Bumper stickers have for generations declared “Escape to Wisconsin.” The Department of Tourism shelved it for other “genius” PR slogans, but so overwhelmingly opposed were the citizenry that the state chambers of commerce association resurrected it. Succinctly Wisconsin: a retreat, a sojourn, a mental breather — a genuine escape.

Wisconsin is truly Midwestern. Incapable of braggadocio, it’s generally content to remain in the middle on most things — except such important issues as livability quotients, at which it tends to excel. Superlatives about the place abound: It’s one of the top five most livable states in the nation; it’s the Midwest’s overall most popular travel destination; it’s one of the country’s most ethnically rich regions; it boasts the planet’s most diverse glacial topography, countless glacial pools and streams, the United States’ middle section’s most amazing cataracts, and an immense North Woods region so big the national forest has to have two names.

Recreation is second to none — tops in bicycling (on and off road), cross-country skiing, snowmobiling, fishing, and scenic hiking trails. Some of the country’s largest events. Unrivalled ethnic heritage sites. Wisconsin, in short, puts the lie to all those clichés about the “bland and boring” Midwest.

John Muir gaped awestruck at the mighty Great Lakes, the minor seas leading to a lush new home — the state with more Great Lakes shoreline than all but Michigan.

Call it the Doorway to the New World for immigrants. (Today, Wisconsin’s “Door” — Door County — just happens to be one of the most phenomenal Midwestern getaways.)

Ah, but what would an escape be to Wisconsin without the Great North Woods? Lolling in a canoe or rowboat on one of the incomprehensibly large numbers of primeval icy glacial lakes, surrounded by three million (plus) acres of public verdancy. Sure — got it in spades. Cartographically dominated by shades of green, Wisconsin shares one of the United States’ highest concentrations of public forest with its neighbors. (Incidentally, we’ve got as many lakes as Minnesota!)

Then where are all the people? Ah, Wisconsin is, believe it or not, urban as well as rural. Go figure — Milwaukee is quite likely one of the most representative — and best preserved — ethnic mosaics in the country. Down the road lies the time-warp state capital of Madison — an island surrounded by reality, as they say, and a repeat winner of Money magazine’s “Best Place to Live” award. Between the two population centers — fields, farms, forests. And tons of eminently friendly folks.

The people of Wisconsin in toto, I’m happy to report, are clearly and proudly the type who will chat you up and consider you a friend five minutes after they meet you. This as much as anything is what makes national media rank the state so highly in national polls.