OMG! What an amazing place!! My friend and I went to Baraboo to visit a Lavender Farm. We chose…read morethis location because it offered a relaxing environment access a variety of activities write on the farm. We had no idea what to expect but good grief ... We were blown away! Upon arriving, we were not even sure we were in the right place. This was a very small family-owned farm and we thought we were going to a large commercial business. I was further confused because I had previously visited Provence France where the lavender Fields are miles and miles of purple in every direction. I was sure we were in the wrong place. However, we walked up to a small building and said hello to a young lady standing out front. It turned out we were in the right place and the young lady was the owner's daughter. This young lady, who appeared to be a young adult, stood and talk to us for a while. She welcomed us to the farm and told us we were free to roam around until they were ready with our activities. In the background, we could see someone busy moving around the property as if she relate for an important date. We happily walked off onto the property to get a good view of what was available. What an amazing property! There were miles and miles acres and acres (more than 40 acres of farmland). Every visitor is free to roam the farm until they are ready to leave, but many, we were told never take advantage of the opportunity. Unknown to us, when we first arrived, the farm is still recovering from a major flood 5 years ago where 90% of its lavender fields were wiped out. Our wonderful host explained their efforts to restore their lavender fields. Let me tell you about the amazing host. She calls herself MJ. She hails from Hawaii and says that most people do not correctly pronounce her name so she just shortened it as a kid to MJ. After our wonderful experience on her property, I will dub her Lady MJ, " The Amazing." During the off season, Lady MJ, her husband, and family tend to this farm to get it ready for the very short tourist season. She never knows until March. What the land will yield. Because she is a naturalist, she honors the land and uses holistic practices. Some of her offerings include a lavender facial, a lavender foot, soak, a lavender charcuterie lunch, a lavender picnic basket, and lavender spritzers. She has so many other things to offer on her property. This is a small family business so the entire family is involved. Currently, she is down a chef because her eldest daughter is away on a mission. The rest of the family, however, including the dog seems to be involved in the business. Lady MJ is the spark that keeps the business running. When you arrive you immediately experience time slowing down. There's no rush. There's no push to buy products. Everything just stops and you start to relax. My friend and I chose to do a foot soak, a facial, and the charcuterie board. Board. It was a package deal and we loved every minute of it. When we received our receipt, the time indicated was 1.5 hours for the entire package. Once we got there however, we ended up staying almost 7 hours. We actually wished there was a hotel on the property that we could have just stayed in. I might have even been willing to stay in a tent! If you have a chance to take a trip to a lavender field in Baraboo, Wisconsin, you absolutely must give up going to the larger commercial farms. Support this family! Lady MJ has an amazing product. However, her season is very short. We were lucky enough to be among the last visitors to the farm this season. She warned us to book next year and March. That's when she knows what her season will be and trust us, we will be looking for another wonderful experience at Rowley Creek Lavender Farm! When you come, plan to stay. Abandon your cares. Abandon your plans. Just relax and enjoy the stay. Lady MJ and her family will make you feel welcome just by being there with you. She is truly an amazing woman. I have no idea how she does all the things she does but I'm super glad that she does! Thank you lady MJ! We can't wait to come back next year! We wish your whole family a restorative off season. You're amazing people are we're glad we chose Rowley Creek Lavender Farm! See you next year!!!

Visited during the lavender season for the U-pick lavender bouquet. My husband and I were warmly…read moregreeted in the parking area by one of their roaming chickens. Made a quick walk to the storefront where they gave us scissors and instructed us where to gather from. They showed me how much was considered a bouquet, and when I came back they graciously added to my bouquet as I had not picked enough. The store itself has so many lavender products and a good number of items direct from the farm. I also highly recommend the homemade lavender scones which are freshly baked and so delicious. I believe they require/recommend purchasing a farm visit pass prior to going, it's $5 per car and can be used towards your purchase of $10 or more in the store. It's a small price to pay for an hour or two of enjoying the views and the scents. We walked around the farm a bit and they have a handful of animals you can see from afar and a cute area near the namesake creek. I think they also offer tours and picnics and other events, I highly recommend checking out their website for details but definitely make your way over to the farm after.

Fantastic place! The staff is great and there's plenty of kiddo-type stuff to do…read more Expect to spend 1-2 hour in the corn maze, depending on your navigational skills and desire to walk briskly. ;) The concession stand is pretty good. The french fries are INCREDIBLE. Feel free to bring your own food too though - They're chill.

Great strawberry picking & atmosphere. Delicious snacks and play area for kids. A great way to…read morespend a day!

Beautiful gardens all around with a large expansive area to walk around and be amazed by. If you…read morecome during certain times you can get into the inside building for free, which is normally $6 for adults (check their website for dates and times)....as I came during that and was very grateful to see the song birds in there and the diverse, lush plant life. For me, this whole garden has plenty of paths and diversity. It was beautiful to see during the fall and I'm sure each season boasts its own unique beauty here. I absolutely loved the Thai sala and that whole area was my favorite part and quite a gem to see. Stunning! I recommend bringing water and a few snacks to enjoy as you take your time here. You can easily spend a few hours here and soak it all in.

We had such a lovely time visiting Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison! One of the best parts is…read morethat the outdoor gardens are free, making it a wonderful, budget-friendly family outing. You can also pay extra to visit the tropical conservatory. Our family enjoyed taking the trolley to get an overview of the gardens and see what caught our eye, then walking back to spend more time in the places we loved most. The Thai Pavilion, beautiful waterfalls, and peaceful reflection pools were some of our favorites. There's something so relaxing about wandering through the gardens, taking in the scenery, and enjoying a little escape from the everyday hustle. It's a beautiful place to slow down, reconnect with nature, take photos, and enjoy time together. Whether you're visiting Madison or live nearby, Olbrich is definitely worth a stop with a beautiful view of lake monona! Enjoy

The Sun Prairie Sweet Corn Festival is an annual event held for a few days each August. I lived…read morein nearby Madison for 4 years, and that was how I discovered and attended the Corn Festival. There are many attractions: (1) First, there is the sweet corn, which is cooked with steam, and which can be purchased in a small open-air building. Near this building is a rotating clothes hanger, where strings are tied to various parts of the clothes hanger, and at the end of each string is a salt shaker. This salt shaker "tree" is a novelty that is interesting and a little bit funny, and pictures of it have been published in the Wisconsin State Journal. Of course, the sweet corn is delicious. (2) Another attraction is being in the middle of a friendly crowd. Did you ever notice that the bigger the crowd, the more people there are ?!?!? (3) Next to the fairground is a museum where you can find exhibits relating to midget race cars, where the exhibits include trophies and photos. Next to the museum are parked midget race cars, and children and other visitors can touch them and admire them. See, my attached photographs of these race cars and of the exhibits in the museum. At the Corn Festival, you can watch these midget race cars racing on an oval track starting at seven o'clock in the evening. (4) The Corn Festival includes a carnival. See, my attached photographs of a boy and a girl, each holding a huge wooden mallet over their heads, and swinging it at the lever of the "high striker" game. This mallet is sometimes called a "carnival mallet," and the name for this game, which results in a bell going "DING," is the "high striker game." GENETICALLY MODIFIED CORN. The website of the Sun Prairie chamber of commerce states that, the "corn is not genetically modified." But this is not correct. It is a proven fact that about 9,000 years ago, farmers in Mexico created corn (also known as, maize). Corn does not exist naturally. Corn was created by the genetic modification of teosinte. Teosinte was modified to alter four genes, where the result of this modification was conversion of teosinte (not edible) into the abundantly edible and yummy genetically modified plant that is known as corn and maize. This is all explained in a video called, POPPED SECRET: THE MYSTERIOUS ORIGIN OF CORN. The video is narrated by Neil Losin, and we learn that the scientists responsible for discovering that corn is genetically modified teosinte were: Nobel Prize winner George Beadle, John Doebley of University of Wisconsin, and Delores Piperno of Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Additional info is available from, e.g., Yang, Holland, Doebley (2019) Proc. Nat'l. Acad. Sci. 116:5643-5652; Horowitz, Doebley (2004) Genetics. 166:1-10; Wang, Doebley (2015) Genetics. 200:965-974; Lukens, Doebley (2001) Mol. Biol. Evol. 18:627-638. CONCLUSION. And so, what I suggest while enjoying your day at the Sweet Corn Festival in Sun Prairie is spending a moment of silence to show respect for the farmers living 9,000 years ago in Mexico - - - they are the ones who created corn. Corn is the most famous and beloved of all of the genetically modified food crops.

As an out-of-stater, we heard how great the sweet corn is and had to check it out ourselves. We had…read moredesignated Saturday night to the festival, after hearing they only serve the corn on Sat-Sun from 12-7 due to the lengthy steaming process. We found free parking, very close to the entrance. It's $1 per person to enter, 6 and under free. Strategically, the rides and games are the very first things you see. I am quite impressed with this area, because there's so many options. Tickets were $1/piece and most rides were 3 tickets. My kiddo absolutely loved it and we only spent $20. Expensive but fair considering we are at a festival. Now, I had nooooo idea what I was getting into with the sweet corn. First off, I've never heard of a tote of corn but the two lines stretched faaaaar to grab a tote. We skipped the tote line and grabbed two single ears from a much shorter line. $2/piece gave us some quality corn. They sent us behind to the buttering station and I was all, "WTF IS THIS?" It's literally several tables stacked together where you shuck your corn and roll it into a huge pan of butter. So unsanitary but when in Rome.... Next was the salt tree. Salt. Tree. Again, what sort of redneck device is a salt tree? Idk but it was a-maz-ing. Shakers on shakers on shakers of salt. I'm still laughing about this crazy corn experience. The corn was great, rides were fun for the kiddo. We were very impressed! The festival seems to be pretty commercialized with lots of business booths but that's to be expected. I'm not opposed to going back if we happen to be in town!

I took the stained glass pet portrait class and it was so much fun! The teacher (I forgot her name…read morebut she was the sweetest!) was so patient with everyone and took such care in getting our pets to look just like our unique lil guys!

First time making my own chunky blanket, and loved it!…read more The Space:: Our areas were set up and ready to go at craft tables in the main room. This room also housed the bar area. The store was filled with all kinds of artworks ~ different colors and textures scattered throughout with projects awaiting pick up in the next room. It was clean and spacious, along with unisex restrooms. The Service:: Our multi-talented instructor (and bartender) did a great job leading the class and crafting drinks! Creating the lasso and first row was a bit tricky ~ but the hand knitting that followed flowed like a pro. Focus is still important as you want to make sure you're consistent with your loops (blanket size). So if you're new to hand knitting, this may not be the best activity if you want to catch up with the girls. It's perfect to take your mind off of the day-to-day stressors and create a unique gift for you or a loved one. I ordered two drinks in between: iced pumpkin latte and mackintosh mule. Not as potent as I prefer, but quenched my thirst. Both drinks were more on the sweet side imo. The Product:: I am in LOVE with my new blanket and currently scavenging for chunky yarn deals! I've unlocked a new obsession. The Verdict:: I would definitely return to make another blanket and/or to craft something new.

This is the first Children's museum that I have been to, so note that my review is without…read morecomparison. I wasn't sure what to expect, given that Black Earth is a small town, but I was blown away! What a cool little space, only 15 minutes west of Middleton, WI. There is plenty for kids to do from ages 1-10 years. The museum is divided into small activity rooms with different themes. There is a cave, night sky room, food market and kitchen, farm/tractor theme and rock wall with balance stones to name a few. It appears that they are currently working on building a veterinary clinic too. The main space had a large climbing/play structure as well as a music stage and my absolute favorite, flying squirrel exhibit with a suction tube to make the brown scarf "squirrels" fly off the tree! There is also 0-18 month old room for the littles and a cool art space. The upstairs was closed, but from what I could see it looks like there is a toy library (what a great idea)! Admission is $6 per person, and memberships are also available. Free street parking is available as well. We ended up spending and hour and a half and only left because it was getting close to nap time. Such a fun way to spend the morning. If you have a child, I highly recommend checking it out!

I preferred this over the Madison Children's Museum. It was way cheaper- $6 per person versus $18…read moreand although it was smaller, it seemed like there was more to do. More themed little nooks for my boys to explore. They especially loved the vet clinic.

Still a top notch experience whether you're here for the spirits or the wine. It's a great stop…read morewhether you're a local or a tourist. I'm more of a spirits guy... their bourbon and rye are top notch as good or better than any boutique distillery you'll find in Ky. The vibe is always great... their service even better. If you're a bourbon or wine guy/gal passing through this is a Wisconsin must stop experience!

Doing a little winery hunting and stubbles on this gem!…read moreVery, very well developed and scenic place. The combination of buildings, patio areas, scenery is auspicious and genuinely inviting. It pulls you in to traverse among the building and the grape fields. They happened to have a 3 piece band playing and a celebration. The place was packed. They not only make wine but also a distillery as well. The stores and building were a perfect blend of culture and modern day appeal. We truly enjoyed the celebration. It was culminated by the owner himself giving a small speech of his roots and transition of coming to America. We had a blast! Definitely would come back if in area. Bought a few nice wines and whiskey before leaving. They have this band and get togethers throughout the year. The whiskey I purchased was made specifically for the 250th birthday of America. At $120 a bottle; $100 goes to veterans. The blend is a mix of red, white and blue corn in the amount of percent of the colors of the flag! The grain blends consists of three colors of corn, red (41.5%), white (40.9%) and blue (17.6%) mixed to match the percentage of colors on the American flag. Aged 6 years in new charred Wisconsin oak barrels! Stop here if you can!

Great experience with a great instructor! Easy to follow for those not considered "crafty". Can't…read morewait to go to another class!!

We booked Hammer and Stain Thanksgiving weekend and it was a blast! Such a fun project for the…read morewhole family!