5 Things you need to Know about the Hippest City in the USA!

Ok, Jen H. I am alive. Thanks for checking. You are too cute, that's the mom in you, right?!?!? :)

My blog took a breather. A few days to recuperate. To just chill. But it was a very good reason!!

I had a super weekend. So super that I needed a recovery day on Mon (travel) and another day to hit the snooze on Tue morning.

I have to agree with Amanda Lovato that you must "respect the travel." Travel takes the livin' life outta ya....the bounce out of your step....the fatigue that- HELLO!!!- was non existent as I bopped to the airport Fri, and mysteriously appeared at my doorstep Tue am- kickin my freakin ass.....wah wah...I am done bitching....this post is about my fab weekend in "Hippest City in the USA"

MADISON, WI, baby!!!



Home to IM WI, Univ of Wisc, known for cheese turds (er, curds), beautiful lakes (see below), a million bike paths that wind around the city, and just a damn gorgeous place to live. Ya, that's right. A cool place to inhabit.

I have lived North, East, Southwest....and visited many extraordinary towns that I would gladly relocate to at moment's notice. But none, my friends, are as cool and familiar and fantastic-o as the Mad City....

5 Things you need to know about Madison, WI

1) Rachel Ross, please brace yourself! Madison LOVES BARACK OBAMA..Its a liberal town full of academics, of course it likes him!!!
"OBAMARAMA" to the nth degree..... Obama schwag on 1) doorsteps, 2) windows, 3) lawns, or in this case 4) outside of a store

Exhibit A (as seen below...in honor of Tue night's DNC speaker, the ever-holy William Jefferson Clinton)



2) Bike Paths

So, you fit little thing! You say you wanna bike? How about bike the whole city and never ever have to get on a single city street. That's right. My bro and I proved that Sunday afternoon by covering about 3 hrs of "cruiser" riding along the many paths that surround the lakes (Monona, Mendota, Wingra). Who would have known that I had a lactate threshold on a cruiser?! But I was kind of sore the next day! HA!

*Disclaimer- Advanced riders should seek out the many country roads within miles of the city limits, which offer wide bike lanes, and rolling hills

3) Beer on the Terrace

Can you tell me a school that is a) literally built on a lake b) has a bar on campus overlooking that lake, and c) has a terrace where you can buy beer and sit outside next to the lake?

*Disclaimer-For a good time, ride your cruiser bike to the bar, park outside, order a pitcher, share with your friends, and bike home. Great recovery workout after a hard 60 min effort interval run in the am. I should know, I did it. :)

4) Fried Cheese Turds (curds)

No, not typically on my diet. But after my bro and I had a little "fun" at the campus bar, we needed to bike the drunk out of us and hit up a local cheese turd joint. Yummy. I just had a taste, seriously.

5) Jo Jo lives there!

Probably one of the best reasons: My oldest, bestest homey in the whole wide world, JOANNA, lives there with her hubby. Makes the visit all the more special and meaningful!

Yay for Madison!