Where in the USA should 39-year-old men hang out?

Sebago Lake, Maine.

 

Just don't rent from this guy. It'll cost you an arm and a leg.

 

Mustang's suggestions are all really solid. If you're into fishing/outdoors, I'd add the area just south of Traverse City, from Ludington through, say, Cadillac, which has some great lakeside cabins throughout the area.

And regarding the minor league ballpark, if you choose a west Michigan town along Lake Michigan (Grand Haven, Holland), you can always take a quick trip over to Grand Rapids for a Whitecaps game.

Make sure you go there hungry and try a delicious Fifth-Third burger while you're there! [/crossthread]

 

Guys, right now I'm sort of bearing down on Wisconsin. Like the Wisconsin Dells area or Lake Geneva, mostly because of easy proximity from Chicago. Anyone have experience in either of those areas?

I'll also check the West Michigan areas within a couple hours of Chicago, but I think that stuff way up north like Traverse City is just too much of a hassle.

 

Lake Delton (Wisconsin Dells) emptied out into the Wisconsin River last year because of the flooding, but it's open again for boating (no fishing though since they have to restock the lake) ... so if it's fishing you're looking for, you probably should opt elsewhere. Casino nearby (Ho-Chunk), pretty good strip club (Cruisin' Chubbys ... not that I'd know anything about that), good golf courses and plenty of other extracurricular activities for a tourist town. There will be kids/families aplenty though because of all the waterparks, but you shouldn't have a problem finding a place to rent.

Lake Geneva is OK, despite the swelling of FIBs there in the summertime. No casino closest casino is Potowatomi in downtown Milwaukee, which is an hour drive. Otherwise if you want to boat and stay close to Chicago, west suburbs of Milwaukee have plenty of fantastic lakes ... Oconomowoc-Pewaukee area. Not sure about rental homes.

If you're looking for minor league ball, closest would be Appleton and the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Brewers Class low-A affiliate). However, there a Northwoods League team (wood bat, college-aged kids) in Madison, I believe. That's a fairly short drive from both the Dells and Lake Geneva. I think Kane County (Ill.) Cougars would be a short drive from Lake Geneva as well.

 

Austin.

 

Agreed. Avon/Beaver is a great little town for fishing, rafting, hiking, drinking.

Or go to Fort Collins, tour New Belgium Brewery and sample the products straight from the source.

 

If it were just me, I'd definitely just go back to Breckenridge. I live in California. Only reason I'm entertaining the other place is that four of the six of us live east of the Mississippi.

 

Bobcat: Here's a couple of tips about the Dells (if that's where you choose to go).

I've been there with the wife and kids a couple of times in the past few years, so regarding the food:

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: Mexicali Rose (overlooks the river, pretty good Mexican food, not-too-crazy bar prices)

STRONGLY RECOMMENDED: Paul Bunyan's -- a place where they pass around the dinner dishes "lumberjack style." I recall the fried chicken was pretty good, and so were the fixins.

RECOMMENDED: Moosejaw Pizza (you can't miss their delivery vehicles; a moose statue rides on top of the car! And the pizza's pretty good, too).

AVOID: Crabby's. Seafood buffet is way overpriced and not that good. Plus, the year we went, the much-hyped "pirate battle" walked the plank because they didn't have enough hired help (our Eastern European waiter was a real character, however, with plenty of dirt to dish about the place once we started griping).

Oh, and regarding the Eastern European workers. Not sure of your crew's marital situation, but there's plenty of college-age, early-20s girls who work at Noah's Ark by day and party by night. I'm just sayin' ...

 

Sorry, in July Austin fails the "not ungodly hot" rule.

With airfares and hotel rates so low now, how about farther afield? Like Hawaii?