Green Bay Packers in Green Bay, Wis.: The Packers, whose camp Sports Illustrated calls one of the best and most fan-friendly (kids bring bikes that players ride, often toting the kids, to the field), practice across from Lambeau Field Aug. 8-9, 13-14, 18-20 and 24-26.

If you haven't taken a lake vacation yet, now is the time to go.

I love August. Thanks to all those kids who have to get home for sports and band practice, the lake resorts start lowering their prices the second week of the month,  though the weather still is perfect.

Many of the small resorts throw in the Labor Day weekend if people book the week of Aug. 23, and some start taking guests for partial weeks. Larger resorts offer  deals on their lodge rooms.

In Duluth, the presence of three tall ships for a new Maritime Festival Aug. 1-3 was a real coup.

Duluth's harbor already attracts flocks of boat-watchers in summer, and the magnificent re-creations of 19th-century battleships and schooners brought in tens of thousands more.

But if you missed the ships in Duluth, you can drive over to Wisconsin and see them in Port Washington, which will have five tall ships. And its public day sails still are available.

For at least half a century, white men in blackface have been considered tasteless. But white men in red face? They've been part of a popular outdoor pageant that brought busloads of tourists to a small town in southwest Minnesota.

But "Song of Hiawatha'' was performed for the last time Aug. 2, not because locals consider it an anachronism, but because it was too much work.

Steam locomotives are noisy, smelly and inefficient; that's why they've been commercially extinct for half a century. But the old engines are marvelously evocative, and those who love them are legion.

In Minnesota, the Friends of the 261 are running special sesquicentennial excursions of their 1944 Milwaukee Road steam locomotive (pictured). On Sept. 13, No. 261 will pull cars down the Mississippi from Minneapolis to Winona and back. And on Sept. 14, it will travel from Minneapolis to La Crescent, then cross the Mississippi to La Crosse and return on the Wisconsin side of the river, on a line that has been freight-only since 1971.

Nearly all of the state is back to normal now, and to entice tourists to come back, more than 200 inns, restaurants and attractions are offering discounts. They're not huge, but they're worth a look if you're planning to visit this summer.

Already tired of mosquitos? Head for southeast Minnesota.

That's karst country, where porous limestone lies just under the surface and rain sinks into fast-moving underground streams that are chilled to 48 degrees when they run through the many cave systems. Trout like it, but mosquitoes don't. There's no standing water, so nowhere for them to breed.

On the three-hour cruises, passengers collect samples of microscopic plants and animals and learn how forests and trees help protect water quality and habitat. Cost is $20.

First, there was "Little House,'' the book. Then "Little House,'' the TV series, and "Little House,'' the pageant. Now, we have "Little House,'' the musical.

Seventy-six years after Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote her first book about life on the frontier, the world remains enthralled by the little half-pint who loved hearing her Pa play the fiddle. On Aug. 15, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis hosts the world premiere of a new musical, "Little House on the Prairie,'' with Melissa Gilbert, who played Laura on the TV series, playing Ma.

The beautiful southwest corner of Wisconsin was walloped by rains and floods earlier this month, but now trails and rivers are ready for visitors.

The famous Elroy-Sparta State Trail (pictured) is open, though the 400 State Trail isn't because of bridge damage. The lovely Great River State Trail, between Trempealeau and Onalaska, is open and in good condition.

In Wisconsin's coulee country southeast of La Crosse, Vernon County always has been a kind of Shangri-La. Norwegians and freed slaves settled on its ridges and in its deep valleys; then came the Amish, followed by artists, organic farmers and urban escapees.

It's a fantastic place to visit. Yet it never had a cool place to eat — until now.

There's a new stop to add to the beer-lover's tour of southern Wisconsin (See True Brew).

The Potosi Brewing Co. reopened June 14 in the far southwest corner of Wisconsin. Started in 1852, it became the fifth-largest brewery in Wisconsin, in later years producing Holiday, Garten Bräu and Alpine Lager. It closed in 1972.

This summer, the University of Minnesota's College of Continuing Education really is in top of the trends.

Its one-day summer day camps for adults were created for the many people who don't get enough vacation but want a quick getaway to recharge mental batteries. And now, it should benefit from the high price of gas; once people get to the St. Paul campus, the university does the driving.

For a list of ethnic festivals from African-American to Ukrainian, see Celebrating roots.

For summer food celebrations, see A feast of festivals.

This is the weekend to try out something new in Wisconsin.

Admission to state parks is free on June 8, when use of trails also is free. Fishing is free June 7-8.

On June 7, National Trails Day, there will be free guided hikes, especially on the Ice Age National Scenic Trail, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a Mammoth Walk across the entire state.

In the northwest corner of Illinois, a little town called Elizabeth is upstaging its better-known neighbor, Galena.

Women flock to pretty Galena for its shopping and sampling. But Galena was built by miners and is named for a mineral, while Elizabeth is named for a heroic woman — three of them, all named Elizabeth.

In northern Minnesota, not every little fishing village had a place like Chase on the Lake.

But Walker did. When the Tudor-style hotel opened in 1922, it was the most luxurious and expensive hotel north of Little Falls. For many years, it was the place to be in this Leech Lake town, named for a lumber baron whose fortune was plowed into a famous Minneapolis art collection.

Now, there's wild parsnip, the evil sister of Queen Anne's lace. A native of Europe and Asia, it has spread like wildfire across Wisconsin and southern Minnesota, and fire is what it feels like on exposed skin.