Kevin Revolinski - Insiders Guide® to Madison, WI

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ISBN: 978-0-7627-5696-4

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Kevin Revolinski grew up in Marshfield, a small Wisconsin town two hours north of Madison, and as a child he considered the capital city as magical as the Big Apple. He first moved to Madison in 1992 and, with the exception of a few teaching years overseas, has made his home base there since. His articles have appeared in the New York Times and Chicago Tribune and locally in Isthmus and Wisconsin State Journal. He is the author of several guidebooks such as Wisconsins Best Beer Guide, 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles Madison, Backroads and Byways of Wisconsin, The Wisconsin Beer Guide: A Travel Companion, and The Yogurt Man Cometh: Tales of an American Teacher in Turkey. He lives in Madison when he is not on the road seeking material for his blog and Web site, The Mad Traveler Online (www.themadtraveleronline.com).

As with writing any guidebook, a list of people a writer comes in contact with could fill the volume itself. I have to thank all the cooperative souls at the museums, businesses, and other listed entities here for their assistance and readiness with valuable information. In the big picture of things Iand we allhave the founders, builders, and workaday folk of this fair city to thank, because their foresight, vision, and hard work have combined to create such a wonderful place to be, from the exemplary park system to the revitalized downtown to the endless celebrations of our community and its great mix of cultures and viewpoints. We may never arrive at perfect, but the longstanding progressive ambitions will hopefully keep moving us Forward as the state motto recommends. A big thanks to fellow travel writers Matt Forster, Kim Grant, and Lori Baker who are always there when I need a Rob Schneider-esque you can do it and to my Madisonian friends and neighbors for all their valuable input and mental support Michele Harper, Jeffrey Price, Kristin Abraham, Marty and Mary Statz, Renee Lajcak, and Brian Babler. And finally, my wife, Peung, deserves a medal for putting up with my Neurotic Finish-the-Book Syndrome.

Life is good here. Madison represents that perfect university citya city that is not too big and not too small and carries a strong pulse maintained by the idealism and energy of such a large body of students while drawing intellect and culture from so many outside sources. But there is more to it than that. As the capital of Wisconsin and the seat of the University of Wisconsin, Madison brings together a lot of sophistication and an idea that education and smarts should be brought to bear on the community and society at large for the betterment of all. The proof is in the pudding. Every year Madison appears in a variety of publications top-ten lists, and the subjects run the gamut from education, employment opportunity, family living, and outdoor recreation, to good farmers markets, good health, and even good teeth.

The University has brought people from all walks of life, from all parts of the country, and even from around the world. Many of them never left. Restaurants hail from all parts of the globe bringing a variety of ethnic cuisines uncommon in such a modest-sized community. Young professionals are drawn here by a healthy job market, while families come for the highly rated education system and quality of living.

Madison is a city that loves the outdoors, with miles and miles of biking and walking paths and an inordinate amount of green space. Figure over 200 parks, an acre of them for about every 39 people. The heart of the city straddles an isthmus between two beautiful lakes, and a person is never more than 15 minutes from being surrounded by farmland, fields, or forest. The connection to its rural surroundings is expressed by the numerous farmers markets, a hankering for locally grown foods, and the areas artisan cheeses.

Madison, or the Mad City, has been compared to Austin, TX; Boulder, CO; and Ann Arbor, MI; and its volatile atmosphere and protests during the Vietnam War were as intense as those of Berkeley, CA. The Mad Citys history of Progressivism, and in some cases radicalism, hasnt always been met with enthusiasm. A state governor once referred to Madison as being a certain number of square miles surrounded by reality. It was meant as an insult, but the city wears it like a badge. (In true Madison fashion, debate and discussion are continual about just how many square miles former Governor Lee Dreyfus actually quoted, with numbers ranging from 15 to 85.) There are two basic kinds of Madisonians: those who gush with love for their fair city and those who roll their eyes a bit, shake their heads, carry an itemized list of cynical complaints, and yet never seem to move away or miss it when they do. You just cant shake the place.

Watch the sun set over Lake Mendota down at the Memorial Union Terrace or take a stroll along a lake in summer or down State Street on a winter evening. Buy fresh vegetables, flowers, or artisan cheese at the nations best farmers market, or sip a cold local beer at one of the brewpubs, clubs, or taverns or a brewed cup of locally roasted coffee at the neighborhood coffeehouse. Catch Badger fever at a football game or hockey match, or enjoy an evening of culture and art at the multimillion dollar Overture Center. Listen to an indie rock band in a club, a jazz concert in the street, or a free symphony orchestra performance right out in front of the magnificent Capitol. Whether you prefer an old-school fish fry at a supper club, a vegetarian dish from a faraway land, the best hamburger and deep-fried cheese curds you ever had, or a meticulously prepared meal at an organic, locally sourced gourmet restaurant, Madison has you set up. Indeed, Mad Town is now 68.7 square miles (not counting 16 square miles of lakewater) and perhaps it is surrounded by reality.