Wisconsin

6/7-6/8:

After to night’s with the incredibly hospitable Yu family it was time to move on, Nick was craving some dairy so he led me to the dairy Ellsworth Dairy and we indulged in some early morning cheese curds, milkshakes and beer not distributed outside of the state. I said goodbye to Nick and hit the interstate heading east.

On my way I made a stop that I feel everyone should make. The Wisconsin Dells. The Wisconsin Dells is the ultimate tourist trap in the size of an entire time. The streets are lined with a variety of souvenir shops, arcades, mazes, restaurants, bars, and boat tour booths. I’m not really sure who the Dells was made for or really what it was centered around, but it’s worth a stop if your are passing through.

I continued on and knew that I would need to make a stop since I didn’t have a room in my next stop, Chicago, until the next day. The Dells, while fascinating, was not for me so I booked a hotel for the night in Madison, Wi. It was one of the best decisions I made on the trip so far.

I was only there for a single rainy night, but I have to say that I loved Madison. When you put a major University and place it next to a state capital and you add the kind charm of mid-westerner’s you get a place that is full of interesting people. I felt an energy as I walked through through the rain on the streets of the city center. I noticed a pretty diverse population both in age and race that was unexpected. In searching for a place to start my exploration I found a bar called Crystal Corner, which looked to be about farthest I wanted to walk from the hotel. It was great! A large dinner style bar sat in the middle of the space with a couple of pool tables and chatty locals. The people were friendly and interested and fun. The stand out patron was Brian, A man who may have been there a bit to long, but was funny as hell. He had never seen Back to the Future or the X files, but was somehow obsessed with the UFO’s and the Paranormal. It was a fabulous place. After that I was hungry so I started back toward the hotel in search of a quick bite. Aldon the way I found a place called The Wisco which was a beer and burger spot that had a great dive feel and a volleyball court in the back. The most charming part of this place was a claw machine full of tall cans. You have to love interesting places like this. MY final stop on the fast tour of Madison was whiskey bar called Cask & Ale. While fancier then my previous stops It was yet another place with pleasant conversation. Outside of this bar was also the first time in the whole trip where I saw good street musicians. They were a two piece jug band style group called The Railroaded. I felt it was a sign that we just might be getting back to normal. I found the city to be welcoming and peaceful, but still with a bit of a drive. It was different and while I’m not exactly the person to blindly move to a place after a single night., Madison almost drew me in.

The next morning I realized that I had hit a milestone on the trip, my first oil change. Driving 5000 miles in a month is no small feet, but I knew I had 1000’s more to go, so I bid farewell to Madison and moved on. I headed to Milwaukee just to take a look. It was fine, I was definitely pretty warn out from travel and I needed to make it to Chicago that day. I could feel there was something to the area and I’d love to go back sometime, but it’s not high on the list. If anyone wants to give me reasons to return I’d love to chat.

With detours completed it was time to head into the place that a place I fell in love with in 2019 and was excited to return… The Windy City.

Patrick Kelly