Visiting a Wildlife Sanctuary and Lambeau Field, WI…

Our last day in the Green Bay Wisconsin area started off with some sunshine so we took full advantage of it by driving over to Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary.  This  700 acre urban wildlife refuge  features live animal exhibits, educational displays and miles of hiking/skiing trails

In 1935 with the guidance of one of my favorite naturalists and authors, Aldo Leopold, the concept of a wildlife refuge was born when the 250 acres of land that the City of Green Bay had previously purchased to turn into a golf course was dedicated for such a purpose. Established in 1936 originally as a site for waterfowl rehabilitation it has become the largest park in the Green Bay, Wisconsin Park system.

This park is free and has several great trails which took us along a nocturnal animal exhibit, waterfowl habitat exhibit, white-tailed deer habitat exhibit, outdoor exhibits for Otter, Bobcat, Mountain Lion and Fox. Our favorite exhibits were the wolf habitat exhibit and the birds of prey aviary.

When we passed the wolf habitat we spotted the wolf and we were lucky enough to see and hear him howling. What a treat! We stayed and listened for a good while before walking to the birds of prey aviary. This was really nice as we saw all kinds of species of hawks, owls and falcons. The highlights were the Eagle Exhibit and seeing a Snowy Owl.

Although it is sad to see such magnificent wild animals in captivity places like this are needed. Most of these animals are ones that have been wounded and saved but unable to be returned to the wild. There was a Rough Legged Hawk with the broken wing, the Snowy owl with one eye and others with this place being their only chance at existence. So it is a sad yet happy kind of place, if you know what I mean…

We left the sanctuary and we decided to drive over to Bay Beach Park so we could gaze out over the great Lake Michigan. What we didn’t know is that it also houses Bay Beach Amusement Park. The park has all kinds of rides including a roller coaster and of course with rides there were thousands of children so we did not linger…

Next we stopped for one last visit to Lambeau Field a place we have visited and toured before. This iconic football stadium and its history were high up on our bucket list the last time we visited. I simply had to do the Lambeau Leap before we left the area… We loved our stay in Green Bay so much last time that we had to come back.  Certainly if we find ourselves anywhere near here, we will be drawn back. Despite intermittent rain showers, we had a fantastic time in Green Bay!

NOTE: We are moving to Eau Claire, Wisconsin today for the weekend…