The Supreme Court & Destin, FL

We just got back from a little winter road trip to Florida and
thought we would share some pictures and observations.

This is the Wisconsin State Capitol rotunda. Embarrassed by a capitol that burned in the 1880's and then collapsed in 1907, we built a beauty. Lots of marble and granite, all polished...........





........our trip to the capitol was to the Supreme Court, where we watched our case presented. Long story, but very interesting. Full report when it is over, if I live that long. We feel good about the day, but have to wait 60-90 days to get the decision............

..........The Supreme Court wing was guarded by this old bust of "fighting" Bob LaFollett, the most famous politician in Wisconsin's history. He was a progressive senator who ran as a third party candidate against Teddy Roosevelt and did pretty well.......

........We stayed at some really cool condos, about 100 yards from the water, but it was so rainy and cold we never set foot on the beach. Bad luck.........



.......our reward for a long trip in rain and snow was this. It is really the white sand beaches of Destin, Florida, but it looks a lot like the snowdrifts of home...........


......We spent one day with these "dudes", traveling with Amy in her van and touring the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. A fun time, and a subject of a future blog..........

...Joey kept Wendy entertained all day and ate everything in sight, here a menu at an Irish restaurant. We left a day early because the weather sucked. We took the extra time to look at interesting things along the way.

We had developed a rating system for tourist attractions years ago. We once stopped to see the world's largest ball of twine. It helped to set the standard, which we now call a BOTE (Ball Of Twine Equivalent). It scored a 1. The Wisconsin capitol building is 10. Air Museum is 100 BOTEs. The Smithsonian is over 1000 (no one has ever seen it all, it remains officially unscored). we drove by several sites that score less than 1 BOTE, like the Alabama Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Quilting Hall of Fame.

This is the Palace in Nashville, a small bar near the Grand Ol Opry. Lots of talented music people in Nashville, sort of like a non-stop American Idol, they are all there playing their hearts out for a shot at the big time.

Simply amazing, over 33 BOTEs! The rest of the trip is mostly Illinois and Alabama, two states you must travel the long axis, unfortunately. Our route in Alabama took us off the interstate, and afforded an "up close and personal" look. Not pretty. No taverns and a church on every corner. Do you remember that string of small rural church fires a few years back. I think I get it now. As I drove along I pondered what type of accelerant would be best for a church. The highlight was the water tower of Highland Home, Alabama "Proud home of the Highland Home Flying Squirrels"

You mean like "Rocky and Bullwinkle"? God I hope not. I would not sleep at night knowing that Rocky was from Alabama. We saw a road- kill squirrel on the road, but could not tell if was flying. Sad...........

No travelogue is complete without a cuisine analysis. Do NOT eat at a place called Milo's It is simple. It must be a regional franchise, but their stuff is pricey and bad.

We got drunk at the Palace and the last act was these three (the third was in the can for the picture) fat guys with guitars. They did country by request (stump the band) and were really entertaining. We were usually alone in the bar, that's how much talent there is there. Occasionally some other people would drift in and out. They asked us where were from and we told them Wisconsin. They asked if we had brought them some cheese, so, at the end of the night we dug through the cooler in the car and found some Pepper Jack to tip the band with. They seemed to like the attention.......

Uncle Hans