Street Fest in Reverse

 

This morning Travalon and I were slow getting going, and we sat around watching Loony Tunes until finally getting out the door and hiking at Lake Kegonsa State Park. Here are some photos that Travalon took with his good camera.

Travalon suggested doing Street Fest in reverse, since we would be closest to Monona Drive. I was amenable to that, although the poem that Street Fest is based on name checks the streets in order from west to east. We had lunch outside at the seafood restaurant in the same strip mall as Crema Cafe and Fired Up, but unfortunately from that end of the mall you don't get the great view of the lake. The food was really good. Then for the Atwood section of Street Fest, we went for a walk at Olbrich Gardens. Remember all the photos of American lotuses I have posted on this blog? These are the traditional Asian lotuses, which are a little smaller and much pinker.

We also saw water lilies in a variety of colors.

As usual, Blogspot had to go and post some of my photos in reverse order, but that's okay because they're all from Olbrich, so it won't affect my narrative. This is a view of the Rose Tower.

Travalon took these photos from underneath the Rose Tower, and I like how the images beyond the tower seem a little overexposed and sort of like paintings.

This fountain is next to the Rose Tower.

I like this shot Travalon took of all sorts of plants in the Rose Tower garden.

This is the lovely view from the Rose Tower. You can see Lake Monona in the background.

This is a very impressive hydrangea bush!

There were art installations for an exhibit that will start later this month, and we liked these butterflies.

Here I am on the bridge to the Thai Pavilion, which you can see behind me.

Here are some photos from around the Thai Pavilion.

Our Willy Street stop was a new "treasure store" which was right up my alley - everything was sort of spiritual knickknacks! There were statues of Mary and the Buddha, rosaries, and hamsas. I bought a hamsa dish and three rosaries. Then we went to the cafe on top of the Monona Terrace, and nothing on the menu appealed to me, so I asked if they had ice cream.

"We do," said the girl behind the counter, "but only really strange flavors. We have black cherry rum, caramel apple pie, and apricot sorbet." I tried the black cherry rum and Travalon had the caramel apple pie, and they were both really good. It was so beautiful up there, but neither of us thought to have Travalon bring his good camera, so sorry, no photos. We did see a personal watercraft floating in the water with two people bobbing alongside it, and we weren't sure if they were in trouble, but eventually they climbed back onto the watercraft, so they must have just wanted to take a swim. I had just watched a video about how drowning never looks like what you expect - more silently bobbing in the water than thrashing, flailing, and yelling - so that's why I was a tad concerned.

In the evening Travalon and I took a boat ride out to the marsh to see the blooming lotuses. Here are some photos so you can see how many there were. And they smelled so good!

I wasn't going to pick one, since each blossom means potential seeds, but we were about to run one over so I picked it... and it immediately fell apart. All the petals fell off. No wonder you never see lotus blossoms in cut flower arrangements. (I did once get an ad for mini lotuses you could grow in a jar of water. I was tempted but didn't bite.) 

Here are the rosaries and the hamsa dish I got at the Willy Street treasure shop, and a tiny stingray we got at the co-op.

I like being able to go to the co-op once again with Travalon, because then I can choose what fruit I want, and we can get things done more quickly by each going off to grab different things. During the pandemic, they only allowed one family member into the co-op at a time. But if I go, there's always the danger we will come home with unnecessary things like tiny stuffed stingrays. Also, you may be wondering why I needed a shallow dish in the form of a hamsa (or in any other form). It's to hold the two round crystals I got a couple of months ago, since they roll and can't just sit nicely on my side table with my other crystals. Until now, I was keeping them in that little sailboat on the main table on our porch - you know, the boat I had used to prop up my orchid blooms. That boat has really come in handy for the oddest things.

Famous Hat