Last Full Day in the Badger State

Well, my short stay in Wisconsin is rapidly coming to a close. Today was, by far, the windiest day I have experienced in quite sometime. In fact, I cannot recall its being this windy in the four years I have been in Florida. The constant westerly winds were in the area of 30-35 mph, with gusts expected to be as high as 50 mph, although I don't think it got nearly that high.

I spent the entire day in downtown Madison. After washing the road dirt and dust off the car, I stopped at East Towne Mall in Madison for an early lunch at the food court. It was then down to the isthmus between Lakes Mendota and Monona for the balance of the day. First stop was at the State Historical Society Museum, one of my favorite haunts. I spent a good hour or so checking out the exhibits on all four floors.

It was then down State St into the teeth of the wind, headed to the UW campus and the Elvejeum (pronounced "L V M") Museum (because of a rather large donation shortly before we left Madison, it has been renamed the Chazin Museum, but I don't care; it's still the Elvejeum to me). Anyway, I had my classical music playing on my MP3 (no, not "Pictures at an Exhibition") and bathed myself in the artwork. The highlight of my day was seeing the one painting that has really touched me like no other (above). It is an oil painting of a lone man holding tightly onto the last few feet of a sinking ship's mast in a roiling sea, entitled "The Final Refuge". It is such a haunting painting by a Russian artist, Ivan Konstantinovich in 1875. Oddly enough, the painting had not been on exhibit for maybe the last 4 or 5 years before we moved away and I was so thrilled to see it had been placed back on display. I snapped a couple of photos of it so I could take it with me.

It was then back up State St to the State Capitol building where I took a self-guided tour, including the observation deck that encircles the dome. That was an experience! The wind up there was really fierce, so much so that I didn't dare wear my hat. I took it off and firmly held onto it as I made my way around the dome. As I was preparing to leave the building, I had a call from David. I was to have dinner with him and Jojo, but she is still not feeling well. He left work early to take her to the doctor and was on the way taking her back home. We agreed to meet at East Towne and then decide where to go for dinner. The two of us ended up at T.G.I. Friday's, after which David had a softball game and had to run a file by his boss' house on the way home.

Being on my feet all day long and wanting to get ready to fly back home tomorrow, I came back to David's place and am taking it easy before showering, packing and calling it a day.