Cheeseheads!

I've had a goal since I was little to visit all 50 United States. So when I had to go to Illinois for work training, I figured I'd use the free flight and see America's Dairyland.
Welcome to Wisconsin.

I got into Chicago O'Hare airport at midnight Friday night, I went to pick up my rental car, a Jeep Liberty, and didn't get on the road until almost 2 am.

I really liked the SUV, except the handling was not as tight as my own Honda Civic, I couldn't turn as tight. But I did like the size of the jeep and the next car I buy will definitely be an SUV, but not this one, even though it was fun as a rental.

I drove for about 2 and a half hours and slept in my rental for about 2 hours in a hotel parking lot and then headed to my cheese factory tour. On my way there I passed through Amish country and passed this wagon.

I got there exactly at 8am, they make cheese from 3am until its done, which is usually around 9am. They don't open for tours though until 8am.

Cheese curds galore!

This huge trough is filled with the milk and after removing the whey, cream, and water this is what is left.

The cheese curds are salted and put in these round pails and pressed together to form cheese wheels.

After the tour, of course there were samples, I tried for the first and last time cheese curds. They squeaked and popped, similar to biting on packing peanuts, if you ever have. They don't have all the flavor of cheese because they haven't been aged or fully salted. It was nice to say I've tried them but have no desire to eat them again. But they were packing them by thousands and while I was there somebody came in for a large order of them, weird. I also had a couple different cheddars, some spicy white cheese and cheese fudge. Yep I said cheese FUDGE. What did I purchase, the FUDGE! haha! Very, creamy and delicious. Outside they had this cute hay bale spider. Happy Halloween!

Then I got back on the road for an hour drive to Madison, the capital. I look pretty good despite being sleep deprived, unshowered, and no make-up.

As I drove, I saw so many pretty fall colors and landscapes including this one.

First stop in Madison was the Capitol. I took this picture as I was driving. Pretty awesome, huh? The capitol is literally the center of town.

Here is the inside of the dome. That top mural is about 35 feet wide, it looks so tiny!

So on the U.S.S. Wisconsin and a few other ships this bronze beaver was carried and it was tradition for good luck to rub the nose whenever passing it. Notice only the nose hasn't corroded. And yes, I rubbed the nose, three times!

A cool little accident, the steps and some of the walls have fossils in them, due to the sediment that was used. This was not on purpose nor noticed until after they had already poured it.

Can you see the shell below? I just think its awesome. Now I want bathroom walls with starfish fossils, how pretty would that be?

The designer/architect wanted as much natural light as possible, this is one of the MANY windows in the building. Its the ceiling of the congressional room. There are also glass tiles in the hallways to allow natural light down to the main floor. And up until 1970 they used gas burning lights! I couldn't believe that.

I love these doors because they were made in SPAIN and shipped over.

First, I think the lighting in this picture is beautiful, but the main point for the photo was the tiny door, center near the top. That level is called the trumpeteer. Not too long ago a guy would come out of their and sound a trumpet for special announcements. That sounds so European, and it was happening right in the midwest.

Outside, statues on the dome.

Below are views from the top of the capitol and of the city of Madison.

Madison, a fairly small college town, is surrounded by two lakes, you can see one in each photo.

Here's one final shot of the the beautiful capitol.

On most Saturdays they hold a farmer's market on the sidewalk surrounding the capitol. I quickly learned I was walking the wrong way, the sidewalks were packed and everyone was walking counter clockwise, I was going against traffic. I only had a short amount of time and headed one way and didn't want to back track so I just kept going the "wrong" way. I did get some really pretty shots of the booths.

I wanted to buy everything, it all looked so fresh and pretty. I only bought a cinnamon roll, SCRUMPTIOUS, and a HUGE pumpkin muffin, YUMMY! Sadly I did not get pictures of either. Then I ran, LITERALLY, to the Monona Terrace Convention Center. A building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, a native to Wisconsin who spent the summers there and the winters in Scottsdale, AZ.

The entire building, including furniture and windows is circles and half circles. The top circle in the photo below is a huge fountain but its off for the winter, boo :(

The top of the building has trees, flowers, benches, and a little cafe. Its a great place to hang out and a gorgeous view of the lake. This view below is where Otis Redding's plane went down in 1967 causing his early death. He was on his way to perform a concert in Madison and due to bad weather his plane went down in the lake. My tour guide was a college student at the time and had a ticket to the concert and still has the ticket! Also interesting was that his last song, recording just days before his death was 'Dock on the Bay.'



I lied, one more picture of me and the capitol. Wright wanted his building on the same line as the capitol. So they look straight at each other.

 After the terrace, I headed to the Wisconsin Museum of History. It wasn't that interesting but I did learn more about native Americans and their winter wigwams. It is amazing how they insulted their wigwams and had the fire inside that the women would keep going 24/7. It made me wonder how many died from fire? By then it was 4pm and I was done seeing Madison. I had an hour and a half drive to Milwaukee, so I figured I'd head there, especially since I didn't have much time on Sunday to see things. Well due to little sleep the night before I was exhausted and when I get exhausted I get a bit cranky and by bit I mean a TON. I called my mom to help me find a hotel because I was too tired to do the research on my phone and started to cry. She got me a room but it wasn't what I wanted to pay and I lost it. I was so mad it took me awhile to fall asleep. Seriously, I understand two year olds tantrums now, its not their fault, put them to bed! Also because of a little mix up with the hotel's address, I ended up getting lost before finding the hotel. I found this really cool cemetery. The silver lining to the situation. I know kind of weird but I love cemeteries, the history, the pretty markers, I can't help it.

I love the mutter, vater! Also the cemetery is a veterans cemetery and its HUGE, it spreads across the freeway, not quite as big as Arlington but still too big. I'm grateful for all those who have given their lives to protect our country and my freedom. After the cemetery, I headed to see the Pabst mansion. On the way, I passed these churches. One was a Presbyterian and the other Islamic. This was a bit of a ghetto area of Milwaukee and these two huge churches right next to each other was just interesting to me.

 Then just a few blocks down the street was the Pabst mansion, for those non-beer drinkers, Pabst is a beer brand. The mansion was built in 1897. It was ORNATE to say the least. No photos were allowed inside, but I did get the outside.

The floors, the fabrics, the furniture - it was very pretty. A few more pictures of Milwaukee, including the art museum on Lake Michigan.

I loved the sailboats on the lake and the GORGEOUS red/orange leaves on the tree. I then, very quickly, headed south to the border. Right before the border of Illinois I stopped here:

Okay, they offer a FREE tour, let me be clear FREE, ZERO DINERO AND FREE SAMPLES, as many as you want! It's a pretty wonderful place. It was interesting to learn how they make the Jelly Bellies. I also did not know President Reagan was such a huge fan. As California governor, he had them in all his meetings. When he ran for president, Jelly Belly made the blueberry flavor so they could send red, white, and blue ones for his inauguration. So funny! Also I did not know Jelly Belly had it's own form of art.

Yes, those are thousands of jelly bellies. So crazy! I totally loved it. Of course, I had to buy some to bring home with me and the nieces and nephews loved that! I was finally on my way back to Chicago to return my rental car and meet up with my coworkers. A very, VERY quick trip but I'm glad I did it. Another state checked off! Thanks for having me Wisconsin.