Get off the road...
"allright"
Hi, I am Mike of Mike's Road Trip. On
this episode I explore winter in the
southern Wisconsin city of Janesville. Now, for the past couple of months I have
been in Southeast Asia and southern
Mexico, so I haven't really had an
opportunity to get into the holiday
spirit. And nothing says the holidays,
more than colorful christmas lights and
white fluffy flakes falling from the sky.
So come along with me as I explore this
Midwestern city of Janesville.
One of the places I'm staying while
here in Janesville is the Guardian Angel
bed-and-breakfast.
This place is really put me
in the holiday spirit, let me show you why.
One thing that stood out to me in
Janesville was the architecture, as a
matter of fact, I learned that twenty
percent of Wisconsin's national register
of historic buildings, are located in
Janesville.
And the holiday light display at Rotary
Botanical Gardens was a spectacle that
puts the magic into Christmas! Over
400,000 lights, 2500 luminaria and 500
dangling icicles hung from the tallest
trees in the garden.
Well this is pretty cool...somebody
recommended this app called Cleo the
other day. It lists all these
historic and cultural sights that are
near you,
recognizes through GPS. Right now i'm
at the Lincoln Talllman house. I can just
click on this and find out the hours of
operation any admission fees and of
course information on the sight,so it's
pretty cool.
The Lincoln Tallman house was built in
1857 in the Italianate
style. Its name is derived from a visit
by Abraham Lincoln and William Tallman a
prominent lawyer who built the home. It's
a fantastic museum to step back in time
and see how the affluent lived back in
the mid-1800s.
Typically I would not go out of my way to
visit a nursery while traveling, but I
heard they do something pretty special
here at K & W Greenery where they paint
poinsettia, so let's have a look.
The Poinsettia is the most iconic and
recognizable holiday plant,
however these painted variety put a
colorful spin on the holiday cheer. There
are a number of entertainment venues in
Janesville. I saw performance of Miracle
on thirty-fourth street at the
Janesville performing arts theater and a
holiday performance by Elvis at the
Armory. There are many cool and unique
shops right in downtown to explore
and visiting the Wisconsin Wagon Company
felt a bit like being at Santa's
workshop.
I would say antiquing is
traditionally a female activity, but not
here in Janesville at Mantiques!
Just outside of Janesville is a small
community called Milton where I visited
the Milton house museum. The Milton house
opened in 1844 as a stagecoach inn but
then you also doubled as an underground
railroad stop for fugitive slaves
seeking freedom. Just down the street is
the Northleaf Winery a fantastic venue where
they pair wine with their homemade
chocolates. Back in Janesville the
Janesville Jets sure put on an exciting
exhibition.
Of course I couldn't visit Wisconsin
without trying some cheese and beer.
Well, my excursion here to Janesville
would not be complete without doing a
little bit of sledding.
Okay here goes nothing...
Let's see I go it goes this time,
those last two runs were not that good. Oh yeah
this one is going to be epic!
Well my time here in Janesville has come
to an end, while I realize this city may
not be tops on your bucket list, it is an
up-and-coming city with a revitalization
effort underway, especially in the
downtown area. So if you're into art,
architecture, history, and a whole lot in
between there's something for everybody.
During the holiday season, there is
plenty of snow, Christmas lights and
holiday cheer to put you in the spirit
of the season. So, until next time, we'll
see on the road...
Mike's Road Trip.com...