After leaving Mount Horeb, we followed the advice of the woman at the Visitor's Center..."Take John Nolan Drive" into
Madison. Too bad it was a gray Morrissey type of day, but the view of the Madison skyline was still beautiful, with the
Wisconsin State Capitol hiding in the background. The Lake in the foreground in
Lake Monona.
Earlier that month, Wandering Chopsticks and I were exchanging emails about this trip. She recommended visiting a few places (like the Mustard Museum) and also visiting nearby Madison. I remember telling Bert, "Hey, what's so special about Madison? WC says we should really visit that city!". He just looked at me and said, "Uhhhh...it's the capitol of Wisconsin...."! Duh! I felt like such a dumbass. So, yeah, that's what we did. It was only 45 minutes away from Mount Horeb. We found parking off of State Street which is one of the main spokes that radiate out from the Capitol Building
This was also a college town, home of the
University of Wisconsin - Madison. Their mascot is
Bucky Badger! Woo hoo! Actually, Bucky is cute. I ended up getting a college t-shirt for Fridays at work.
There were so many different types of restaurants on State Street -
Kabul is Afghan/Mediterranean while
Buraka was African/Ethiopian.
Here's a Lao/Thai place,
Rising Sons Deli.
We were so hungry from our drive...The bratwurst wasn't enough!
Badger Liquor - liked the neon sign with the drops...(looked better lit up when we left). I think the sign should have a drunk dude with his mouth open catching the drops.
Too bad we missed most of the parade! That very same weekend was the start of
Fire Prevention Week. We thought there was a huge accident because we saw all of these firetrucks. Turns out it was a parade. We caught the "tail" end of it, literally seeing the "end" of the
Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. Oscar Mayer was a native of Wisconsin, but is buried in Chicago's Rosehill Cemetery which we visited the other day.
I was bummed we didn't see the Wienermobile pass by in all of it's shiny and happy glory.
After deliberating the night before about food choices , Bert and I narrowed it down to a Himalayan/Nepalese place,
Himal Chuli. Other than the one time we had Himalayan food (at the Saturday Market in Portland, OR), we didn't consider it substantial enough to remember. So, Himal Chuli it was. In keeping with the multicultural food offerings, Himal Chuli was right next door to a Greek Place.
Menu :
The restaurant was tiny and narrow. The cash register and the kitchen are in the back. To your left and around the corner are the bathrooms.
View from our table...
TC had the Mango
Lassi which I didn't care for since I do not like the thought of drinking yogurt. Well, I don't like the flavor either! It was kind of funky and sour.
For starters, we had dal (lentil) soup:
Bert had the "Special Himal Chuli Coffee" flavored with Chai spices which he found "interesting" (a nice way of saying he didn't really like it).
This was my choice - The Katahar Kabab (
the description is lifted straight from their menu): Green jackfruit marinated with a special blend of Nepali spices and sauteed with onion, tomatoes, and cilantro. A rich vegetarian substitute for meat commonly served at Nepali weddings. Served with choice of rice or
roti (a type of flatbread) and dal or tossed salad (no, not the kind Chris Rock talks about)". I really liked this - jackfruit is commonly thought of as a dessert when it is ripened, but when it is green, is eaten like a vegetable. In fact, I have a can of it in the cupboard that I'm dying to use for a Filipino recipe involving coconut milk.
Bert ordered the Palungo Chicken - "A generous slice of white meat simmered with fresh spinach leavbes and potatoes in our own mild tomato sauce. Served with rice and a choice of dal or salad". I think TC liked this better than my choice, especially since it had potatoes.
One of our appetizers - Momocha (4 pieces) - "Steamed vegetable dumplings flavored with a peanut sauce (it was quite subtle) spiced with Nepali herbs and served with tomato coriander sauce". These looked so cute and they were delicious...like little tiny bundles!
Another appetizer we had were the Samosas - " Two vegetable pasties stuffed with onions, poatoes and peas combined in a blend of Nepali herbs. Served with yogurt sauce and dal". I think these samosas were baked because they didn't seem to have the same texture or crunch as the fried versions I've had in the past.
After our delicious lunch, we headed down State Street to check out the Capitol building which was just looming in the distance.
Cleanup after the fire truck parade. No more Wienermobile. : (
The Wisconsin State Capitol is the tallest building in Wisconsin. Although it is tiny in this photo and you can barely see it, "
The "Wisconsin" statue on the dome was sculpted in 1920 by Daniel Chester French of New York. Her left hand holds a globe with an eagle on it and her right arm is outstretched to symbolize the state motto, "Forward." She wears a helmet with the state animal, the badger, on top. She is made of hollow bronze covered with gold leaf."Wisconsin" is 15 feet, 5 inches tall and weighs three tons. The statue is commonly misidentified as "Lady Forward" or "Miss Forward", which is the name of another statue on the capitol grounds." (source - Wikipedia)
Here I am trying to be like "Lady Forward"...
Ugh - I'm slouching so my stomach is sticking out!
TC and the Capitol Building:
I thought this was a funny painting. It was some sort of meat pie place. The cartoon character's shirt matched my daughter's hoodie.
The House of Wisconsin Cheese - We were looking to buy fried cheese curds. They only had fresh ones here. We wanted the fried ones. Another place we were looking for near the Capitol Square was a place recommended by the woman in Mount Horeb, the Old Fashioned. We were kind of pressed for time, so we passed on looking for it and looked here instead. Since they didn't have it, we figured we'd head back to my cousin's place in the 'burbs. They were planning to take us to dinner. It was already 3 pm'ish and Morton Grove was about 3 hours away.
Samples in the store:
The Orpheum Theatre- There's an upcoming concert by banjoist extraordinare,
Bela Fleck of the group
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Have you ever heard this guy play? He's a badass!
Here's the
Madison Museum of Contemorary Art (MMoCA)! I wished we had more time here!
Heading back to Morton Grove now!
Earlier that month, Wandering Chopsticks and I were exchanging emails about this trip. She recommended visiting a few places (like the Mustard Museum) and also visiting nearby Madison. I remember telling Bert, "Hey, what's so special about Madison? WC says we should really visit that city!". He just looked at me and said, "Uhhhh...it's the capitol of Wisconsin...."! Duh! I felt like such a dumbass. So, yeah, that's what we did. It was only 45 minutes away from Mount Horeb. We found parking off of State Street which is one of the main spokes that radiate out from the Capitol Building
This was also a college town, home of the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Their mascot is Bucky Badger! Woo hoo! Actually, Bucky is cute. I ended up getting a college t-shirt for Fridays at work.
There were so many different types of restaurants on State Street - Kabul is Afghan/Mediterranean while Buraka was African/Ethiopian.
Here's a Lao/Thai place, Rising Sons Deli.
We were so hungry from our drive...The bratwurst wasn't enough!
Badger Liquor - liked the neon sign with the drops...(looked better lit up when we left). I think the sign should have a drunk dude with his mouth open catching the drops.
Too bad we missed most of the parade! That very same weekend was the start of Fire Prevention Week. We thought there was a huge accident because we saw all of these firetrucks. Turns out it was a parade. We caught the "tail" end of it, literally seeing the "end" of the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile. Oscar Mayer was a native of Wisconsin, but is buried in Chicago's Rosehill Cemetery which we visited the other day.
I was bummed we didn't see the Wienermobile pass by in all of it's shiny and happy glory.
After deliberating the night before about food choices , Bert and I narrowed it down to a Himalayan/Nepalese place, Himal Chuli. Other than the one time we had Himalayan food (at the Saturday Market in Portland, OR), we didn't consider it substantial enough to remember. So, Himal Chuli it was. In keeping with the multicultural food offerings, Himal Chuli was right next door to a Greek Place.
Menu :
The restaurant was tiny and narrow. The cash register and the kitchen are in the back. To your left and around the corner are the bathrooms.
View from our table...
TC had the Mango Lassi which I didn't care for since I do not like the thought of drinking yogurt. Well, I don't like the flavor either! It was kind of funky and sour.
For starters, we had dal (lentil) soup:
Bert had the "Special Himal Chuli Coffee" flavored with Chai spices which he found "interesting" (a nice way of saying he didn't really like it).
This was my choice - The Katahar Kabab (the description is lifted straight from their menu): Green jackfruit marinated with a special blend of Nepali spices and sauteed with onion, tomatoes, and cilantro. A rich vegetarian substitute for meat commonly served at Nepali weddings. Served with choice of rice or roti (a type of flatbread) and dal or tossed salad (no, not the kind Chris Rock talks about)". I really liked this - jackfruit is commonly thought of as a dessert when it is ripened, but when it is green, is eaten like a vegetable. In fact, I have a can of it in the cupboard that I'm dying to use for a Filipino recipe involving coconut milk.
Bert ordered the Palungo Chicken - "A generous slice of white meat simmered with fresh spinach leavbes and potatoes in our own mild tomato sauce. Served with rice and a choice of dal or salad". I think TC liked this better than my choice, especially since it had potatoes.
One of our appetizers - Momocha (4 pieces) - "Steamed vegetable dumplings flavored with a peanut sauce (it was quite subtle) spiced with Nepali herbs and served with tomato coriander sauce". These looked so cute and they were delicious...like little tiny bundles!
After our delicious lunch, we headed down State Street to check out the Capitol building which was just looming in the distance.
Cleanup after the fire truck parade. No more Wienermobile. : (
The Wisconsin State Capitol is the tallest building in Wisconsin. Although it is tiny in this photo and you can barely see it, "The "Wisconsin" statue on the dome was sculpted in 1920 by Daniel Chester French of New York. Her left hand holds a globe with an eagle on it and her right arm is outstretched to symbolize the state motto, "Forward." She wears a helmet with the state animal, the badger, on top. She is made of hollow bronze covered with gold leaf."Wisconsin" is 15 feet, 5 inches tall and weighs three tons. The statue is commonly misidentified as "Lady Forward" or "Miss Forward", which is the name of another statue on the capitol grounds." (source - Wikipedia)
Here I am trying to be like "Lady Forward"...
TC and the Capitol Building:
I thought this was a funny painting. It was some sort of meat pie place. The cartoon character's shirt matched my daughter's hoodie.
Samples in the store:
The Orpheum Theatre- There's an upcoming concert by banjoist extraordinare, Bela Fleck of the group Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. Have you ever heard this guy play? He's a badass! 
Here's the Madison Museum of Contemorary Art (MMoCA)! I wished we had more time here!
Heading back to Morton Grove now!
