After a frustrating few hours recording only one-third of the lecture for session 3 of the online Public Library course I'm teaching this fall -- too much material, I determined -- I needed to clear my head. JoAnna had left a letter on the kitchen counter, and I used it as an excuse to bike to the west side Madison post office. From there I followed a circuitous route to Hoyt Park, the same one I had followed last week, to take these pictures. (This time I remembered to replace the disk after uploading pictures onto my computer.)
Based on the engraved dedication, we are apparently just a few months from the 100th anniversary of Owen Parkway. But according to Historic Madison Inc., this roadway was one of the first of a series of scenic drives in and around Madison developed and maintained by the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association starting in 1892.
Trompe L'oeil. A rural overlook? It just appears this way from the angle.
Turn to your right and you'll the the "white building", as Andy used to refer to it during our drives from Kid's Play to Middleton in the late 1980s/early 1990s. (Check page 115 of Stu's book for a view from 1907.)
In the 23 years that I've lived in the Madison area, I didn't realize this wonderfully serene place existed. I'd read about it*, but just couldn't imagine where exactly on the near-west side of Madison it was located. It's so tucked away.
*"Turning Point: The Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association", pp. 114-117 of Madison: The Illustrated Sesquicentennial History, Volume 1, 1856-1931, by Stuart D. Levitan. (Stu, an index would have been great. I would have been happy to help!)
What you see pictured below is obviously not a bike path. Maybe it's a trail to the Hoyt Park shelter and parking lot?
The downward view from the overlook, however, leaves much to be desired.
In the tree-tunneled distance, you see the Hill Farms State Transportation Building and the Ghost Condo.
One more look and I'm gone.
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