Pausing in Madison

On our way home, Linda and I passed through Madison. Having never been there before, I wanted to take a few minutes to see something. The state capitol building seemed like a good idea... after all, Scotty and Fiddy had made it a point to visit them all!

Shaped like a big X, the building is hard to truly get a good handle on visually. Often, all we could see was the end of one wing or the corner between two wings. Inside, it's easy to become confused as each wing looks about the same.

The dome over the rotunda is quite handsome. Unlike when we visited our capitol building, this one was not under renovation. Another difference was the group of protesters walking in a circle under the dome. About a dozen men and women carrying signs were quietly circling. We found our way up to the Governor's Office and saw the badger that used to be aboard the USS Wisconsin.

On our way back to the car, Linda noticed a sign in the window of a sandwich shop, Teddy Wedgers, and asked if I'd ever had a pasty (pass-tee.) I'd never heard of such a thing but was game to learn more. We stepped inside and met a compact man with great woolly mutton chops. Linda commented that she'd only been aware of them in Michigan.

"Oh! Those Upers think they invented the pasty. Well, they didn't; it's Cornish." Evidently, someone in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan hasn't been giving credit where credit is due. "They put rutabaga in 'em too. That's not right." We ordered half of a regular pasty and listened. As he prepared our food, he explained how his father had cooked pasties in Mineral Point, a mining community settled by people who came from Cornwall, England, people who know how to make a pasty. Set straight, we went on our way and enjoyed this miner's meal.