Last Thursday I went on priceline.com and looked up car day rentals from Chicago. I was surprised to find car rentals were going as low as $25 a day. I had to jump on the deal and drive north to Wisconsin, a state 40 minutes from where I live yet haven’t seen.
So Saturday morning, Roman and I wake up, I get the car and he prepares the meals; and we first drive west from Chicago to Rockford and then up north to our first stop Madison Wisconsin. At only around 2 and half hour drive from Chicago, Madison is an eclectic get-a-away city.
Honestly there isn’t that much to see but more it’s about doing. We first parked our car in the dead downtown area. The skies were grey and overcast with some light drizzle. Really not the ideal day for sight seeing but for me it made it more adventurous. First item on the list, Wisconsin’s State Capital building, in the heart of downtown Madison.
On a gloomy day, the Capital looked rather bleak and immense, we couldn’t even see the top! And it was cold so we hurried inside. Wow! We were not expecting the inside to be so beautiful and have this feeling of going back in time. Inside the design falls somewhere between 20’s and 30’s art nouveau but with a very immense feeling. The design was elaborate and being that nobody was there, it felt we had stepped back in a different era. Quite a remarkable design and probably one of the best State Capital buildings I’ve visited.
We walked around admiring the overly decorated walls, ceilings, staircases, and hallways. Everything felt cohesive and well designed. You could feel the dominating presence a State Capital should bring. We took some photos and warmed up but were curious on where the food market was? From looking online I was told there would be a free market at the State Capital!
I asked one of the attendants and they told me that because it’s winter the market has moved to a place called the Monona Terrace. A convention center over looking one of Madison’s beautiful lakes, not far from where we were. So we walked down towards the lake and enter this huge convention center that was bustling with people. I walked over to a window facing Lake Monona, but couldn’t see much, so snapped just one photo. There was a sign that said “Market Downstairs,” so we took escalators down.
I always love a nice food market and I knew Wisconsin is famous for cheese and other food items, so I wanted to see what this market would offer. Although the market wasn’t huge, there was a variety from the goods being sold like potatoes, honey, baked goods and of course Wisconsin cheese. How can you go to Wisconsin without buying the real-deal Wisconsin cheddar cheese? So Roman and I bought about a pound and had our first taste next day, amazing!
Done with Madison, we hopped in our car and continued north through some back country cities like Sauk City, to go to this famous lake nearby. Devil’s Lake is about an hour drive north of Madison and is the outdoor spot I was looking for from Wisconsin. Temperatures hovered around 32 F, and a cloudy fog kept persisting adding to the already dramatic scenery. On top of that we basically so no cars when we entered and there was lots of snow with lots of forests! It was spooky and I loved it.
We started at the northern part of the lake where we paid $10. To be honest, nobody was looking at who was paying so I think anybody could have gotten in without paying. Northern shore was dead with only a few cars around. The lake was icy and there was some snow on the ground. We walked around and couldn’t hear anything but a couple of birds off in the distance. It was perfect for seclusion.This is what I love about going to some place while off-season. In the summer I’m sure this place is packed but in the frigid winter nobody is around. You get everything to yourself and see another side of nature that most will not.
We hopped in our car and then drove to the southern edge of the lake but ended up going off-roading on this section of land that did not go to the lake. The scenery was dramatic because of the snow all around, the fog still persisting and nobody around. Truly probably the closest we’ve come to feeling like being in a horror film. We wasted a good 15 minutes until we turned back and found the right road to the southern part of the lake.
This part was even more dead then the north and we got a chance to see rare swans visiting the lake. They only come for a few days a year and they happened to show up they day we were there! This end also had a recreational area but nobody was around and now there was light snow falling. I walked up to the edge of the icy lake without Roman, and just stood there to take it all in. This is exactly why I travel, for moments like this. For a moment to reflect on how lucky I truly am. Everything was perfect as I stood there and looked around. It didn’t bother me that there was light snow or the weather was foggy or that it was near freezing! I came on the trip hoping to find some quiet and that I did.
Trying to escape the dark and being out in the middle of nowhere, we decided to now head east to Milwaukee. After being delayed due to accidents we ended up getting into the city around dusk and really couldn’t see much of the city. So we decided that we will try one thing from Milwaukee, frozen custard. Apparently this is a very Wisconsin thing, frozen custard, and one of the best shops in Wisconsin to try it is at Kopp’s Frozen Custard just north of downtown Milwaukee.
They only serve around 3 varieties of frozen custard a day and they have a schedule about when the next frozen custard will be available. We came when there was mint and chocolate and it was very good. However I’m not a big fan of heavy cream and feeling bloated after, so I only finished half.
So Wisconsin is beautiful and the day I spent there was very positive. I’m sure I’ll be back and being that I live within 45 minutes of the border, why not!? And I also would like to say that Wisconsin became my 30th state to visit and only have 21 more states plus D.C. to go. Very exciting and you can follow my travels through my blog and the 51 State Challenge page. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions and do sure to comment about your Wisconsin travels!
images by: shawnvoyage
