chicago and $16 between St. Joseph and Grand Rapids, Mich. If you'd rather stagger than ride or hike, there are zombie walks in Des Moines and Duluth. In Mackinaw City, werewolves will be stalking the palisades of an 18th-century fort. In southwest Minnesota, there's a ghost hunt amid the gargoyles of Pipestone. For more blood and guts, revisit the Civil War in the vivid reenactments at Norskedalen, near La Crosse, and Shadows of the Blue and Gray, in Princeton, Ill. For a break from the carnage, explore Norskedalen's corn maze or, just up the Illinois River from Princeton, Starved Rock State Park. Fall colors are arriving late, extending the season. It's already time for a little ghoul talk in haunted lighthouses — and also haunted trains, forts, ships and a mine — around the region. Next weekendDecorate and bowl pumpkins or tour Chicago landmarks.
Autumn Harvest Fest in Wisconsin Dells, Wis. On Saturday, there are hayrides, pony rides, music and arts and crafts, pumpkin decorating, a straw dig and a scarecrow-stuffing contest. Oct. 16-18. Fall Festival in Sister Bay, Wis. This Door County festival features pumpkin bowling, chainsaw carving, a pingpong-ball drop and a parade at 11 a.m. Saturday. Oct. 16-18. Open House Chicago in Chicago. The Chicago Architecture Foundation sponsors this free, behind-the-scenes peek at 200 mansions, clubs, churches, hotels and theaters. Oct. 17-18. Southwest Wisconsin Fall Art Tour. This popular studio tour includes artists at studios between Mineral Point, Spring Green, Dodgeville and Baraboo. Oct. 16-18. For more events, see our Events Calendar.
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