Day 3: Green Acres Is The Place To Be

Another long day of basically nothing but driving. With still one more day to go.

We had such a good time in downtown Madison, we went back this morning. Back to The Old Fashioned, too, for breakfast, and probably the best pancakes I've had since Linda Jeans in Martha's Vineyard. Pancake perfection, I'm telling you. Perfectly light and fluffy, with a side of thick cut bacon. We almost didn't stop for lunch.

And because we were so impressed with the exterior of the Wisconsin State Capitol building, we went inside to explore. 

Words can't describe just how beautiful this place is. Built in the 00s, it underwent a major restoration just a few years ago. We even got to climb all the way up to the observation deck that surrounds the dome. Again, we were so impressed by how all of downtown spokes out from the Capitol.

People always associate the South with farms, but I'm here to tell you that there are PLENTY of farms north of the Mason-Dixon Line. All through Wisconsin and Minnesota, we drove through miles and miles and miles of rolling green farmland to go with the miles and miles we'd already seen in Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Saw plenty of corn, cattle, and an amazing number of windmills in Minnesota, as far as the eye can see. Madison commented that for the Land of 10,000 Lakes, she never saw the first one.

Thought for a bit this morning about taking a detour up to Minneapolis, since I used to work for MTS, which has their HQ there. Would love to show Marsha and Madison the Mall of America (and MTS, of course), but it was just too far out of the way.

We finally crossed the state line into South Dakota (and 75 mph speed limit!) and pulled into Sioux Falls right on schedule. Have to admit, billed as "South Dakota's largest city," it didn't really overwhelm us. That all changed, though, when we went downtown for dinner at Minerva's (which is a chain out here). The food and service were great, but the downtown was even better. There were a lot of revitalized old buildings, plus a "Sculpture Walk" featuring tons of commissioned sculptures by local and out-of-state artists all up and down the sidewalks. We had a great time exploring downtown, checking out all of the shops and sculptures. Another perfect ending to our day.

We've done so much already (not to mention how far we've traveled), it feels like we've been gone a week already. But it's only been a weekend!