Making it to Madison

The first night of our vacation we stayed in Madison.  It was a neat city and a fun stop on our way to the Dells.  We started with a drive around The University of Wisconsin.  We got Sam pictures at both the football and basketball stadiums.  John then navigated us through downtown.  The downtown area was neat.  They had a really pretty area on top of a building with nice landscaping, tables to sit, fountains and beautiful views of Lake Monona in one direction and the capitol building in the other direction.  We enjoyed just looking down at the boats on the lake and the city skyline.  
After our tour we headed back to the hotel to rest up for more traveling the next day.  Since it was late we decided to just order from a restaurant across the street that delivered to our hotel.  Cheese curds were on the menu and we had been told by many people that we needed to try cheese curds while in Wisconsin.  That ended up being a dangerous suggestion because we all liked them and then ordered them a few more times on our trip.  Our stomachs may enjoy them but I am sure that our arteries did not.  Fortunately or unfortunately our hotel elevator went out slightly after our arrival so we got to take the flight of stairs from the fifth floor a few times the next morning (once with all our luggage) to help burn off some of those calories.  

Ella in front of the Badgers football stadium. 

The basketball arena for the University of Wisconsin.

Enjoying the view of Lake Monona

The capitol building