Weekend Trip the Capital Building in Madison WI and Hiking in Devils Lake

Mini Trip - Free Hotel Vouchers

We had two free nights that expired at the end of the year. My oldest had wanted to go visit a capital after driving by so many on our vacation this year. We decided to take the drive over to Madison and take a look.

Lucky for us, it was open and had tours all weekend. So we headed over and got in line for the first tour at 9am.

There was also huge art festival around the whole outside of the capital. While we walked around most of it, It started to get a little too busy for our taste... Hard to keep the kids together when it gets that crazy and get to look at the cools stuff. Not to mention most of the stuff where was about two levels above my price range, and I got tire of looking at stuff I couldn't afford, so I was OK not seeing the final street.

We did buy the kids some fresh squeezed orange juice since it was getting hot, and they both liked it... Duh.. who doesn't prefer that to the stuff we get in the store.!!!

Outside of the Capital

Inside of the Capital

I was really impressed with the inside of the capital. Then again, most capitals are way over the top and spare no expense... they all seem to have unlimited funds to spend whatever they want to show the wealth of the state. I have a hard time not looking at how ornate it all is and wondering if this is really what our leaders need in order to serve the people. Since this was for my kids, I kept my mouth shut and let them just look at the impressive architecture. The most classic would be the dome.

I will say there were a lot of "Free" resources in the capital. The kids really like getting the free book, and brochures. Not to mention all the tours were free, and just the ability to wonder around much of the building and explore was really cool. Not used to being that free to explore. I can't believe how clean the whole thing was... so much granite and no dust on any of the ledges... like... how?

Mosaic of Liberty, Government, Legislation, and Justic

They had some really impressive mosaics around the outside of the lower circle beneath the dome. I believe the tour guide said they each had over 100,000 tiles to create them. We went at a great time and had the early morning sun shining on them. Really impressive!!!

Law Makers Offices, rooms and design,

When designed, one oft he main requirements was to allow as much natural light in the building as possible. I do love this attribute, and most of the rooms were plainly light without the use of lightbulbs. Here are some of the shots I was able to take while in the tour.

Liberty Bell Replica

They also had a really nice replica of the Liberty Bell on display. It was an exact match except for the crack. It gave the kids a chance to see what it looks like in person and get an idea of the size without driving all the way to the east coast again. While I think that might be in the future vacations plans, either way it was cool.

Outside Shots,

We were able to go all the way to the top ( that we are allowed to ) and walk around outside the capital. Here are a few photos we got from the top. It was really pretty to walk around the outside, but I didnt take too many photos

Elevator

Just took this one cause those things were so cool looking. They were bronze looking and brushed to just look like they should be in a bank vault protecting gold!!

Devils Lake State Park

We had some time on Sunday and we drove to Devils lake state park. We have been there a number of time and really like it. Its fun to hite, big rocks eveywhere, lots of fun stuff to rent to use on the lake and and big enough to not feel too trapped when it gets busy!!!

We hiked all the way around, starting at the bottom, hiking to the top, hitting all the major attractions and finishing with the walking path on the other side of the lake. I think we logged about 7 miles today, and the kids probably had more running all over to check stuff out and explore!! Here are the highlights.

Devils Door Way

Balanced Rock

Top of the hike

Cool Canyon type trail

That is it - I am tired

That was a fun and long weekend. Lots of driving, more fun exploring and hiking. It was a great weekend with the family. Not ready for Monday, but it is coming no matter what I do. Time to call it a weekend and sign off -

~~@senstless

PS Leave a comment, I will tip you with !BEER

#sbi-skip