We landed in Milwaukee at 9:30 a.m. We got our bags and our rental car in good order. We hit the road to West Bend. Not far out of Milwaukee, in the town of Hales Corners, we saw a sign for a botanical garden. We detoured and walked in the Boerner Botanical Gardens. This garden turned out to be well-planned. It featured lots of plants which only grow in very cold places, as well as other plants. We loved watching the little chipmunks, and walking in a nearby wood.
We headed on to West Bend, a small town on a river. We went to the Museum of Wisconsin Art. This was a really great museum in a really cool building. I liked best the pieces by Carl Von Marr and in particular the huge painting "The Flagellants" (or "The Procession of the Flagellants"). My first thought on seeing this late 19th Century painting was that it must be from the 1980s. We also liked the Florence Eisemann exhibit about hip childrens' clothes in the 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond. My wife recalled Eiseman designs of her childhood.
We went to the Lac Lawrann Conservancy. We walked by a marsh, where we saw Northern Flickers, a Song Sparrow, and some great rabbits.
We drove to Mayville, where we are staying at the lovely Audubon Inn. We dined at its Creole restaurant, NOLA. I loved my gumbo, which was a bit spicy but in a measured Creole way, not in that "just make it burn" way that some non-Louisiana places utilize to try to be "authentic".
We walked in town and watched the Rock River from several vantage points.
Tomorrow may involve cheese.
Breakfast: yogurt with granola, fruit
Lunch: None (gone hiking)
Dinner: gumbo and a half-chicken with quinoa and a truffle jus.