Madison is home to both the state capitol and the major Wisconsin university, and so, it is a little like Austin, Texas in that sense. In another sense, it looks strangely familiar.
It does appear to be like San Luis Obispo, but, as Corrie and I talked it over, we believe that if you find an affluent small college town anywhere in the US, the downtowny areas will pretty much all resemble each other. Of course, San Luis doesn't have this:
We only had about two hours to kill in Madison before we were to leave, heading north to Marathon City, but we walked around soaking in the vibe. Old hippies with gray ponytails wearing tie-dye shirts, young smartly dressed co-eds discussing the finer points of Obama's policies, and street vendors selling venison. In attitude it reminded me of a midwestern type of Berkeley, in a setting looking vaguely similar to SLO-town.
We stopped in at a second-floor Mexican restaurant to have lunch before leaving town. We wanted to check out the "authenticity" of the grub. Well, according to the decoration and music, the establishment was about as authentic as you'll find anywhere in the States. Smooth red tiles, the black-velvet paintings, even some shaggy-carpet wall hangings I've never seen before, anywhere. The food was good, and seemed authentic "Mexican food for gringos" that could come from actual Mexicans. One thing was peculiar, though: according to the menu, Sol, Pacifico, and Negro Modelo were all the same price. That's like Coors, Michelob, and Sam Adams all being the same price, right?
Anyway, if you get the chance, I suggest looking at a Google aerial map of Madison. The capitol and most of the downtown area are on a pinch of land nestled between the two biggest of the seven lakes that surround and encompass greater Madison. Pretty cool community and zone.
Does Madison have it's summer weather affected by the two lakes? I'm guessing in the winter either way the wind blows it could get the "lake effect snow".... it is a very pretty little town.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest lake is probably smaller than Folsom Lake...that doesn't make it small, really, but I imagine that the winter air running down from Canada pretty much unobstructed would cause the main havoc, and the lakes would probably freeze over. The lakes, though, in the summer, would keep the city nice and temperate, well, temperate and humid instead of the usually stifling and humid. It is both pretty and liberal, out in gun-democrats area of the country.
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