Fall Colors in Wisconsin – Rice Lake

As much as I hate to admit summer is over, I do like the comfortable temperatures and of course the colors of fall. Travel Wisconsin’s website offers a Fall Color Report so you know when and where it’s best to see some autumnal fires (the colors, not the beer – but that’s also around this time of year!)

I had a chance to get up north recently. The leaves have a bit of a head start there. I headed to Rice Lake for a couple days. Right now the Rice Lake Chamber of Commerce (715-234-2126) is sponsoring a geocaching event that will continue through Taterfest which is on the October 21^st weekend. I had never done geocaching before, but it’s actually a great excuse to get lost in the woods, and of course now’s the best time for that. I picked up a copy of the passbook which lists all the hidden caches and their GPS coordinates. (Get them at the Chamber office (37 S. Main St) or Rainbow Home Center (1124 Hammond Ave). For each cache you locate you are entered into a prize drawing. Kids will love this, and bonus: it’s all free! The first cache I found had a couple little action figures and a place to sign your name and see who else was there before you. I brought a couple of Turkish coins to deposit; that ought to puzzle a few people.

I stayed at the AmericInn (free internet). I wanted something reasonable and it fit the bill. Nice breakfast included. Indoor pool and Jacuzzi. In keeping with my on-the-cheap approach to the weekend, I found another free option: a visit to Hunt Hill Audobon Sanctuary. It’s enough that this place is quite beautiful, carefully preserved as much as possible, but the sanctuary also hosts various social activities throughout the year. Want to learn how to pick wild mushrooms? Identify butterflies? Or even how to do a little folk dancing or singing? It’s worth watching their calendar for upcoming events.

Before I left I splurged on a bona fide Wisconsin supper club dinner at Lehman’s in Rice Lake. We’re talking serious meat and potatoes (plus seafood). Get your brandy old-fashioned at the bar, wait for a table, and loosen up the belt for the barrage of food. Good quality meats, aged, and when you tell them how you want it, you get it that way. (I feel I need to point that out since I often can’t find places that do medium-rare properly). Soups that go beyond just the same-old beef vegetable and chicken noodle. I had a Cajun-spiced creamy red pepper soup that I wouldn’t mind getting a recipe for.

Where’s Rice Lake? Here.