Monday, March 30 — Devil's Lake and Doctor Evermor

For breakfast this morning we had oatmeal with raisins and strawberries. This is what I eat almost every morning, but it was the first time for Anne Marie.

Here we are at the back of my house:

And in the front courtyard:

After breakfast, we drove North through the town of Waunakee up to the Wisconsin River. We planned to take the free ferry across the river to Merrimac. The ferry began running last week, after being closed for the winter.

Alas, when we reached the ferry dock, a big sign told us the ferry was closed.

A worker explained that one of the cables was broken.  We were disappointed, but it was nice walking along the river.

We drove on to Devil's Lake. Anne Marie and Marie Therese walked along the rocks on the shore of the lake.

And they climbed some rocks!

We looked at the effigy mound of a bird, constructed by Native Americans from 500 to 1000 years ago.

And then we went into Baraboo for lunch! We all had soup.

On our way back to Madison, we stopped to see the amazing art of Doctor Evermor.

If you don't believe we had fun, take a look at this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16W7BOEhKEE&feature=youtu.be

Ha ha!

We stopped in Middleton to buy coffee and milk and yogurt at the Willy Street Co-op.

The University of Wisconsin is on the shores of Lake Mendota in Madison. We stopped at the overlook on Observatory Drive. My house is on the opposite side of this lake.

At 5:30 we met my friends, Sara and Helen, at the Greenbush Bar in the Italian Workman's Club. 

This place is in a part of Madison that used to
be an Italian and Jewish neighborhood. The houses were destroyed in the 1960s to build
a medical center.

We had salad and pizza and Italian red wine. And we had a good time!

Left to Right:  Helen, Anne Marie, Marie Therese, and Sara

After dinner, we went to Helen's home to take a little tour of her retirement community, Oakwood Village, a wonderful place with opportunities for theater, exercise, art, and many social activities. 

We drove back to my house past the capitol building, it's bright white lights reflected on the water of Lake Monona, Madison's other big lake. Tomorrow, we'll see more of Madison.