After Chicago we headed up to Madison, Wisconsin and got stuck in heavy rain which delayed our arrival. We decided to set up camp at Tower Hill State Park where we “roughed” it. There were no showers or sinks and the bathroom was pretty atrocious but I’m sure there will be worse. After setting up camp we drove down the road to the small town of Spring Green whose population is 1,444. We drove past “Fun Festival” which was a bunch of guys playing baseball and drinking Coors Light before we found ourselves in The Shed, a local restaurant. Our servers were extremely friendly and we tried some local beers, our favorite being the Lake Louie Warped Speed Scotch Ale, a nice dark beer with a smooth finish. For dinner I had a four cheese grilled cheese with onion on marble bread and Jack had a portabello grilled sandwich. Both were delicious. After having dinner we walked across the street to a local art gallery where I bought my first pieces of art! Small collages on 4×4 squares of canvas created from clippings of advertisements in architecture and music magazines. There was 100 pieces total in the collection and I purchased four of them.

The next morning the lighting was so bad and frequent that for thirty minutes we were laying on the center of the air mattress keeping as low as possible without putting our feet on the ground or near the metal poles holding the tent up. The lighting was so close  at times that the inside of the tent lit up in reddish hues, which was as awesome as it was frightening. We sprung some minor leaks and will need to add some water proof sealant to the seals in our tent in the near future. We were relieved however that the tent withstood some pretty strong winds. So, thank you Kelty!

After the hurricane like weather we headed to Grandma Mary’s cafe for breakfast before heading to the House on the Rock per suggestion of Jack’s grandfather. It was enormous, overwhelming and fantastic to say in the least. The rooms are filled with odds and ends such as antique guns, the worlds largest indoor carousel, doll houses and music machines (which are giant robotic orchestras which orchestrate themselves). After our 3.5 hour tour of the house we headed to downtown Madison to grab some lunch at Monty’s Blue Plate Diner which offers a numerous amount of vegetarian dishes. I would highly recommend the barbecue seitan sandwich with dill mustard sauce and the spicy curly fries. Unfortunately, we didn’t kick around Madison for too long because the weather forecast wasn’t looking good and we decided that a tent was probably not the best shelter for the evening. We stayed at a motel in Eau Claire only to turn on the TV to get interrupted by a tornado warning. Fortunately for us we did not experience any tornadic activity, but one did touch down twenty miles away and we saw the lighting off in the distance from that very same super cell.

House on the Rock Collection, center is 280 carats

Overall Wisconsin is a very friendly state. Madison, from what we saw seems to be a clean city which has a large amount of bikers. But the heart of Wisconsin lies within the farmers whose perfectly plowed fields and hard work provide a lush and engaging scenery while driving. People don’t hesitate to talk with you here which is a nice change from the complete disconnect of Manhattan.

Day 3

This morning we got up early and walked a quarter mile from camp at Dunewood State Park to the Beverly Shores train station where we took the aptly named South Shore Rail Line to Chicago. Since the population at our stop is very low we had to press a button which “flags” down the conductor to stop.

Upon arriving in Chicago we saw “The Bean” and in it the reflection of the Chicago Skyline. We also walked around to see other famous sculptures in the area, my second favorite to the Bean is the “snoopy in a blender” piece. Thursday is farmers market day in downtown so we checked out some local produce which all looked delicious but unfortunately we could not bring any of it back with us because it was way too hot to be carrying it around in our bags.

In the afternoon we took the red line train to Wrigley field and The Chicago Diner. The all vegetarian diner uses only seasonal produce and is also 100% vegan option. I munched on the roast beef w/ cheddar and a vegan chocolate shake, adorned with chocolate chips and chocolate syrup it was by far the best I’ve ever had. Jack got the “vegetarian times” famous “diner burger” which was also very tasty and compromised of a seitan patty on a wheat roll with sprouts, lettuce, tomato, and special diner sauce.

the chicago diner

After seeing the North side of Chicago we decided to head south to check out the Frank Lloyd Wright Row Homes. The south side of chicago is definitely not the best neighborhood I’ve ever been in which made for an interesting walk. After asking for directions we finally found the yellow brick houses nestled amongst the newer homes. We were pretty disappointed by the facade and hope that the multiple mercedes parked outside indicated more note worthy architecture on the inside. I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to see the homes, unless of course you are a large Wright fan…but in our journey we did get to see the Cellular Field home to the White Sox, which was cool.

Eventually we made our way back up north and sat on a bench in Grant Park as merch guys made their way around setting up for Lollapalooza. Lake Michigan is huge and should not be underestimated. It looks exactly like the Atlantic but with dozens of sailboats bobbing off the coast.

After taking a breather and much needed break from walking we went to the Art Institute which has free tours after 5pm on Thursday and Friday evenings during the summer. We got  to see a great selection of Renoir, Monet and Van Gogh as well as two very interesting exhibits: Japanese Screen Paintings and A History of Wine. Also, the famous American Gothic painting resides here. After the Art museum we were absolutely famished and went to Giordanos and got the spinach stuffed pizza which was enormous and at 10″ definitely too much for only two people. (But thats okay because we ended up eating the rest for breakfast the next morning!)

It was a long day, a long day indeed, but we think we got to see a lot of what Chicago has to offer. Chicago, reminded me of a more subdued Manhattan and if it didn’t get so cold here in the winter we would consider relocating.

Before leaving for Wisconsin we decided to take a stroll through the Dunes in Indiana and hiked up to overlook Lake Michigan where we saw two skylines which we are 90% sure belonged to Gary, Indiana and Chicago. We then walked down the dunes to the beach where we skipped rocks (no sea shells here!) and felt the water which was surprisingly warm.

But then it was time to be on our way to our next destination of Madison, WI.

Full set of Chicago pictures!