When it begins to seem like vacation days are mysteriously and almost magically slipping away, find at least a temporary distraction in the hometown of world-renowned illusionist, Harry Houdini. You might not be able to recover lost holiday pay, but visitors can at least have a stab at learning a few tricks to entertain cubicle-bound colleagues back at the office.

Travelers bound north along Lake Michigan out of Sheboygan, Door County bound, shouldn't be in so big a rush as to miss out on all the activity easily accessible from the cities Manitowoc and Two Rivers. Once an important center for naval ship-building industry, modern Manitowoc is now more noted for its charter fishing ? and cultural sights located in the vicinity.

With a population of 580,000 or so, Milwaukee, graced with vast green parks and a view of Lake Michigan as it shimmers off to some clandestine appointment with the distant horizon, somehow manages to strike a fine mellow balance between happening cultural destination ? there's always something on here, from sports to symphony - and laid back lakeside retreat.

Many a child has encountered early joys dressed to impress in overalls emblazoned with the "Oshkosh B'Gosh" label ? and it's the little city on Lake Winnebago that started it all. Oshkosh, cut through by the Fox River, is still home to the factory, but, closed to the public, the most visitors can do is buy an Oshkosh souvenir to take home. But don't think for a minute that this is a place to pass through quickly ? there's more to life than clothes.

Settled comfortably along the shores of Lake Michigan north of Milwaukee, Sheboygan, half-way up the side of Wisconsin, is a medium-sized city with a very Bavarian past. Efforts to set Sheboygan up as a destination popular with a 21st-century crowd have succeeded, awarding visitors with pleasant parks to wander and a fine clutch of cultural sights.