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As many cows as humans call WISCONSIN home. About four million
of each eat to their hearts' content in this rich, rolling farmland,
which has a higher proportion of overweight people than any other
state. However, America's self-proclaimed "Dairyland"
is more than just one giant pasture. Beyond the massive red barns
and silvery silos lie endless pine forests, some 15,000 sky-blue
lakes, postcard-pretty valleys and dramatic bluffs. The state, whose
Ojibway name means "gathering of the waters," is bordered
by Lake Michigan to the east, Lake Superior in the north and, to
the west, the Mississippi and St Croix rivers. Only the southern
boundary, with Illinois, is dry.
The history of Wisconsin exemplifies the standard formula for westward
expansion. Seventeenth-century French and British explorers began
by trading with the Native Americans and soon ousted them from their
land. The European settlers who followed - predominantly Germans,
Scandinavians and Poles - tended to be liberal and progressive;
such major national social programs as labor laws for women and
children, assistance for the elderly and the disabled, and unemployment
compensation were rooted here. On the downside, Sen. Joseph McCarthy,
the infamous 1950s witch-hunter, was born in Grand Chute, former
headquarters of the right-wing John Birch Society.
Wisconsin today is best known for its liquids. The milk from all
those cattle yields cheeses of all kinds, while the beer , as the
song says, is what made Milwaukee famous. Sparkling Madison apart,
Wisconsin's other cities - LaCrosse, Green Bay, Oshkosh - can veer
toward the dull side, but they're also clean, safe and amiable.
The smaller towns can be distinctive and charming.
You'll be hard put to explore Wisconsin's remote north, or key
locales like the Door County peninsula, without a vehicle. Public
transportation is better in the south. Milwaukee and, to a lesser
extent, Madison are hubs for Greyhound and Amtrak. Five trains daily
connect Milwaukee and Chicago, a ninety-minute journey, while one
crosses the state in the south en route for Seattle, via Columbus
(near Madison), Portage, Wisconsin Dells, Tomah and LaCrosse.
See what Wisconsin car rentals has to offer today. Choose a link
above to view today's special Wisconsin rental car rates from different
agencies! Click here to get started with a car
rental quote now!
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