August 11, 2013

"For a refreshing summer escape, how about a place with five lakes whose names end in 'aaahh'?"

"Madison basks on an isthmus between two glacial lakes named Monona and Mendota. Three smaller lakes — Wingra, Waubesa and Kegonsa — ensure proximity to sparkling currents and refreshing breezes."
With August highs staying in the 70s most days, the town’s distinctive terraces are perfect for enjoying these liquid assets and Madison’s other open-air pleasures: local music, craft brews, farm-to-table food and outdoor art....
That's the beginning of a long article about Madison in the Dallas News.
At the hour when Texans dash from air-conditioned office to air-conditioned car to air-conditioned home, couples and children are twirling on Memorial Union Terrace’s lakefront promenade....
We've yet to leave town this summer and classes have been over since May 1st.

16 comments:

Shouting Thomas said...

The sitting there in Madison is precisely the problem, professor. Living in that hothouse of feminist scolds and gay activists making their kink into a crusade has distorted your vision (which was already distorted by your scapegoating ideology, i.e., feminism).

Gay men do not flock to Madison to escape the oppression of small town Wisconsin. They are in Madison for the easy availability of drugs, orgies and as many partners as they can swallow. NTTAWWT!

I'd suggest a Carnival week long cruise. You can meet and talk with all those moms and dads who are the real oppressors, since they want grandchildren of their own blood.

How dare they? No wonder you don't want to go on a cruise! A boatfull of haters and oppressors!

Ann Althouse said...

Going on a cruise to meet the real people of America?

Why can't I just go to the next town in Wisconsin? Or drive out west, which is our normal thing to do?

The idea of going on a cruise to encounter reality... It would make more sense to go to Las Vegas. Which I'd much rather do (and have done).

Shouting Thomas said...

I just enjoy the picture of you imprisoned for a week among the homophobes.

It's so much more fulfilling (to me, at least) than a day trip to Baraboo.

somefeller said...

And Shouting Thomas goes on another tirade about the gays in response to a post that has nothing to do with them. Obsession is a fascinating thing. He's sort of like Captain Ahab, without the leadership experience.

Anonymous said...

Ah yes, why spend one's days amidst lovely lakes, temps in the 70's, real families with real children and dogs in the gorgeous city of Madison, when one could be defecating in plastic bags and setting them outside the cabin door for pickup, engine troubles and Norovirus? Oh let's not forget those yummy onion sandwiches!

I prefer Monona Terrace and and iced coffee.

chickelit said...

How are the mosquitoes back in Madison this year?

SteveBrooklineMA said...

Madison sounds awesome! How is it in the winter?

chickelit said...

Approximately 40 years ago this summer, my father took us on an outboard motorboat cruise from Marshall Park on Lake Mendota near Middleton all the way up the wilds of Starkweather Creek which empties into neighboring Lake Monona. To accomplish this journey we had to navigate the Tenney Park Locks which transects the isthmus. The purpose of the trip was to visit an aunt who lived over there.

The trip took a few hours each way in a 12 ft outboard. What I still remember most vividly is the thick layer of bright green duckweed covering Starkweather Creek. It stunk to high heaven too. Somebody told me over on Trooper York that Oscar Mayer used to dump untreated offal waste directly into that creek. I guess they don't do that any more, nor do they slaughter in Madison. Madison has come a long way in cleaning up its lakes and should be commended.

chickelit said...

I mean, pig offal must have had very high nitrogen and phosphorus levels.

chickelit said...

In theory, you could take a small boat from Madison down the Yahara River to the Rock River and then join the Mississippi and then head down to the sea. Tom Sawyer's Cruise.

MarkD said...

Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Canandaigua. Upstate NY has you covered as well. It helps if you like wineries, because there are dozens of them around these lakes.

Big Mike said...

Thanks to the Solidary Singers my impression of Madison is that it is one large lunatic asylum with a professional football team. Plus another in nearby Green Bay

Clyde said...

It's always interesting to read what someone from somewhere else thinks of where you live. The tourists'-eye view is always different from the locals'. If you move to a new place, there's always that period where you retain the tourists'-eye view, before things become familiar and routine and the mental map snaps into place. Everything is new and different and exotic, until the point when it suddenly isn't.

Tibore said...

I'd much prefer places that end in "eeee" sound: Maui, Waikiki, Tahiti...

roesch/voltaire said...

I see you have opened up the comments again and ST, who lives in the hot house of his mind, has jumped back in with silly comments. But the weather here has been crazy good while much of the rest of the country suffers from floods or fires--( I feel a bit guilty). We also have stayed in state enjoying the kayaking, biking, camping, but I just wish the rest of the country would continue to see Madison and Wisconsin as ST does so that they stay away-- I prefer the good, honest working folks we have to the snobby coasties who lilt about the lazy decks of Carnival.

MDIJim said...

Maine! Clyde's comment resonates with me. Where I live almost everyone is "from away". We have chosen to live here. At first we knew the summer Maine better and all the things the tourists knew.

Then comes winter. The myth about Maine winters, and I suppose this is true of Wisconsin as well, is that they are unendurable. That keeps the people from away, away. We are too busy during summer to talk to each other. In winter we have it all to ourselves and discover knew things and we discover each other's company.