Madison-Milwaukee, 8/09

Patty and I just had a great time in Madison (the University of Wisconsin at Madison is my alma mater), primarily to run the city's inaugural Half-Marathon. I beat my Fargo time by about three minutes but finished in the lower half of my age group. Patty -- with a bad knee -- failed to better her Fargo time but managed to finish sixth in her age group. It was a brutal run: many more hills than Fargo, but Madison's a beautiful town, and the course was very nice.

Enjoying a brat and a beer at State Street Brats. I think my mother -- an alumna of the University -- used to work here. (I've subsequently learned I was wrong about this. State Street Brats didn't open until 1989! It was in business as The BratHaus before that but well after my mother's time.)

This is the cubby hole where I used to study when I was a student at Madison in the mid-70s. It's on Floor 4M at Memorial Library.

This was Union South, where I used to work as the Student Building Manager -- making $2.75 an hour. We'll see how the new building improves on the old one.

Here's my roommate, Burrell Eveland, and I on the day I graduated in May, 1976. The shot was taken at the front door of our apartment.

Here I am in the same place in August, 2009. Apparently, the neighborhood's tanked a bit.

On to Milwaukee! We had dinner at Mader's -- a great German restaurant and a Milwaukee institution. This was the appetizer. For the entree, I recommend the goulash with spatzel.



Here's Patty at Sunday brunch at the famous Pfister Hotel. It was the first time I've ever had a shrimp cocktail the first thing in the morning.

On Sunday afternoon, we saw the Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates. Outdoor baseball was great!



Here's where I lived from 1954 to 1963, in Whitefish Bay, a north suburb of Milwaukee. I didn't realize it when I was a kid, but it's quite a neighborhood!