Have you ever heard of Mineral Point? For us Wisconsinites, this little town (population 2500) is just far enough from Madison to seem like a whole 'nother world, but close enough that you could really do a day trip to it. Maybe even a half day trip! I mean, from the farmette, it's 55 minutes by car. South and west.
Mineral Point is part of the Driftless region of Wisconsin. Untouched by glaciation. You'll see bluffs and river valleys and there will have been minerals close to the surface. Such as lead ore, attracting Cornish miners and settlers in the 19th century. Homes build then out of local stone look not unlike something you'd find in Cornwall.
Mineral Point has had its ups (from the point of view of the settlers at least -- it was where the first governor of the Wisconsin Territory, Henry Dodge, was inaugurated) and downs (the gold rush lead to a fast exodus and the town suffered a decline until the later decades of the 20th century). Recently, it's been rediscovered. There is an economic uptick as the native grasses have provided great pasture for cows. Cheeses from here are famous worldwide. Too, Mineral Point is now known as an artistic haven -- a place where you want to live if only to mix with other local artists. In 1971, Mineral Point was included on the National Registry of Historic Places -- the first such designation in our state.
Ed and I had visited Mineral Point a few years back. In the winter. It was cold. We did very little except huddle inside our room at a bed and breakfast. We decided it would be a good place to revisit now, during the time where local is best and anything close by deserves a second look. It's our first travel adventure together in years!
And for how long? Well, when the weather appeared endlessly sunny and we had no bugs to torture us earlier this season, we thought a few days would be great. Mineral Point is pretty close to Governor Dodge State Park. We could hike by day and walk the short blocks of this little town by evening. Now that the storms and bugs have moved in with a vengeance, we may turn around and come back quickly. There are no flights to set boundaries on when we must go or when we must return. We are free birds!
But first, there is the morning farmette walk. We keep the cheepers locked up. If we decide to stay away, someone will have to keep an eye on the place (we have a reliable house watcher). But no one can be expected to chase chickens into their coop at night. So in they stay. I give them plenty of food and water, just in case.
One glance at the garden...
A nice breakfast on the porch...
And we are off!
* * *
Of all the days this week, today has the smallest probability of storms and so we start our adventure with a hike at Governor Dodge's. No, better yet: three hikes.
We are rewarded.
Of the three loops that we do, the first is quiet, rich with forest greens and dampened by a somber waterfall. Outside the forest there is a splendid field of goldenrod. Just beautiful!
The second covers a diverse terrain, looping at the top of a bluff with towering pines (that we owe to the work of the glacier). This is one of the more spectacular hikes we've done in this park. Climbing up onto the bluff is well worth the effort.
(And down again!)
The third is tame, looping by the lake -- fitting for an end of day, gentle type of climb.
We wondered if we would get whipped silly by rains or worse, by pop up storms, but none of that happened. The bugs were tame, the shade was richly cool.
And toward evening, we drove on to Mineral Point, to our Airbnb in the historic district.
It's a nice enough place in an old fashioned sort of way.
Ed points out that our home is more comfortable, but then, he is never a fan of staying anywhere other than in a tent or perhaps a ditch. Me, I appreciate the fact that it's not home. That we are not doing our regular chores. That I have no dishes to wash and he has no animals to feed when dusk falls.
We stretch out a little and then I go over to pick up pizzas at Popolo's.
(Driving down the main street)
And they're okay pizzas. We eat them outside, in the little garden.
Tomorrow we'll walk around town a little and if it doesn't rain, we'll return to the state park. From there, it's a short drive home.
Oh, it's good to be away for just a few seconds out of the year! I'm not reading the newspaper, I'm not pulling weeds, I'm just enjoying being elsewhere for the first time in a very long time.
