Tiny Wisconsin Town Named One of America’s ‘Coolest Small Cities’

Wait, small towns are actually cool? I was always told the opposite.

When travel bloggers are talking about visiting small towns, they use words like "charming" and "quaint" to describe the sights, very rarely is it described as cool.

So when I was looking through Thrillist's recently updated list of Coolest Small Cities in the U.S. I didn't know what to think.

When I saw them talking up places on the east and west coast of America, little did I think Thrillist would make a stop in Wisconsin but when I saw a tiny town in Michigan get some love, I thought anything is possible?

That's when I noticed Thrillist talking about Eau Claire. It's in the northwest part of Wisconsin, about a 3 and a half hour drive from Rockford and about 4 and a half from Chicago.

So it's not really close to us in Illinois but it might be totally worth the drive at least based on what Thrillist is telling us.

The homegrown music scene is the big draw, mostly thanks to Eaux Claires. The two-day music festival has drawn acts like Chance the Rapper, Erykah Badu, Sufjan Stevens, and more out to America's Dairyland...There’s also a helluva lotta beer to be sipped in Eau Claire.

The article goes on to mention the plethora of breweries and restaurants in Eau Claire as well as mentioning the gorgeous Chippewa River.

Have you been to Eau Claire? If you've been there, tell us about your trip. I mean all the music, brews and grub sound like an amazing vacation spot.