Madison Trip

On Monday and Tuesday, Dokime and the upper-grade BCS class went to southern Wisconsin, mostly in the Madison environs, to see three Wisconsin landmarks: Frank Lloyd Wright's studio at Taliesin, the capitol building in Madison, and the House on the Rock, a remarkably kitsch roller-coaster of unbridled bad taste, ironically less than half an hour from Wright's masterpiece of restrained, livable, prairie-style architecture.

We left around 7:30 and headed down to Spring Green. We drove through the kettle-moraine country of southern Wisconsin, untouched by the glacial action that flattened this region of Wisconsin into largely gentle rolling hills. It was some of the most beautiful territory I have been in. I can only imagine driving down it at illegal speeds in a Jaguar E-Type or '66 Mustang with my soulmate *sigh*.

The Wright visitors' center, about a mile from the house, was also designed by him, although he didn't live to see it completed. We were shuttled in a bus to the actual architecture school which still operates on the estate. We regrettably didn't take the tour of his house, because they charged something exorbitant to the tune of $47.

The school itself sagged badly, was drafty and mossy, and positively swarmed with mosquitoes. That said, it was absolutely gorgeous and well-designed. Gray's Elegy (with a typo) was engraved on the gigantic stone mantlepiece, and a verse from Isaiah was on the ceiling beams above. It was a beautiful, peaceful building, and I fell in love with it. I was already a fan of Wright's style, but now I appreciate the fact that his organic architecture is one of the best ways to build a house.

After that, we drove down to the capitol building in Madison. Another beautiful building, in a totally different style. Gold leaf and expensive marble were literally everywhere. We found out some cool stuff, such as the fact that from the ground floor to the statue on top of the dome, our capitol building is taller than the national one in Washington, and that a Johnny Depp and Christian Bale movie about John Dillinger and other crooks called "Public Enemies" is being filmed in it and in other locations in Wisconsin.

When the tour was done, the BCS kids headed back to Baldwin, while we stayed. We drove to a theater in Madison and met the Hokansons' friends the Johnsons to watch the new Narnia movie: Prince Caspian! It was mediocre, and far from the book, but growing on me slightly.

After that we went to the Johnsons' house, and had pizza. They were incredibly nice and hospitable, and I enjoyed our time there. Then we watched some of our movie-making projects, including Antigone for the third time in three days, and some other videos. Then the girls left to go to a hotel, and John, Zach (Johnson), and I played video games for a while and I had a sneezing fit. Then we turned in.

The next morning, we ate breakfast at the Johnsons' and drove off to the House on the Rock. It was, frankly, not worth the $12.50 admission fee. It was rabidly and unashamedly commercial, and though it was rather impressive, was entirely not my thing. I was entirely shocked when the girls said it was their favorite place we went. It was dark and smelly and the owner seemed to have collected all the 300-foot fiberglass whales, idiotically lighted carousels, and nude dolls he could find. Plus orange shag carpeting.

After that, we drove home. All in all, an excellent trip that did a good job of tying off the school year.