Imagine an 800 mile circle around Madison. I want to see a cool thing, or maybe some cool things reasonably close to each other. I want to drive there one day, see it the next, and drive home the next, or if whatever there is to see doesn’t take real long, then drive back on day 2. I figure my driving limit on any given day is about 800 miles.
I don’t want to just go to a big city like Minneapolis or Chicago and poke around. Some spectacular natural beauty is good, so long as I don’t have to hike in somewhere to see it. A couple of things I’ve thought of are Graceland and Mt. Rushmore, to give you a couple of examples of the kind of thing I’m looking at. I’ve already driven a fair ways both north and south along the Mississippi. I’ve driven quite a bit through northern WI though I haven’t gone as far as the Canadian border, so something not too far over the border is on the table.
Come on up to da Yoop (aka Michigan’s Upper Peninsula) - it’s an easy & pretty drive from Madison, and we have plenty of natural beauty. Plenty of options, too - Munising has Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (gorgeous, and you can see most of it from a boat so no hiking necessary), Marquette is a cutesy college town with plenty of natural beauty and decent restaurants/breweries/etc if you’re into that, or head on all the way north to Copper Harbor for a spectacular drive and (once again) lots of natural beauty on the way. If you’re into historic kind of stuff, the Quincy Mine Tour in Houghton blew my mind when I did it several years ago. Hell, there’s tons of other stuff as well, just depends on what you’re into.
I would love to have lunch or a visit with Dr Q, but I’ve been in a few WI prisons and, er, involuntary treatment centers, and I I feel no need for a tour.
