Listed below are details about the sightseeing trips, included and optional, in each of the 2012 Madison sessions.  The optional trips will have an additional fee- to be determined at a later date.

A couple of months prior to your session  you will receive a packet of information that will include; lecture titles, all sightseeing trip descriptions, dates, and prices.

Registered participants are required to fill out the trip sign-up form indicating all trips (free or additional) that they will be attending so Senior Summer School may plan transportation accordingly. The sign-up form will need to be returned to Senior Summer School prior to arrival (due date will be indicated) along with optional trip payment.

* Senior Summer School reserves the right to adjust any trip details without notice. Final schedules will be distributed upon arrival of program. Minimum number of participants required for select trips.

6-Night Session- July 1-7

Included:

City and Campus Tour

• The Madison  tour will include views of the Governor’s residence, Mansion Hill, the University of Wisconsin Campus, the Willy Street neighborhood, Tenney Park, Lake Mendota, Lake Monona, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unitarian Meeting House, Camp Randall, and the Monona Terrace Convention Center.

State Capital Tour

• The State Capitol building, fashioned after our country’s capitol in Washington D.C., rises between the picturesque waters of Lake Monona and Lake Mendota, the majestic granite structure of Wisconsin’s Capitol building glows like a beacon accenting the Madison skyline. Visit the state Capitol for a guided tour and learn more about the Capitol building & the history of Wisconsin.

Olbrich Botanical Gardens

• At the gardens you may stroll through 16 acres of outdoor display gardens, including Olbrich’s award-winning rose garden and Thai pavilion and garden. Enjoy a tropical paradise year-round in Olbrich’s Bolz Conservatory, a glass pyramid filled with exotic plants, bright flowers, a rushing waterfall, fragrant orchids and free-flying birds.

Optional: (your choice of ONE of the two choices listed below)

House on the Rock

• Indoor Tour – about 3 hours total – Visit the House on the Rock – an architectural marvel perched on a 60-foot chimney of rock. Built in the early 1940’s, it overlooks the breathtaking panorama of Wyoming Valley. The 14-room house, sculpted atop Deer Shelter Rock, has three sections to tour. You begin the tour with the outside architectural views and gardens covering over 200 acres. When you move inside you will view special collections from the miniature to the magnificent, the world’s largest fire place, streets of yesterday year, and the world’s largest Carousal just to name a few. This is a Senior Summer School favorite for a reason- a must see!

OR

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin

• Tour is 2 hours long and entails a significant amount of standing, stair climbing, and walking on uneven terrain. The tour is outdoors and goes on rain or shine. This is another Senior Summer School favorite and the most personal of Wright’s masterpieces. It was constructed of simple, inexpensive materials – limestone and sandstone quarried nearby, plaster, and wood. Wright built the house over 48 years, and never stopped adding to it or changing it until he died. Often described as more of a village on a hill than a home, the house seems to grow from the site. A tour of Taliesin, filled with Wright’s furnishings and art collections, provides you with an intimate look at 50 years in the life of one of our country’s greatest architects. You will also be given time to browse the Taliesin shop.

12-Night Session 1 – July 1-13

Included:

City and Campus Tour

• See description listed above

State Capital Tour

• See description listed above

Olbrich Botanical Gardens

• See description listed above

Governor’s Mansion Tour

• The Governor’s Mansion was originally constructed as a home and was sold to the State in 1949. It is only one of three governor’s residences in the country that is not located within its state’s capital. The home was built in the Classical Revival style on more than four acres along Lake Mendota. Within over 16,000 square feet of living space include 34 rooms, 13 bathrooms and 7 bedrooms and fireplaces.

Monona Terrace

• Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center was first designed by Wisconsin native and internationally-renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1938 as a cultural, governmental and recreational building. Wright reworked the design several times between 1938 and 1958 before signing off on the final plans seven weeks before his death in 1959. Madison voters approved to construct Monona Terrace, on the same site Wright had originally proposed, in 1992. While Wright´s design was used for the building´s exterior, the interior was redesigned by Wright apprentice and Taliesin architect Tony Puttnam to house state-of-the-art exhibition, meeting and public space.

Optional:

House on the Rock OR Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin

• See description listed above

Betty Lou Cruise – Ice Cream Social & Sightseeing

• An hour and an half cruise on Lake Monona while taking in the sights of the Madison lakefront and enjoying all the ice cream you can eat with a sundae bar presented by The Chocolate Shoppe. The Chocolate Shoppe is an ice cream company that was started and  is made right here in Madison!

Theater – Billy Elliot at the Overture Center

• Billy Elliot the Musical is a joyous celebration of one young boy’s journey to make his dreams come true based on the smash-hit independent film of the same name with music by the legendary Elton John. Set in a small town, the story follows Billy as he stumbles out of the boxing ring and into a ballet class, discovering a surprising passion that inspires his family and his whole community.

12-Night Session 2 – July 15-27

Included:

City and Campus Tour

• See description listed above

State Capital Tour

• See description listed above

Olbrich Botanical Gardens

• See description listed above

Governor’s Mansion Tour

• See description listed above

Unitarian Meeting House Tour

• The Meeting House, completed in 1951, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Initially a “country church” overlooking farmland and Lake Mendota, our facility is now in the heart of Madison.

Optional:

Theater – Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare at the American Players Theater (outdoor)

• American Players Theatre is a professional, classic theater located just outside Spring Green, Wisconsin. Situated on 110 acres of hilly woods and meadows, APT boasts an 1148-seat outdoor natural amphitheater where you can enjoy the classics, especially the works of Shakespeare, outside, under the moon and stars. Today, American Players Theatre has earned a national reputation for presenting theater of the highest quality.

Spend a Day Discovering Milwaukee

We’ll begin our day with a tour of Milwaukee where you will see the influence the European immigrants had on the city in its early years through its architecture, businesses and neighborhoods. You’ll see the current revitalization of the city, including a stop at the Milwaukee Art Museum to see the magnificent brise soleil designed by Santiago Calatrava “flap”. We’ll travel along the shores of Lake Michigan viewing the lakefront homes and along the Milwaukee River downtown before stopping at the Milwaukee Public Market in the Historic Third Ward for lunch on your own. From there we’ll take you to the museum of your choice.

Milwaukee Art Museum

Celebrated art. Dramatic architecture. Scenic gardens. Discover Wisconsin’s premier destination for art and culture featuring 20,000 works of art. Located on the shore of Lake Michigan in downtown Milwaukee, the Art Museum is a marvel both inside and out. Welcoming visitors and providing a tranquil separation between the city and the Museum are the gardens designed by world-renowned landscape architect Dan Kiley. Unprecedented in American architecture, the Burke Brise Soleil is a moveable, wing-like sunscreen that rests on top of the Museum’s vaulted, glass-enclosed Windhover Hall. An architectural tour of the museum or the highlights tour of the gardens is included.

Milwaukee Public Museum

The Milwaukee Public Museum, one of the largest in the U.S., is a museum of human and natural history providing a dynamic and stimulating environment for learning. Tour the Museum’s exhibits on Africa, Asia, Europe, the Arctic, South and Middle America, the Pacific Islands and a Costa Rican Rainforest. Take a small step back in time to the turn-of-the-century Streets of Old Milwaukee and European Village and to ancient Mediterranean civilizations. Or, take a giant leap back more than 65 million years to The Third Planet, see the world’s largest-known dinosaur skull and a life-sized replica of Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Buddhist Temple Visit

• Deer Park Buddhist Center and Monastery is open to visitors who would like to see the temples and simply take in the serenity and beauty of the land. The center is devoted to ensuring that Tibetan Buddhist teachings and the monastic way of life, as well as Tibetan culture, remain available as a vibrant part of our common human legacy. Your visit will include a tour and a 1 hour lecture about the different types of Buddhism and leading a monastic way of life is all about. At Deer Park they ask that visitors observe the etiquette customary at Asian religious centers. You will be asked to remove your shoes in the temple vestibule prior to entering the main hall. While Deer Park is a religious center open to the public, it is also a functioning monastery, so they ask that visitors refrain from loud or boisterous behavior in the temples or on the grounds of Deer Park.

12-Night Session 3 – July 29-Aug 10

Included:

City and Campus Tour

• See description listed above

State Capital Tour

• See description listed above

Olbrich Botanical Gardens

• See description listed above

Governor’s Mansion Tour

• See description listed above

Monona Terrace

• See description listed above

Optional:

Theater – The Rock & The Rabbi at the Fireside Theater

• The Fireside Dinner Theatre is both the Midwest’s and Senior Summer Schools’ most popular entertainment destinations. Browse the unique gift shops, enjoy award-winning cuisine, and top off the evening with one of the best professional theatre experiences Wisconsin has to offer.The story of a fisherman and a teacher was never told like this. Back by popular demand, The Fireside is proud to present THE ROCK AND THE RABBI. Original contemporary music sets the stage as Simon, a simple fisherman, draws audiences of all ages into his story. See how he becomes Peter, the “Rock” and begins his journey with Jesus, the “Rabbi” from the Sea of Galilee, to the agony of the cross, to the Miracle of the Ages. Combined with explosive percussion and masterful storytelling THE ROCK AND THE RABBI is a truly inspirational musical experience.

Wisconsin Dells Boat Tour

• The scenic Dells of the Wisconsin River are one of the state’s foremost natural attractions. The river has cut a channel through soft sandstone to a depth of 150 feet for a distance of 15miles and has carved the rock into fantastic forms. A dam separates the river into the upper and lower dells. We will take a two-hour narrated upper dells boat ride and then we will walk the streets of the downtown Dells where you can visit area tourist shops and attractions and enjoy lunch on your own.
  Along the scenic route, you will see some of the tallest rock formations of the region such as Steamboat Rock and Black Hawk’s Profile. The boat also stops at two historic shore-landings that are exclusive to Dells Boat Tours – Witches Gulch and Stand Rock. Witches Gulch is the first stop where passengers can explore mysterious passageways as they walk through this cool canyon that offers beauty beyond words. Stand Rock is the area’s world-famous trademark – sculpted by the forces of nature.

New Glarus – America’s “Little Switzerland”

• Nestled alongside the rolling hills of Southwestern Wisconsin, right in the heart of Green Country, is this enchanting village. New Glarus was established as a  Swiss Colony in 1845, and has retained its Swiss charm in everything from the Alpine-style architecture and colorful flower-filled window boxes down to gourmet food.  We will visit the Chalet of the Golden Fleece Museum, a unique collection of one-of-a-kind- antiques and treasures. You will have the opportunity to explore the downtown on your own or enjoy a tour at the New Glarus Brewing Company.