Yesterday morning Anna Banana II and Jilly Moose picked me up, then we drove to Columbus to pick up Anna Banana II's mom, and a train went by as we were getting coffee at the place next door. Anna Banana II and I split a chocolate and rhubarb croissant, which sounds weird but tastes delicious. We had lunch at the Subway in Horicon, and Anna Banana II's mom paid for all of us with a gift card she had - and she still had money left over! Then we took a boat ride in Horicon Marsh, where we saw a couple of great blue herons, several egrets, some cormorants, and a lot of gulls. The weather was perfect. There is a gift shop at the boat launch, and a little coffee shop. Jilly Moose bought a hoodie, but I was more concerned about this malevolent teapot giving me the stink eye.
After the boat ride, we went to the overlook where you can see almost all of the marsh and took a walk, then we went to the boardwalk and took that walk too. A lot of the birds have left for the season, but we did see another egret and a sandpiper. When we dropped Anna Banana II's mom off in Columbus, the Amtrak train arrived.
In the evening Travalon and I went to see Jon Batiste at the Orpheum. He was the leader of Colbert's house band until leaving to pursue a solo career (the rest of his band is still playing on Colbert's show), and apparently he has quite a following because the woman behind me in line for the bathroom said she had just seen him in Kansas City and was seeing him again, and he had played in Madison the night before, and some people came back for the second show. I can see why - he's a jazz guy, so no two shows will be the same, and he was very high energy and had us up and dancing and clapping and singing along. He did have an opening act (a woman with a guitar who sang songs about her failed lesbian relationships) so the show started later than we'd expected and then went very late. At the end he and his band processed through the audience, went into the side balconies, and ended up playing in the top balcony. I highly recommend seeing him live.
This morning Anna Banana II and Jilly Moose picked me up again, and we stopped for treats at Far Breton. I got a cheese croissant that was so amazing I wanted to eat the whole thing but only ate half. Then we drove way over to Grafton and had lunch at a place called the Flipside Grill, where they also sold cute crocheted Halloween creatures. I just loved this ghost wearing a crown. He's King Ghost, the Monarch with the most!
I texted this photo to Travalon and asked should I call him King Arthur or Charlemagne, and Travalon said King Arthur. Jilly Moose got this pumpkin latte:
We were suggesting names for him, and I said Larry the Latte, so she said she already has a stuffed moose named Latte. I said, "Obviously if you have a moose named Latte, then you should have a latte named Moose," but she decided to name him Cafe Olé which is the name of an imaginary drink that the Married B-Boy came up with years ago.
Our next stop was the Lion's Den Gorge, where we took a long walk and admired the blue-green water from the path on the bluff. There were lots of asters in bloom, and we noticed this plant with two different color blooms on it.
I took a photo of Anna Banana II with the beautiful water behind her, but somehow I got my finger in the shot and completely ruined it, so sorry, you'll just have to imagine water like the Caribbean. There was a sign saying if we liked Lion's Den Gorge, we would love Cedar Gorge Clay Bluffs, so we asked Jilly Moose's GPS Rhoda (who has a posh British accent) to find it. It was very close by, but Rhoda said, "You have arrived," and all we saw were signs saying: "No public access." So we went back to the Lion's Den Gorge to scan the QR code on the sign we'd seen, and it just takes you to a place to donate money. It seems the second place is in the works and not ready for visitors yet.
We got back to Madison and headed to Middleton to go to the Craftsman Table again, and Rich, OK Cap, and Travalon met us there. This time we sat inside, and our bills got kind of messed up, but the food is so good. I had a sour beer that tasted just like apple cider.
Here are some more photos from Jilly Moose of our visit to GLEAM:
That's all for tonight. King Arthur's ghost is looking at me and reminding me that it's past my bedtime. As Travalon said, "A good night's sleep for all my people leads to a better tomorrow." In a British accent.
Famous Hat
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