As the fall semester begins, UW-L will be lively with welcome back events that will provide numerous activities for students, new and old, to engage in. However, once the “back to school” fever dies down, students may be left wondering what else there is to do in La Crosse.

When considering venturing off campus, students usually opt to climb Grandad’s Bluff, explore Hixon Park and visit The Pearl for ice cream. While those activities are exciting, even the person with the sweetest of a sweet tooth can tire of the Pearl.

One of the best things you can do is to simply explore downtown for the afternoon. Just walking around, you can run into the Antique Center of La Crosse on 3^rd street, home of just about every oddity ranging from old lumberjack axes to typewriters (forewarning DO NOT play with the typewriters, I know it’s tempting but don’t do it).

Nearby on 4^th Street, there is Deaf Ear Records which sports “the largest selection of LPs, CDs, DVDs, comics, collectibles, games and all things to please your inner geek”. It’s a perfect place to unwind after spending your first few weeks pretending not to be a geek in an effort to make more friends, unless you have no shame and embrace your nerdy-ness.

Perhaps you’re really looking to uphold the “college was my rebellious phase” stereotype and get a tattoo or piercing to surprise your family with at Thanksgiving? If so, then walk on over to Main Street when you can go to Blue Line Tattoo or Mind-Altering Tattoos and go nuts. If you’re like me and like the idea of tattoos but claim that it’s “too expensive” and you “don’t know where to put it” to cover up your overall cowardice, you can look at the samples instead!

If you’re the type of person who likes a challenge then the La Crosse Escape Room would be perfect for you. Here, you and some friends can choose from several rooms and must solve puzzles to escape.).

Alternatively, if you have a vendetta against the La Crosse Escape Room, you can venture back to 4^th Street to The Great Escape of La Crosse and do their room instead. Either way, you are guaranteed a fun evening with your friends.

There are plenty of other options downtown, but for those of you who seek more “out of the way” consider destinations like the legendary Dave’s Guitar Shop south of downtown home of 2500 guitars in stock. Just north of La Crosse is home to French Island’s Shenanigans where you can play paintball and laser tag as well as rock climb and fight in human hamster balls. Both are great options to relive your childhood dreams of being a rock star or bring out your competitive edge.

If the Spice Girl you most identify with is Sporty Spice, then you can take a gander to Copeland Park to catch some La Crosse Loggers baseball or mixed martial arts fights. You can also go to Green Island Ice Arena and ice skate. If you are cold-averse then might I suggest High Roller Rink where you can roller skate instead.

I’ve merely scratched the surface of what you can do in this great city and there’s plenty more you can do in the surrounding area as well. Now it is up to you to muster up some courage and tell your friends that you don’t want to go on your 8^th Bluff Hike and you instead want to shoot them with paintballs. Click here to view a map of all activities mentioned above.