spacekadet

We kept on pushing and, 1400 miles later, made it to Madison, WI at around 5:30pm last Wednesday. It was a bit of a relief to drop Ivy off with my sister and get him out of the car (and straight to the food bowl and a litter box).

Madison is awesome. It's filled with large trees and parks and two beautiful lakes. It's more condensed than Austin - the University is flush with the heart of downtown, a place where people actually live and shop and spend the day. There are hills and scenery, people outside living life and being active. The occasional fat and frumpy grad student. Crappy student housing. Scooters are everywhere! People walking their canoe from their house to the lake. People WALKING. We had a yummy dinner at a place called Bluephies, then went out for a couple of much needed pints of beer.

There is a bar in Madison called Le Tigre that is a must-visit for those who like their bars to be eccentric and welcoming. It's been in Madison for 40 years, and is operated by some dude and his son. The entire place is decorated in tigres: tiger print carpet, tigre statues, tiger pictures. The only thing non-tiger is the framed photo of Rush Limbaugh. Hrmmm.... they also have a kickin' jukebox, filled with Elvis, Frank Sinatra, and "I've Had The Time of My Life" from Dirty Dancing (which I don't think the locals appreciated as much as I did).

At some point we scored a stack of print editions of The Onion. Not bad for our first night out in the Midwest.

The next morning Tim and I went for a much needed run on Lake Monona. We had a great view of downtown Madison and the rollerbladers inspired much envy on my part. Madison was a great place to run. The paths were excellent and the breeze was pleasant, though I imagine I'd feel differently if it were January.

For breakfast, Stephanie took us to an amazing diner, Mickey's Dairy Bar. Tim had his first malt, chocolate of course. Steff's banana malt was pretty damn delicious, and her pancake with strawberries and cream was impressive. I stuck with coffee and a tasty omelette. Dairy rules.

The rest of the day was spent wandering around Madison's vast university and quaint downtown. Tim bought a UW "bev key". In a decision I think I will regret, I refrained from buying a UW hoodie because it's been suggested that the slacker fashion I've donned in Austin won't fly in posh London. Still, a girl comes to a point in her life where she has to define her own style. Isn't that what the big city is all about?

UW has a great student Union, right on Lake Mendota, with plenty of patios and chillin' room (oh yeah, and an outdoor BAR). I was a bit hesitant to leave downtown because that meant going back to Steff's to say goodbye to Ivy. He seems like he'll do fine over there. I think I will really start missing him when I get back to Austin and I don't have him to keep my feet warm while I sleep.