The Search for Fall Colors: Southern Wisconsin Tour
As the weather shifts in the midwest to the more frigid end of the Fahrenheit scale, people who enjoy their cars tend to put them away for winter in an effort to limit their exposure to road salt. This past October, My buddy Jeremy and I noticed that temperatures were forecasted to start their plunge. Jeremy had just received his E39 M5 back from the shop and was intending to put some miles on it before the driving season ended, so we hatched a plan to cruise up to Southern Wisconsin on a 500 mile loop to see the trees change color. Jeremy had picked some landmarks along a route that had us stopping in picturesque Galena, IL, a quaint historic village situated in a hillside near Iowa.
It wasn’t until the night of the trip that we really decided our route. Somewhat spontaneously, we decided to leave Chicago area at 7:30 towards Madison. Truthfully, it was the only place we could find a reasonably priced hotel, but it also meant that we got a lot of the boring highway driving done at night time.
Jeremy’s M5 staring down the Wisconsin state capitol
Per the recommendation of a friend of Jeremy’s, we went to the Tornado Room in downtown Madison for dinner, which is known for its steaks and supper club vibe. We were seated in the basement which had an old-school speakeasy vibe to it. We both enjoyed craft cocktails and cheese curds.
The TeaEye in front of the Tornado Room
The next morning, we decided to hit up the adorable downtown Madison Farmers Market, specifically to purchase an amazing roll of bread with a pocket of cheesy goodness hidden on the inside. This gem is the creation of Stella’s - I find myself craving the roll often. While I didn’t get a picture of it, or of the bag of squeaky curds that I munched on for the next week, I did capture some of the natural colors.
We left Madison and headed North towards a gas station famous for having a giant pink elephant wearing glasses. Apparently this was common back in the day, but this Shell station was the last pink elephant station left. Naturally, we had a photoshoot with the cars and the elephant while unexpected hail fell from the sky.
We continued west along the Southwest Wisconsin river to Taliesin and House on the Rock, the former being Frank Lloyd Wright’s summer home and studio, and the latter a retreat with an architecture collection. We didn’t have much time, so our stops were short at these attractions. Strangely, we did see a Ferrari F355 and a Lamborghini Jarama in the parking lot at Taliesin - in the SNOW.
We continued along the river until we needed to find a place to stop for lunch. Eventually we stumbled into a rural town with the only diner option for miles. We stepped into Vicki’s Cozy Cafe and immediately felt like we were the only “city folk,” in the joint, and the only ones who didn’t know the staff by first name. The town was Muscoda, WI, which we learned was actually pronounced “Mus-co-day.”
Our stomachs full of gluttonous breakfast food, we carried on until we drove past a statue of a giant mouse eating cheese. How fortunate were we - two giant animal statues in one day!? Another photoshoot of course. The mouse was “on brand” being that it was outside of a local cheese shop.
We continued west for the sake of saying that we made it to Iowa. Dubuque is just on the border of Illinois and Iowa on the Mississippi river. I was surprised at the historic buildings and the radiant murals adorning many of the buildings.
The next stop was Galena, about 20 minutes from Dubuque. This is where we had heard were the real driving roads. The sun was starting to set however, and we didn’t want to take them on in the dark. We opted to explore instead. We were able to finally see some vivid fall foliage.
Galena itself is a gorgeous little town. It’s perhaps the most perfect escape from the broad shoulders of Chicago - it’s charm is in the fact that it’s a quaint village full of small businesses.
We stopped at a toy store to look at the model cars (of course). Jeremy pointed out a foot long ceramic model of a Dusenberg. This wasn’t just any Doozy - it was actually a carafe full of Jim Beam from 1962. A unique historical promotional tool, one of which Jeremy owned. I gladly joined the club for $20.
We left Galena at the onset of darkness and headed back towards Chicago. The 2.5 hour drive took us through a few rural towns but was mostly highway. Jeremy’s M5 seems built for smashing highways, while the tiny TeaEye was meant for inner city grocery runs. Both cars did well on this trip, however, exposing us to new some new sights, smells, and sounds. Hopefully I’ll make it back to Galena when there’s more sunlight, so we can smash some rural twisty roads.
