SWNOVELS Chapter The Trip
Kay loved all animals, but she had a special fondness for penguins. Having been to the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas numerous times, and having gotten a backstage penguin pass a few times, she had a feeling this exhibit would hold up to her expectations. Kay already knew the first penguin exhibit of Henry Vilas Zoo opened in 1986, followed by the Arctic Passage in 2015, and they had just added two African penguin chicks! She had a great feeling about the zoo, so she allocated additional time on Friday to hang out longer and not feel rushed.
Next on the list was the University of Wisconsin Geology Museum. One of her patients worked there and set up an after hours tour for Kay and a business group that was in town. According to her research, there was a 9 ½ foot tall and 15 foot long Mastodon skeleton at the museum. The story goes that the Dosch family children found half of the bones in the family farm streambed after a rainstorm in 1897 and the other half of the skeleton was made from an inverted model of those bones. There is a fossil preparation lab and very noteworthy fossil holdings at the UWGM as well. Though the Geology Museum wasn’t haunted, the Science Hall supposedly was and it was open to the public. As history would have it, an embalmed human foot, and five inches of ankle, was found in the building in 1974. That, along with the cadaver chute and beakers mysteriously falling off of shelves was more than enough to get Kay on the University of Wisconsin campus. Plus, it was only a 12 minute walk from the Geology Museum to the Science Hall so, why not?
Ever the efficient planner, Kay knew she would need to stay at a hotel or bed & breakfast in order to keep her tour on schedule. After much research and deliberation, she chose to stay at the DoubleTree by Hilton Madison Downtown Friday night. There was an indoor pool, an indoor gym, and an all day restaurant. She wouldn’t even have to go out for dinner. With all the money she would be spending at the zoo on snacks, drinks, and souvenirs, plus all of the walking at the University, dinner at a 4-star hotel wouldn’t hurt her budget much and her feet would thank her.
After breakfast at the DoubleTree, day two would consist of visiting the Chazen Museum of Art and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. Chazen has the second largest collection of art in the country and both of the museums respect the sovereignty of the Ho-Chunk Nation, along with the other 11 First Nations of Wisconsin. While Kay wasn’t a Native American herself, Louisiana was teeming with a variety of tribes and nations. In New Orleans alone there were the Chitimacha, Coushatta, the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, and the Tunica-Biloxi Indians. These are the four federally recognized tribes, though the state of Louisiana recognizes an additional seven tribes. Kay grew up understanding the importance of respecting your heritage and she was glad to see that Wisconsin seemed to feel the same way about their native tribes.
Lunch was going to follow the art museum visits and Kay already knew she wanted this particular lunch to be special. Coming from Louisiana meant she didn’t have any Northern food influence, and she was willing to try something new. She heard The Old Fashioned was an extraordinary restaurant, and a great place to go if you wanted true Wisconsin-type food. She was definitely looking forward to trying real cheese curds for the first time and, since she had perused the online menu, she was considering trying the Pork Schnitzel and Wisconsin Beer Cheese Soup. After lunch she would visit the Wisconsin State Capitol Building.
While Kay loved zoos and museums, she was really looking forward to touring the Capitol building. From the gilded bronze statue that sits atop the building, and the exquisite glass mosaics, to the lavish murals and 43 varieties of stone that make up the Classical Revival style architecture, this building would surely not disappoint. She knew the tour would take an hour, and even though the observation deck was closed, she was still going to take her time walking around. She wanted to see about getting to the 4th floor where all the maintenance workers died after the roof collapsed. Maybe, just maybe, she’d see or hear something that peaked her paranormal interest.
Saturday she would be staying at the AC Hotel by Marriott Madison Downtown. She already knew she would be taking advantage of their dinner delivery option after a long day of sightseeing and she was particularly interested in having the European style breakfast Sunday morning. After browsing the internet, she found that breakfast would likely consist of ham, eggs, a variety of cheeses and breads, and coffee. This seemed like hearty food fuel to start her last day of touring before returning to work on Monday morning.
The proximity to the Capitol building, and the Mendota Rowing Club, was a huge plus as well since she knew she would be exhausted. Kay planned on participating in the Learn To Row Class, followed by some free-style novice rowing. Yes, it was winter, but there were so many things to do and places to see. The bitter cold didn’t really bother Kay, which was a surprise since she grew up in Louisiana. The memories she would make, and people she would meet, would more than make up for any chill the lake would likely impart upon her.
She would finish her tour on Sunday at the Olbrich Botanical Gardens and the Fire and Ice Luminary Walk Sunday evening. As a very last minute addition, Kay would also go to Sanatorium Hill before heading home. It was only a few miles north of her apartment, and it was bound to have some unexplained phenomena with its history of death.
Since it was winter, the garden would involve a self-guided tour followed by a visit to Bolz Conservatory. Sixteen acres of beautiful gardens, a gift shop, and a tram ride with pre-recorded narration, sounded absolutely wonderful and the evening luminary walk would be a nice paradox.
Fire, something that’s so hot, and ice, something that’s so cold, merging together and creating something beautiful. Kay hoped it would live up to the local fanfare.
Once her Sanatorium Hill addendum was complete, she would go back home and prepare for another week of clients. Life would return to normal, but she would have new memories of Madison and, if she was lucky, she would make a few friends and have people to hang out with outside of work.