BY LAURIE ARENDT
Whether you're a native or a transplant to our fair state, there's a rich tapestry of things to see and do in Wisconsin at least once in your lifetime. Here are 20 ideas to get you started this summer.
1. Book a sail on the S/V Denis Sullivan, docked at Milwaukee's Discovery World during the summer months. The replica 19th-century schooner offers two-hour sails to the general public from June through September.
2. Take a child on a ride at Bay Beach amusement park northeast of Green Bay. It's Wisconsin's best bargain at 25 cents a ticket.
3. Pick up a copy of Aldo Leopold's A Sand County Almanac for your summer reading, and then visit the Leopold Shack-once a chicken coop, now a National Historic Landmark-in Baraboo. Self-guided and guided tours available.
4. Take a ride to the top of Granite Peak near Wausau-also known as Rib Mountain to longtime residents-and spend some time on its nearly 14 miles of trails.
5. Make a pilgrimage to Colby-the central Wisconsin home of the namesake cheese-and purchase some to take home. Clark County is home to three of Wisconsin's master cheesemakers, and Colby is just one of numerous cheeses available this time of year.
6. Who needs a hotel when you can rent a houseboat? Take one down the Mississippi River from La Crosse through the locks and experience the mighty river from a completely different perspective.
7. Design your own virtual motorcycle the new Harley-Davidson museum. You might just want to trade in your Suburu for a Softail.
8. With more than 1,000 miles meandering through almost 30 counties, there's no reason why you can't say you've hiked at least part of Wisconsin's Ice Age Trail.
9. Polka with a vengeance whenever possible. Don't know how? Pick up all the tricks at Pulaski Polka Days, held July 23-26.
10. Live the life of a pioneer at Old World Wisconsin in Eagle or Heritage Hill in Green Bay
11. Find a local farmer's market and patronize it on a regular basis to see the full spectrum of Wisconsin's bounty, but make a pilgrimage in August to the Dane County Farmers' Market.
12. Waterfalls in Wisconsin? You betcha, and many of Wisconsin's tallest waterfalls are located along the Lake Superior shoreline communities. Start with the state's tallest, Big Manitou Falls, which rumbles more than 160 feet into the Black River and head east to experience Copper and Brownstone Falls, just north of Mellen.
13. Take in a show at Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua in Washburn. This summer season includes Suzanne Vega, the Marshall Tucker Band and the African Children's Choir.
14. Take in a Badger game and stay for the Fifth Quarter.
15. Travel the Trollway through Mt. Horeb, and keep an eye out for the friendly creatures welcoming you to the Troll Capital of the World.
16. See how the famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright worked and lived at his homestead, Taliesin, near Spring Green.
17. Help bring back the blues to Grafton at the family-friendly 2009 Paramount Blues Festival, held August 21 and 22 in the Wisconsin town where some of America's blues legends recorded their tracks.
18. Though no one can beat Grandma's pies, the Norske Nook in Osseo comes darn close ... and you don't have to tell Grandma you stopped in.
19. Discover the state's best venue for white-water rafting on the Wolf River or tube the tamer Apple River.
20. Cast your line-better with a bamboo rod-in one of Wisconsin's many northern lakes.