6 7 A A Green Bay, Wisconsin Packers information: Pack attack Stadium tours ($12-$30 adults), hall of fame It can be easy to catch Packers fever in Green Bay (unless you’re a Bears fan) ($12-$15 adults), training camp, tickets: By Katherine Rodeghier square feet last year and con- (920) 569-7500 or Daily Herald Correspondent tains a dizzying variety of green packers.com and gold gear, including a wall Tourist information: At the sight of light at the end of hats measuring 36 linear feet. Greater Green Bay of the tunnel, my pulse quickens. Cheesehead hats, though, have Convention & Visitors Deep in the bowels of Lambeau their own special place in the Bureau: greenbay.com Field, our tour group begins fol- store. After the Bears’ Super Bowl lowing in the footsteps of football victory in 1986, some Bears fans Wisconsin Department legends as we pass from the exit began calling Packers fans from of Tourism: of the locker room into the dark the Dairy State cheeseheads as travelwisconsin.com corridor. a form of derision. But Wiscon- Packers Heritage Trail Rousing music bounces off sin residents turned the scorn Trolley Tour: $25 and DAILYHERALD.COM/ENTERTAINMENT the concrete walls, but as I walk around by proudly adopting the $38, (800) 895-0071, toward the light I imagine hear- nickname and took to wearing ticketstaronline.com ing the insistent chant, “Go, Pack, hats in the shape of a wedge of PHOTOS COURTESY OF KATHERINE RODEGHIER Go.” With every step the open- cheese. Now a sea of shockingly You can tour Lambeau Field almost any day of the year except game days, holidays and special events. Where to eat: ing of the tunnel grows larger, the yellow headgear floats around 1919 Kitchen & Tap, blackness recedes and then I am Lambeau Field. perhaps he just didn’t adapt to Lambeau Field, 1265 in sunlight, standing next to the A fine-dining venue began college life, says trolley owner Lombardi Ave., Green grass near the end zone with the serving lunch and dinner inside and guide Susan Broberg. Bay, (920) 965-6970, massive bowl of the stadium ris- The 24 Walk of Legends Lambeau’s Atrium in July. But he missed football. 1919kitchenandtap.com No beer-and-brats dive, 1919 ing around me. monuments describe eras in In 1919, the meat packing com- Where to stay: For a Green Bay Packers fan, Packers football history and Kitchen & Tap (named for the pany where Lambeau worked this is hallowed ground. But even honor individual players, such year the Packers was founded) gave him $500 for uniforms and Green Bay is loaded for a rival Chicago Bears fan, it as Bart Starr. has a chef turning out creative he formed the Packers. They with chain hotels, and makes for an impressive sight. comfort foods and a bar serving played in an open field while they’re packed when It certainly will be on Thanks- pass through the players’ tun- craft cocktails, wine and more their manager passed a hat to col- the Packers play. giving night when the Bears meet nel onto the sidelines of the than 40 kinds of beer. lect money for the team. Thus Chateau De Pere in the Packers here on their home field for a view up in the stands. And there’s more to come. The began the tradition of fan-sup- suburban De Pere offers turf in a game commanding the Though Lambeau has a capacity Packers corporation will break ported football in Green Bay. a quiet retreat from the highest ticket prices in the NFL for 80,735, it’s the only stadium ground this fall on its 34-acre In 1921, the team joined the hubbub. The 36-room this season. SeatGeek.com puts in the NFL that has bleachers as Titletown District including American Professional Foot- boutique hotel on the the median ticket price at $552. its main seating. When spectators a 10-acre public plaza and 16 ball Association, later the NFL, Fox River has a retro The NFL ticket exchange shows bundle up in heavy coats on cold acres of retail, commercial and but their franchise was revoked French flair. Rooms from some as high as $10,000. days, fans say those 18-inch-wide residential development. Hin- after George Halas of the Chi- $109. It’s located at DAILYHERALD.COM/ENTERTAINMENT But you don’t have to be sit- spaces make for cozy conditions. terland Restaurant and Brew- cago Staleys (later the Bears) told 201 James St., ting in the stands to catch football Some tours go to the Cham- ery will build a brewery turning The Atrium at Lambeau Field is a hub of activity most of the year. You the league the Packers used col- (920) 347-0007, out 20,000 bottles a year. It will can start a stadium tour here, enter the newly expanded Packers Hall fever in Green Bay on Thanksgiv- pions Club, the MVP Deck, the lege players in violation of league chateaudepere.com. ing. It’s all around — and all year press box and the South Lawn offer tours and tastings as well as of Fame or eat in the new high-end restaurant, 1919 Kitchen & Tap. rules. The franchise was rein- long. observation deck for a close look a farm-to-table restaurant with stated, but the Packers-Bears at the Big G, a 40-by-60-foot ini- retractable walls, heated con- past 24 engraved granite and Lambeau was born is marked, as rivalry has remained to this day. Cheering from afar During training camp in late July and August, kids offer their bikes to tial crowning the field. By local crete, and heat lamps for tailgat- steel monuments stretching for a is the team’s early practice and Green Bay remains the small- players who ride them to the practice field. ordinance, no building in Green ing and other outdoor events. The mile along streets around Lam- playing fields. Watching training camp est city in the NFL by a long shot Bay can be taller than Big G. folks who run the American Club, beau Field. The 14-foot-tall mon- Visitors can save themselves In late July and August, Packers with a population of just 104,000 on the list before he or she is even Stadium stays open Visitors also come to Lambeau Wisconsin’s only five-star hotel, uments depict an era of Pack- some walking by taking the Pack- fans head to Green Bay to watch — smaller than Naperville — born. year round Field to tour the Packers Hall of will build Lodge Kohler, another ers history and honor individuals ers Heritage Trail Trolley that players during training camp. and just 250,000 in all of Brown What’s behind this fan frenzy? Fame, renovated in August and high-end property. Titletown is such as Lombardi, Bart Starr and offers two tours on select dates The days start early as kids line up County. But the Packers’ fan base Perhaps fans feel so invested in Visitors find something to see moved to the Atrium. Expanded targeted for completion in the fall Brett Favre. The Oneida Tribe of during football season. Along the with their bikes outside a door at far exceeds these numbers. At a the team because so many are and do at Lambeau Field almost to 15,000 square feet, the two- of 2017. Indians of Wisconsin sponsored way, they get a history lesson. Lambeau Field waiting for play- NOVEMBER 1, 2015 SUNDAY, typical game, 87 percent of spec- invested — literally. The Packers all year long. They gather in its level museum holds the Packers’ the walk to memorialize tribe Curly Lambeau, a local high ers to emerge. In a tradition that tators do not live in the county. In remain the only NFL team owned Atrium, where 56 weddings were 13 championship trophies and History unfolds on members who became Green school football star, left Green dates back decades, young fans fact, season tickets holders reside by its fans. More than 360,000 held last year, and line up for a replica of Coach Vince Lom- Bay’s first professional football Bay to attend Notre Dame Uni- offer their bikes to players to ride in all 50 states and several for- have shares in the Packers corpo- first-come, first-served stadium bardi’s office. Interactive exhibits walking and trolley tours players. versity where he played as a to the training field a couple of eign countries. Those tickets have ration. With no billionaire owner tours available except on game contain historical artifacts, audio While visitors pick up plenty of The self-guided Packers freshman for Coach Knute blocks away. It’s quite a sight to been sold out for years and the to bail them out when times get days, holidays and special events. and video clips and show Pack- Packers history at Lambeau Field, Heritage Trail starts in down- Rockne. He came home for see a hulking football player rid- number of fans on a waiting list tough, the corporation has to Three tour options range from ers legends describing historic more awaits on two self-guided town Green Bay with 22 bronze Christmas and never returned. ing a tiny kid’s bike, his knees hit- would fill Lambeau Field almost come up with creative ways to one to two hours. games. walking tours and a seasonal trol- plaques marking spots signifi- It may have been the tonsillitis ting the handlebars, as its young to capacity. Some ardent Packers boost revenue. Increasingly, it All tours peek inside some of The Packers Pro Shop at ley tour.