Madison, Wisconsin is a VERY cool city. I knew I’d like it. I biked most of the way from Beloit this morning, following my Google directions. We got up early and I drove over to the BP station and picked us up a couple of doughnuts and coffees. I really wanted to see Beloit College, where my parents met and went to school.
We walked around the campus and it was really pretty. I imagined my mom and dad walking around with books in their hands. My dad was an English major with a minor in Russian studies. I’m not sure if he graduated in 1969 or 1970. We went to the library and were able to use the computers to get online for a little while. After that, we went downtown. I was still hungry (you know me), and Chuck wanted to get online again, so we tried to find Starbucks, since I had seen someone walking around with a Starbucks cup, and I had a gift card. I asked at a barber shop, but the owner said the Starbucks was pretty far away, near the interstate. He suggested a bagel shop a few doors down, so we headed over there. The bagel was good, the coffee was hot, fresh and strong and Chuck was able to get online.
After that, we were walking back to the car when the barber came out and asked if we found what we needed. I thanked him and waved good-bye, but he asked where my trip was taking me. I told him Vermont to Seattle, and he asked us to come into his shop. He had a client in the chair and had been in the middle of cutting his hair! We sat down and told him and his wife all about the bike ride. He had lots of questions, and I was worried that the man in the chair wasn’t going to have any hair left by the end! The barber had the most amazing collection of Coca-Cola memorabilia I have ever seen. I think he had a Coke bottle from almost every country in the world, and he had one of those old fashioned machines that sold Coke for a dime and the bottles were small…and it still worked! It was a barber shop that doubled as a Coke museum. Very cool. The owner’s wife worked at Beloit College for 14 years, and she was very excited about the ride and immediately got on the phone with some people at the college. I think she was trying to get me in the paper, but wasn’t successful. She did ask if we could come back to the campus with her so she could take some pictures of me with my bike, and I gave her my articles and all my contact information.
I headed out of town after that. I had to ride on some highways for a little while, but it wasn’t bad. Soon after that, the scenery changed, and I fell in love with Wisconsin. Keep in mind that I’ve been riding through some very flat states for a LONG time. This part of Wisconsin was full of gently rolling hills and the weather was a bit cooler than it has been lately. The scenery was just beautiful. Even though there were more corn fields, I didn’t mind it because of the hills. There were also fields of soybeans. My Google directions made quite a few road changes and I had been doing well, but I guess I missed my turn at one point. I was trying to get to Madison, but I ended up going in the wrong direction. Just then a biker named Steve pulled up and asked if I was OK. I said, “No, I think I missed my turn.” He gave me some new directions, so I headed a different way. I was going down the road a little while later, when he came up behind me. I guess he had been worried! He said he’d ride with me and make sure I got where I was going. How sweet is that??
I called Chuck and told him I would need a lift, so he made his way to where Steve and I were. We were riding on Route 138, which is not the most bike friendly road in the world. It was in rough shape with very little shoulder. Chuck pulled up eventually, and Steve recommended a place called the Pour House in Stoughton, where he lives. His office is actually upstairs from the Pour House. I liked the place immediately. It was quite large and had a stage for the live music. They had 5 or 6 local beers on tap, and an extensive selection of microbrew beers in bottles. And they had Woodchuck! I was excited to see it, but they weren’t as excited as I was.
The bartender was very sweet and I liked her dry sense of humor. Three young men who had been riding motorcycles walked in and sat next to us and she kidded around with them. The conversation was great, and we were all laughing and having a good time. After they left, she told us they were cops! Interesting. I told the bartender that Chuck was a piano player and she asked if he could play something for her. She was so impressed by him, she had tears in her eyes! She said, “He’s just great! Are you going to be around for a while? We’re having live music tonight!” This is a problem we’re encountering along the way: we’re meeting amazing, cool people in a great town and we want to spend more time there, but we have to keep moving. Chuck said we just need to do another trip when time is not an issue.
We made it to Madison and found Caroline and Bob’s house (friends of my Uncle Howie and now friends of ME). They have a really nice place. Bob is an author of children’s books and he just finished one about Frank Lloyd Wright. Chuck is a huge fan of Wright’s work, so it was an amazing coincidence. One of the reasons we had wanted to come to Madison was because the Unitarian Church here was designed by Wright. Caroline and Bob’s neighbor, Lorna, took us to the church and gave us a complete tour with the entire history of not just the church, but a lot about Frank too! It was fascinating and I took lots of pictures. Our hosts had told us about a great Himalayan restaurant, and how often do we get to have Himalayan food, so we set out to find it. The main street of Madison reminded me much of Church Street in Burlington, only with more ethnic restaurants. The smells drifting out onto the street were just incredible. There were lots of interesting shops, and again, I wished we could spend more time there. We found the restaurant and had to wait a little while for a table outside, but it was worth it! I ordered another local beer called Capital Amber and Chuck ordered one he had liked called Spotted Cow. Apparently, it’s not available outside of Wisconsin. I can’t even describe how wonderful the food was. We ordered a combination platter so we could try several different things. The dal soup was rich and flavorful with lentils and spice. We had a samosa that was filled with potatoes and chick peas and it was spicy, but not too much. The vegetarian dumplings with peanut sauce and a little fresh tomato sauce on the bottom absolutely melted in our mouths, and we both loved the whole wheat flatbread. It was light and spongy, but flat at the same time, with a wonderful flavor. And it went very well with the dal.
We would have loved to stay downtown and hear the live music we had been told about, but he had to get back to the house and get to bed. I’m going to try for 100 miles today and try to make it to Prairie du Chien at the border. Apparently, there’s a campground there, and we can try out our new air mattress. Caroline and Bob are going to ride with us on the bikes for a little while and get me going in the right direction. Sweet!
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