On the Road part II Green Bay

My beauties in front of a bank of Rudebeckia

                  We are here in Green Bay, Wisconsin, home of the Green Bay Packers.  This town is crazy about football. But I wondered, what else there was to do other than tour their sacred Lambeau Field.

 The kids and I searched around and found the Green Bay Botanical Gardens.  It is 47 acres of lush gardens and wild pond and prairie environments.  I knew I would thoroughly enjoy the gardens but I wasn't too sure how long the kids would want to explore.  I didn't want them to wander aimlessly without purpose through the horticultural heaven so I told them we were going to have a contest, a photography contest.  They each had their cameras and they could take as many pictures as they wanted but they would be judged on the artistic quality and composition of their photos.

I was amazed at what I had unleashed.  All three of them, even Ryan, carefully selected shots.  They studied the plants and chose not just the gaudy flowers as subjects but also the delicate white flowers of the hostas and the luxurious greens of the ferns and bleeding hearts.

Ryan focused on getting the perfect shot

After almost 2 hours and over 300 pictures we were ready to leave and have lunch.  I'm not yet sure who won the contest, but I was blown away by some of the shots they took.  (I'll post the winning photos another day.)  

My attempt at an artsy shot of Rudebeckia

Ryan with a giant Agave plant

Hope you're all having a great week!

Kathy :)

      

On the Road

In Lake Geneva, Wi 

We're on a road trip for a few days.  Not to some exotic location, we're just following my husband along on his business trip to Wisconsin.  While he's in meetings and conferences we explore our surroundings.  Even though I have a knack for getting lost, I plug in my GPS, grab a map from the hotel, and search for new people and places.

Yesterday we explored the little town of Lake Geneva.  Back in the late 1800s the town grew as a vacation spot for wealthy Chicagoans, where they could get away from the city to hunt and fish  Today it is a cute little lake front town with shops, restaurants, and a public beach.  We found two lovely little restaurants:  "Simple" which served delicious fresh sandwiches with local ingredients and "Sopra" a bistro serving a yummy assortment of pastas and seafood.

The crystal clear lake  is 7 miles long and 2 miles across and is dotted with mansions dating back to the early 1800s.  The Wrigleys and many other wealthy families still own properties there.  We took an hour boat tour of the lake which highlights some of the most spectacular homes.

One of the mansions on the lake, it is now used as 5 condominiums

If you ever find yourself in Wisconsin it is definitely a worthy place to stop.

On the boat tour.  (Luckily my husband got to join us.)

For the weekend we are exploring Madison, Wi.

Kathy :)