Lambeau Field

Group travel to Green Bay offers football & flowers, cruises & culture, buffalo & beer

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• published: 08 Nov 2012
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By Aaron Ogg In football, a two-minute drill is a set of plays intended to move a team into scoring position quickly. Its focus is "clock management" - making the most of the little time you have with a fast yet well-designed plan of attack. Tour planners would do well to think of this strategy when crafting a greater Green Bay experience. Of course, there is no time limit imposed on any tour of this friendly, midsize Midwest city, home to the NFL's storied Green Bay Packers franchise. However, there is so much to see and do in this blue-collar place - unofficially nicknamed Titletown U.S.A. - that a sense of urgency is natural. Green Bay is so linked with Packers culture that one could create a meaty tour devoted entirely to its football legacy. On the other hand, the community is home to enough culinary excellence, aesthetic beauty and outdoor recreational opportunities that, conceivably, groups could go days without ever coming within 10 feet of one pigskin. But why on earth would they want to do that? Our advice? Groups should try the sampler platter and gobble up as much Green Bay goodness as they can before time expires. Consider a tour of Lambeau Field, the Packers' home turf, for football enthusiasts as well as anyone who appreciates hard work and gritty determination. Tour guides lead groups through the Lambeau atrium, club level, players tunnel and the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame. The team is a major source of local pride. During training camp every summer, area children line up near Lambeau in hopes that a Packers player will use their bicycles and scooters to get to the nearby practice facility. For a Packers vibe and a selection of brewpub fare sure to please any football player or fan, visitors should check out Titletown Brewing Co. It boasts a creative beer menu crafted by brewmaster Dave Oldenburg. Elegance flourishes throughout Green Bay Botanical Garden's 47 fragrant, colorful acres. This year, a patio for private events was added as well as a perennial garden featuring numerous cultivars of peonies, roses and iris. For a different view no less grand, groups can board the Foxy Lady, a 137-passenger dinner cruise yacht with two salons and two open-air decks. At the National Railroad Museum, groups of 10 people or more get a 45-minute guided or self-guided tour, 30-minute train ride and 15-minute theater presentation. The Green Bay area also is home to rich Native American heritage, which groups can explore with an Oneida Nation reservation tour. The three-hour experience offers historical and cultural education about the Oneida people, who came to Wisconsin in 1822. Visitors receive a guided tour of the Oneida Museum, tribal schools, a buffalo farm and other significant sites. From the Winter 2012 issue of Northeastern Group Tour Magazine. Read the full article online at http://www.grouptourmagazine.com/article/103052-Packing-it-in.html Subscribe FREE at http://www.grouptourmagazine.com/subscribe