After Minneapolis we crossed into our 16
th state,
Wisconsin. We had planned to spend one night in
Madison, the state capitol, but
were so pleasantly surprised by the city that we ended up staying three nights.
Madison is one of only two cities in North America that is located on an
isthmus (the other is Seattle). Do you know what an isthmus is? I didn't either, so here goes: an isthmus is a narrow strip of land connecting two
larger land areas, usually with water on either side. The city of Madison is
banked on one side with Lake Monona and Lake Mendota on the other.
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| Lake Monona and the Madison skyline |
The State Capitol building, the tallest in Madison, majestically stands in the middle of the isthmus. We saw our first glimpse of it in the evening, when it was all lit up, and it was quite the site to see. I would say it rivals the US Capitol building in its grander.
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| The Capitol building in Madison |
We found a good place to park at the Babcock Regional Park campground just five miles east of town. On our first day in the city we drove to the visitor’s center and then left our truck there and explored the city by bike. One of the great things about Madison is that most of the attractions are free. The Museum of Contemporary Art is free, as are the Botanical Gardens and the zoo! There are also free tours of the Capitol building on the hour every hour, but we came fifteen minutes past, so we went on a self-guided tour by ourselves. We climbed to the observation deck of the Capitol and got great views of the lakes and the city. The
Monona Terrace is nearby. We climbed up to the patio there as well and were rewarded with more awesome views of the lake and the capitol.
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| A view of the Capitol building from the Monona Terrace |
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| The capitol during the day |
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| Inside the Capitol building |
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| Inside the Capitol building
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We toured the
Museum of Contemporary Art, then biked down
State Street (the popular walking street that leads from the Capitol building to the University of Wisconsin campus). We made it to
Picnic Point, a great place to view the Madison skyline from, and turned around there. We wanted to make it back in time for the free Jazz at Five concert series on the Capitol Square.
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| The Museum of Contemporary Arts in Madison |
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| A view of State Street from the Museum of Contemporary Arts rooftop |
The next day we toured the
Olbrich Botanical Gardens. You would think that just because something is free that it was probably of lower quality, but no. The gardens were stunning, with lots of infinity pools, beautiful fountains and many flower collections. There we found a beautiful Thai Pavilion. This pavilion was gifted to the University of Wisconsin by the Thai Government, and the university chose to place it in the botanical gardens. The pavilion was built in Thailand, then disassembled and packed into shipping crates. After crossing the ocean, it made its way to Madison and was reassembled in three weeks. The pavilion is crafted with no nails or screws, but is instead put together using notches in the wood, and is only one of four Thai pavilions found outside of Thailand. It was striking.
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| The Thai Pavilion |
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| Inside the Thai Pavilion |
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| At the Olbrich Botanical Gardens |
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| Fountains at the Olbrich Botanical Gardens |
Following the botanical gardens, we drove to the
Henry Vilas Zoo. What an amazing zoo, especially for one with no admission charge! There was such a great variety of animals there, and they all looked happy and healthy in their habitats. We saw polar and grizzly bears, lions and tigers, camels, rhinoceros, giraffes, alligators, giant tortoises, huge snakes, monkeys and exotic birds! Oh my!
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| Polar Bear |
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| Boa Constrictor |
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| Camels |
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| Mr. Giraffe |
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| A napping lion |
We really enjoyed Madison, and would highly recommend it to
anyone passing through Wisconsin.
To see more pictures of Madison, click
here.
Happy State Capitol Exploring!
M.
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