If you're looking
for excitement and fun,
there's nothing better
than a jaunt into
the heart of the city.
Join us as we explore
downtown La Crosse,
Eau Claire,
Oshkosh and Green Bay.
Hello and welcome
to Discover Wisconsin.
A little bit quirky,
a little bit cool
and tons of recreation,
art and music.
I'm here to talk
to a few of the locals
to find out if what
I've heard is true, that
Eau Claire is like a mini
version of Portland,
which still manages
to keep up Wisconsin's
Midwest pace and kindness.
So this is my first
time to Eau Claire.
But I keep hearing
about how charming it is.
Yeah it is.
What makes Eau Claire
so charming?
I think, you know,
things like this, public art
is pretty much everywhere
in our downtown streets
between our sculpture tour,
this mural project,
you know,
the lights on the trees.
We've got art galleries,
music left and right, music
festivals
coming to our area.
And then, of course,
our Pablo Center,
which is a gem of
our downtown that hosts
all kinds
of performance art.
So I've been hearing
about the past 10 years
and that there's
been this big
downtown revitalization.
What's been going on
this past 10 years?
Oh, my gosh, we've
been doing everything.
So we're really trying
to draw attention
to our riverfront.
So we added bike trails.
We added
lights to the bridges,
music to the streets.
And that's really drawing
not only visitors
to our community,
but businesses as well.
So we have a whole new strip
of local businesses
that you can find something
interesting and new you
haven't seen before.
Here we are hanging out at
Carson Park, Carson Park.
How's your ice cream?
It's very good.
So what's the
what's the food scene?
Yeah, it varies a lot.
There's upscale restaurants,
but then you've got
the like little dives.
You've got Skorton House,
who has two for one burgers
and Ray's has like hot
beef sandwiches.
Yeah, that's like
the classic, like
if you talk to any person
who's like lived
in Eau Claire,
they're probably going
to tell you to go to Ray's.
It sounds like there's
a good mix for everybody.
What's it like owning
a small business
in the community
around here?
It's changed a lot.
A lot of cool new
businesses are moving in.
As, you know, new businesses
start like
we're able to connect
with them
and build relationships.
We very much, like,
lean on each other.
I mean, a lot of our print
revenue is local businesses.
And then we try to do
whatever we can to help out.
We've done like live
printing events,
so we'll
promote their business.
Last question I have is,
how do I get a ambient
ink t shirt like that?
Have anything in the trunk?
Don't have anything
in the trunk.
Like in the old days.
So we should start off
with revival records.
What does this
place have to do with
Eau Claire
in the music scene?
Yeah, it's
kind of like the main place
where people buy
their records and where
they like to kind of
give back to artists
in a more physical way.
And I think that's
so important and so,
so cool.
I keep hearing about
the music scene
here in Eau Claire.
What makes the
music scene here
particularly unique?
I think
it's definitely unique
in the quality and quantity.
Any day of the week,
you could go to
any kind of venue.
Definitely in the summer.
We like to get out
and have concerts
in the park.
There's people who
busk, even.
You can go into somebody's
basement and listen
to incredible music or
go to Pablo and see,
you know,
sit with twelve hundred
people and see a world
renowned artist.
One thing that I really like
about the rivers
going through town
is there's different
parts to get out.
You can, tube, You can swim.
And then along the river,
one of the things
that's grown has been
the the bike path
running path system.
It's
just completely exploded.
It makes a lot of sense
with the flow of the city
for commuting, walking,
running, biking.
We've basically taken
some main
veins of big trails
and interconnected them all
throughout the coolest
parts of Eau Claire.
So it seems like there's
a big social side.
You mentioned a group run.
You guys do group runs.
Yeah.
Our motto is fast
or slow, let's go.
It's pretty laid back.
A lot of people are there
for the time after
where they grab a drink.
And a lot of people
are there
for accountability.
All these
different activities
over the course of
all four seasons.
You kind of
see the same people
getting together for
different activities.
It's that welcoming
social spirit,
the bonding over
shared activities
that I think is the
essence of Eau Claire.
So come join the scene
wherever you are,
whatever you're into.
I'm willing to bet
you can find
your people here.
Get the inside scoop
on more
of your favorite places
to visit in Wisconsin
by listening
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