Having Fun Locally: The Eau Claire River Walk and Alethea's First Visit To A Mall Play Area

This week's travel post is the last post in my "Having Fun Locally" series.  I've spent the past few weeks sharing some of the things I did with my daughter, son-in-law, and grand baby when they were visiting me for two weeks during the summer.  I hope they encouraged you all to take advantage of all the fun places and activities you have where you live.

I've shared the Eau Claire River Walk and their amazing downtown development and renovations many times on this blog, and I really wanted my daughter to see it.  She spent a lot of time in downtown Eau Claire during her teenage years as she performed at the Eau Claire Children's Theatre and took lessons and participated at other events at the University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire.  She was blown away at how much everything had changed, and how beautiful the downtown area was now.

 We enjoyed a picnic lunch on a bench on the river walk, and then we let Alethea run around for awhile.  She loved the area with the span of green lawn and she was so fascinated by the large boulders.  The circular area of bricks, reminded me of the scene in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy first starts following the yellow brick road.

This is a natural amphitheater area on the river walk that is used for presentations, but a lot of hipsters like to picnic here when they're on lunch break.

Eau Claire is a old lumber city so it is built around a river.  There are several real cool vintage bridges  left over from that period in history that are still standing.  Most are used only as walking bridges today.  I think they add such a cool vibe to the city:  a mix of old and new.

I didn't take a whole lot of pictures this day as we were running late on time, but I did a very extensive post on the Eau Claire River Walk last year if you want to check it out HERE.

The reason we were short on time this day is because I had a car appointment.  I didn't want Alethea to get bored as I waited for them to fix my car, so I dropped Ashley and Alethea off at our local mall so she could play in the play area.  Alethea's mom isn't much of a shopper, so Alethea had never been to a indoor play area before.  At first, she was a little intimidated, but once she grew comfortable, she had a blast.  She was so excited when I returned from the car repair shop because she wanted to show me how she could go down the slide.

What a little doll she was!  She had so much fun at this play area.  I will have to remember to bring her back here to play this fall/winter.

Well, that concludes my "Having Fun Locally" travel series.  Next week, I'll begin my fall foliage travel series.  Last weekend we met up with our children at Devil's Lake State Park and went hiking.  We then spent the evening at a small water park hotel, and the following morning walked around downtown Wisconsin Dells.  It was so wonderful seeing the kids and Alethea again.  It was cold, and a little rainy, but we still had fun!

Have a Great Day!  Amy

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A Mt. Simon Park Mystery and A New Restaurant

 A few weeks ago I shared that my husband and I have been having "Sunday Fundays" exploring our own hometown.  We have lived in the area for over 25 years, yet, there are so many places we have never visited.  One of them, I'm going to call "The Mystery Park", otherwise known as "Mount Simon Park".

I have seen many beautiful photos on FB over the years from friends who have gone hiking there, but I had never been there.  So when my husband and I were deciding what to do on our next Sunday Funday I said I wanted to go to this park.  We looked it up on the Internet and thought we knew where we going.  Now, keep in mind, even though we have lived in Eau Claire for 25 years, this is not a easy city to navigate.  The Chippewa and Eau Claire rivers run all through the city, so there are lots of bridges and twists and turns that make no logical sense.

My husband drove to where he thought the park was.  We did see one tiny sign with a arrow pointing in the direction of the park.  We headed up that road and reached a dead end with a small gravel parking pad.  "Can this seriously be it?" we thought.  There were two worn paths leading off of the parking pad, so we decided to take one of them.  The first one followed a chain link fence.  We walked on that one, then determined to turn around and get on the other path, because it didn't seem to be a real path.  How odd that there were no signs stating we were at the park, and no trail maps.

The second path was much nicer.  And we did meet other hikers on this path, so even though there were not any maps, at least we felt we were on a designated trail.  It was a very short climb to this rock...one I recognized immediately because I saw it on FB so many times.  "Yes!"  I said to my husband, "We really are in the right place!"

When you climb up on this rock from the other side, you get this view.  The Chippewa River is in the background and the city of Eau Claire can be seen on the right (not visible in this picture).

Well, after we climbed to the top I said to my husband "Is that all this park is?  Just some rugged trails in the woods to get to this viewpoint?"  He said "I guess so."  It just didn't seem right to me.  People always posted such amazing pictures of this place.  I felt we were missing something.  But we agreed to just have lunch and then call it a day.

My husband did surprise me by taking me to a new restaurant that just opened up in Eau Claire:  "Cowboy Jacks"!  It is located in a swanky new development in Eau Claire (actually the city of Altoona) right next to the Eau Claire River.

"Cowboy Jacks" offers both indoor and outdoor dining...and the outdoor dining is AMAZING!  I can't even begin to tell you how amazing this place is!  FINALLY Eau Claire has a exciting restaurant with great ambiance that one usually only finds in bigger cities.

It was super hot this day, and we were overheated from hiking, so we chose to eat inside and enjoy the air conditioning.  Although I can't wait to go back and enjoy the outdoor dining soon.  The interior decor was so fun!  It was very difficult to get quality pictures with the dim lighting, but I did my best.

All the decor was western from the top of the ceiling to the floor.  I loved this wagon wheel light fixture.

The restaurant had a sports bar atmosphere so there were T.V.s and screens everywhere playing all different sports.

There was a huge fieldstone fireplace on the back wall, and the windows had river views.

They have a variety of seating options from booths and bar stools, and even this couch!  Great for having late night drinks or coffee!

The menu was fabulous.  They offer a variety of burgers (including buffalo burgers), sandwiches, salads, wraps, fish, barbecue, and more.  I ordered a wrap and my husband got a patty melt.  Everything was absolutely delicious, but a bit on the pricey side for us.  I ended up only being able to eat about half my wrap because it was so huge;  it was then that we determined if we came back, to split a meal to save money since I can't eat it all anyway.

They have very unique twisty french fries.  They are so yummy!

Now don't laugh, but my favorite part of my meal was this Raspberry Ice Tea.  Maybe I was dehydrated from the heat and hiking, but this tea was SO GOOD!  I think I downed three glasses, I loved it so much!

 After we were done eating, we snooped around outside to check out the outdoor eating area.  It had a street level, and two balcony levels.  AMAZING!  Look at the lights!  I bet it's so pretty at night.  I would love to come here for dinner after dark sometime.

I seriously cannot believe anything as cool as this place is in Eau Claire, Wisconsin!

The outdoor seating was a mix of booths, patio furniture, a bar seating area, and even swings.  Yes, you heard me correctly, swings!  See the table at the top end of the picture under the pergola?  There are two swings the children are sitting in.

I noticed they was construction going on next too this restaurant.  I wonder what else they plan on building here?  So EXCITING!

This is the outdoor bar area.  I love the fire pit!  It reminds me of a lot of the restaurants in Florida.

 And the people sitting in this area get a lovely view of the Eau Claire River.  See the path next the river?  That's a bike path that follows the river connecting Eau Claire to Altoona and Chippewa Falls. My husband and I hope to get bikes this fall and go bike riding on this path.

Now I'm sure anyone who lives in a big city is probably laughing at my giddiness over this restaurant, but seriously, I've lived here over 25 years, and the most exciting restaurant in town was Texas Roadhouse, so this is really something special to me!  I usually only see restaurants like this when I travel.

But now, back to Mt. Simon Park.  When we got home, I looked Mt. Simon Park up on the Internet again and saw lots of pictures of areas we did not see.  So, my husband and I determined to go back the following weekend.

On our second visit, we found the main entrance to the park.  There was a playground, and an actual sign with the name of the park.  There was a road leading into the park which comes to a dead end.  There is a boat landing there, along with pavilions to picnic in.  But I still didn't see any trail maps.  We found two unmarked trails.  One went up, away from the river, and into the woods.  We didn't take that one because we figured it would just take us to the peak of Mt. Simon, where we were the week before.  So we decided on the trail next to the river.  It was a nice trail, but very rugged and I didn't have the correct footwear so unfortunately we couldn't walk far before we had to turn around.

If you saw Monday's Fashion Post, those pictures were taken on this trail.  The two pictures of the Chippewa River below, were taken from the floating pier...before my husband suffered vertigo!  LOL! That funny story is also on Monday's Fashion Post.

I was disappointed, yet again, to leave this park feeling like I was missing something.  I've seen so many amazing pictures of people hiking along the river.  I'm sure we were on the right path, but without proper trail maps we couldn't find anything.  My husband and I started wondering if any of the paths were designated park trails, or are they just worn paths created by locals.  On the park's website, it does say that there are "hiking and biking trails throughout the area" but that's a confusing sentence.  That's not exactly saying "In the park".  And there are not any trail maps available for the park.

So, I went on YouTube and I found many videos of kids cliff-jumping in this park.  When I was watching the video I saw the same chain link fence we saw on our first visit to the park.  And then I saw them climb the bridge.  "NO!  There's no other way to get to the cliffs except over the bridge?  I'm not doing that!"  Oh, the courage (or lack of sanity) of these kids is amazing.  I included the video so you could see for yourself!

There are many videos on YouTube about cliff jumping in Mt. Simon.  I was going to comment on one of the videos asking for directions on how to get to this cliff, but I noticed someone else had already asked this question and didn't receive much of a response.  The videographer just replied "There are no maps.  Just ask a local when you get to Eau Claire.  Most locals know where it is."  I had to laugh at that response, because I'm a local and I tried twice to find it and failed.  But then again, if it involves crosses a bridge...I'm not going to do it! LOL!

I really hope there's some other way to get to see these cliffs other than climbing across this bridge!  I think my husband and I will go back in the fall, when the leaves are changing colors, and we will wear proper clothing and footwear and explore these trails. Hopefully, we'll discover all these fun spots.  In the meantime, I'm going to continue to refer to this park as "The Mystery Park".

Have a Great Day!  Amy

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The Eau Claire River Walk and We Have A New Ice Cream Store In Town!

About two years ago my husband and I left our small hometown church and started attending a big church in the nearest city about 45 minutes away.  It was a difficult decision but ultimately it came down to the fact that I had never, ever been happy at this small town church and I was trying to make it work for convenience sake.  After years of a lot of pain and trials, I just realized that this church was just not good for me.  I got caught up in the fact that we shouldn't think of a church for "what it can do for me" rather "how can I serve".  And although there is a lot of truth in that statement, a church is not just suppose to be a place just where you serve, but also where you come together with a body of like-minded believers who edify and lift each other up.  The problem was, I wasn't being lifted up.  I felt torn and ripped apart week after week and I was constantly getting my feelings hurt.  I would leave church angry and upset and it would take me an entire week to get over it, only to return back the following the Sunday and start the process all over again.  Eventually, there was a "straw that broke the camels back" and I left.  Or maybe it was God  giving me the final shove out the door because I couldn't do it myself.  Who knows?   But one thing I do know...leaving that church, as painful as it was, was one of the best decisions of my life.  It was such a toxic relationship.  Have you ever had one of those toxic relationships...you know the kind, where you love the person, want to be committed to the relationship, yet nothing is ever "right" about it?  You're constantly hurt, or your hurting them.  Finally, the best thing you can do is just to separate to stop hurting each other.  That was me and my relationship with that church.  Toxic.

For awhile, we didn't go to church anywhere.  My husband did not want to drive the long distance to Eau Claire when he already drove that distance five days a week for work.  We had services at home.  We would watch a sermon on the Internet, sing hymns, and then pray together.  It was a good break for us.  A time of healing.  But eventually, God put it on our hearts to check out a new church.  One we had not been to before.  At first, we went intermittently:  once a month or so, and the other Sundays we had home services.  But after a year of that I said to my husband "I know the drive is hard for you, but I really like going to this church.  It's the first time in twenty five years I've enjoyed a church as much as the church I grew up in.  I'd like to go more often."  He agreed, so now we are regular Sunday attendees!  We absolutely LOVE our new church.  I can't believe I'm saying that.  That I actually LOVE to go to church again.  I have hated, hated going to church for years.  Isn't that awful? I would literally start getting in a bad mood the night before just thinking about going to church the next day.  Yet I went.  Out of duty and obligation, but not out of love.  

So now you're probably wondering what all of this has to do with a river walk and ice cream.  Well, I will tell you.  Because our new church is so far away, we decided to make Sundays our Fun Days!   Even though Eau Claire is the nearest large city to where we live, other than work or shopping, we never spent much time there.  So every weekend this summer, we have been making up for that and rediscovering our home town.

Eau Claire has spent millions of dollars the past decade revitalizing their downtown.  I have to be honest and say that I haven't been paying much attention to it until now.  I use to spend a lot of time downtown when my kids were still living at home.  They were either studying music at the University, taking lessons, or participating in the community band or children's theatre, resulting in me driving them several days a week.   But once they left the nest over ten years ago, I stopped going downtown so I had no clue what was going on down there!  And boy was I surprised when I went back with my husband this one Sunday in July.

At first we went to a part of the river walk that isn't new.  It has been there as long as I can remember, which is at least 25 years because that's when we moved to this area.  It is a lovely paved bicycle path that connects Eau Claire to the surrounding areas of Chippewa Falls and Altoona.  Since we were on foot, we only took the path a short distance till we got to the old bridge that crosses over the Eau Claire river.  

It's a beautiful view isn't it?  Hard to believe that you are actually inside city limits.

This is the bridge from where the photograph above was taken.  It's a gorgeous structure, isn't it?

Originally built for trains, the bridge was converted to a trail in 2002.  An interesting fact about this bridge is that it has an S shape so it could cross the river between tracks running parallel to the river.

There is a viewing portion in the center of the bridge to enjoy the gorgeous views!

Behind me is Banbury Place.  It use to be a Uniroyal Tire Factory, but when hard economic times caused the factory to close in 1992 it was renovated into commercial, service, warehousing, manufacturing, and residential space.

After walking on the older portion of the path we ended up making a complete circle right back to where we parked our car.   We knew there was more trail just a couple of city blocks away, so we headed in that direction and that was when we discovered Ramones!

I had read about a old-fashioned ice cream parlor that recently opened in Eau Claire, but I had no idea where it was.  Imagine my surprise to just happen to come across it!

The second I opened the door I could smell the delicious aroma of freshly baked waffle cones!  YUM!

Ramones was a feast for the senses:  the smells, the charming old fashioned decor, and the delicious taste of old-fashioned ice cream. 

Ramones offers 24 flavors of hand-dipped cones, sundaes, or malts.  Their ice cream is low in air, and low in high fructose corn syrup, food coloring, and other additives.  And did I mention how charming the atmosphere was?  From the gorgeous wood and marble counter,  to the exposed brick wall, and cute ice cream parlor seating, Ramones oozes charm!

Now, I have no idea why, but I never got a waffle cone!  I smelled them from the second I stepped in the door and I drooled watching the employees make them, but for some reason I ordered a Butter Pecan Malt.  But, it was worth it, it was DELICIOUS!  I said to my husband, next time we go back (and we will!) I will get a waffle cone!

After our ice cream break, we headed back to the river walk.  Now this first part, I had seen before.  I could vaguely remember walking here with my kids and some friends.  It is new development,  but not recent.  It was beyond this spot, that I was blown away!

This building here, which is still being worked on as evidenced by the cranes, used to be a dump.  My daughter use to rehearse in the lower space for the Eau Claire Children's Theatre.  Now it's been totally renovated and is called the Haymarket Landing Building which provides fully furnished apartments for college students (gees, I wish I had an alternative living space like this when I was in college) and also commercial space. 

I can not believe this is the same building I use to take my daughter too.  I'm simply amazed!  And the best part is, they are not done yet.  It's actually part of The Confluence Project which will include a new community arts center with three performance spaces, galleries, offices, studios and more.

And from there, it just got better and better for everything was new to us.  We were absolutely blown away by the beautiful new brick walking paths along the scenic Eau Claire River and all the gorgeous perennial wild flower gardens.

Off the path was a large sand bar where people were sunning themselves.  It's a good spot to drop a kayak or tube in and take a ride downstream.

There were flower beds and planters everywhere, and they were all in full bloom and looking beautiful!

Of course we saw plenty of ducks enjoying this beautiful day as well.

Eau Claire has many old, historic bridges.  This one is The Phoenix Park Bridge built in 1903.  It was also converted to a trail after it was abandoned in 1981.

We enjoyed walking this trail so much.  The weather was perfect.  Everyone seemed so happy.  We saw so many hipsters that we laughed and I said to my husband "When did all these hipsters move to Eau Claire?"  It seems the renovation brought a new subculture to our red-neck town, and I LOVE it!  So often when we travel I would see communities similar to what I experienced on this river walk and I wished I lived there...now I actually do!

This is also a new development right across from the river walk.  We didn't spend much time exploring it (we'll save that for another day).  It is a mix of apartments, shops, restaurants, and office space.

My husband was having a blast taking pictures all day.  He was actually annoying me at times telling me to stop and pose.  At one point during our walk we became separated and a woman said to me "Where did your photographer go?"  I had to laugh, because I didn't even recognize her yet she must have noticed my crazy husband taking a lot of pictures of me.  Oh well, it is nice to have a husband who wants and enjoys taking my picture.  I know too many bloggers who have to beg their husbands to take their picture and/or use a tripod and timer.

Did I mention how much I LOVED the flowers!  Oh, they were a feast for the eyes.  And I what I loved most about them was that they were natural flower gardens.

I loved this field of balloon flowers.  I had balloon flowers in my own garden a long time ago, but it never grew like this.  What is their secret?  Seeing this makes me want to try this plant again.

After walking this trail, my husband and I decided it was time to purchase some bicycles so we can go further and see more.  I want one of those old fashioned bikes, in pink, with a straw basket!

This day was just one of many happy summer days where we had fun exploring our own hometown after church.  I'm so happy we decided to go back to church regularly and make Sunday our Fun Day!  Now I look forward to Sundays once again instead of dreading them...the way the Day of Rest was always meant to be!

Have a Great Day!  Amy

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