Twenty Hours in Spring Green

I have mentioned Spring Green several times during my blogging career. The farm house on 60 acres that my aunt and uncle have there is a delight.

Fortunately for me, I was asked to see a play at American Player's Theatre on Friday night, which is in Spring Green. The show was in their indoor theatre. Just being in that space is a treat. The play, Wisconsin Story Project's "Stories of Cancer" was fabulous. I have seen a lot of theatre in my years and this show was excellent. All of the actors were professional and not one of them was just mediocre. It was a heavy and hard show to watch at times. You see, this project was done in Madison, interviewing cancer patients who shared their stories. The words that they hate to hear, the research they did, the overwhelming amount of people who reached out to them, their fear of death and much, much more were shared in this staged reading. And it was very moving. It was also great to finally go to APT.

The evening was spent at the farmhouse and Chris and I booked a tour of Taliesin for the next morning. For the amount of times we have driven past it (like every time we drive to the farm,) it is crazy that we never went there before. I am so glad we did this, too.

A two hour guided tour was really fun and interesting. We saw the grounds where Frank Lloyd Wright was buried, his school, his sister's house and of course, Taliesin. If you listen to WPR a lot, you are probably used to hearing a lot about the murders there but this is hardly highlighted on the tour. What is so fascinating (where do I start?) is that he liked low ceilings, bringing the outdoors in, the house is 32,000 (yes, that is correct) square feet, there is no angle where you can take a picture of the entire house and people do live there now. The views are amazing. We were only allowed inside his studio. The majority of the tour is outside on the property. This was such a spectacular tour. If you live in Madison and haven't done it, make sure to do it.

We also stopped at the very tasty General Store afterwards for a yummy lunch where I asked them for their recipe of the vanilla chocolate ginger craisin bar. If I make it, I will post the recipe.

I love Madison and it's so special that we have such a famous little town so close by.

American Stores Designed for Lazy Americans

I had a little trouble when I was bringing my 40 pound bag of dog food to my car on Sunday. A lot of you know I hate the Target in Madison. It completely depresses me. Target is where I buy my dog's food. I like to keep the money in my local community, but show me a local store that sells a 40 pound bag of lamb & rice dog food and I will be there.

Sunday was a gorgeous day. I parked about a tenth of a mile away from the Target and walked, as it was so nice outside and I wanted to savor it. Which brings me to this:

How come, when gas is almost $4.00 a gallon are you people driving up and down the aisles closest to the entrance of a store until you find a really close spot? My bf and I often talk about how we will park in the parking lot over from the business to walk into a store and see the same people we were stuck behind still driving around. It's called LAZY.

So I parked behind the Macy's. And walked to Target. I don't give a darn about being close to an entrance. As I left Target with the 40 pound bag, my cart "locked" at a stop sign and I was literally stuck. All the other carts surrounding me were also "locked" as I transported the hefty items from my locked cart to another locked cart. (My back still hurts. I had to run on the treadmill this morning instead of outside because it still hurts so much).

And I asked myself, "How on earth are people who actually walk (like myself) supposed to get all of this stuff to their cars?"

It didn't make sense. Whoever designed this chain didn't take into account that some people park far away and need some assistance to get all of their items to their car.

I finally dragged the cart (with locked wheels) as far as I could. I then approached an employee who told me that the staff inside should have told me that the carts lock. What? Did they just hire some person in a red polo with a sign stating,

"For people who enjoy walking a little more, please be aware that you will not be able to cart your heavy items to your vehicle. This store was designed for fat, lazy people who can cart their things to their car. Because most people prefer to drive around for 20minutes until they find a spot that's close."

And that, ladies and gentleman, is why we stick out when we are traveling in Paris, France.

I was annoyed, to say the least.

Please, if you can find me a nice shop where I can walk to from my condo to buy the food, let me know. I will then bring a strong person with me who can just carry it back. Who needs a car, anyway? Cars are overrated.

Walk somewhere and do your heart some good.

A Brief Getaway from Madison

I've decided it is best to keep the political situation that is happening here to myself and not publicize my opinion on my blog.

It is very close to home, physically and literally. For me, there is no way to avoid the news anchors as they film live coverage, the chants and the feeling of what "democracy looks like."

It feels good. Let's put it that way. These are peaceful protests, as I am sure you know by now.

For Christmas in 2009, I gave my boyfriend a bed and breakfast gift certificate. He decided to use it at an Inn near Milwaukee in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

After a charity evening at the Madison Club on Friday night, we packed our bags and left the "biggest rally" down the road from my condo to hightail it towards this quaint town of Cedarburg, not far from Milwaukee.

Supposedly there is a zoning law on the main drag that only permits independent businesses. My two favorite stores were Lillies Goods and their other store, Weeds, owned by the same people. If you are looking for a nice gift, I recommend either place. After walking around the Cedarburg winery & shops, we sampled a few wines (Cedarburg's wine is the "sister" to Wollersheim) and checked in at the Washington Inn.

Walking around the little shops, we were told that our Inn has a 5:00 wine and cheese hour (of course, we had read about it online), and we made sure to be there promptly for our free wine and "spread" hour. But first, we settled into a huge jetted tub that is inside the room and warmed up from a day of non-stop fluffy snow. It was so relaxing. After sweating and trying to cool off from this luxurious tub, we enjoyed the snacks in the dining room. We had unlimited wine and cheese spreads, crackers and grapes. The room was mainly full of other couples besides one older woman. There were just enough tables so that we didn't have to sit with strangers.

We then walked over to Anvil, a former blacksmith shop with neat concrete walls and a two story dining room. It felt cozy and special, though. Even though it is two stories, it had a warm feel to it. We saw about three other couples from our Inn and pretended like we didn't see them (just kidding). As we sat at the bar, waiting for a table, the couple next to us chatted us up and we ended up next to them when we were seated.

A friend, Taylor, recently got me hooked on Old Fashions, so I ordered one while we waited. Old Fashions are very popular in Wisconsin. And tasty.

Our food was pretty good. We had veggie burgers. I thought it was tasty. Nothing incredibly special. We then walked down towards the Inn and I stopped in a chocolate place where I had a delicious milk chocolate turtle that was pretty special.

We then sat in the whirlpool tub and I was asleep by 10 PM. The best part of the stay was when we got breakfast in bed in the morning. I think that is the first time I spent an hour in bed, drinking coffee, eating fruit, enjoying my book. (without a starving golden retriever begging for food by my side).

I was also able to finish my 562 page book this weekend. It was so relaxing. Cedarburg is a special place. We plan to go back.

Cheers.

A Rich Weekend in Madison

I am so thankful for the concept of blogging. As a person who likes to talk, this has really worked out for me. I enjoyed hearing from friends who voiced their opinion on my last post and I plan to write about it again. The feminist movement still has a lot of growing to do.

I was thrilled this morning when I was thinking about the rich life that Madison has given me. As the weekend warmed up (you know, close to thirty degrees is warm), I was excited to spend my time outdoors. Wanting to stick to my "to do" list, I went cross country skiing yesterday (not a candlelight, but still - we finally have the powder I was asking for). While the Northeast has been slammed with more powdery stuff than they know what to do with, it seems like all we get is an inch of accumulation here and there.

Now, the excitement is that almost the entire country is going to be affected by this big storm coming this week. I am hoping for a blizzard. I just love it!

Anyways - I digress. As I was saying, Madison has offered me this rich life. I feel lucky to be able to have such a healthy, culturally enriching and active lifestyle in this little bubble.

An easy loop of cross country skiing was preceded with a nice trip to the dog park. The plan is to go again next Saturday, weather permitting. Madison has a lot of cross country skiing locations.


Today was another trip out to the dog park and a walk up and down the pedestrian only State Street. Here are my favorite shops in no particular order:

Pop Deluxe
Tellus Mater
Madison Sole (got the cutest bag there today)
Little Luxuries

State Street is two blocks from me. While I walk the dog up and down the street there about once a week, I never take myself (alone). The above mentioned stores are all local and therefore, we are keeping the dollar in our own community, people. (And why are you still shopping at Walmart? Oh right, so you can keep your neighbor's stores out of business and send your dollar overseas).

Anyways - enough about that.

The semi-annual Restaurant Week debuted last week. This was the fifth restaurant week since I have moved here and I have attended five times (shocker). For twenty-five dollars, you can do a prix-fixed, three course meal. We went back to Lombardino's (I can check that off my list) and were not disappointed. When I tell you that every meal I have had at restaurant week is out of this world, I am not lying. FYI - the majority of the restaurants have vegetarian options, besides the obvious steak/seafood places. Rich and thick butternut squash soup, truffled trumpet mushrooms with polenta and flourless chocolate cake topped off with a few glasses of red wine. It was fun and deliciously splendid. (p.s. - anything "truffled" is amazing).

I happen to make a pretty good flourless chocolate cake. And while I enjoyed theirs, I will have to post my recipe. Mine is less bitter and more rich.

There is never a dull moment or a lull in things to do around here. I am praying for a big blizzard with photos! We shall see.........

The Kindness of Mad Town People

I am overdue to talk about Madison, and I must point out some things that occurred just last week. I am overwhelmed with topics to talk about, including the latest movies I have seen, canvassing for Obama, and the Halloween festivities, but I think it is important to come back to the nature of the locals.

After the key to my car broke, and could no longer attach to my key chain, I had a copy made. (Actually, my dad had it done for me. - Thanks, Dad). He saw how I always had to shuffle through my purse for the stray key, that could no longer stay in a group with my other keys. It was all alone, and it was a pain. I tested the key in the car door, and it worked. A few days later, when I finally got in my car to get groceries (did I mention I hardly drive my car any more? I haven't filled it up with gas in almost three weeks!), it wouldn't start. After attempting to jump start it, I had it towed to Parman's on Monroe Street, only to find out the key was the problem. Parman's wouldn't charge me for their observation, and when I came to pick it up, solo, with a friend's car, they offered to follow me wherever I had to go, in my car, while I drove my friend's car. As we are driving back to Parman's, Mr.Parman is saying, "I am so glad that's all it was." I said to him, "Why are you glad? You didn't make a penny off of me!" These nice guys went out of their way. I highly recommend them.

Parman's recommended a place called Hansen's to have my "Check Engine Soon" light turned off. I went over to Hansen's. He told me the cover to my gas (what's that called?) was probably just loose, and turned the light off. As I followed him in to pay, he said, "Free!" So, now I am recommending Hansen's, as well.

The same day, I was looking for a good knife to carve some pumpkins open, for my famous, "Soup in a Pumpkin." I wanted something fast, so I walked across the street, to the little grocery store. Their knives did not look promising, so I walked into the hardware store around the corner, True Value Hardware. I went into the back, and found some kitchen knives. I asked the cashier if he thought they would work, and he said for about twelve dollars less, he would "make" a knife for me out of some hardware tool, used for something I have never heard of (shocker). As he did that, I dug around a bin near the counter, and picked up some sharp looking tool. He looked up, and said, "That will work, and that's only $2.00. Why don't you get that?" I went to pay, and saw I only had $1.36 in cash, and he decided to give me a discount, knocking off some money from the $2.00, but the total was somewhere a little over the $1.36 I brought in with me, so he said, "We'll split it", and he threw in some of his money.

Is this not the nicest, friendliest city? Yes, it's homogeneous and small, but it sure is a helpful place.

Even though I try to keep things semi-anonymous, I am recommending the following:

Dorn True Value Hardware (no website)
Parman's Service Station (no website)
Hansen's Auto Service Center (no website)

Why no websites? Probably because they are typical Madison, local institutions that thrive on word of mouth referrals.

Also, in case you were wondering, my auto insurance in Madison is almost half of what it was in Ohio, and I paid for roadside assistance, therefore, the pointless tow was also free.