Fifty By 50

Jason got up super early this morning and headed out for a run.

He signed up to run a marathon in October and since he was sick in April, he just hasn't gotten back to being able to run as much as he did before.

He was going to switch to a half marathon but he got in touch with the run organizer's and they told him it was full so he decided that he would stay in the full and just try to do it.

So he wanted to get a long run in this morning seeing as the marathon is just over a month away.

While he went and did that, I got to work on my blog post from yesterday.

We did A LOT yesterday so I knew it was going to take me some time to get through.

Doing the blog really takes a lot of time but I am grateful that I do it and this is the first vacation that I've been keeping up with it and it feels good.

Usually I have so much catch up to do after a vacation and I know how much work it is so then I avoid it so then it just escalates.

So while it's been using up some of my vacation time - I am happy that I've been doing it.

The view of the capitol building from our room this morning.

Some things Jason saw on his run.

There are so many nice old buildings here.

Sunflowers.

Path

Cute little bike.

Little topiary maybe?

A lovely home.

Duck on a mailbox.

Sailboat.

Pretty mailbox.

Another one.

Jason got caught in some pouring rain.

That's why everything is so lush and green around here.

Lots of pretty trees everywhere.

I love it when trees canopy a street.

Eyeball on a road.

It was a downpour and Jason had to get shelter under an over pass - but it didn't stop so he just carried on in the rain.

It was so muggy that the rain kind of felt good anyway he said.

Mural he saw.

Jason ran 21k and it took him a couple hours.

I finished up my blog just when he got back.

We went for a swim together when he got back.

Then we went out for a walk to get something to eat.

We walked down State St. which is a busy street with stores and restaurants and it connects to the university area.

There were students all over and it was just buzzing with activity but in a good way.

I love the vibe of this place.

The university campus is so pretty.

This is looking the way we just came from.

Home of the Wisconsin Badgers.

So many nice buildings.

The ivy growing up the side of the building makes it look extra good.

Bucky Badger in his graduation gown.

This is looking back on the other side of the building.

The grounds of the university are kept so nicely.

More ivy growing up the side of a building - it nearly has the whole thing covered.

This is the spot Jason wanted to check out for something to eat.

Babcock Dairy.

Another building covered in vines.

It was a soup and sandwich place plus they had ice cream as well.

We shared a turkey sandwich and a taco salad.

It came with soup - we picked the Cream of Broccoli.

Then we had ice cream for desert.

I had the orange custard with chocolate flakes.

Kind of reminded me of a Terry's chocolate orange.

Jason had a scoop of a Butterfinger flavor and a lemon blueberry one.

It was good ice cream but the Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream is better.

Choosing ice cream flavors is a difficult decision - I completely agree.

Interesting tidbit of information.

We saw a lot of these brick smoke stacks (or whatever they are).

Cool dome on the top of this building.

I think these were still all part of the university.

There is water every direction you go in this city - it's fantastic.

Another cool building covered in ivy.

This would be such a great place to attend university - it's very hilly though - I think that's why all the students look like they are so in shape.

Just a random lamp post on the top of a staircase.

This building was beautiful.

We were looking for a place called Memorial Union Terrace and this is where it took us to.

Just look at that ceiling.

So pretty.

Further into the building, there were more painted ceilings.

We walked through the building to the back and found the terrace and also notice the beautiful details on the building.

It has lots of colorful seating.

It's right by the water.

The seats have this starburst pattern.

More ivy covered walls.

There was this one big giant chair.

There was another version of Bucky Badger back there.

We found a spot to sit by the water and just people watched for a while.

It was fun, it too is in the university area so there were lots of young people around.

Lots of boats out on the water.

Another version of Bucky - this is the retro one.

It had pictures of all the different iterations of Bucky the Badger from over the years.

They have some good shows here in town at a small venue called The Orpheum.

We passed a chocolate shop with lots of goodies on display.

It smelled divine and we went inside to check it out.

I don't really like eating candy apples but they always look so good.

These looked good - they are marshmallows dipped in caramel and chocolate.

We got a pecan snack to share.

And we also got a giant peanut butter cup.

Next up was the Lamp House.

It was a 20 minute walk over to it.

It's a residence built in 1903, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for his friend Robie Lamp.

I was kind of expecting something a little more jaw dropping but I'm glad we saw it.

Oh no, somebody lost their kitty.

They had put up a lot of signs.

I hope they find it.

These were just randomly in front of an apartment building.

Then it was time for supper and we went to Feast.

When we were here in April, we were out for a long walk one evening and I really had to use the bathroom.

I have a rule where if I go into an establishment to use their facilities, I always make sure to buy something.

We happened to be walking by this place and so we decided to pop in and get a little something to eat, mainly so I could use the bathroom but we ended up loving it.

And I've been thinking about coming back and having it ever since.

So here we are.

Jason had green tea but it had a strong floral taste to it so it wasn't that good.

We ordered pot stickers and just like last time they were fantastic - probably the best I've ever had.

Then the soup dumplings arrived.

We got three kinds, pork, spicy pork and pork and mushroom.

They were just as wonderful as I remembered.

The spicy pork ended up being both of our favorite.

This building was across the street - I love the aged look of it.

We walked by a restaurant and there was a game of volleyball going on in the outdoor area - when we got up close, we saw that it was actually a sad court

We found a nice path so we followed it back to the downtown area as far as we could.

There is no shortage of gorgeous brick buildings here that's for sure.

The capital building - our hotel is right beside it so it's a great landmark.

We got back to the hotel and went for another swim in the pool.

Then the Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream was open until 10 pm and I wanted one more ice cream before we left so we walked over there.

I never noticed it before but this whole wall is covered in ice cream cones.

So cool.

The Ozempic must really be doing it's job because my belly felt really full and I didn't think I could eat a whole scoop of ice cream so Jason just got some and I had a taste.

He got carrot mango and electric watermelon.

They were like creamy versions of sherbet - very good.