Summer vacation day 15: Valapraiso & Merrillville IN and Madison WI

We got up in the morning for one of longest driving days of the trip.  I had planned a couple fun stops though, so it didn't feel long at all.

First was the little city of Valparaiso.  I mean, who can resist a bench with a statue of Orville Redenbacher!  There was a good selection of restaurants I had researched, but we weren't ready for food yet.  We wandered in the farmer's market though and bought some blueberries.

A short drive away was the Albanese Candy Factory.  There was a self guided tour and we saw some gummy bears being made!  They also offer (unlimited!) samples of their candies and chocolates that they make!  We bought some treats and then got back on the road.

look at that chocolate fountain!

After a stop along the way for a very late lunch, we arrived in Madison.  We walked from the hotel to try to catch the bookstore and other shops open for souvenirs and then went to the amazingly beautiful student union building and sat on the terrace having ice cream by the lake (the ice cream is made by students and uses cream from the school's cows!).  We wandered up to the Capital building and back to the hotel and then back again to the Memorial Union Terrace for some dinner.  We took pictures of the different painted badgers all along the way.  The location of the campus on the lake is amazing.  We all loved it here.

Riley's Wines of the World!