Madison, WI Marathon
November 12, 2023
5:57:57 1368/1659
Overall 4/6 in 70-74
I had a very interesting trip as you
can see if you look at the photos at the link below. I arrived in Milwaukee on
Thursday afternoon and then drove the rental SUV about an hour and a half to
Madison. I went first to packet pickup and then went to my motel. The motel had
a fine Italian restaurant aross the street so I had a nice dinner of minestrone
and fried raviolis (something Jodi and I had learned about in St. Louis in
April). Friday morning I awoke to 29 degrees and solid frost on the windshield.
Now, I found out why the car had the ice-scrapy stick in it. Thankfully, it was
the only night under 32. I discovered The Original Pancake House where I had
breakfast 3 times; love these pancake especiality breakfast places.
I had a ticket to go to the UW-Northwestern
football game at Camp Randall Stadium Sa and figured out it was easiest to just
Uber there rather than hassle with the traffic. I arrived very early and got to
see the many tailgates and sports bar get-togethers. At the stadium I got to
see the band perform before the game, and then see the players warmup and then
later enter the stadium for game time. Even though the Badgers are not doing
well this season, the stadium was full at game time (unlike Bulldog Stadium
where announced sell-outs mean 2/3 of the seats are occupied). UW is bad and
lost 24-10 with their loneTD coming with 8 seconds left.
Marathon morning I got to the race
start area very early and found street parking 200 yards from the start so it
was easy to just leave my sweats in the car. After the race, it was convenient
to put them on and get some good post-race food of pizza and macaroni.
Monday morning I drove to the UW
campus to do a little exploring. It’s a beautiful campus and I enjoyed looking
around and also checking out the libraries. I actually found a copy of my first
book Cruising Through Research on the shelves. It’s less than a mile
between campus and the capitol so I walked over and did a little self-guided
tour. The highlight is going to the top deck and being able to look out in all
directions. Walking the street between campus and the capitol was a lot like
walking on Telegraph Ave. near the Cal Berkley campus with the leftover-hippie
feel.
I drove back to Milwauke later in
the afternoon and checked-in to my downtown hotel. It’s great to be in the
center of activities, but it’s also a pain to not be able to self-park and to
pay $40 a night for that privilege. ☹But I could walk less than a
mile to the Bucks-Bulls NBA game at Fiserv Stadium. It’s a beautiful new arena
and was a lot of fun to explore and see all the banners. The Bucks feature
Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Greek Freak and also have Brook Lopez who (along
with his twin 7-footer, Robin) went to SJM High School here in Fresno). Bucks easily
beat the Bulls.
Tuesday I did an audio walking tour
of the downtown area. The starting point and highlight was the Public Library.
The architecture outside and in is fantastic. It also has great library
facitlities and displays and was fun to explore. There is even a Hans Christian
Anderson stained glass window. Milwaukee also has many other buildings with
classic early 20th century architcture. Along the Riverwalk is a statue
of Fonsi since “Happy Days” was set in Milwaukee. I also saw the side of a
building painted with a picture of Giannis. That evening I enjoyed having deep-dish
pizza with my Westmont College buddy, Ken Anderson whom I’ve known for 55
years. I also went to Kopps for frozen custard that night and also again Wed
for lunch. Love that frozen custard; amazingly better than ice cream!
Wednesday morning I had enough time
to visit the unique Bobblehead Hall of Fame a couple miles from my hotel. It’s
quite a collection. I enjoyed seeing groupings of not only Packer, Brewer, Buck
players but also Giant, Warrior, 49er ones. I got to the airport in plenty of
time, only to sit in my seat for 2 hours while the cockpit door was being repaired.
I continued to sit for 3 ½ hours for the flight. Five and a half hours was
longer than running the marathon, and remarkably, I never got up as I was in a
window seat and it would have been a chore. But I eventually got into Fresno
(FAT) just a few minutes before Jodi who arrived from her trip to Florida to
visit and assist family members. It was great to drive home together and
catch-up on our adventures😊
This was Marathon #183; 42
states+DC on 2nd go-round; All 10 Canadian provinces.
Next marathon: Newport, RI 4/13/24
Marathon photos: https://link.shutterfly.com/icttbvjCZEb
