Grab a Spotted Cow and an Orange Custard Chocolate Chip ice cream and head outside to the Terrace to enjoy on the lakefront. Excellent spot for people watching. *You’ll need to purchase a $1- guest membership to buy alcohol.

Feeling the need to walk off Terrace beer & ice cream? Good news! You can hop on the Lakeshore Path right at the Union. Stroll along Lake Mendota on a wooded trail and get a glimpse of Elizabeth Waters (Jen’s freshman dorm.)

Saturdays from 6:15 am – 1:45 pm. Located on the four streets the form a square around the Wisconsin State Capitol building, this enormous farmers’ market teeming with local produce, food carts, and baked goods.

The tallest building in Madison, the Capitol is open to the public seven days a week and guided tours are free. You’ll find beautiful mosaics, towering marble columns and exquisite art inside and out.

Running from the Capitol Square all the way the the UW-Madison campus, this pedestrian only street is lined with local shops, restaurants, and bars. State Street is also home to the University Bookstore, Overture Center, and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art.

Free zoo just off Lake Wingra in a great near campus neighborhood. (Jen lived right down the street while in college!) Also in the neighborhood: Camp Randall & Monroe Street shopping district.

One of Chris & Jen’s favorite Madison neighborhoods and Chris’s old Edgewood College stomping ground. Don’t miss Strictly Discs, Good Day Shop, Hive, Mystery to Me, and Zip Dang.

A lovely place to walk in the heart of near west Madison. It’s home to the oldest collection of restored ecological areas in the world, including tallgrass prairies, savannas, forests, and wetlands. Close by the Zoo, Lake Wingra, and Vilas Park.

This UW Madison art museum is home to the second-largest collection of art in Wisconsin. The diverse collection includes works from all over the world, including some of Jen’s faves by Louise Nevelson, Alice Neel, and Lee Bontecou. The Chazen is free and open daily.

Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1938, and finally built in 1997 on the shore of Lake Monona. Public tours are available Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 1 pm by advance reservation only. This is also another great place to walk along the lake!

Home to a is a 16-acre outdoor botanical garden and a 10,000-square-foot pyramid shaped conservator. The Royal Thai Pavilion and Garden is a highlight. Nice gift shop too!

(I’ve never actually been here.) According to Travelwisconsin.com, “The Wisconsin Veterans Museum has life-size displays and impressive artifacts that tell the story of Wisconsin’s role in U.S. military operations since the Civil War.”