Tag Archive | Christmas

Olbrich Botanical Gardens Holiday Express

Dec10

12-10-13

Olbrich sign

Boltz Conservatory at Olbrich in winter

This has been a December tradition at Olbrich Botanical Gardens  for years. Their Holiday Express event is a fundraiser that is fun for the whole family!   When you walk in the door, you see a Christmas wonderland!

Olbrich Botanical Gardens lobby

 

Turn right to find the Atrium, where all the fun is!

Candyland Olbrich Atrium

This year the displays resembles the game “Candy Land” .  Amidst the displays are model trains contributed and set up by the Wisconsin Garden Railway Society.  There are two trains on separate tracks.  Great job everyone!

Olbrich Garden Holiday Express frame

 

Lets see the train in action!

Some of the other scenery..

Holiday Express display

Blue Gingerbread House

 

Here is the other train!

Holiday Express Train 2 frame

 

After enjoying trains, your adult admission of $3.00 includes a visit to the Boltz Conservatory as well.

Bridge and Koi fish

Bolz Conservatory inside

 

It’s not just plants in here, birds live here also.  There are Canaries, Finches,  doves and Quail.

Hungry birds

 

Quail

 

I had a very enjoyable visit on a cold winter day. You will too.

 

 

 

 

Related articles

 

Sun Prairie Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony

Dec1

11-29-13

This has been a Sun Prairie tradition since 1915, and it sure is fun!  It takes place in front of the Sun Prairie Historical Museum on 115 E. Main St.

Sun Prairie Historical Museum

This year the event began with some Christmas music played by the Sun Prairie Community Band.

Sun Prairie Community Band

Then  we were treated to Christmas Carols as well.

Sun Prairie Choir

The Fusion Dance Academy also danced for us.  This young Santa was dancing to a Jackson 5 Christmas song.

Fusion Dance Academy in Sun Prairie

And now, for the Fire Truck Parade!

Then the Grand Finale,  Santa lighting the tree!

The crowd cheering, the Christmas season in Sun Prairie has officially begun!  The firetrucks were waiting up ahead for everyone to see up close.  They were so pretty! A couple of years ago the Grinch was on one of the trucks.

The Grinch

Christmas Fire Truck

Here is a ladder wagon from 1902.

1902 Fire ladder wagon

Now it feels like the holiday season officially started. Come to Sun Prairie for a great shopping experience and a very festive atmosphere!

Sun Prairie Christmas Tree

Related articles

Kenosha – Wisconsin Harbor Town

Nov25

12-1-12

Kenosha is a bustling city of 100,000  located on the shores of Lake Michigan with a lot for their citizens and visitors to do the year around.  We had a full day planned and arrived by 9 AM.   Our first stop was Harbor Park by the lake, with great views of the two lighthouses there. The red one is the North Pier Light and the stone one is the Southport.  We also had the great luck of watching a Coast Guard boat head out to the lake, passing by the Southport lighthouse.

Kenosha North Light

Coast guard in Kenosha 2012

Harbor Park also has lots of great sculptures to look at too along the harbor walk. This called, “Rotating Through the Universe”  by Paul Bobrowitz, Jr.

Rotating Through the Universe

You also get around downtown on the Kenosha Streetcar for a small fee.

Kenosha Street Car

After the Harbor Walk  we went to take a closer took at the Southport Lighthouse on Simmons Island, constructed in 1866.

Simmons Island sign in Kenosha WI

 

Southport lighthouse

It was noon and we were ready for lunch! Nearby was the Boathouse Pub and Eatery with a view lakeside.

Boathouse Pub and Eatery in Kenosha

We had a great lunch here and will come back again. There were a couple more hours before the main event we came here for, so we then headed to the Kenosha Public Museum to enjoy their free public holiday celebration. The Museum is a must-see place in Kenosha.

Kenosha Public Museum

They had a Christmas Village model train display, beautiful!

Model Christmas train

The Sons of Norway provides live music, singing traditional Christmas Carols.

Sons of Norway in Kenosha

The best part of all, we managed to get on Kenosha TV via their Public TV station, KTV. They had a TV camera set, recording people sending their holiday greetings to Kenosha. We had to join the fun! Here is a screencap of the video. In honor of Bob and Doug McKenzie of the Great White North, I made our picture look like theirs.

Wonderful Midwest

And NOW, for the main event.  At about 2:30 we arrived at Diver Dan’s Scuba and Aquatic Center for our Underwater Santa Christmas photo.  They have a warm-water pool on site. This event benefits a local charity,  you donate something in exchange for the photo which they put on Facebook.

Diver Dan's Scuba and Aquatic Center in Kenosha WI

UW pic with Santa 12-1-12

 

Happy Holidays from Kenosha!

Related articles

Downtown Madison Celebrates Christmas

Nov17

12-18-10

Foggy Madison Capitol 2006

The holidays were in full swing in downtown Madison, and we wanted to be a part of it. Our first stop was the Monona Terrace for the Winter Farmers Market. Winter doesn’t stop Madison from having its weekly market, they just go inside 🙂

Dane County Winter Farmers Market

After getting a treat here we headed to the State Capitol for a Christmas concert by Sandy La Clair Musical Productions.  They played all the holiday favorites and the kids attending even played instruments. This little girl was adorable playing the triangle.

Sandy La Clair Christmas concert

The centerpiece of the show is the Christmas tree in the center of the Rotunda.

Wisconsin Capitol Xmas Tree 2012

After the show we took a walk down State Street to have lunch at State Street Brats.

State Street Brats in Madison

After lunch we were done for the day.  During this time of year,  a free trolley goes up and down State Street to make shopping easier.

Madison WI Holiday Trolley

We sure had a great day downtown celebrating the holiday season. Come join in the fun!

Related articles

Milwaukee Mitchell Botanical Domes

May28

12-15-12 

3 Mitchell Domes

We have been married for 13 years and have had many adventures, but had overlooked Milwaukee for attractions. This was our first destination, Mitchell Botanical Domes.  It has 3 domes, the Show dome, Desert and Tropical.

It was a rainy December day and we needed to see some green plants and flowers. First though, we saw three lighthouses. The first was North Point Lighthouse, beautiful!  The 2nd was Milwaukee Breakwater Lighthouse.  I call this one “Sentinel in the Mist.” The 3rd was red Pierhead Lighthouse.

North Point Lighthouse

SentinelintheMist

red lighthouse 2

We arrived at the domes, looking forward to seeing exotic flora. Pretty lobby too.

Mitchell Domes Sign

100_5016

Inside Michell Domes building

We went to the Show Dome first, it was all decorated for Christmas with poinsettias, snowmen and Christmas trees. We had our picture with a snowman. This is the one dome that changes with the seasons and holidays. The other two are more static.

100_4757Snow100_4700

We then went to the Desert dome. I felt like I was back in Arizona. The last time I was there was in 1992.

100_4919100_4817

Then the Tropical Dome, it felt like a hot summer day, we needed that with the cold rain falling outside.

100_4982tropical flower

We had a great time here, we were hungry and it was time for lunch. We went to Oscar’s nearby.  The are known for great hamburgers. They weren’t kidding! Not only that, a bunch of people in Santa suits rode up on their bikes.  It was Santa Rampage day for the local bike club, essentially pub-crawling in the holiday spirit. You never know what you are going to see in a big city like Milwaukee.

Oscar's100_5036

Bleu Cheese Burger100_5061

Related articles