Not that I'm really much of a Badger fan, actually. Well, it's not that I'm NOT a fan, just an apathetic one. I'm not into sports so while I hope my alma mater wins, I'm not one to really watch the games. I hear this is a good thing when it comes to basketball in the last week. While I may not be a fan, my dad is.. So.. I still hear about it! ;)
But anyway, today I spent the day in Madison. My parents drove up with me and I dropped them at East Towne. Then I drove around the East side a bit. I was pleasantly surprised at what I recognized and very quickly located the school I student taught at and the home I used to work at with the adults with disabilities. I was more impressed with the former than the latter. After all, I worked at the house for two years but only student taught at that particular school for a semester. They were both in the same neighborhood though, so it wasn't all that amazing that after I found the one, I found the other. I found the place where my Corsica (or putt-putt as Matt called it) broke down and the house who was nice enough to loan me their phone to call a tow truck. I saw the place I'd stop for coffee at now and again and the church Renie and I used to go to. It was 8 years ago, but it seemed like yesterday.
Then I drove into Madison. It surprised me as well how quickly the roads came back and how easy it was to maneuver around the downtown area. I drove by both of my old apartments that look pretty much like how they always did minus a new coat of paint at one of the places.
I parked and called Nate who was waiting for me outside of Noodles. We had lunch there (I had the mac and cheese, of course) and we ate upstairs. It was pretty fun and definitely reminiscent of old times! Then we wandered state street for a while. I did a bit of shopping (thanks Nate for being patient while I shopped). We walked campus a little bit and I saw the new buildings that have come up and ones that have been there forever. A lot of shops are still the same as they always have been. I went into The Soap Opera and purchased two perfumes, a lipstick and two rubber ducks for Maddy. I shopped at a couple artsy fun knick nack places and bought something for Matt and five necklaces for myself. Some things have moved across the street or what not, but for the most part it is still a place with unique stores and very little chains. And the chains that are there tend to fit the atmosphere (minus Gap). I saw my dorm from afar (we didn't need to go see that one) and we stopped for coffee at Espresso Royale and had coffee. Well, I had a great chai tea! After that we decided to meet up at East Towne so Nate could see my folks. The drive to East Towne took me down East Wash. and it was fun to see more of Madison and to see that not much has changed in 8 years. We did a bit of wandering around there for a while and then parted ways and we came back home.
We stopped at Oscar's on the way home and picked up some vanilla frozen custard. I had a bit of that this evening. I stopped over at a neighbor's tonight to visit for a bit and talked to Matt on the phone.
I'm not excited to leave Milwaukee, but I am excited to get home to see Matt and Maddy. I miss them. I know that I won't see Maddy until Tuesday morning but I get to see Matt when he picks me up at the airport tomorrow night. It's been a great trip. I've seen my parents (albeit, between running around a lot) lots of great friends and have a blast catching up with everyone. I've ate a lot of great food (and ate and ate). It's been cold here, but that's WI right? And snow was kind of a shock. I was lucky to have great weather for our trip down State Street and around the University today. You most likely won't hear from me again until Tuesday sometime! Wish me a safe trip back home!
On Wisconsin!
Tea of the day: Bigelow Constant Comment, Chai and Bigelow Revive herbal tea