I recently made a trip to Wisconsin, courtesy of IBM, for a recruiting trip to one the finest towns in all of the world, Madison. Here are some of the highlights of that trip.
Night run out to Picnic Point
Picnic point is a mile-long (at least if feels that long) peninsula that juts out from the southern shore of Lake Mendota. I've walked, biked and ran out there many times during all hours and all seasons and still get a charge heading out there. This time I tried a night run, which was challenging, given there are points where its hard to see your hand in front of your face because it's heavily wooded. But the reward lies in the view you get of the state capital that's lit up at night. I sat on a tree trunk that stretches in that direction and just let the gentle waves splash against the soles of my running shoes. Great time.
Music at Mickey's Tavern
After my night run out to the point I decided to check out the Madison music scene, following a recommendation given by a local section in the Onion. The recommendation for the night was the God Damns, who were playing at Mickey's Tavern (day shot below). When I got to the tavern, the place looked stuffed, even for the cover band, who I could hear quite well from the outside. I decided to wait them out until entering, which was kinda fun because I found that the tavern was right off of a bike path, which led to people riding up on their bikes to lock up and catch the show. Super cool. When I went into the tavern, I found the place to be more spacious than what I saw when peaking in. It took the real meaning of "pub", which is public house, to heart, having a little living room, rec room and outdoor patio along with its bar, which had a meandering shape to it. The band itself, wasn't quite my cup of tea being a little too hard rocking, but I had fun nonetheless. Some girls in the crowd heckled them and I took them to be close friends.
Midsummer Night's Dream at the American Player's Theater in Spring Green
It had been since High School that I had made a trip to Spring Green, which lies just to the west of Madison, for a play at the American Players Theater, a very pleasant outdoor theater. I took my parents to a showing of Midsummer Night's Dream and we had a blast. 90% of the crowd were students on a field trip and we were amazed at how well behaved they were, but concluded that this was due to the quality of the acting, which we thought captivated everyone's attention along with ours. After the show we went down town for a bite to eat and noticed a lot of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture. He lived a good portion of his life in Spring Green, having his Taliesin school there.
Love Like Fire at the Frequency
Having an itch to continue my education of the Madison music scene, I gave the Onion's recommendation another shot for the night, which led me to the Frequency bar, a dive that was just a block off of the capital. The recommended band was Love Like Fire, who had received some praise from Death Cab for Cutie and had a lead singer that had been compared to Bjork. I deposited my 5 dollar cover charge and took my spotted cow into the musical area of the club and caught the last half hour of the cover band. I leaned up against the wall with a couple interesting-looking characters, one being a tatooed, tall drink of water with shaved head and dark rimmed glasses and the other being a Chinese girl with a white t-shirt and black tights. It turned out they were half of Love Like Fire, which I suspected, and were from San Francisco of all places. They put on a really fun show, the highlight being when the drummer's parents walked near the stage and started dancing. It turned out the drummer was from Wisconsin and I chatted with him afterwards, letting him know I had come all the way from Mountain View to see them. :-)
Farmer's Market on the Capital Square
One of the finest farmer's markets occurs on Saturdays around the state capital building. We picked up some scones from one of the bakers and loaded up on honey crisp apples while taking the loop around the square. There were plenty of cheese curds and organic goodies to be had. It was also nice to see some tables set up with Obama supporters, encouraging people to vote. It was a beautiful 70 degree day, and with the colder weather approaching, we figured there wouldn't be many more of these days left this year.
Bike Ride half way around Lake Monona
My dad and I rented bikes at the Machinery Row Bike Shop on Williamson and took a ride half way around Lake Monona. I wanted to try the path that went by Mickey's Tavern to see where it led and it turned out to be part of a path around the lake. Our ride took us very close to Olbrich Botanical Gardens a place I've taken a few visits to this year, one in the dead of winter and one in the summer. We then circled back to Monona Terrace and took a ride along John Nolen Drive, one of the prettiest stretches in Madison (see the video below). We were pleasantly surprised at how quiet the neighborhoods were along the way to the terrace, allowing us to cruise along without any traffic. Note, if you're going to rent a bike in Madison, I'd recommend Williamson Bicycle on E. Washington. This company used to be where Machinery Row is now and they definitely rent out better bikes (New Marins vs Beat up Gary Fishers) at cheaper prices ($15 per day vs $20).
Afterwards I took some pictures of some parts of the ride, including a shot down the Yahara river and a girls soccer game against the backdrop of the lake. I always love the idea of playing sports with natural beauty in background.
It reminded me of playing basketball at James Madison Park on Lake Mendota, which led me over there for some more pictures. I was delighted to see the beginnings of an Obama rally, one where it looked as though they were going to incorporate some a giant game of twister. It was nice to take in the liberal flavor that Madison has such a nice taste of.
Babcock Ice Cream on Mendota Terrace
Of course no trip to Madison is complete without some ice cream from Memorial Union. I had to get a sugar cone scoop of Blue Moon and sit out on the terrace for a little while before taking the drive back to West Bend to spend some time with the rest of my family. It was beautiful day for ice cream and lake watching.
Hike up Dundee Mountain in the Kettle Moraine
Ok, so it isn't exactly a mountain in the altitude sense, but there's a beautiful hiking area in Dundee, WI that's part of the Kettle Moraine a preserved area that is home to many glacial features that are remnants of the ice age. The trail we took was lined with wild flowers, a look which is typically only familiar to me during the California spring. I took the hike to the peak, which isn't strenuous, but does lead to some beautiful views of fall foliage and of Long Lake. At the top I received a reward in the form of a little apple from a tree that was filled with them. It was a tasty treat that accompanied my gorgeous overlook.
And that was my awesome trip to Wisconsin. Here are some more pictures of the trip.
