Over a month ago, I had flown a route from O'Hare to Madison and back when the temperature was an unusual 70 degrees. That was the only time in perhaps 15 years that I had been to Wisconsin's capitol city. However, a friend of mine was getting married and after working six days straight, I enjoyed a five day break from flying, part of which involved meeting Nicole in Minneapolis to fly together to Madison.The weather was still unusually high at 58 degrees in the middle of December. Nevertheless, this was cold for Nicole, who had come from Los Angeles and 80 degree weather. We went for a walk down State Street, where Nicole purchased a winter hat. Everyone kept informing her that it was "warm" out, but Nicole was confused.
The following morning, we went to the Wisconsin Historical Museum, so Nicole could pose with statues of cows and purchase things in the gift shop like a cheese eraser and a magnet about butter. While we were in the museum, we saw a biker gang of Santas cycling by because, you know . . . Madison. After the museum, we walked into the Capitol building itself which was decorated for the holidays with a big tree in the rotunda and an orchestra playing music on the upper level. Now it was time to partake in the festivities that actually brought us to Madison in the first place, so we observed my good friend get married in a very quaint and efficient style at a nearby bed and breakfast that we were staying at.
After the ceremony, we went to a nearby tavern for copious amounts of Wisconsin fare including fried cheese curds, pretzels and mustard, beer, beef sliders, bbq chicken, and lots of cookies and baked goods. I rolled myself back to the B&B, where we relaxed by the fireplace. Nicole was very cold despite being told on numerous occasions that it was "warm" out. She positioned herself up next to the fireplace in hopes of maximizing the thaw.
The next day, I had listed us on a 4:30 pm flight based on the probability of getting on the flight, so we spent the morning by walking toward the Univ. of Wisconsin's campus and walked around the Chazen Museum of Art, a free museum covering all different periods and international styles of art. Of all the things in the museum, the most thought-provoking pieces are the ones that make you question if you're looking at art or if the museum has put up a place holder for when the real art is put up in its place.
After contemplating this dead space, we walked back to the B&B and got a cab to the airport. As is often the case with going standby, our connecting flight in Denver went from 30 seats available to 10 seats oversold. When we got to the mile high city, I switched us to an earlier flight and we rushed to the gate. A man with a Louis Vuitton bag walked up to the counter, and we muttered some comments about how we were probably going to miss out on a seat on this flight because this fancy pants individual with the Louis Vuitton bag came strutting up to the counter to get his ticket. As he turned around, Nicole leaned over to me and said, "Do you know who that is?" "Jake Gyllenhaal," I casually responded. Nothing surprises me anymore. I don't really care to talk to celebrities or act any different around them than I would around anyone else, so I didn't notice that apparently Jake Gyllenhaal was staring at me when I walked by his seat in first class. What can I say? Bricole is everyone's favorite celebrity couple.
We had a bumpy flight home, and the lady across the aisle vomited uncontrollably onto her seat and the man next to her. I would like to say this was the first time during this trip that this type of thing occurred, but a similar event occurred on the flight to Madison when a man emerged from the bathroom to sit next to Nicole and proclaim that he had been throwing up. This, naturally, did not settle well with Nicole. I mean, nothing was settling well with the man throwing up either, but nobody wants to be in close proximity to the person blowing chunks in a pressurized tube. Hopefully, Nicole was able to relax during the rest of her visit to America's Dairyland and will remember it favorably -- even if she was skeptical about the weather being "warm."
