Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Memorial Union Terrace, Ice Cream, and Sunset from the Pyle Center

We had some time during the three day conference to explore Wisconsin's campus a little bit.

This post has pictures from two different days, but of the same general area. The conference we were at was really mostly related to Eric's work, so I snuck out a little bit one day to explore the area. Madison was much bigger than I expected and had tons of business going on from campus to the state capitol. Eventually I made my way back to campus (the conference was at the business school), which is really nice in July, and stopped to sit at the Memorial Union Terrace. It seems everyone in Madison comes here during the summer, and if you are there, you should too. There is food, beer, music, people watching, boat watching, boat sailing if you are a member, walking along a pathway, and sitting by the water.

The union building is pretty (it was under construction, so I didn't get to see all of it) and sits directly on Lake Mendota. This is, of course, the main draw.

It was suggested that I get some ice cream at the terrace (Wisconsin = dairy). It was hot outside and I do not need to be told twice to get ice cream.

Everyone in front of me came away with massive cones of two or more scoops. I asked for one scoop (the kid's version) and had my own giant ice cream to eat. It was so hot that I needed to eat it quickly before it melted all over my hand. The photo below is after several minutes, when I thought the melting was under control. I had chocolate, of course, although they had some other flavors that looked good. It was tasty.

The terrace itself is massive; lots of tables and chairs on multiple stories.

If you go to the left and start walking, you'll get to the sailing club boats (the Hoofer Sailing Club). There were lessons going on while I walked by, although it was incredibly windy and the students were having a hard time of it.

I started walking down the walking path along the lakeshore, but it quickly turned sandy/gravel-y and I had on heels, so I turned around and just sat by the water for a while.

There are two free viewfinders on the upper deck that I enjoyed taking photos through.

Campus in general is worth a walk around in the summer, but stopping by the terrace is a must.

The next evening the conference dinner reception was held at the Pyle Center, which is just two buildings down from the union and is basically at the same point on the lake. We had a fantastic sunset and spent almost an hour outside on the terrace of the Pyle Center watching the sun do down. Please excuse the enormous amount of photos...it was so pretty. My absolute favorite sunsets are the ones over water with some boats in view.

Make a stop in Madison if you can (in the summer) for dinner or ice cream, beer, and sunsets on the terrace. It sounded like almost all of the UW faculty we were with came here very often.