Madison Snapshots

More to come on Monona Terrace (above), but this is one of the great open spaces in the city of Madison, almost otherworldly in how large to scale its roof top is in proportion to the frosting white

Monona Terrace, exterior design by Frank Lloyd Wright himself,
who never saw it , not built until 1992

Capitol just a few blocks up Martin Luther King Way.  We had just visited the Great Dane Brew Pub a couple of blocks away, at the far end of Doty street, and were blowing off some steam until the wind started to whip fountain water on us, which we mistook for rain, and so scrammed back to the Hyatt pronto.

German heritage at the Essen Haus

I'm glad we're older now, use Google maps, and can find the famous German Essen House without walking around the Capitol area aimlessly hoping to stumble across it as we did back in college. The host told us Essen has been in biz at the same location for 33 years, and it hasn't changed much since

we used to do 'boots' (pass a boot around the table...don't let it set down!) to lederhosened polka music down on the floor level seating.  This time around, it was an initiation for the kids, who may or may not have appreciated the liver meatball in gravy or the sauerbraten bathed in pickled red cabbage.

One block up West Washington from the Loraine Bldg. 123 West Washington

The Queen of the Capitol liked the toy and chocolate shops scattered around the beautiful Square.  Over on the other side, at the head of Hamilton Street, one of the great Childrens' Museums you could

ever find, a rooftop garden stocked with real chickens and sunflowers, a middle level with really big

kids hogging all the toys, and a lower level Little House on the Prairie, full of pioneer tools and a few

ancient furs which didn't look quite so cute to some of the visitors once they got them in their hands.

The Vilas Zoo was in full array still in early October.  As we walked into the entrance, we heard the roar of the lion to ensure us that the animals were all out in mid afternoon display.

 The Polar and Grizzly bears must have been in a demonstrative mood on this particular monday....the Polars had found a spot in the shade up against the display window, and so we could just about pet them.  As we approached the Grizzlys, the two were standing off in the distance and climbing around some rocks, but for whatever reason they decided to mosey on down the worn path toward the window and moved right up on the window,

stopped at one point, looked at us square in the eyes, and licked the window, putting us 1/8 inch away from the jaws of one of the most powerful creatures on earth.