La Crosse (pop. 51,818) was named by fur-traders who witnessed local Winnebago Indians playing the game. It’s an attractive place, but you wouldn’t know that coming into town from the north; thanks to the town’s location astride the I-90 freeway, mile after mile of food-gas-lodging establishments compete for attention. Successfully run the gauntlet and your reward will be finding the century-old downtown, the tidy residential neighborhoods, and the leafy University of Wisconsin—La Crosse campus. Slap Spartacus on the theater marquee and the whole place could easily be mistaken for a giant Eisenhower-era time capsule.
The biggest sight to see in La Crosse is the World’s Largest Six-Pack, right on the GRR on the south side of downtown. La Crosse–based Heileman was widely recognized around the upper Midwest for its “Old Style” brand beer, and its brewery was famous for its giant fermentation tanks painted to look like the world’s largest six-pack. Alas, a few years ago Heileman’s brewery was bought out by Miller, which immediately whitewashed over what had long been a cherished local landmark. Then a local company took over the brewery, and brought back the big Six Pack, which when full holds enough beer to fill 7 million real-life six-packs.
The best overview of La Crosse is two miles east of downtown at the end of Main Street: Grandad Bluff, a lofty 590 feet over the city, gives a grand view of the Mississippi and the two states along its opposite shore. The view is a balm to any aesthete jangled by the commercial neon carpet that welcomes travelers, too, for La Crosse actually looks rather attractive from above. Listen closely and you might hear the University of Wisconsin marching band practicing below.
