If you have ever spent time with me, you know I am a Grade A micro-manager.  I live by the calendar, memo, and annotated binder.  For years, my trip planning included a beloved “travel folder.”  This folder would include tabbed sub-sections including itineraries, interesting restaurants, tickets, confirmation numbers, and other obsessive-compulsive ephemera.  I highlighted these folders with gleeful abandon.

While I was a lousy Girl Scout, I proudly lived and died by the motto of “Be Prepared.”  I’ve always asserted that well-laid plans allow for freedom while traveling. I don’t want to be tied to my smartphone or the kindness of the hotel concierge for recommendations. While I’m not completing backing off my love of a well-planned trip, I have started to appreciate the value of a ramble.

My new-found love of rambling began last year.  On the way home from a Northern Michigan trip, we took the long way home.  While cruising down windy, country roads, il Marito suggested that we stop at each and every state or county park that we drove by.  Our stops included river vistas, tree-lined trails, and a small park with a hand-pumped drinking fountain that delighted both Bambino and il Cane.  On that ramble, time slowed down.  Instead of rushing home, our feet crunched in autumn leaves.  It was a good day.  

Recently, we left Bambino with his grandparents, and visited Wisconsin.  While we had hotel reservations and one planned activity, we had no other commitments.  We had planned to take the ferry to Milwaukee, but rough weather required a change in plans.  While driving through Chicago, we started to ponder our travel choices.  What did we want to do?  What were our goals for this trip?  We decided to embrace Wisconsin in all its Wisconsiny glory. With the rain pouring down, we hatched a plan.  Admittedly, the initial plan was overly ambitious.  But, on a ramble, the plan is never set in stone.  First, we were lured to one of Wisconsin’s ridiculous-but-iconic cheese shops/tourist traps.  The food was mediocre.  The decor was circa 1970.  However, the Spotted Cow was ice cold, and my lunch date was charming. Soon, we were in Milwaukee.  We spent the night at the amazing Brewhouse Inn– formerly the Pabst Brewery.  This is arguably one of the coolest places I have ever stayed.   

 In honor of our hotel’s proud lineage, we toasted Milwaukee with PBR and a giant Bavarian pretzel.  Dinner was had.  Wisconsin beers were sampled.  We harassed a cow.  

The next morning, we were off to Madison, WI.  After a coffee break (at an incredibly cool coffee house), we hit the road.  Since we were on a ramble, the long road beckoned.  We cruised past pastures, river valleys, and towns (with fantastic, poetic names like Spring Green).  We had lunch in an old bank.

Then, we arrived at a place that was on my bucket list.  Taliesin– Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and workshop.  Mr. Wright’s architecture is stunning.  I have mixed feelings on his business model and social skills, but he and his colleagues were visionaries. Taliesin was a mutable place.  It was always changing and growing.  Outdoor spaces were moved inside.  A third story would materialize.  It was built of everyday materials like plywood.  It wasn’t fancy, but it was dynamic (and very beautiful).

         Now, they are trying to maintain a building that was never meant to last.  They are trying to bring it back to the essence of what Frank Lloyd Wright wanted it to be.  I wonder if Mr. Wright ever had a final vision for it.  I like to think that Taliesin was never supposed to crystallize into a final form.  It seemed like a building that was on a ramble itself.

We wrapped the weekend with more cheese curds, more local beer, and some British rock.   

I’m glad to be home.  I could use a break from cheese and sausages.  But, Wisconsin did not disappoint.  We will be back.  Stay adventurous, friends.

We Recommend:

Brewhouse Inn & Suites: Milwaukee history, posh rooms, and a little steampunk style. How can you resist?

Stone Creek Coffee: I don’t typically rhapsodize about American coffee shops. I loved this place.

Taliesin: The estate has been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for good reason.

The Old Fashioned: The best Wisconsiny food we had.  The curds still squeaked.  There was (good) ring bologna and 150 Wisconsin beer options. My Green Bay Grandma would have approved.