Easter weekend is closing in fast. If you’re headed for Madison, make the most of time with friends and family. Get out and explore a bit. There’s plenty to do April 22 through 24, and it all starts with the Friday night music scene.
Drink in Jazz at the Park: Attitude is everything, and the music at the Best Western on the Park produces precisely the proper frame of mind. There are drink specials, $3.00 appetizers and available valet parking to ease you into the scene. You’ll find the hotel at 22 South Carroll Street.
Belly up to the bar: The Ivory Room Piano Room that is, the kind of place where you can have a drink with friends and actually carry on a conversation at the same time. The Ivory Room is at 116 West Milfflin Street.
Hoist a pint and kick back a bit: If cool jazz and piano music is too tame, turn up the heat- and the tempo – at Brocach Irish Pub. It’s located 7 West Main. Live traditional Irish tunes are on tap, as are traditional brews. The Currach headlines the bill.
Take in the theater: After an early drink, head to Vilas Communication Hall, on he University of Wisconsin campus. That’s where you’ll find Mitchell Theater. Easter weekend Moss Hart and George Kaufman’s classic 1937 Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy You Can’t Take It With You is playing. Tickets are $14 to $20.
Explore the Dane County Farmer’s Market: After a good night’s rest get up early Saturday morning, have a slow cup of coffee and save room for breakfast and browsing at the Dane County Farmer’s Market. This is the Midwest, and that means a springtime bounty of fruits, vegetables and pristine produce – not to mention lots and lots of cheese. Some 100 shops are set up on Capitol Square, in the heart of town.
Attend an up and coming artist’s first full-scale show: The artist is Shinique Smith, and her show is titled Menagerie. It’s at the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, at 227 State Street. In her first large-scale museum exhibition, this multi-media artist serves up site-specific installations, as well as two- and three-dimensional works created over the last decade. Her work combines what the museum calls “complex social and cultural references.” They encompass Abstract Expressionism, colorfield painting, minimalist sculpture, and Japanese calligraphy.
Get out and boost the Badgers: The University of Wisconsin Badgers are a powerhouse of a team, and fans take their football very, very seriously up here. Join the faithful Saturday April 23 at Camp Randall Stadium for the annual spring intra-squad game. Kickoff is at 1:00 p.m., and the $5.00 admission you ante up benefits UW’s School of Nursing.
Madison has plenty of reasonably-priced hotel rooms. But one of the best bargains in this college town is out near the airport, at the Comfort Inn & Suites . It’s close to U of W, Ho Chunk Casino and the Wisconsin Dells. The location is prime: just off Interstates 90 and 94. Restaurants are nearby. A night’s stay runs $79. Taxes are not included. Members of Choice Privileges frequent stayer program can get that rate down to $67 with an advance purchase.
Story by Jerry Chandler
(Image: Kara_Allyson)
