1. When it's Friday night, drive a little way south of town to Stoddard and visit Rocky's, home of the best fish fry in the area according to the La Crosse Tribune. For $10.99, you can get all-you-can-eat fried cod, fries or baked potatoes, slaw, and dinner rolls. It's a little heavy (as fish fries tend to be) but it's really really good. There's a minimum half-hour wait on Fridays, so sit down at the bar and chat with the locals. If you find the couple that owns the D&D candy outlet, even better.
2. If you want sausages and smoked meats, cross the river to Minnesota then drive south to New Albin, Iowa and visit the City Meat Market downtown. All of the meat products are made on-site and smoked right behind the store. We grabbed some bulk Italian sausage, hot snack sticks (think tasty pepperoni-like thing), and chorizo (pronounced shore-eye-zoh by the lady at the counter). Apparently the smoked pork chops are fantastic, since we were the only ones not buying any.
3. A pretty trip up highway 35 takes you north along the Mississippi to Nelson, Wisconsin and the Nelson Creamery. Basically it's an excuse to take a ride and get ice cream, but the store sells local cheese and has wine tasting and other gourmet items.
4. On the way back from Nelson, stop at Buena Vista city park in Alma, Wisconsin. You'll drive what seems like straight up the bluff and find a beautiful park with an even better view of the town and river. Keep your eyes out for indigo buntings if it's summertime.
5. On Saturday, walk down 3rd and 4th streets in La Crosse to the farmer's market. Most of the stalls are manned by Hmong, chinese refugees that were displaced from Laos because we wanted them fight with us against the communists in the Vietnam War. Seems the communist regimes didn't like that, so once we left, they targeted the Hmong for retribution. Take a Wiki trip for the Hmong and see their interesting and unfortunate past. The produce and flowers are wonderful.
6. Once August hits, keep an eye out for bicolor super sweet corn. It's only in season for a month or so, and it has yellow and white kernels and is almost like eating corn candy. To pick out good ears, peel back the first inch of the husk and silks and look at the corn. You want kernels to go up the entire cob; if there is bare cob, move on. Kernels should be medium-sized and tight-looking. Small kernels mean the corn was picked too early, large kernels can indicate a starchier ear. If the kernels look mushy, move on. No bugs are allowed in the ear either. Don't worry about offending the merchant by doing this; if you look around, most people will be doing it. Those that don't risk icky corn, and why waste money?
7. Finally, take a trip east past Westby into Amish country. Start at the Old Country Dairy on Highway D south of Highway 33. Pick up some cheese and cashew crunch, and ask for a map of the locals. You will hopefully get a piece of paper with a hand-drawn map of the area on one side, and a typed list of the families on the other indicating who they are, where they live, and what they sell. Don't expect stores when you visit them; you will likely do business in a reclaimed barn, in their workshop, or on a wooden stand filled with bakery. Bring cash; no electricity means no credit card machines. If you want furniture made, plan on a six month wait, and be ready to put down 20% at the time of the order.
So there you go. La Crosse is a beautiful town on the Mississippi River, so if you end up there, have a great time.
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