I hope you are enjoying this travel series on Madison, Wis. So far, we’ve delved into the city’s early history, explored African-American influences around the area and state, sailed around one of the city’s two stunning lakes, explored the comfortable suburb of Middleton, Wix., and enjoyed some amazing meals at two regional favorites.
Next on our itinerary is to visit the boutique town of Spring Green, located just a few minutes outside of the city. The heart of this charming ‘burb—home to a little more than 1,600 people—is along Jefferson Street, with the downtown area stretching for approximately three blocks.
Here, you will find a bevy of popular and welcoming shops and restaurants patronized by Spring Green residents, as well as many people throughout the Madison metro area.
One of my favorite stops here is Arcadia Books, a wonderful bookstore that feels more like someone’s home library, with expansive floor-to-ceiling windows coupled with a quaint café, where patrons choose from the triple-door cooler stocked with homemade, pasta dishes, salads, ethnic plates, deli sandwiches, cheeses and more, all prepared with local and seasonal ingredients. The food is amazing, the portions are generous, and the proprietors, like the ones at every place I found in the Madison area, treat you like family.
Other great eateries in town include the Shed, Driftless Depot Market & Deli, Spring Green General Store and the Old Feed Mill , among others.
Whether you fancy quilting fabrics, delicious wines, eclectic home and garden items, jewelry or body products, you will find something to suit your tastes in the town’s many retail boutiques and shops.
The life and legacy of Frank Lloyd Wright
Spring Green is also the home of two internationally acclaimed attractions built by two American icons.
One of those attractions is Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin. Taliesin—which means “shining brow” in Welsh, Wright’s ancestry—is fittingly situated in the valley settled by Wright’s maternal family and so named for the brow of a hill where the crown is open. Now I have to say that prior to this visit, I was just generally familiar with this iconic architect, whose famous homes, churches and other structures dot the American landscape. But it wasn’t until I embarked upon this tour that I really understood and greatly appreciated the man and his designs.
From the Visitor Center, guests are shuttled via bus about five minutes up the picturesque, meandering hills to the 600-acre estate that encompasses five Wright-designed structures—two of which are National Historic Landmarks—including the home he first designed for himself in 1911.
The guided tour is amazing, chock full of fascinating insights and little known tidbits about Wright’s vision, passion, family and work. The main thing you really grasp here is his lifelong desire to have his designs influence how others feel and think, and to improve their lives.
To say that no detail is overlooked would be an understatement, from the effects he wished to create with the various ceiling heights, to the unusual angles of the bedrooms and living spaces, to the tapestries used for the walls and floors. Also on site is a working architectural studio and dorms where students come from around the world to study for their future careers in architecture.
A visit to Taliesin would definitely be a highlight of any visit to Madison.
Awe and whimsy at House on the Rock
It’s amazing. It’s weird. It’s inspiring. It’s a little bit creepy. But it all just goes to show what one man or woman’s passions—or neurosis—can bring to fruition. This is theHouse on the Rock (www.thehouseontherock.com).
There are actually three parts to this destination: the attraction; the inn, a family-friendly retreat; and the resort, an upscale accommodation with a spa and 27-hole championship golf course.
The main attraction is the creation of Alex Jordan Jr., who, in the 1940s, happened upon a 60-foot chimney of rock in the sandstone of the Wyoming Valley, where he decided to build a home as a weekend retreat. The 14-room home was so odd—its composition, architecture and location—that people started coming by, asking for a better look.
Jordan, a brilliant visionary and unemployed loner who lived in a dinky apartment in Madison, was nonetheless somewhat of an astute businessman who evenutally figured out that by charging an entrance fee—50 cents at the time—he could finance his dream, which, over the years, grew into a massive complex encompassing several buildings, exhibits, garden displays and more.
To say “seeing is believing” is really an understatement, but an apt description of this place where visitors—like myself—walk around in utter amazement and sometimes sheer disbelief at all that you find here. In 1960, Jordan officially opened the property to visitors, then, in 1988, he sold it to a family because of his failing health. He died the following year. So, the property is really a joint collaboration between Jordan’s work, purchases and donated items.
The place is so expansive and there are so many things to see that moving through the property at a brisk pace takes about 3 hours! Therefore, some people come over for a couple of days or in the morning just to take it all in. The collections are just unreal, with my honorable mentions including the Infinity Room in the Main House—a 218-foot long cantilever with 3,263 windows as walls that stretch over the towering treetops below; the Streets of Yesteryear in the Mill House, the world’s second largest collection of music machines, many of which are set to play automatically (my mouth and eyes were wide open the entire time!); and the world’s largest indoor carousel, featuring more than 20,000 lights, 182 chandeliers and 269 handcrafted carousel animals, not one of which has a horse head on it!
The main point of it all is that Jordan desired to create something where sight and sound would have a profound effect on the senses, and boy, did he accomplish that! Eclectic, exotic, unusual, weird, amazing and gigantic, the House of the Rock is another Madison must-see!
All the World’s a Stage
Theater-lovers would thoroughly enjoy the American Players Theatre, also in Spring Green. Boasting an annual attendance of more than 100,000 people, the theater ranks as the country’s second largest outdoor theater devoted to the classics.
The setting is the first thing to capture your attention; it’s set on 110 hilly acres of woods and meadows, where patrons come throughout June to October to embark upon what the organization calls a “cultural picnicking tailgate” with a warm and welcoming camaraderie and baskets packed full of food and adult beverages. This really set the stage for our visit here.
The unique aspect of the theater season here is that they present eight plays in rotating repertory, very unlike most other companies that present only one at a time, giving theater-enthusiasts numerous opportunities to enjoy a variety of wonderful performances each year. Performances take place in their intimate 201-seat indoor Touchstone Theatre, as well as in their flagship, 1,148-seat outdoor amphitheater set in the hillside, where every seat offers great views of the stage and nature surrounding it.
We’ve got one more foray through Madison, were we’ll check out a couple more Frank Lloyd Wright structures, bike about town, visit the state capitol and enjoy a few surprises in between!
Reference List:
American Players Theatre
608.588.2361, http://americanplayers.org
Arcadia Books
608.588.7638, www.readinutopia.com/kitchen
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin
877.588-7900, 608.588.7900, www.taliesinpreservation.org
Spring Green Chamber of Commerce
800.588.2042, www.springgreen.com
The Greater Madison Convention and Visitors Bureau
608.255.2537, www.visitmadison.com
The House on the Rock
800.822.7774, 608.588.7000, www.thehouseontherock.com
Lysa Allman-Baldwin writes for numerous online and print publications, including as the cultural travel writer for www.Examiner.com and as a senior travel writer for SoulOfAmerica.com, an Afrocentric travel website. Lysa can be reached at lallmanbaldwin@kc.rr.com.