20th century street
One of the many creepy doll/puppets
The largest carousel in the world; valued at $4,800,000
This intricate scene is one room, in one of the many dollhouses
This whale encompassed an entire four-story room; to give perspective, the boat is life size
After a little under two hours we had finally made it through the entire house, and I felt like I needed to lie down and take a nap! On the way back to the car, we talked about how you could easily spend double the amount of time wandering through and come on a regular basis and you would still always find something you had not seen before. I must say it was a peculiar experience, and just the one visit will last me a lifetime!
By this point it was already reaching a late lunchtime, so we began our drive back to Madison. When we were getting close, a tremendous storm began and we drove along on the highway barely able to see the car in front of us, with the exception of the glowing red taillights. Had I been the driver, I'm sure I would have pulled over, but Moses kept his eyes trained on the road and kept going. I had made a comment the previous night about wanting to try deep dish pizza, so Moses held me to it, and told us we had to try a place called Old Chicago. It was still pouring, so Moses pulled up to the closest parking spot (which happened to be handicapped, but Moses took care of that by hanging a handicapped sign which he reported he had ‘on loan’) and made a mad dash to the front door. We were brought the house’s specialty pepperoni rolls to start off, and when the pizza arrived, all I could do was stare adoringly. It was a 14 inch pizza and arrived in a high skillet. It had onions, peppers, Italian sausage, pepperoni, and lots of cheese. As I was chewing the last bite of my first mega piece, Moses promptly placed another two pieces on my plate... by the time I had finished I was torn between feeling like I would pass out or rip at the seams. It is certainly not a meal for the faint of heart, but the fatty/carb goodness tasted fantastic for a cold rainy day.
After that, we all settled into serious food comas back at the house, and it was about two hours before I left my comfy place on the couch. We decided to go Barnes and Noble to do some book browsing before dinner. By the time we had finished there, I felt relaxed and was content with the long list of book titles I had accumulated on my phone.
For our last dinner we headed to Eno Vino, a tapas restaurant a little outside of town. The interior of the restaurant is dimly lit for atmosphere, the tables are placed closely together to provide a cozy feel, there is a fireplace at one end, and the bar is stunning (with quite a grand number of different kinds of booze). It was bustling, so we were lucky to get a low table, with cushioned chairs near the bar, so we could watch the happenings of the evening. After inspecting the menu, we soon decided on four dishes: truffled fries, korean short rib pot stickers, chicken skewers with a variety of dipping sauces, and pork belly with a smoked gouda biscuit, tomato confit, sage mornay, and sunny-side up egg to top it off. Moses asked our waitress to bring each plate out separately, so we could enjoy one dish at a time (something I would recommend doing), and we slowly made our way through each of the delicacies, until we had sampled it all. Each dish was wonderfully presented, always with intense flavor combinations which came harmoniously together.
With our bellies full, we headed back to the house for the last time. After talking for some time in the living room, and saying our goodbyes, we eventually headed upstairs... tomorrow would be another very early morning.
❖ ❖ ❖ ❖ ❖
The next morning, my alarm went off at 4:40AM, and I stumbled my way to the bathroom to splash some water on my face. Within ten minutes, we were bringing out all of our bags to the car, packing away some breakfast and lunch supplies Moses had given us for the ride home (including some delicious cinnamon-apple doughnuts!), and leaving a thank-you card for Moses. And with that, we entered the night, locking the door behind us.
The drive home went quite smoothly, with the except of a 45 minute traffic jam at one point. After about five hours of Trev driving, he asked if I would take over for a bit (he had seemed even more tired today). Almost the second I hit the road, he fell asleep, and I was overwhelmed with a feeling of happiness. The kind of happiness that doesn’t come from any big, special moment, but rather from a small moment when everything feels serene. It’s hard to describe, but I felt completely relaxed and in control driving, I had my audio book playing (we had moved onto The Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson), and my brother sat next to me fast asleep. I get the feeling quite often when I’m in the car driving somewhere... maybe there is just something about the possibility of the open road.
As we came closer to home, I was struck by how much it was beginning to feel like fall. It was drizzling on and off outside, making the car feel safe and warm, and tree leaves were beginning to turn warm colors, surrounding the road in an oasis of beauty.
Finally arriving safe and sound at home, we told the rest of our family about the weekend adventures, and they told us of what they had been up to. Soon, we sat down on our porch to a dinner of tacos with chicken thighs that my brother Colin had made. It was good to be home, but the adventure is something I will now hold dearly in my memory!
xx
Erin
House on the Rock
Open times vary throughout year
5754 State Road 23, Spring Green, WI
Website is currently down; detail about house can be found Here
Old Chicago
Open Sunday to Tuesday 11AM - 12AM, Wednesday to Saturday 11AM - 1AM
7202 Mineral Point Rd, Madison,
WI
Website Here
Eno Vino
Open Sunday to Thursday 4PM - 10PM, Friday & Saturday 4PM - 11PM
601 Junction Rd. - Madison, WI
Website Here
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