Madison is a Cool Town to Visit in Summer

I'm sitting in JT Whitney's Pub as I type this message. It has good "Badger Ale" and an awesome Internet Jukebox. I've not seen one of those before, but I've been told it's been here for 3 years.

It's beautiful outside, but I don't have a bike to ride on this fine day on the many bike trails Madison has. But I got a little adventure/tourism in this afternoon.

I stopped by a place called Mallatt's Pharmacy. It is a funky place. It sells some drug store items, but also wine/beer/liquor, and get this, one can rent costumes or buy them, including all of the encoutriments. The folks are friendly and knowledgeable about the community, and there were many locals in there, getting their costumes lined up either for a summer party or Halloween. The employees offered advice on make-up that they sell too. Cool.

Anyway, I asked for an address for the First Unitarian Church as I knew Frank Lloyd Wright had designed it. Not only did the pharmacist I asked give me the address, she also gave me the address to the Jacob House nearby that was also designed by Wright. She told me there were renovations going on at the Church, and sure enough, she was right. I popped those addies in my GPS and both places were easy to find.

The Church is bigger than I expected. I guess living in a big town and not a small city has conditioned me to smaller UU chapels. I could not go inside the place, but through the glass windows, I could see the elongated pipes of the pipe organ. I'm certain it's a very spiritual place. Maybe someday I'll come back and go to a service there.

The Jacob House is simple, but I like the shrubbery and the flowers, along with sweeping pines around.

I look forward to seeing more Wright architecture this weekend. We're supposed to go out to Spring Green and see his estate.

More vacation buzz l8tr...on the road with Benny.

Vacationing in Wisconsin

DH and I decided to take a few days off and get away somewhere that was cooler in temperature and a change of scenery. We had planned to go to Missouri originally, but with t-storms early in the week, which scare the begeezus of our dog, Mattie, we decided to change our plans.

So, we are camped in Madison. It's interesting place. Lots bigger than I remember it from visiting 12 years ago. It's not quite the quaint college town I recalled, although the university area certainly has kept in tact. We enjoyed a Mediterranean dinner, complete with cousocous and retisina, at a place called The Dardanelles.

But before dinner, DH and I went west to Iowa and Sauk Counties. The blue mounds are quite pretty actually, and the landscape of the quilt of soybeans, corn, and wheat, some in swirls, others that just lap over the hills, were breath taking at times. We followed the bike trails along the way with lots of trees.

Our trail ended next to Highway 23, near Talisean, Frank Lloyd Wright's home. We didn't go there, instead we opted for the very touristy, House on the Rock, a few miles down the road. It was a trip for any head and for anyone who loves collectibles. The house juts out over a rock, and has a beautiful view of the valley below, but otherwise, I had to confess I was laughing at Tour 1 (there are 3 one can buy), in which the designer must have either been trying to imitate Wright or was mocking the famous architect; I couldn't tell. And did it matter?

My DH was fascinated by the Organ Room, which by the time we got there, we had travelled at least a mile of up and down ramps and steps. Good exercise I suppose, but my feet got very fatigued by the ramps--the stop and go. Also, it was dark most of the time. Luckily, the place was AC'd, and not too many people were there at the time. Anyway, he liked the bizarre organs that Alex Jordan, the originator, did to them by taking parts out and adding tape player, tv screens, etc. Also lots of mechanical orchestras. To me, those was poor attempts at post-modern mixed media pieces, but beauty and art are in the eye of the beholder. The exhibit I found the most interesting was the collection of the cigarette lighters. The one I remembered was the Salem design of green and white. I didn't see one for Winston though.

I recommend the tour, but only tours 1 and 2 if you get tired of the overwhelming collections, or 2 and 3 if you are into indoor carousels.

It's another nice day, mid 70's. DH is about to faire du golf with a buddy who lives here, and me, I think I will do something unusual: shop and drive around.

No pics though until we get back.

More vacation buzz l8tr...