Varsity, Varsity...
Ever been to a Big Ten football game before? And more importantly, ever been to a Badger game before?
These are the questions that two Ole boys were recently faced with as two Madison Alums agreed that what they needed was a serious dose of "Real College Town" and "Real Football Game".
Last Friday afternoon, Slummy, LB, Jff, and I piled into one car and made the trek to Wisconsin for homecoming weekend. The drive down was uneventful, except for the ominous rain that splattered the car as we neared Madison. As we arrived in town, however, the rain stopped and instead we had a clear view of the capital as we drove in.
After a series of hotel decisions early on, we elected to stay in what I remember as a really crappy run-down hotel right in the middle of campus. Upon our arrival, it was nice to realize that it had recently been completely redone and is now a really nice place to stay. As we checked in, it was a comical reminder of who we were traveling with as Slummy realized, or rather the hotel staff realized, that Slummy had 'status' there. Free breakfast buffet for all of us.
We seized the night and ended up heading out for a walk down State Street and a beer at the Great Dane. For both LB and I, the walk was reminiscent of college and yet it was strange to see what had changed... New buildings, old businesses, new chain restaurants, same city essentially. It was strange to see my alma mater through eyes that are now over 12 years older than when I first arrived. I felt really old as we walked into the Dane, but then settled in to just enjoying the loud Friday night scene.
Saturday morning was early, but exciting. I was really excited about the football game and to walk around campus in the day light. We had hoped to fit in a visit to the illustrious Farmers Market around the capital square, but we were crunched for time because of the early game. After a visit to the Alumni Bash for breakfast and some ill advised Bloody Marys, we headed to the bookstore for a refresh on our Wisconsin wardrobes. Along the way we did some sight seeing- the rubble that was the dorm I lived in freshman year, Granger Hall, the Humanities building, and Science Hall... After a stop back at the hotel we headed for the game.
It was inspiring to see the sea of red moving toward the stadium for an 11am kick off. We ended up sitting in one of the end zones almost at ground level. The game was fabulous, and although it got steadily cooler during the afternoon, the Badgers pulled it out against the Fighting Illini. Hooray! The fifth quarter was fun and entertaining as usual. I relished the singing of the fight song, the Alumni song, and many others that are permanently burned into my brain. I was also surprised to hear and see some additions to the fifth quarter of the game that never happened when I was there.
After the game we set off on more sight seeing- visiting LB's dorms, my sophomore dorm, taking the Lakeshore Path all the way to the Union, and ending up in Der Rathskeller for some beer and my Berry Alvarez Shake (delish!). Boy were we tired after we warmed up, so we headed back to the hotel for some late afternoon/early evening snoozing(also delish!)
A dinner at Amy's Cafe followed by a bar further down State street were fun places to do some reminiscing and more discussion of college. Slummy was entertained by new selections of beers, the numerous unfortunate "train-wrecks" that were spotted along the strip throughout the course of the evening (Meel- isssa!), and comparing the Olaf Campus to that of Madison's. The inevitable reminder that we weren't in college anymore came with an early return to the hotel room to go to bed.
Sunday was an early morning wake up for a gratis brunch and quick showers. On our way out of Madison, we dropped LB at the airport for her business trip down to Orlando and the three of us continued on home through the wind, rain, and snow. We were lucky to have encountered a partially sunny day in Madison that managed to highlight some of the pretty leaves and the beautiful campus where both LB and I were lucky enough to spend 5+ years of our lives.
In the end, I could have spent another couple of days doing many of the things I always think of doing in Madison: visiting the Farmer's market, walking down to the Monona Terrace, walking up to see the view from Observatory Hill, and making it out to the tip of Picnic point at night to see all the lights on campus, but we packed a lot into a weekend while we were there. It was a great time, and a great reminder of what a rich history LB and I have from our time there. I left thinking about how lucky I was to go to a school like that, where there was always more to explore and more to do. It is a good thing to have those places that remain so important in your heart that when you are there, you feel a sense of great happiness and contentment.
U, rah, rah, Wisconsin!
These are the questions that two Ole boys were recently faced with as two Madison Alums agreed that what they needed was a serious dose of "Real College Town" and "Real Football Game".
Last Friday afternoon, Slummy, LB, Jff, and I piled into one car and made the trek to Wisconsin for homecoming weekend. The drive down was uneventful, except for the ominous rain that splattered the car as we neared Madison. As we arrived in town, however, the rain stopped and instead we had a clear view of the capital as we drove in.
After a series of hotel decisions early on, we elected to stay in what I remember as a really crappy run-down hotel right in the middle of campus. Upon our arrival, it was nice to realize that it had recently been completely redone and is now a really nice place to stay. As we checked in, it was a comical reminder of who we were traveling with as Slummy realized, or rather the hotel staff realized, that Slummy had 'status' there. Free breakfast buffet for all of us.
We seized the night and ended up heading out for a walk down State Street and a beer at the Great Dane. For both LB and I, the walk was reminiscent of college and yet it was strange to see what had changed... New buildings, old businesses, new chain restaurants, same city essentially. It was strange to see my alma mater through eyes that are now over 12 years older than when I first arrived. I felt really old as we walked into the Dane, but then settled in to just enjoying the loud Friday night scene.
Saturday morning was early, but exciting. I was really excited about the football game and to walk around campus in the day light. We had hoped to fit in a visit to the illustrious Farmers Market around the capital square, but we were crunched for time because of the early game. After a visit to the Alumni Bash for breakfast and some ill advised Bloody Marys, we headed to the bookstore for a refresh on our Wisconsin wardrobes. Along the way we did some sight seeing- the rubble that was the dorm I lived in freshman year, Granger Hall, the Humanities building, and Science Hall... After a stop back at the hotel we headed for the game.
It was inspiring to see the sea of red moving toward the stadium for an 11am kick off. We ended up sitting in one of the end zones almost at ground level. The game was fabulous, and although it got steadily cooler during the afternoon, the Badgers pulled it out against the Fighting Illini. Hooray! The fifth quarter was fun and entertaining as usual. I relished the singing of the fight song, the Alumni song, and many others that are permanently burned into my brain. I was also surprised to hear and see some additions to the fifth quarter of the game that never happened when I was there.
After the game we set off on more sight seeing- visiting LB's dorms, my sophomore dorm, taking the Lakeshore Path all the way to the Union, and ending up in Der Rathskeller for some beer and my Berry Alvarez Shake (delish!). Boy were we tired after we warmed up, so we headed back to the hotel for some late afternoon/early evening snoozing(also delish!)
A dinner at Amy's Cafe followed by a bar further down State street were fun places to do some reminiscing and more discussion of college. Slummy was entertained by new selections of beers, the numerous unfortunate "train-wrecks" that were spotted along the strip throughout the course of the evening (Meel- isssa!), and comparing the Olaf Campus to that of Madison's. The inevitable reminder that we weren't in college anymore came with an early return to the hotel room to go to bed.
Sunday was an early morning wake up for a gratis brunch and quick showers. On our way out of Madison, we dropped LB at the airport for her business trip down to Orlando and the three of us continued on home through the wind, rain, and snow. We were lucky to have encountered a partially sunny day in Madison that managed to highlight some of the pretty leaves and the beautiful campus where both LB and I were lucky enough to spend 5+ years of our lives.
In the end, I could have spent another couple of days doing many of the things I always think of doing in Madison: visiting the Farmer's market, walking down to the Monona Terrace, walking up to see the view from Observatory Hill, and making it out to the tip of Picnic point at night to see all the lights on campus, but we packed a lot into a weekend while we were there. It was a great time, and a great reminder of what a rich history LB and I have from our time there. I left thinking about how lucky I was to go to a school like that, where there was always more to explore and more to do. It is a good thing to have those places that remain so important in your heart that when you are there, you feel a sense of great happiness and contentment.
U, rah, rah, Wisconsin!
posted by KLOU | 6:46 PM
1 Comments:
I've been waiting for this post! Even though I didn't go to UW Madison, I feel lucky to have experienced the town and university in a pretty thorough manner to even get a glimpse of your college years. Reading your post, I pretend that I am a cool Badger alum too! Jump! Jump!
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