Our last update on our visit to Madison, WI covered our first week in town. This post will be a brief update of our remaining time – which we extended out until Thursday, July 26, to maximize our electric hook-ups with the heat wave.
Sailing Lake Mendota
Just after we made our post about Madison, we got an e-mail from a follower in the local area inviting us out for a night sail that evening. Oh yeah, we’re so there – especially with the temperatures in the high 90s! We just love that serendipity.
Turns out he’s a member and sailing instructor of the University of Wisconsin ‘Hoofer’ club, which includes their sailing division. He has access to their fleet of boats, and loves taking people out sailing.
What a fantastic way to view the city. We left just before dusk and enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the water, and then sailed into the night. Once we were in the deepest part of the lake, we all took a reprieve from the heat with a refreshing swim.
It’s hard to imagine that during the winter this very lake is a solid sheet of ice that you can drive over.
Wednesday Farmer’s Market
We were excited to find out that the Dane County Farmer’s Market that happens around the Capitol building on Saturdays has a repeat during the summers on Wednesday. That would be perfect timing to stock up on fresh veggies before leaving the area.
On Wednesdays, the block of MLK between the Capitol and the Monona Terrace is blocked off for the market. It’s much smaller than the Saturday version, but has every bit the amount of variety.
We picked up quite a load of produce to keep us well fed for the week ahead.
Lake Farm Campground
While we were in Madison, we researched and selected the Lake Farm County campground to stay at. It was a perfect location just south of town. It was just far enough to give us an ‘in the country’ feel, but yet just a 10-15 minute drive to downtown.
It’s also along the Capitol Trail which connects into all of the city. If we had bikes, we could have easily biked into town. Instead, we enjoyed many long walks & runs along the trails once the heat dissipated in the evenings.
All and all, we loved the campground. It was never full while we were there, and the spots ample enough in size to feel somewhat spacious. We also really loved their online reservation system which made it easy to select a spot. I used Google Maps satellite view to help pick out the best site for our stay. We’ll come back here again on future visits.
Our overall impressions of Madison
We definitely fell in love with Madison. It ranks up there with San Francisco, Austin, Portland, St. Louis, Seattle, Eugene and other fun cities that have a mix of outdoor activities, culture, creativity and ease that we enjoy. We found plenty to keep us busy, enough of a laid back atmosphere with a vibrant energy. Many of the homes in the historic neighborhoods were well kept older homes that were simply charming.
I also really enjoyed that so many restaurants and grocery stores were gluten-free friendly. We had no problem finding places with many items on their menus, that I actually had to make choices!
As one of my dearest friends is making her home here, I truly look forward to making Madison one of our home ports that we pull into often.
We pulled out on the morning of the 26th and headed off to our next adventure… the EAA Airventure Aviation Celebration in Oshkosh. Those tales will come next..
Love to hear of bike trails on campgrounds. And love WI..a win, win situation! Isn’t WI gorgeous, friendly, and up and going! Thanks for link to Madison…it’s a keeper for my Evernote O:)
Glad that you had a blast in Madison. Going to school there was the best 5 years of my life. As a former Hoofer myself, I miss those late night Mendota sails. You need to go back for a football Saturday in the fall. Nothing like it.