Madison, WI - July 7 - 12, 2006
On July 7th we hitched up our newly repaired home and headed northeast from Cedar Rapids, Iowa bound for Madison, Wisconsin. Susan had her long distance sights on Madison since it was featured in Money magazine as one of the most livable small cities.
We selected Lake Farm County Park located on the Capital City State Bike Trail south east of Madison. Biking enthusiasts will love this park with its many miles of paved trails, as well as hiking paths. Hiking paths in Wisconsin and Iowa are a bit different than those found in mountainous areas. They are basically eight-foot wide swaths mowed through six-foot tall prairie grasslands.
The day after we arrived, Madison was hosting the Capital City Art Fair on the Square and the slightly less up-scale, Art Fair Off the Square. The Square surrounds the Wisconsin Capitol Building in downtown Madison, which is situated on an isthmus between two lakes. The "On the Square" art fair was huge featuring over 500 very talented artists and artisans, and tens of thousands of attendees. Susan fell in love with a very unique and colorful purse. However, the affair was brief as she determined that a $400+ purse just did not fit with our lifestyle.
While at the Fair, we escaped the heat and the crowds to tour the incredibly elegant Capitol Building and admire the cows. Holy Cow! The "Dairy State" was sponsoring the Cows on Parade so there were cow sculptures everywhere with amusing entries such as the "Cow Chip" "Cowabunga" and "Georgia O'Cowffe".
We also spent several hours at the Olbrich Botanical Gardens on Lake Monona, one of the city's five lakes. The lovely gardens are the result of one man's vision for a badly polluted marshland on the eastern edge of Madison. In addition to many beautiful flowers and plants, the Gardens showcase a golden Thai pavilion, or "sala", designed by Thai artisans. The pavilion was shipped to Wisconsin and assembled on site. It is one of only four salas located outside of Thailand.
