hey, hey, too cool to be forgotten

Last Thursday, I went to Madison with my lovely husband and my colleague, R, for a conference (well, R and I were at the conference. My husband was there to keep me company and do some sales calls in the area). The conference itself was a bit underwhelming, but Madison...ah, lovely Madison. I lived there for only a year, and that was kind of a disappointing year. We lived in a pretty sketchy neighborhood in a suburb, and I was adjusting to homesickness after having just left Virginia. I always kind of wish we had lived there when we had the work/financial stability we have now, so we could really take advantage of the city. Of course, we also now have two kids, so....

...but I digress. The point here is, while we were there, we did have time to cultivate some favorite places. Every time we visit, I am always at my happiest when I am downtown--whether it is in some favorite restaurant or just walking the streets surrounding the Capitol. This most recent visit, however, may have been the perfect visit. Some of it seems scripted. I am not sure I can put all of my memories into a true narrative, so I may just sketch out a few scenes here. Today's post will be Thursday, Part 1

--First of all, you know you have a great colleague when he turns to you after an interminable conference session full of administrative-ese, and says, "are we really going to the reception?", thus allowing you to form your escape plan...

...which of course is, "oh darn, we were going to go, but we have family here, and are having dinner with them. Not a complete lie, after all, Steve IS my family, and we had dinner with him (he is now R's "brotha from another motha", as well).

--Since it was a really warm evening, summer-cold beer sounded good to all of us. We decided rather quickly that we would eat dinner at the downtown location of the Great Dane, where we could enjoy one of my favorite beers, Crop Circle Wheat. Steve remembered that they have an outdoor seating area, so we requested that. The hostess said it would be about 25 minutes, which seemed like just enough time to have a drink in the bar.

Two minutes (!) later, we were in the outdoor garden, which is a walled area below street level, filled with greenery and decorative lighting. It reminded R of some places he had been out east, and it reminded me of a cafe I had spent time at in Hungary. Our waitress greeted us and immediately informed us that we could save $2 if we bought our beer in pitchers. Win! Our appetizers, dinners, and beer were great, but it's worth stating that we had some of the best service in a LONG time as well. One of the appetizers took a little longer than usual to arrive (the cook got slammed), and our server apologized AND bought our pitcher of beer--we did not expect that at all, especially since we had been enjoying the relaxed vibe of the evening.

The strangest thing that happened at the Dane was this: I glanced up at one point after we finished eating. Two women were walking toward a table in the back corner. "Is that...?" I though. "It couldn't be....well, one way to find out. NICOOOOOLE!"

The woman turned. Sure enough, it was our college roommate, who now lives outside Madison. The odds of seeing her in Madison, and especially seeing her at the Dane (I would not have pegged her as a brewpub person, and I am guessing she is not.), were, well, tiny.

--And so we sat, in the 80 degree weather, as the sun went down. Decompressing from a long afternoon and more so, a long year. It felt good--to sit with people that I can be 100% myself with, who are true friends to each other as well as important to me. It felt good--to be in a city I love, around people who are at the same time laid back and vibrant, full of life. It felt good--to be sitting in that garden, sated with good food and drink, talking about nothing in particular, and in no real hurry. I can't remember the last time I've done that...and damn, it felt good.

(coming up! Thursday, part 2--The 'DISE! OH YEAH. I WILL STOP SHOUTING NOW. or, uh, now.)

(post subject: 2 cool 2B 4gotten, Lucinda Williams)