Madison, WI

So Madison was awesome. Lee got us to Mark and Missy’s house early afternoon. We pulled up to Mark sitting on the front steps in his farmer hat and open shirt playing his guitar. Nice entrance ☺ They have a great place, 2 bedroom, lots of space and a great deck where we sat around for a bit, drank lemonade and talked.

Destination number 1 was the garden via the lake. We walked to the lake which was just a couple blocks away. I guess there are festivals in the different neighborhoods and one is held right there. It had a volleyball net and a great grassy area around the side. Perfect for hanging out or throwing a disc.

Next off to the garden to sow some maize. The garden was awesome. There were already about 8 people there working at different parts. We helped Mark plant his cornfield (his goal is to be able to stand in the middle of it and look out once the corn is grown). There were already 2 rows in so we helped with the other 2 rows. After that we sat around and chatted. It’s a great atmosphere with a bunch of cool people. There was a dog as well, Ruby the part coonhound. Before we left we picked a bunch of greens that Cindy recommended. Dandelion green, some garlicy/oniony/chivy things, some kale and a few others who I would recognize but whose names I can’t remember.

From there we went back to the house to drop off the greens then over to the market to get food for our feast. We came away with salad stuff, cheese, beer and every type of interesting sausage that they had. This all went back to their house across the street where we started the fires. One a campfire and the other the grill. We marinated portabella mushrooms and those went on first. We ate them with cheese because they were too hot to pick up on their own. They were amazing. Next all the sausages and chicken went on. Caleb and I continued the cooking while Dan and Mark went upstairs and had a really good jam.

We had quite the feast complete with interesting beers from the beer cave. Jess from downstairs had been at the garden earlier as well and picked a bunch of rhubarb. She made an amazing rhubarb crisp that even those who didn’t like rhubarb liked. Personally Dan and I are huge rhubarb fans, so that made it even better. We sat around in their living room with the intention of getting ice cream at some point but alas it wasn’t to be. By the time we thought about it the place was closed. Mark’s friend came over and we went out to a nearby bar while Missy did some studying. She had been gone all day doing work for the end of the semester. She had a little bit more to do so we got out of her hair. We had some interesting beers that we hadn’t tried before and mostly had the bar to ourselves. The night ended not too long after we got back.

The next morning we got up early and luckily got to say bye before we headed off to Chicago.