Already renowned for great food, fun festivals and fascinating places, this summer’s Badger State Best range from the opening of the new Harley-Davidson Museum in Milwaukee to the 50th anniversary of Broiler Fest in tiny Eleva.

Motorcycle haven about to open up

In the meantime...

Across the river from the new Harley-Davidson Museum, the Iron Horse Hotel, a luxury boutique hotel catering to motorcycle riders and business travelers is expected to also open summer 2008. The 102-room hotel will offer high-end amenities in cool and edgy accommodations that also include a signature restaurant and lounges, conference facilities, business and fitness center and a special covered parking area for motorcycles. (www.theironhorsehotel.com; 888-543-IRON)

On the home front

T-Bird Duo

A new taste

Finger-lickin’ good

This year is the 50^th Anniversary of the Eleva Broiler Festival, May 30-June 1, where residents of this tiny Trempealeau County town (population 635) celebrate their locally famous charcoal-fried chicken. It’s old-fashioned fun complete with a hot rod burn out, volleyball tournament, kiddie parade, tractor pull, old-timer’s parade and tractor pull, and a grand parade on Sunday afternoon. Where’s Eleva? Sixteen miles due south of Eau Claire.

Touring Lake Geneva

Lake Geneva earned its nickname as the “Newport of the Midwest” for its many lovely summer homes and estates built for Chicago’s wealthy. One of the most notable, Black Point, is now giving visitors a glimpse of the community’s grand past with public tours. The four-story, thirteen-bedroom mansion was built in 1888 for Conrad Seipp, a German immigrant and successful brewer from Chicago. Visitors arrive at the estate by boat – just as the Seipp family did a century ago. Nautically themed, the home’s observation tower can be seen from many points on the lake. Visitors learn about the historic lakefront community before taking a guided 1 ½ hour tour of the first two floors of the mansion and grounds. (www.cruiselakegeneva.com; 800/558-5911)

Roll out the barrel

Beer enthusiasts worldwide will beat a path to Potosi this summer for the opening of the National Brewery Museum at the site of the old Potosi Brewery. Following a $3.8 million restoration and sanctioned by the American Breweriana Association, the museum will include changing exhibits of all things beer including collections of beer labels, bottles, coasters, advertising materials and other memorabilia. A brewery transportation exhibit will show how the area’s trifecta of transportation (road, railroad and riverboat) influenced the local brewing industry. In addition to the exhibits, the Potosi Brewery, which operated for 120 years (1852-1972), will again re-open as a microbrewery and restaurant. An interpretive center for the Great River Road will also be a part of the complex. (www.potosibrewery.com)

Nip/Tuck at House on the Rock

A Wisconsin landmark is getting a face-lift. House on the Rock in Spring Green has been favorite of Wisconsin visitors for more than fifty years. Today, the famous attraction has begun a series of renovations and additions to make the experience even more enjoyable. The first phase, scheduled for completion in 2008, includes construction of a new welcome Center, improved covered walkways and sidewalks, renovation of the Mill Pond and installation of a new waterwheel, and the creation of an authentic Asian garden designed in the Japanese tradition. A second phase will include development of a four-season Conservatory overlooking the Asian garden and the addition of The Alex Jordan Historic Center that examines the life and work of the House on the Rock creator. The final phase of renovation, timed to open with House on the Rock’s 50th anniversary in 2010, will include a retail center, restaurant, and a plaza to showcase the attraction’s hundreds of container plants. (www.thehouseontherock.com, 800/334-5275)

A Civil War story you’ve never heard before

Nearly 150 years ago, the Civil War wrote a bloody chapter in the history of America. As the war opened, a series of stunning Confederate victories tempted several European nations to side with the south. At this crucial time, Russia’s Tsar Alexander II sent fleets to New York and San Francisco on a “goodwill” visit in support of the north and President Abraham Lincoln. His action kept Europe largely neutral during the war. Why did he do it? Although the two men never met, they struggled with a similar sociological problem: in 1861 Alexander freed 22 million Russian peasants from serfdom, just as Lincoln freed the slaves in 1863 with the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.

Now, for the first time, this compelling story is told in a major traveling exhibit of 200 fabulous artifacts organized by the American-Russian Cultural Cooperation Foundation in partnership with the Library of Congress, the Smithsonian, the Russian State Historical Museum, and the State Archive of the Russian Federation. The President and the Tsar: Emancipator and Liberator (Oshkosh Public Museum, June 21-August 31) is a powerful assemblage of artifact and art including original documents and photographs, rare paintings, gilded porcelain, rare copies of the Emancipation Proclamation and the Tsar’s Manifesto, Lincoln’s hat and coat, the contents of his pockets the night he was assassinated, his chair from Ford’s Theater, his original face cast from the Library of Congress, and more – much more. See it yourself. (www.oshkoshmuseum.org, 920/236-5799)

Art for all

Gilbert Proesch and George Passmore, two British sculptors who met in college, have produced a body of work over the past forty years notably characterized by brightly colored photomontages. Their work has been an ongoing, penetrating commentary on the punk anger and racial tensions of the ‘70s, the consumer capitalism of the ‘80s, and now the terrorism fears of today. Their media rich work includes drawings, sculpture, photographs, montages, movies, and even live performances. Works range from room-size installations to a renowned series of postcards.

The Milwaukee Art Museum’s Gilbert and George installation (June 14-September 1) includes 100 works that span the artists’ forty-year collaboration, as well as several pieces completed specifically for this exhibition; so, this is simultaneously a major retrospective and a premiere of new work. While their art deals with universal themes drawing fans and critics from all corners, it has a special appeal to gay and lesbian communities because of the artists’ life partnership and the themes they address. London’s Tate Modern is curating the exhibition. (www.mam.org, 414/224-3200)

The Greatest Show on Dirt

While the idea of black cowboys may seem unusual to many Americans, it is part of the history of the Old West. Texas was discovered and explored by the black cowboy named Estavanico, and more than a third of all the cattle trail drivers in Texas were black. Entirely black communities existed on the frontier with more than a half-million black families in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas alone.

Billed as “The Greatest Show on Dirt,” the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo (Wisconsin State Fair Park – West Allis, May 16-18) is the nation’s only touring black rodeo – a western extravaganza of horsemanship,  showmanship and fun that takes its name from the legendary black cowboy. Bill Pickett created bull doggin’, an event in which a 700-pound steer is chased down on horseback and subdued by hand. The rodeo will feature bull doggin’ along with bareback riding, bull riding, tie-down roping, ladies’ steer undecoratin’, ladies’ barrel racing, and junior barrel racing. Glynn Turman, a seasoned professional black cowboy and renowned film and stage actor, will MC the rodeo performance. (www.billpickettrodeo.com, 800/554-1448)

Designed for success

The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MmoCA) will premiere a new event in April 2008 with a fine art meets-interior design theme. Design MmoCA (April 25-27) will capitalize on the growing interest in high-quality home design. Partnering with the American Society of Interior Designers and the International Interior Design Association, design MmoCA will feature the talents of 15-18 juried professional interior designers from across the region including native Madisonian, Tom McHugh. Each will create a room vignette inspired by a work from MMoCA’s permanent collection. Each designer will work with a 12’ x 12’ space in MMoCA’s main galleries, creating either living, sleeping, working or eating spaces. In addition to the gallery showcase, Design MmoCA will feature an interior design lecture series in the museum’s 230-seat auditorium, as well as an opportunity on Sunday afternoon to meet-and-greet the featured designers. Design MmoCA hopes to piggy-back on the success of several other Madison events that weekend including the annual Crazylegs Classic Run downtown (April 26), the Great Midwest Alpaca Festival at the Alliant Energy Center (April 26-27), and the Capital City Jazz Festival in Fitchburg (April 25-27). Design MMoCA is slated to become the next Madison signature event. (www.mmoca.org, 608/257-0158)

For more information on Wisconsin and free travel planning guides, including the Wisconsin Activity Guide, check out our maps and guides or call the Wisconsin Department of Tourism's toll-free number 1-800-432-TRIP/8747. Travelers can also obtain guides and information at the 8 Wisconsin Welcome Centers, located in select state-border cities.