This is another "better late than never" sort of post. After our trip to Alaska and Washington state with my family, Scott and I went on a trip to the Midwest. We started in Chicago, then went to Madison, Wisconsin (where Scott went to grad school and we got married), and then to Minneapolis. We hadn't visited Chicago since 2012, and hadn't visited Madison since 2011. Both places seemed to be in somewhat rougher condition than they had been when we last visited. I think the pandemic took a toll everywhere, and the addiction crises may have played a role, as well. One thing we particularly noticed about Madison was that public spaces were becoming more closed off. There were a lot of signs regarding loitering near the university. The university library has an area with tables that had been open to the public in the past. This time, there was a sign saying that it was for university students and staff and everyone else needed to register. Full disclosure: we ate our lunch there one day, and no one asked us for ID or anything. But the change in the situation made me think that maybe they had dealt with some difficult situations and were having to tighten security, or at least have a pretext to ask people to leave when necessary.
There is not enough time in the world to go into detail about this, but our time living in Madison (as well as our subsequent visits) were always a mixed bag. This visit was very pleasant, though, beyond our concern about what time and circumstances had done to it. This time, there were no job or academic stresses, just a chance to enjoy a nice city. We ate at some restaurants we remembered (as well as some new ones), took some walks we used to take when we lived there, went to a bead store that I frequented all those years ago.
This was our first time visiting Minneapolis, and we were very impressed. We only had a few days there, so we're hoping to go back soon and explore more! We took lots of walks outdoors (when the weather permitted--we got rained out one day) and got to see a number of their famous lakes. We also got to eat at Owamni by The Sioux Chef, which I was curious about as soon as I read about it (highly recommend, by the way).
For much of our visit, the upper Midwest was having a heat wave. However, their heat wave was still cooler than the weather we were having in the DC area (which, honestly, was alarmingly hot last summer). The Midwest can really be a fun place in the summer time, which is a lucky think since the winters can be challenging, particularly for those of who grew up without a lot of snow or the ability to pick a favorite winter sport.
Here are a few photos from the trip:
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| Deep dish pizza in Chicago |
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| My favorite ice cream from the UW student union (orange with chocolate--yum!) |
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| Butterfly wings, Minneapolis |
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| Minneapolis |
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| Minneapolis |
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