We got away for a weekend that we all needed. We found a lovely cottage in a small town just over an hour away. It is a town full of stone cottages, old mines, log cabins, art galleries, interesting history, good restaurants, quirky old homes (a sweet yarn shop) and extremely steep hills.
The favorite thing about the cottage for the boys was the mail slot. Yep, it was fun! They also loved the cozy beds, antiques and giant hammock in the big lawn out front.
While we were only gone only 2 1/2 days, we packed in a lot of fun. The whole weekend was cool, even chilly - long pants and jackets in July! So we were able to go on long walks up steep hills to see old mining equipment, badger holes and restored prairie, walk through town, and visit many parks. Such a lovely place!
The boys loved finding out where the term Wisconsin Badgers came from. While the badger is indeed now the University mascot, the term comes from the miners who came to work in SW Wisconsin in the early 1800's who dug holes in the sides of hills to provide themselves with shelter in our cold winters as they worked to mine lead, zinc or other minerals. They dug holes like the badgers did to hole up for winter, and the name stuck!
While we were indeed perfectly happy hanging out at our cottage, going on walks, trying all the different restaurants and having ice cream at a local shop where we could also play Yahtzee!, we did venture into Iowa on Saturday to re-visit a river museum and got lucky to be there for a conservation event ... the boys saw freshwater snails, crawdads, turtles, snakes, and fish.
Very exciting! The museum also had a large lizard exhibit which we had to go back through many times before we could leave.
We had such a nice weekend the boys were sad to go. They really really miss that hammock!
And I miss seeing bats and birds and all the stars.
love it! I have missed checking in here -- so glad you are having great (cool!) summer!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a lovely weekend! Summer weekends are the best. :)
ReplyDeleteoh, i'm so glad you posted about that museum! we're taking a leisurely trip home to Wis and were thinking of camping in Wyalusing, which would not be far...before heading in to Madison.
ReplyDeletewe spent our wedding night at a B&B in Mineral Point after a wedding out at Folklore Village...lovely town.
Glad you enjoyed the River Museum here in Dubuque! We need to take our daughter back there - she loves it!
ReplyDelete-Former Madison resident, now DBQ resident
What a great trip. We have a hammock just like that one in our back yard. It hang between 2 50ft pines and wouldn't you know it, I hardly use it.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely place. Looks lije you had some wonderful family fun. Blessings.
ReplyDeleteOne of my family's goals is to have a hammock like that. And some trees to hang it on!
ReplyDelete(Today's MiM blog comment word verification: "normless". I love it when it's a real word; love it even more when it's a meaningful real word!)
Awww...I grew up in Darlington, MP is near and dear to my heart. Good to see these pictures. We're coming out in a couple weeks and I just asked Ms. D about the Mississippi Museum. Last time we were there it had just opened and was a bit "Meh". Is it worth the trip for an 11 year old?
ReplyDeletelooks like you guys had a lot of fun! love that last photo. who couldn't do that all day??
ReplyDelete~Tara
That looks like just what we need! Summer is meant for hammocks and afternoon naps!!!
ReplyDeletehat was the name of the cottage?
ReplyDeletewe went to the river museum on our road trip! we have matching photos of our boys in the plastic lizard bubble. it looks like a great summer trip!
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