Madison has the state Capitol, the largest university, two big lakes and all kinds of attitude. There's plenty to do if you want to stay put. But sometimes, you just have to hit the road and explore. Here are some great ways to spend a day in south-central Wisconsin. If you get out the door early, do lots of stuff and stay late, it really will feel like a vacation.
Go to story ...If it wasn't for the climate, Peter Pan would feel right at home in Madison, Wis. Inhabited largely by college students whose political zealotry is matched only by their zeal for a party, downtown Madison is a place where it's easy to get in touch with your inner child.
Go to story ...In Mount Horeb, Wis., trolls are revered, not reviled. The little town west of Madison calls itself the Troll Capital of the World, for its many mascots — most wooden, but one live — and Norse traditions. It doesn't have the medieval Norwegian stave church that has been the town's pride and joy since 1937. The ornate wooden building has gone back to Orkdal, Norway, whose residents built it for the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago and will reassemble it as an attraction for Orkdal.
Go to story ...In the small Wisconsin town of Stoughton, red, white and blue flags fly everywhere on Independence Day. Except here, the patriotic holiday is celebrated in May, and the flag is Norwegian, not American. Norway had been under Denmark's heel for more than 400 years when it signed a new democratic constitution on May 17, 1814, a day that became known as Syttende Mai.
Go to story ...In summer, it's hard to know what to do first in beer- and bicycle-loving Madison. Bike along Lake Monona, or on the Capital City State Trail? Have a beer and listen to blues on the lakeside terrace of the Memorial Union, or sit in the Bier Garten of Capital Brewery? In summer, this college town is in its element. Its Great Taste of the Midwest in August is the largest beer festival in Wisconsin and the second-longest running craft-beer festival in North America.
Go to story ...When some men reach a certain age, they get the urge to buy a zippy little sports car. But when women reach a certain age, they covet a sporty little kayak.
Go to story ...No one knows why Madison is the fine-chocolate capital of the Upper Midwest. We do know that Europe played a big role. Gail Ambrosius, who grew up in Wisconsin's hamburger capital, tasted her first artisanal chocolate on a high-school field trip to Paris. "And I understood — eating this is the best thing you can do,'' she writes. Markus Candinas studied chocolate-making in his parents' hometown of Thun, at the foot of the Swiss Alps. Ton Stam came from the Netherlands to join the Madison Scouts drum and bugle corps, then started Chocolaterie Stam.
Go to story ...Everyone knows what people in Wisconsin like: beer, cheese and bratwurst. But they also like foie gras, frisée salad and seared pork belly. Southern Wisconsin is a fertile quilt of artisan farms, and their lovingly grown produce goes straight to the Dane County Farmers' Market and the restaurants of Madison. I've made a lot of delicious memories in Madison: the celeriac soup at L'Etoile, the raspberry truffles of Candinas, the Hopalicious pale ale from Ale Asylum.
Go to story ...In Madison, a visitor is exposed to many messages: Resist corporate globalization. Fight for social justice. Housing is a RIGHT! But when I was there one November, no one said anything against materialism.
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