On several occasions, Tom and I have visited Madison, which I find a charming little city. It has great color: the capitol, the University of Wisconsin, the lakes Mendota and Monona, the Wright-inspired Monona Terrace, the fun restaurants and bars on State Street.

This time, we were driving from Milwaukee rather than Chicago. On the way, we happened to see a billboard touting a small pottery company called Ephraim Faience Art Pottery & Tile. Yes, I'm salivating. I've loved Ephraim Pottery for years, so when I saw the billboard, I yelped.

Immediately, Tom insisted we stop there. I was terrified--Ephraim pottery is beautiful, and not inexpensive (reasonable, but....). So we stopped for lunch in Lake Mills, Wisconsin, where I had chili, Tom had cream of asparagus soup, and then I drooled over Ephraim Pottery (the last building in the block at center right).

Then we travelled on to our 3:00 tour of Taliesin, then back to Madison to spend the night. Much to our surprise, Madison was packed. We usually stay at the Best Western on the Park (by the state capitol building), but they had 2 weddings and were booked solid. The Double Tree was filled, as was University Inn and the quirky Hotel Ruby Marie. We finally found a very expensive room (for my taste) in the Madison Concourse Hotel and Governor's Club. I have to admit it was very nice and quiet.

Then we went walking, and found Irish pubs, a neat noodle shop (Noodles & Company), a Greek bar, and a lot of entertainment up and down State Street. As always, the capitol dome was glowing in the evening sky.

But morning quickly brought us back to our senses, and check-out time was 11. So we hopped into the car, headed south, and beat the heat back to Chicago, just in time for dinner at Nicky's Chinese Restaurant on good old 53rd Street.