Anniversary, pt. 3: Madison, Wisconsin
I’d like to say that in Wisconsin we kept a sharp lookout for hodags. We didn’t, though – except in Madison. The State Capitol there is adorned with statues of small mammals.
Clearly, this statue is of a badger.
But this one? Badger, or hodag?
(Photos not by me or Karin.)
Another feature of the Capitol is its collection of fossils embedded in banisters, stair-steps, etc. We obtained a brochure about these fossils and dutifully sought them out. (This is the sort of tourism that Karin enjoys. She also likes finding her way through corn mazes.) To our frustration, no fossils revealed themselves. Then we realized we were misnumbering the floors. We retraced our steps and easily found an old starfish in a stair-step.
We walked out toward the University. Having years earlier forsaken UW–Madison for Cornell, I was eager to see what I’d missed. It boiled down to two things.
(1) The lakes. Of course, Cornell also has a nearby lake. But at UW the shore of Lake Mendota goes right up to the campus.
(2) The restaurants. Madison, I read, has more per capita than any other U.S. city. Had I lived there, I would’ve spent all my money eating out.
Karin & I stopped at a Peruvian restaurant near the campus. This, for me, was the high point of the trip. I ate lomo saltado and Peruvian ceviche, which, lacking tomato, is very different from Ecuadorian ceviche. Afterward, I told the chef that Ecuadorians put ketchup in their ceviche, which surprised and disgusted him.
Another nice feature of UW is its row of pompous old churches. The Lutheran church, of course, is by far the largest.
I seriously considered going to the Engineering Building to look up Nick Hichton of the Up documentaries, but I didn’t. (Too far to walk.)
We had a scare trying to check into our Super 8. Our reservation was for the previous night. But the helpful clerk got our fee refunded, and our refund was larger than what we paid that night, so we came out ahead.
Clearly, this statue is of a badger.
But this one? Badger, or hodag?
(Photos not by me or Karin.)
Another feature of the Capitol is its collection of fossils embedded in banisters, stair-steps, etc. We obtained a brochure about these fossils and dutifully sought them out. (This is the sort of tourism that Karin enjoys. She also likes finding her way through corn mazes.) To our frustration, no fossils revealed themselves. Then we realized we were misnumbering the floors. We retraced our steps and easily found an old starfish in a stair-step.
We walked out toward the University. Having years earlier forsaken UW–Madison for Cornell, I was eager to see what I’d missed. It boiled down to two things.
(1) The lakes. Of course, Cornell also has a nearby lake. But at UW the shore of Lake Mendota goes right up to the campus.
(2) The restaurants. Madison, I read, has more per capita than any other U.S. city. Had I lived there, I would’ve spent all my money eating out.
Karin & I stopped at a Peruvian restaurant near the campus. This, for me, was the high point of the trip. I ate lomo saltado and Peruvian ceviche, which, lacking tomato, is very different from Ecuadorian ceviche. Afterward, I told the chef that Ecuadorians put ketchup in their ceviche, which surprised and disgusted him.
Another nice feature of UW is its row of pompous old churches. The Lutheran church, of course, is by far the largest.
I seriously considered going to the Engineering Building to look up Nick Hichton of the Up documentaries, but I didn’t. (Too far to walk.)
We had a scare trying to check into our Super 8. Our reservation was for the previous night. But the helpful clerk got our fee refunded, and our refund was larger than what we paid that night, so we came out ahead.