Imagine fog rolling slowly down a glen. Like a ghost it creeps along, breathing on trees and covering entire buildings as it picks up lost souls from turn-of-the-century logging camps and rolls out onto the Chippewa River. If you ever wonder what happened to Paul Bunyan and his blue ox, Babe, they may be seen disappearing into the sunrise somewhere in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Nestled in the rolling hills and river valleys of Western Wisconsin, the Eau Claire Area offers natural beauty, outdoor recreation, a rich heritage, unique attractions, and activities that will keep you as busy as you want to be.

Our family passed through the Eau Claire area last summer. We were living in Minnesota at the time and had turned into quite the Midwestern weekend road warriors. Ready for a “break” from the open road, our trip to Eau Claire was figuratively (and literally) a breath of fresh air. While Eau Claire has a vibrant downtown (including some buildings tall enough for elevators), you really don’t notice it much from the I-94 corridor. With uninterrupted forests and pristine lakes and rivers, the area is a vacation paradise even for the residents who live there.

If you visit the website for Visit Eau Claire, you’ll find suggestion for seven unique ways to visit the Eau Claire area: for music and arts, a sporting getaway, a romantic escape, a bikers paradise, a nature tour, a girl’s getaway and a family adventure. The website touts, “The Unexpected Wisconsin,” and really these three words couldn’t sum up our weekend (family adventure, by the way) better.

We started at Action City, a place the kids had been begging to stop at each time our dirty minivan tried to sneak by at slightly over the speed limit. From the highway you can see go karts, mini golf, and a human maze. What you can’t appreciate from the left lane is the seemingly endless square-footage of indoor fun just waiting for pent-up energy. With a giant climbing wall, more go karts, a huge arcade area, rooms for birthday parties, a batting cage, lazer tag, bumper cars, and a toddler area, I dare anyone to say the b-word* and mean it (winter and summer or any other season).

Attached to Action City is the swank (yeah, baby!) Metropolis resort and indoor water park. While we did not don our bathing suits and show off our pigment-less skin, we did leave some hand prints on the door and heel marks in the hallway.

The Children’s Museum, located in historic downtown Eau Claire, is pleasantly, surprisingly large for a city of 60,000 people.With areas for just for toddlers, water exploration, “kid”struction, and exhibits like Body Smarts, each kid was sufficiently entertained. They eventually congregated to climb into and out of a giant mouth, just to hear the chomping sound over and over again (Did I mention the museum staff hated to see us go?).

For a late dinner, we made the short drive to the neighboring town of Chippewa Falls (originally a logging camp and still home to Leinenkugels Brewery). Having previously only been on the brewery tour, my experience in Chippewa Falls has mainly been along the river near downtown. However, if you venture out to Lake Wissota, absolutely stop at LaGranders Drive In (even if you only order a root beer float).

While you can order and eat from your car, if you have kids their gerbil gene will come to life on the pebble-covered paths between tables and around the gnome tree. We ate in a gazebo and the kids took turns pushing each other on the wooden “love seat” swings. Skip the ice cream and go for custard if you want the true Wisconsin experience.