2023 was a busy year for travel. Unfortunately for our kiddos they were not included in many of the preplanned trips for the year. Since they love to travel and explore the world just like myself we opted to do a fun family weekend in our home state. We spent 1 weekend this summer in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Green Bay is probably most famous for being the home of the Green Bay Packers NFL football team.
Saturday:
We drove from our home straight towards where else, but Lambeau Field. We planned this whole trip around a preseason football game. We are a big sports family and so the kids were thrilled to get the chance to go to their first NFL football game. The preseason energy at Lambeau Field is very fun and family friendly. Tickets are also very affordable and it makes it easier to swallow the cost for a family of 4 to attend a game. We got great seats right on the goal line 7 rows up. What an amazing first game for them! When buying tickets for any sporting event we always use Ticketmaster directly as they host most of the events and we've been burned by other sites in the past. They loved to cheer and get a special soda treat, and eat yummy stadium food. They made it the whole game and everyone had a blast.
Immediately following the game, we checked out Titletown district which is just across the street from the stadium. They have a park, some fun games and activities for the kiddos, a brewery for mom and dad, along with some fun restaurants, among other things. They also have a toboggan hill which is used for tobogganing in the winter. Since it was summertime it was just a big grassy hill that our kiddos along with all the other kiddos from the game were walking up and running down burning that post game energy. We all really enjoyed it.
Once the area started calming down we went to Kroll's South for an early dinner and walked around the outside of the stadium without the crowds and even got to check out some memorial bricks that I hadn't yet had a chance to see.
Finally we headed to the hotel, checked in, and let the kiddos stay up way too late enjoying the kids pool. We stayed at Country Inn and Suites by Raddison Green Bay East and it was absolutely perfect for what we needed and our kiddos ages. They had so much fun swimming in the pool, going down the kids frog slide, and making friends with other kiddos and families who were doing the exact same thing as us- enjoying a staycation.
It was safe to say day 1 was a success and everyone went right to sleep.
Sunday:
Yes, yes, I know Sunday is usually the day that football games happen but not during the preseason. We woke up and enjoyed free breakfast from the hotel. This is great when you are traveling with kids because its free with your hotel stay, they offer exactly what the kids want for breakfast, and its keeps your costs down. We also let the kiddos swim again in the morning at their request while we tried to patiently wait for Bay Beach Amusement park to open.
Finally (for the kids) the time came and we packed up our belongings, got ready, and hit the road. Bay Beach here we come! If you are not familiar with Bay Beach it is a very small family friendly amusement park with lots of smaller rides for younger kids along with a few larger rides for older kids. The best part is it is crazy affordable. Parking is free. Tickets are only $0.25 each (most rides require 1-4 tickets). we bought a total of $20 worth and our entire family rode rides all day and we left with tickets to spare! How crazy. They offer concession stands and a small arcade in the main building.
Our kids favorites were the bumper cars (L only as P was too small to ride), all of the mini rides- perfect for ages 2-6, and the train which rode throughout the park. We also did the big ferris wheel. We opted to not bring a stroller and it had both pros and cons. The park is not huge but my kids also love not having to walk.
At about 3pm we opted to leave the park and head to a local brewery (if you know Keith and I at all we LOVE trying local breweries in every place we travel). This is also a great time for the kids because most are very low key and family friendly. They have games and cards at most breweries so we play cards with them while we sip local beers. It's a win win for everyone. We visited Stillmank Brewery and each opted for a flight to try multiple options. The kids also got the very first brewery tour- the owners were there planning for how they were going to introduce tours to their establishment and saw the kids who were asking about the equipment. They were so kind and offered for them to be their very first tour. How cool!
Like all good things, this family weekend filled with fun had to come to and end so we got the kiddos into their jammies for the drive home and started the drive back to our house. On the way we stopped for some road food for dinner.
I know this will be one that they talk about for years to come. If you are thinking about traveling with your kids but don't know where to start something like this- a local weekend road trip is a great place to start. Weather you are local to Wisconsin or if you live elsewhere, each state has tons of wonderful places to explore. Sometimes we forget to explore our own backyards.
For those that are big sports/Packers Fans- its worth checking out the Green Bay Packer Hall Of Fame too while you are in Green Bay. We had previously done that so didn't explore that this trip but I do highly recommend that too!
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Maria Elizabeth
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