I haven't had to travel in a while but when my next assignment came up and I found that it was in Madison, WI, I was excited. I've been there a couple of times before but it was during the winter. I like the town. Madison is an isthmus with Lake Mendota on one side and Lake Monona on the other. This trip I actually stayed in Capitol Square which is a square block that surrounds the capitol building.
This is a view of Lake Monona from my room at the Inn on the Park which is directly across from the Capitol.
When in Madison, I had to go back to my favorite Mexican restaurant, Casa Lara. I had the chile verde - delicious! Lucky for me my room had a fridge so I got to bring the leftovers home and have them for lunch the next day.
This is the Capitol. If you've been watching the news, you may know that the citizens are trying to recall Governor Scott Walker. I think it's still ongoing.
I just thought this was funny. It's a window at a toy store in Capitol Square.
I spent 4 days in Madison, most of them in my room working. On my last full day there, I quit working at 5 to take a walk around the city and get some fresh air. This is a view of the Capitol from Monona Terrace.
Lake Monona. The weather was amazing! People were sailing and relaxing.
Self portrait at Lake Monona. I know the hair is a bit wild but it was windy out there by the lake. Monona Terrace is the top of the convention center that is like a cement park. There are trees and flowers and most importantly, chairs next to the lake where people can sit and chill. It's free to go up there. The perfect addition to my visit to the lake would have been a lovely glass of wine and my fabulous spouse, not necessarily in that order.
Another view of the Capitol as the backdrop to the Monona Terrace fountain.
One of the things that was really cool is that all around the square were food trucks. There was a guy selling Mexican food, one selling Cajun food and, my favorite, the hot dog guy. On one of the days I took a quick lunch break and got a chili dog from the hot dog guy and sat out on this bench and ate. It was a nice break to the day and the chili dog was good. Also around the square were Pubs. This being a college town (the University of Wisconsin is on the other side of town), the Pubs are plentiful and they are busy. They all have outdoor seating and by 5 pm they are packed.
This is my hotel - Inn on the Park. It's a Best Western. It was nice. It was a great location. It had an indoor pool and a nicely equipped workout room (which I did NOT take advantage of!).
This is a picture of the same hotel in 1875. The hotel was opened in 1871 as the Park Hotel to serve the legislators. The price was $3 per day for room and board. It's a little more than that now for just 'room'.
Another photograph of the hotel in 1912. There were historic photos all over the hotel.
This was a nice trip. As always, I wish I'd had more time to walk around. This time I was particularly busy but I'm glad I got to go just the same.
Oh! and the client meeting went really well.
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