Erik & Erica
June 11th, 2016
Exploring Madison!
The city of Madison has more exciting _ than just our wedding, we ask that you spend some time to explore Madison. Madison has lots of lake views being located on an isthmus with Lake Mendota to the North and Lake Monona to the South. The Downtown area is very walk friendly and if you ever get lost (which is a good way to explore) just look for the Capital building, which should be visible from almost every part of Madison.
The Madison Farmer's Market
One of the nicest benefits of living near downtown is being able to walk to the farmer's market every Saturday. The entire inner square is blocked off to traffic in the morning as people slowly move counterclockwise around the capital building. Walking around you can get honey sticks, chili jam, and try free samples of baked cheese.
If you want to grab breakfest at the farmer's market, we recommend Stella's spicy cheesey bread which is located by the enterance to State St. Spicy cheesey bread is pretty self explanatory, and they don't skip on the portions so feel free to buy one to share. There is another vendor that sells the same type of bread on the other side of the farmer's market and claims they started the craze. Even if true, get the one from Stella's.
Olbrich Botanical Gardens
Memorial terrace located at Memorial union is at the end of State St. and is a great place to relax with a nice view of lake Mendota. The iconic sunflower chairs are located here. Fortunately, it isn't very crowded during the summer since the undergraduates are mostly gone. During the week movies are shown and bands play outside (weather permiting). Beer is served here, so feel free to try some Wisconsin classics like Hopalicious.
Monona terrace is located right next to the Madison Club (Wedding!) and was designed by this largely unkown architect named Frank Lloyd Wright. The Monona terrace looks over lake Monona and, if you are lucky, you might see some water ski shows the perform right below. No beer is served here, but you can still stop for a good Wisconsin beer at the nearby Old Fashioned.
Touring the Capital Building
Viewable from most of Madison, there is a city ordienance that prevents buildings from being taller than the capital building. The four corners of the capital look mostly similiar so it is easy to get disoriented, and at least one of us (*cough* Erica *cough*) still does. One of these corners is State St. which leads to the Memorial Union and the rest of campus. Along the way you will find many small businesses and college bars.
The capital building itself is very pretty and is open to either self-guided or guided tours. Spoiler Alert: there are 103 different types of marble inside. Definitely worth walking through to break the heat or get away from all the people at the farmer's market. Bonus points if you can find a bronze badger that is located somewhere in the building. The polish has been rubbed off the badger's nose as people touch the nose for good luck. We might stop by it before the wedding!
Other Activities
There are many other things to do in the Madison area. State Street is a pedestrian only street that runs from the capital building to the UW campus. There are lots of fun little shops and restaurants to check out along the way. If museums are your thing, there are several good ones to take a look at. The Wisconsin Veteran's Museum is located at 30 W. Mifflin St, right on the capital square. A couple blocks down at 227 State St is the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art. On UW's campus you can find the UW-Madison Geology Museum (1215 W Dayton). They have dinosaurs! Madison also has a free zoo. They recently updated their polar bear exhibit, and they have some very cute red pandas! The Henry Vilas Zoo is located at 702 S Randall Ave.
The food scene in Madison is also quite good. For true Wisconsin fare, check out the Old Fashioned on the capital square (23 N Pinckney). We also really enjoy the Alchemy, which is in the Atwood neighborhood (1980 Atwood Ave--warning, it's cash only!!). The Tipsy Cow has good beer and bar food (102 King St). If you want the true undergraduate experience, check out State Street Brats at 603 State St. Wherever you go, be sure to try some fried cheese curds!