After attending a local church this morning and visiting with one of my husband’s schoolmates, we headed in to the Henry Vilas Zoo.  This is not a huge, walk-all-day zoo, but rather a smaller, more traditional zoo.  It has giraffes and tigers and bears, and reminds me in scope and setup of St. Paul’s Como Zoo or the Dakota Zoo in Bismarck, North Dakota.  It is funded by donations, and unlike Como Zoo, there’s not someone there to collect the “suggested” donation.  We rode on the carousel and the kids loved the play area, but I was surprised at the number of signs with rules posted around the zoo.  No strollers.  No loud voices.  Supervise your children.  I’ve never seen so many “don’t” signs at a zoo before.  It makes me wonder if the people in Madison don’t have any common sense, and need to be reminded of the things that people visiting other zoos just know?  I’d love feedback on this, because it’s something I haven’t seen at the other zoos we’ve been to.

After lunch, we debated our options and decided against the children’s museum and state capitol because of the kids’ state of being at the time.  (Read: sharing, taking turns, and being quiet were not going well for them.)

We decided on a nice drive through the countryside–who doesn’t love a nice Sunday drive?–but we needed a destination.  With my Wisconsin travel guide in hand, I spotted the Milton House museum in Milton and remembered that The Mother of All Trips and her family had enjoyed a visit there.  As we wound our way between farm fields and through small towns, we remarked that we might happen upon a small-town festival of some sort.

When we got to Milton, we found our festival right there at the Milton House.  Fun and concessions in the park, special activities at the museum, and a craft show outside had the street blocked off, so we found a place to park and jumped right in.  The history in the Milton House was fascinating, especially the tunnel and cellar that protected slaves along the Underground Railroad.

We meandered back into Madison for supper, and now the kids are enjoying a movie night in our hotel room while Hubby reads and I take advantage of the wi-fi.  We’re heading home tomorrow but haven’t decided what, if anything, we’ll do along the way.  Time to get the travel guide out again!

Next: Day 5

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