Chicago Recap

Hello from Madison, Wisconsin! This morning we got the call that our car was good to go, so we grabbed some Moons Over (Our?) Hammies from Denny's and tried to make up for lost time. We made a quick stop at Milwaukee and now we're here in Madison for the night. I'm so super excited to be here. I've always wanted to go to Wisconsin, since my third grade project at least, and here I am in the land of beer and cheese and you know what? It's seriously all I thought it could be! I also did some soul searching and remembered that mayyybe a big part of my drive to see Milwaukee came from this clip about 20 years ago. Does anyone else remember this?

Well, anyway.

We obviously spent a lot more time in Chicago than we had planned to. But it gave us the opportunity to see more than we would have otherwise. First, a stop at the Museum of Contemporary Art, which I gotta say I'm really impressed with. After a few years of a membership at the MOMA in NYC I thought I had been spoiled, but really, this was a lot more fun, less crowded, easier to digest and set up even better. There was live music and a few interactive exhibits, including a functioning nail salon! 

Which I really could have used but opted for self application in the room with Dr. Waggin's.

We have been eating cheap and on the run for the most part, but we did make time for a nice meal at Quartino. Including this goat cheese ricotta, some amazing broccoli raab and an incredible pork ravioli.

One night we went to this music club, the Underground Wonder Bar. Saw a few good acts. The beer was generic but the music was fun, and the downstairs area was... weird.

We also went on this awesome architectural boat tour. I really wanted to ride along the channels and have one of those My Best Friend's Wedding moments, but I guess I also wanted to learn about the city's history. So The Chicago Architecture Foundation it was. These 90 minutes were probably my favorite in all of Chicago. Go ahead and ask me the defining characteristics of art deco and we'll see how well I was paying attention.

It seemed only right that our next step takes us way up to the highest point of the Sears Tower. Which I guess is called Willis Tower these days. I've never seen a building this high! And the glass bottomed area was fun to check out.

We were too late to get a tour, but we took a detour and gave ourselves an outside tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright house. And we may or may not have seen the cutest bunny hopping around out there. 

Yesterday we headed back to Indiana be to nice and close to our car in case it decided to be ready soon. We went to the Indiana Dunes Lakeshore while we waited around. Such a pretty beach, it was quiet, the water was a light, Caribbean blue, and Waggin's loved sniffing around the sand.

They wanted our car for one last day to make sure it was good to go, so we camped nearby the lake at the Indiana Dunes Lakeshore Camground.

It was pretty until it rained. I don't think camping and I were meant to be friends. I'll leave it at that. (mosquito deathcount: at least FOUR inside the tent alone; countless casualties beyond that).

To make the most of the night, we drove back to the shore to watch the lightning storm before the rain started up again. On our way back to camp we saw this pretty, creepy swamp scene.

The whole thing made me think of that Muppets movie where Kermit brings his friends to the swamp and they're all miserable... until they find out Disney World is right around the bend. (Here's a clip... you're welcome).

I think we found our Disney Worlds here in Wisconsin, with a cheese castle and a brewery with a bartender that does his own magic tricks. This place is even better than I imagined! More on all that later. It's late and I'm tired from NOT SLEEPING IN THAT BUGGY AND MUGGY TENT. G'nite!