Whirlwind Adventures

I'm at my gate at Chicago-O'hare getting ready to board for Minneapolis-St. Paul to meet up with a friend of mine before continuing onward to Tokyo.

But before we get ahead of ourselves, I'll fill you in on my last 36 hours...

I flew up to Milwaukee on Friday night. My flight left Atlanta an hour late, putting me into Wisconsin around 11:15, got my bag around 11:45, and hit the road with my friend Catherine from Tulane to Madison. The drive took longer than expected, and by the time we got back to her place it was 2:00AM (3:00AM Eastern); we were exhausted and went straight to sleep. But not for all that long...

With only one day to see Madison, we got an early start, leaving the house around 7:00 for the 15 minute drive to downtown. We parked near the State Capitol Building and spent half an hour wandering around a large Saturday farmers' market that surrounds the building. We stopped to get a loaf of hot jalepeno-cheese bread (eating the majority of the loaf as we walked) and, after our fill of the market (and some tasty cheese curds), headed up the hill into the Capital Building.

The State Capitol Building,

The building was gorgeous, with lots of ornate details you'd expect to find in a government building from 1906.

The rotunda of the State Capitol.

For a frame of reference, downtown Madison is located on an isthmus between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona, with the Capitol located in the center, four-six blocks from each lake.

From the Capitol, we headed southeast to Monona Terrace, a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed convention center on the lake's edge. We took in the views and then headed up State Street straight west to the University of Wisconsin campus. The campus was very nice, and there was a lot to explore. We stopped into the student center located on Lake Mendota and grabbed some ice cream for the walk back to the city.

Back down State Street we paid a quick visit to the Museum of Contemporary Art. With a small collection and a rooftop sculpture terrace, the entire thing only took about 30 minutes, but it was a good stop before we decided we were wiped from the walking and lack of sleep and in need of a bit of refreshment.

We decided to stop for hydration and lunch at a restaurant across the street from the State Capitol, Graze. Not particularly hungry after our loaf of bread in the morning, we shared a very delicious bibimbap (Korean spicy pork with rice) burrito.

A bloody Mary completed with cheese curd to go with lunch.

After sitting a while and eating and drinking we geared up to head back to the car. On the way to the parking deck I noticed there were people on top of the Capitol building and asked Catherine if she had ever been up it. She hadn't, and I like climbing buildings, so we decided to check it out.

It turned out that not only could you wander around the top of the Capitol at the base of the dome, but there was also a very nice history museum on the top floor - a very good stop.

Columns of the retro parking deck downtown.

From the Capitol we headed back to the car and drove to Catherine's before continuing on to check out her office at Epic, an electronic heath care records company which has experienced tremendous growth in recent years and has built quite a campus with loads of amenities, like the tech companies out west.

Over the next few hours we explored the campus, wandering between dozens of buildings, each with a different theme. Catherine works on the "farm campus" with buildings such as the barn, the stables and the farmers market. Over in the first campus there was an East Asian building, a Dungeons and Dragons building, an NYC building, and a tree house, just to name a few. We even wandered through a currently under construction part of campus that is themed Harry Potter, with buildings including the observatory, the dormitory, and Kings Cross Station.

The staircase inside the 'Heaven' Building on Epic's campus.

In the late afternoon we left Epic to head over to the Wisconsin Brewing Company to unwind from the walking with some local brews. Not ones to miss out on the opportunity to try new things, we opted for the 12 beer sampler platter and spent the next two hours sitting outside by the lake sipping beer and hanging out with a few friends who stopped by. We finished the afternoon off with a game of corn hole before heading to a Wisconsin-y dinner.

Our twelve beer sampler.

For dinner we went down the street to Gray's Tied House where we shared fried cheese curds and pretzels with beer cheese - both very Wisconsin things. For my main, I had pulled pork with barbecue sauce made from Gray's root beer. All in all, it was a great dinner with good company, but by the end of the day we were wiped, headed back to Catherine's, and went to bed around 10:00, knowing we had another early morning.

Fried cheese curds and pretzels with beer cheese.