A Madison Summer - Why Leave?

What's going on in Madison, Wisconsin?

This is the second summer where I have decided not to go anywhere. I know some people think I like to travel a lot, but I am scaling back. And the main reason for this is that it is too hard to leave this great city in the summer.

The weekend before last, I wanted to do the following:

-Sundance movie (one of two in the country)
-Farmers' Market (the largest in the U.S.)
-Maple Bluff garage sales
-Dog Park (we have so many)
-Friend's birthday party
-Fruitfest at Plan B
-And of course, my daily run (million of paths)

And I did it all. The summers here are just fabulous. While talking with friends about going to New England or Canada over the summer, I just knew I would miss it here too much. I am staying put.

So I took a week off in July and decided to take a staycation. And I think a week isn't even enough to do all the great summer things I plan to do. Like go hiking at Devil's Lake, spend a day at the Goodman Pool and finally learn how to golf at one of our many courses.

Now flash forward to this past weekend and as usual, there were a million activities going on. I think I died and went to heaven when I received a text from a friend of mine who asked me to "drop everything and join her on her friend's boat." After a nice trip to the dog park with some friends, I walked a few blocks from my place, down a dock and stepped on the boat.

I have never experienced this boating scene before. And it was heavenly. The views were amazing, my friend was a blast and the day was perfect. I hope to god we do it again real soon. How many places can you live where you can walk out your door and have someone pick you up lakeside to be whisked away onto the water?

A Brief Getaway from Madison

I've decided it is best to keep the political situation that is happening here to myself and not publicize my opinion on my blog.

It is very close to home, physically and literally. For me, there is no way to avoid the news anchors as they film live coverage, the chants and the feeling of what "democracy looks like."

It feels good. Let's put it that way. These are peaceful protests, as I am sure you know by now.

For Christmas in 2009, I gave my boyfriend a bed and breakfast gift certificate. He decided to use it at an Inn near Milwaukee in Cedarburg, Wisconsin.

After a charity evening at the Madison Club on Friday night, we packed our bags and left the "biggest rally" down the road from my condo to hightail it towards this quaint town of Cedarburg, not far from Milwaukee.

Supposedly there is a zoning law on the main drag that only permits independent businesses. My two favorite stores were Lillies Goods and their other store, Weeds, owned by the same people. If you are looking for a nice gift, I recommend either place. After walking around the Cedarburg winery & shops, we sampled a few wines (Cedarburg's wine is the "sister" to Wollersheim) and checked in at the Washington Inn.

Walking around the little shops, we were told that our Inn has a 5:00 wine and cheese hour (of course, we had read about it online), and we made sure to be there promptly for our free wine and "spread" hour. But first, we settled into a huge jetted tub that is inside the room and warmed up from a day of non-stop fluffy snow. It was so relaxing. After sweating and trying to cool off from this luxurious tub, we enjoyed the snacks in the dining room. We had unlimited wine and cheese spreads, crackers and grapes. The room was mainly full of other couples besides one older woman. There were just enough tables so that we didn't have to sit with strangers.

We then walked over to Anvil, a former blacksmith shop with neat concrete walls and a two story dining room. It felt cozy and special, though. Even though it is two stories, it had a warm feel to it. We saw about three other couples from our Inn and pretended like we didn't see them (just kidding). As we sat at the bar, waiting for a table, the couple next to us chatted us up and we ended up next to them when we were seated.

A friend, Taylor, recently got me hooked on Old Fashions, so I ordered one while we waited. Old Fashions are very popular in Wisconsin. And tasty.

Our food was pretty good. We had veggie burgers. I thought it was tasty. Nothing incredibly special. We then walked down towards the Inn and I stopped in a chocolate place where I had a delicious milk chocolate turtle that was pretty special.

We then sat in the whirlpool tub and I was asleep by 10 PM. The best part of the stay was when we got breakfast in bed in the morning. I think that is the first time I spent an hour in bed, drinking coffee, eating fruit, enjoying my book. (without a starving golden retriever begging for food by my side).

I was also able to finish my 562 page book this weekend. It was so relaxing. Cedarburg is a special place. We plan to go back.

Cheers.

Back to My Favorite Time

Well, it's that time of year again: Fall. I love this time. We have great foliage here in Madison. I try very hard not to let it pass too quickly.

After missing the beggining of autumn, I am happy to be back in my town. I am literally thrilled.

So, for those of you who don't know, after the whirlwind ten days of traveling to Europe, I was home for about seventy-two(?) hours. I wasn't feeling well and I have no idea how the president does it. I was exhausted.

Back on a plane and headed to Cali, I was standing up in my dear friend's wedding. I was honored to be asked and it was a great time. Actually, a changing time for me. I have mixed feelings about weddings - but that's for another post.

(*NOTE - I am hitting my limit of wedding parties. I will do two more in the next ten years - so I may say "no" to you..., take it as a compliment)

And so, after seeing one of the most beautiful parts of the country,it was time to take my very first red eye. I thought I was a rockstar when I told everyone I was going to work as soon as I drove home from my redeye. As I sat in my claustrophobic seat on the plane, I contemplated squeezing a run in before I hit the office (I am so anal about my running).

And as I started to feel sick and lightheaded, I decided to slowly get up to ask the flight attendant for a gingerale. But I never made it there. Because I fainted in the aisle. And that, ladies and gentleman, was my first experience fainting.

It's not so scary and I actually felt better after I came to. Do you know that feeling before you throw up? And then after, you feel better? That's how I felt after fainting.

Needless to say, even though I still wanted to go to work, I hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours, for the third night in two weeks and was awake for about three hours the rest of that day. Oh well. I tried.

I read three books while traveling. They were all good. The laugh-out-loud book was Wally Lamb's (She's Come Undone, I Know this Much is True), latest little fiction, "Wishin' and Hopin'. It's a page turner (my favorite kind).

I also was convinced to read Twilight and I must say - it's good.

And now, I am "wishin' and hopin'" to stay put in Madison for a long, long time.