8 Wisconsin Favorites

We tagged along on a work trip for Kevin and headed north to Wisconsin earlier this week.  It was about a 5.5 hour drive for us.  We stayed right outside of Madison in Middleton.  It was the most darling little suburb.  We found tons to do and wished we could have stayed longer!!

We all enjoyed the drive and the scenery.  None of us had ever been to Wisconsin before.

// 1 // Hilton Garden Inn

We checked into the hotel around 8:30, had a snack and headed down to the pool.  They had a small indoor water park.  The kids thought they were in heaven!  It was really fun.  It was also really empty since we went during the week.  The Hilton was also surrounded by a really fun outdoor mall.  They had tons of restaurants and shopping options within walking distance - Noodles & Co, Five Guys, Coldstone, Dickies BBQ and Starbucks.  Along with shopping at Homegoods, Marshalls, DSW, World Market, Loft and Tuesday Morning.  There was something for everyone!

They also asked to head right back down to the pool when they woke up in the morning.

// 2 // Middleton Firefighters Memorial Park
We headed to the park to play.  Bonus: It's right next to a small airport!  We got to watch lots of little planes come and go while we played.  The kids loved the fire fighter themed park on this gorgeous day.  There were fun things for big and little kids to do.

// 3 // College Town
There's something fun about being in a college town!  We loved all the University of Wisconsin Badger themed attractions.

// 4 // The National Mustard Museum
We went to museum for a quick visit.  It was quirky and fun!  There were so many mustards to sample, fun mustard facts and was as great stop for anyone who loves mustard.  The museum and taste testing is free!  Street parking is free so we parked here and strolled around downtown Middleton.

 // 5 // Downtown Middleton
This is such a fun place to walk around.  The flowers were gorgeous!!  There are tons of restaurants, boutiques, coffee shops and beautiful historic homes.

// 6 // Capital Brewery
We stumbled upon Capital Brewery and Kevin was thrilled.  They don't serve food, but are family friendly.  We all got drinks and enjoyed hanging out.  Kevin said their craft beer was really good.  Next time we'd pack a picnic dinner.  They had live music and tons of picnic tables.

// 7 // The Free House
We grabbed dinner at The Free House and it was amazing!!  We got to chatting with some people at Capital Brewery who gave us plenty of local dinner options.  Kevin and I loved the cheese curds - he actually said that he wished we'd each gotten an order of our own.  Coming from somone who doesn't love cheese - that's a big compliment!  Our dinners were yummy (burgers and sandwiches) and Kevin says the drinks were just average.  We really enjoyed our dinner on the patio watching the city go by.  

I'm still dreaming of this ABLT (BLT + avocado :)  It came on homemade sour dough and I'm dying to replicate it ASAP.

We really loved this water park!  We swam 3 different times at the hotel.

// 8 // Henry Vila Zoo
Lots of people recommended going to the Henry Vila Zoo in Madison.  It was only 20 minutes from our hotel in Middleton and the zoo is FREE.  That was an awesome perk!  The kids and I went while Kevin was at his conference.  I was proud of myself for navigating a new city with ease and only one wrong turn :)  Parking is free, donations are accepted, the zoo is no frills (no maps or fancy shows while we were there), bring cash for extras (carousel, train ride, food, rock mining, etc) and it's a fairly small zoo that you could easily make it through in 2 hours.  We'd recommend it!  There were lots of summer camps and people, but it didn't feel overly crowded for a week day.

I got to practice being the FUN mom - saying yes to the carousel!

The playground was fun!  Plenty of things for both kids to do and it was all fenced in.  No way anyone could get lost :)

Turtle Olive.

The goat feeding was hilarious and free!!  Those goats were head butting and fighting over the food.  We were all laughing at their antics.

 Lots of fun animals to see and pose with around the zoo.

We were shocked to see that they had a pair of polar bears!!  They are my favorite!!  They have a cafe where you can go inside and watch them as well as swimming tanks you can watch.

We'd definitely recommend this zoo!  It's right on the lake so you could plan to swim afterwards if that's your thing.  We were in a hurry so we just did the zoo.  There's also a fun playground nearby if you've got time to play after the zoo.

We loved Wisconsin and would definitely plan another trip back!!  We had hoped to check out Hurts Donut Company, some of the fun lakes, Lake Michigan and more of Madison, but we ran out of time.  We've also heard The Dells are wonderful.  Next time!

It's time to link up with my favorite blogging buddies for High Five for Friday.  Join us with a few different blog posts and be sure to look around to find some new blog friends

Becky @  By BMG Blog
Della @ Della Devoted
Tif @ Bright on a Budget
Whitney P @ Come Home for Comfort
 

This link party is powered by Link Party Animal