Summer Darling North American Tour Diary 5

Day Five: Madison. WI

Playlist Continues:

Ben :: Brand New The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me

Dan :: Sigur Ros ágætis byrjun

Heather :: Cat Power The Greatest

Todd :: Bon Iver For Emma, Forever Ago

Ben :: Modest Mouse Good News For People Who Love Bad News

The drive southeast from the Twin cities into Madison was another scenic masterpiece. Fall was in full swing with forested hills peopled by trees afire in orange, yellowgreen and the occasional cranberry burst. Rivers calmly cut beneath I-94 as we leisurely drove into Madison. I’m just bummed I didn’t stay awake for the whole drive. I awoke with a sore throat and a fever so I took the opportunity to get a little shut-eye during the drive after my turn at the wheel.

We came upon Madison just after their college football game had ended. The streets were flooded with men, women, and children adorned in red shirts, smiling, drinking openly on the sidewalks, and engaged in other benign forms of merrymaking. Festive as it was, it did make for difficult navigation through the throngs of supporters, so much so that Heather felt tempted to star running over the next drunk college co-ed that stumbled blindly into the intersections.

We were blessed in Madison with the home of our dear friends, Josh and Jessica, and we arrived to a house awaft with the sweet aroma of homemade pasta sauce and the hiss-sound of bottlecaps opening. We spent the remainder of our day relaxing and recharging, watching a little playoff baseball, strolling around the lake, drinking whiskey and playing Scrabble at the Glass Nickel. Unfortunately due to his illness, your faithful blogger crashed out early so there is no record of how the evening descended, but based on how the rest of the band minus Todd looked this morning, and the fact that our hosts were barely able to make it out of bed to say good-bye, the rest of the night must have ended in debauchery. Well done, Darlings!