Real Madison, Wisconsin

Badger Bus runs to/from Milwaukee and picks people up at the noted addres, as well as the Memorial Union. Other pick-up locations can be found on their Web site.
http://www.badgerbus.com/route_pickup.html
Greyhound is Greyhound, so get the details there.

You can catch or get dropped by a Van Galder bus at the Memorial union, Monona Terrace, and, I believe 1-2 other places in town. They have daily service to Chicago O’Hare and Midway airports, as well as Downtown Chicago and Janesville, WI, Beloit, WI, and Rockford, IL.

This is a regional airport (symbol=MSN) with some pretty good flights. It’s not a hub, but the major airlines or their step-children fly in and out of here.
http://www.msnairport.com/

A great place for lunch or dinner. It is near the capitol and has a history of being where politics gets done. The food is good and it’s more casual than Fyfe’s, but more formal than Monty’s.

Fine dining that doesn’t require dressing up. Dressing up is fine and I don’t recommend cut off shorts and tank tops, but you should feel comfortable in a decent pair of jeans or khaki pants and something other than a t-shirt. The bar area is nice and they regularly have some type of live music; usually a single performer or small group. They have a variety of music, but it won’t be metal or rap. The menu is full of freshly prepared foods. My wife’s favorite is Park Avenue Pasta. I recommend listening to the evening specials before deciding on something. The service is very good.

Classic diner decor with a common customer with classic Madison hippie flair. A great mix on the menu for the carnivore and the vegetarian. Meatloaf of the Gods and Chicken in a Pie are our favorites. The soups are good, but the salad is as fresh and green as it gets, and the blue chees dressing is good if you like blue.
Leave room for desert b/c the selection is great. They’re all made in the Market Street Diner in Sun Prairie, another of the 10 Food Fight Inc. restaurants in and around Madison. Each one is different and fresh.

Great steaks rule at Smoky’s. This is a long-time Madison favorite and I’m lucky to have made friends a UW classmate who waited there. It’s a supper club with great steaks! I’m confident other things on the menu are good, too. I’m a baked potato fan, but get the hashbrowns!
The service is great, but don’t plan to go on a weekend with a UW event in Madison. It’s a popular place.

Olbrich Park is part of the Madison Parks Department. The gem of the park are the botanical gardens, which include an enclosed garden (Bolz Conservatory) and 16 acres of outdoor gardens.
One of the outdoor gardens includes a pavilion that was hand-crafted in Thailand, shipped to Madison and reassambled by the Thai artists who built it.
The conservatory makes Olbirch a great winter retreat in Madison. This park is a beautiful place to walk, rest, and play in the grass with your kids.

Yes, it’s on the campus, but the Terrace is not about the university. It’s about being on the shore os Lake Mendota (approx 10,000 acres) and enjoying the scenery, some beer, and live music many nights in warm weather. You can get something to eat, but you’ll wish you had done that somewhere else.

The Madison Mallards, baseball the way it oughta be. The Mallards is part of the Northwoods summer college player development league. The team is consistently good, the spirit is great with common attendance above 6,000.
Buy a ticket in the Duck Blind if you’re interested in better access to food and drinks, but rest assured that you will have access to a great selection of good beer anywhere in the park.
Don’t let my references to beer scare the family baseball fans. We have taken our niece and nephew there for the last eight years and they’re just now 11 & 13 years old.

The UW Arboretum is a great place to roller blade, walk, and enjoy some relative quiet in town. Check the Web site for good driving directions and a schedule of hours & events.
http://uwarboretum.org/