Summer baseball in Eau Claire (Milwaukee, Madison: to rent, university, live)

[stanwood]

My son is being placed by his college university baseball coaches on the Eau Claire Express collegiate summer team starting in May of next year. Being from Texas he's pretty excited about playing ball when it won't be 100+ degrees everyday. The area is going to be radically different from what he's lived the past 19 years.

Right now I have a few general questions like what is Eau Claire like? Is there fishing in the area? Can mom and dad rent a cabin on a lake for a couple weeks of vacation?

We really know absolutely nothing about WI except it gets cold in the winter and y'all have a pretty darn good football team. Any advise and comments would be welcome.

[dreamhunter65]

Eau claire in general pretty good small city. He is joining a great team!Fishing is great all over in northern Wisconsin and yes can rent cabins on lakes in area pretty easy. Gets warm in summer and humidity can make worse. He should enjoy area and so will you if come up to enjoy the Northwoods.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by stanwood

My son is being placed by his college university baseball coaches on the Eau Claire Express collegiate summer team starting in May of next year. Being from Texas he's pretty excited about playing ball when it won't be 100+ degrees everyday. The area is going to be radically different from what he's lived the past 19 years.

Right now I have a few general questions like what is Eau Claire like? Is there fishing in the area? Can mom and dad rent a cabin on a lake for a couple weeks of vacation?

We really know absolutely nothing about WI except it gets cold in the winter and y'all have a pretty darn good football team. Any advise and comments would be welcome.

There are 16,000 lakes in Wisconsin. You'll have no trouble finding a cabin to rent for fishing. Eau Claire is not in the heart of Lake Country but there are a handful of decent lakes nearby. Be advised however that doing so may not be as cheap as you'd think since Wisconsin is a playground for city-slickers from Chicago, Milwaukee, and to a lesser extent, the Twin Cities. (Minnesotans have their own Northwoods playground so Twin Cities residents don't invade Wisconsin in the same volume as Chicagoans do.)

Eau Claire is a small state college town. It's clean and tidy for the most part, with the biggest issues facing the community being the occasional alcohol-fueled brawl between pubcrawlers. Its downtown business and entertainment zone are geared mostly toward the student body.

I've been meaning to catch a couple Madison Mallard games -- hope to get the chance this summer. They have a neat little stadium. Being an amateur league, who pays for his room and board? Are you and/or your son responsible for that?

[stanwood]

Dreamhunter: Thanks for the heads up on the warmth and humidity. Honestly, he's not too worried about that. I don't know if you've ever been to Houston in the summer but I can't imagine Wisconsin being like that. In Houston at 10:00 at night, and I am not exaggerating, the temp will still be in the low to mid 90's. The moisture from the gulf never goes away in the summer.

Drover: The kids stay with a host family. Room and board are provided by the families. They travel all over the northwoods in a charter bus. While on the road all expenses are paid by the teams. There will be a lot of time on the bus traveling to and from places as far away as Thunder Bay, Duluth, Battle Creek MI, and Waterloo, IA.

Now a really dumb question: How do you pronounce "Eau"?

Any other information about WI and Eau Claire is appreciated!

[Drover]

"Eau" rhymes with "Joe." Wisconsin used to be a French-speaking region so lots of places have French names. "Eau Claire" means "clear water."

And while it still gets warm and humid in Wisconsin, it'll still feel like spring in Houston. 3 days in a row above 90 degrees is considered a heat wave. Occasionally Eau Claire will go an entire summer without ever seeing 90 degrees at all.

[admiralsfan24]

Originally Posted by stanwood

Now a really dumb question: How do you pronounce "Eau"?

Like the letter O.

[blackdog_9]

Hi Stanwood,

I am originally from WI and actually am part of the Fadness baseball 'dynasty' in Eau Claire (You'll see what I mean if you check the Express rosters).

Eau Claire is a great city. Its close to Minneapolis/St.P for a little culture, it has a great university population, meaning a decent selection of restaurants and bars and stuff. It's just a nice mid-sized city. The winter weather leaves something to be desired (for me at least) but it doesn't sounds like that's something you need to be worried about.

There is plenty of fishing on all sides of Eau Claire. I will actually be traveling to Hayward, WI (1.5 hrs north of Eau Claire) this afternoon to go to my family's lake cabin to go ice fishing. The abundance of lakes and a really active fishing culture are all over Wisconsin. You will find plenty of folks happy to show you their favorite spots and there are a lot of self-employed guides with secret spots.

Aside from fishing, there are lots of other fun summer activities, many of which can be done from a "lake cabin" base. Kayaking, swimming, hiking, 4 wheeling, biking, and running are all popular in the summer, since its the only time WI folk can get out and enjoy the weather. There aren't any huge mountains or anything, but if you'd happy wheeling, running or hitting the throttle over smaller hills in some 70-80 degree weather, you'll be fine.

Feel free to PM me if you have more questions about specific stuff in the EC area.

[stanwood]

Blackdog,

Looks like you and your brothers have been tearing it up in Eau Claire!

How is life on the road during the summer? 70 games in 75 days seems tough to an old man. My son didn't seemed to be fazed by such a schedule.

Where did you go to college?

You can PM me the info if that's better for you.

[SportFury59]

Didn't Hank Aaron get his baseball start in Eau Claire? I have a friend who lived their back in that era and that's what he claims.
And Leinenkugel beer is brewed right next door in Chippewa Falls.

[dreamhunter65]

Hank Aaron did get his start in Eau Claire.