Madison, Wisconsin: Cultural Mecca for Chicagoans
Here is installment #2 of posts having nothing to do with tax, business law or any other such tomfoolery.
There used to be a sign on I-94 in Illinois, just south of the Wisconsin Border that read: “Just across the border: Food, Drinks, Beer, Cheese, Fireworks.” Doesn’t that say it all? A place where food and cheese and drinks and beer are considered mutually exclusive concepts is a place for me…and you too.
My wife and I make an annual pilgrimage up to Madison, Wisconsin every summer for two things: (1) the best Farmer’s Market in the world in Madison; and (2) high end outdoor theater, Wisconsin farm country style.
The Farmer’s Market in Madison (technically the “Dane County Farmer’s Market on the Square”) is, as I stated, the best in the world. It makes Green City in Chicago’s Lincoln Park look like a convenience store. Why is it so great? First, it’s huge. Vendors line all the way around the capital square in Madison. Second, given its size, the vendors are diverse and have great quality stuff…cheese (of course), cheese related products, meat, vegetables, baked goods, etc. Third, the crazies come out…and I do mean crazy. Given how reserved our friends north of Waukegan usually are, it’s amazing to take in extremely leftist impromptu poetry slams and the like for a few minutes while strolling the square.
As for “can’t miss” product around the market…try: spicy cheese bread, homemade beef jerky, dill cheese curds, and fresh pasta and pesto…and don’t forget to stop by the husband and wife duo making fresh kettle corn, literally from a kettle that probably dates back to the Civil War.
After the Farmer’s Market, I highly recommend walking around Madison itself. It’s a great town full of the life of UW. Then, it’s off to Middleton, a fair sized town just west of Madison which has felt the positive effects of a building boom. If you take Route 12/14 from Madison to Middleton (aka “The Beltway”) and get off at University Avenue, you’ll find all the comforts of generic suburbia, with plenty of name-brand hotels, shopping and restaurants. This is a good base of operations for the second leg of the trip…a night of outdoor theatre.
Theater? Theatre? I’m not really sure which word is correct in this instance…but I’m talking about the American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisconsin…a 30 minute drive from Middleton along a very rural stretch of Route 14. The basics: an outdoor theater tucked into the side of a hill where a company of actors and actresses puts on very respectable Shakespearean plays and English Comedies (not The Office or Coupling…think more like George Bernard Shaw) throughout the Wisconsin Summer.
On your way back to Chicago, hit up the Cracker Barrel in Janesville just for fun.
Oh…and just in case you’re feeling really adventurous, skip staying in the comfort of corporate-invaded Middleton, and opt for the hominess of summer-only motels in and around Spring Green. These places do their business in the summer during play season catering to the tourists and are about as mom and pop as it gets. Clean and safe…but not updated since the 1970s…worth a shot for sure.
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