Return to the Midwest: Labor Day Weekend in Madison

Friday, September 3-Monday, September 7: Volleyball, Barriques, Football, Terrace, Lake Mendota

Mr. E and I returned to Madison for the first time in nearly two years to enjoy the Labor Day holiday weekend. We traveled on Friday and flew into Chicago, where we picked up a rental car for the 2+ hour drive to Madtown. Our hotel was the new Springhill Suites by the Hilldale Mall, which was a very convenient location for some shopping at the University Book Store for Badger bling and Metcalfe's Market for food and beverage provisions. We had a lovely two room corner suite on the 6th floor, and I took advantage of the relatively large and very straight indoor pool to swim laps on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

We arrived in time to check in, do a few errands, and grab some food before heading to the women's volleyball game against Dayton at the Field House. This year, Mr. E bought season tickets for this sport in addition to football, and we were fortunate that both teams were playing at home on the same weekend while we were visiting. The lady Badgers handily won in straight sets 3-0 over Dayton, so we were heading back to the hotel within less than two hours.

On Saturday morning, we met up with C & C from the UW Foundation at the nearby Barriques for coffee after enjoying the plentiful breakfast buffet at the hotel. We noticed lots of Badger and Penn State fans co-mingling very cordially in the meal area, and the hotel was decked out in red and white decorations for the Badgers along with a few navy blue items for Penn State. It was so lovely to meet C & C in person after more than a year of Zoom calls! 

Once we finished up coffee and conversation, we drove to our assigned parking under the School of Business and then walked to Camp Randall amidst a sea of other football fans. This was the opening game of the season and the first with a return to full capacity, so everyone was very excited. In addition, this was designated as a "stripe out" game, meaning that folks in every other section were asked to wear either red or white in order to create a series of stripes around the stadium. Pretty cool!

We were in a white section, so both of us had bought new items at the University Book store the day before in order to align with the appropriate color. My shirt was a wee bit more on the grey side, but still closer to white than to red! I was rather glad that the day was a bit overcast and cloudy so that we didn't have to worry about too much sun or heat.

Unfortunately, the Badgers didn't play very well, so we lost to Penn State despite having possession for nearly three quarters of the total game time. *sigh* Both of us were hungry at this point, since the game started at 11am and didn't end until nearly 3pm, so after we drove back to the hotel we decided to grab an early dinner at the Great Dane Pub at Hilldale. We both had very fond memories of this venue from previous visits, but we were a little disappointed that they'd changed the soft pretzel offering to one huge pretzel instead of the three smaller logs that we remembered. We still enjoyed the meal and the drinks and did a little more browsing and shopping on our way back to the hotel for the evening.

On Sunday morning, we returned to campus to enjoy some time sitting on the Memorial Union Terrace and enjoying the clear blue skies, puffy white clouds, and beautiful view of Lake Mendota. We had made plans to meet up with friends S & S for late morning coffee, and it was great to catch up with them in person and hear how they've been doing over the past year and a half.

We took advantage of the amazing weather to stroll up State Street, noticing which businesses had closed and which new spots had opened. By the time we reached the Capitol, we decided to stop for some lunch at Tavernakaya, a new spot on Capitol Square. Mr. E had a salmon bento box, and I had a yummy poke bowl (with no onions or scallions -- yay!).

For the rest of the afternoon, we relaxed at the hotel and then left around 5:30pm for our 6pm dinner boat tour on Lake Mendota with Betty Lou Cruises. The weather was absolutely ideal for this sunset boat ride, and we got to see some amazing views of the Madison and UW campus skyline along with a fiery sunset over Picnic Point.

The food was pretty good and included a baked walleye option that was quite tasty. I had checked the menu ahead of time to make sure there would be enough for me to eat, and I wasn't disappointed. We got back to our hotel around 9pm and watched some more Paralympics.

Our return flight was in mid-afternoon on Monday, so we could enjoy the morning without feeling too rushed. The drive back to Chicago was very smooth, with little traffic, most likely thanks to the holiday. We arrived at O'Hare with a couple of hours to wait for our flight, so we used our remaining United Club pass and purchased one day pass so that we'd have a more comfortable spot to wait, not to mention access to some snacks and drinks. Although our flight was a bit delayed for takeoff, we landed in Sac only about 20 minutes late so had plenty of time to unpack, go through mail, get some food, and just generally get ready for the week before going to bed.

Such a great visit! So glad we went! Next up: I'll be heading to Portland and Mr. E will be going back to the Midwest for another football game. Then... Italy!!! (fingers crossed)