We visited Chippewa Falls in May 2016 during Big Trip #1.

We left South Dakota early, anxious to get to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, so drove as far as our sanity could handle and picked as our destination a nearby town we’d heard of but didn’t know anything about: Chippewa Falls, WI. Turns out that’s where Annie Hall is from. (Thanks, EW, for the trivia!) And I just learned from that link that Jack Dawson (played by Leo in Titanic) is also from there. But, arguably, the most important thing to come out of Chippewa Falls is Leinenkugel’s beer, which is not our favorite, but I had a couple at dinner, because it seemed like the thing to do. We got to town too late to tour the Leinie brewery, and the Leinie Lodge was closed for a private event when we drove by, but it looked like a fun place to hang out. We were optimistic about the other brewery in town, but it was meh.

Chippewa Falls seemed potentially interesting, but we were only there for a few hours of non-sleep time, so I can’t say for sure–but while we weren’t impressed with dinner or drinks, we did love the campground.

Campground

We stayed the Fair Hill Campground on the Northern Wisconsin State Fairgrounds, in a big, grassy field backing up to woods, with full hookups, and with only a couple neighbors. It was so peaceful and CHEAP. I imagine when an event is going on at the fairgrounds it can be a zoo, but on a random night in May it was wonderful. After our big (not really) night on the town we set up chairs in our enormous “yard,” had a beer, and threw the ball for the dog under a big full moon.

Eating and drinking

I don’t think I’ll even bother writing anything about the restaurant, and J already wrote about the brewery, which does have potential. I hope it works out for them. Instead, here’s a picture of the bridge over the river across from the brewery.