Madison

I was one of the Tallulah, Louisiana students involved in a high school exchange program with Madison, Wisconsin way back in the days before segregation was ended in my home state.  Tallulah is a relatively small town and Madison is a fairly large city, so I don't know how that came about, to be honest.  I remember the people as very nice but don't recall much about the city.  Because I'd read that Madison has been named as one of the best places to live in the USA, I was anxious to see what it was like now, so we stayed a couple of days in a county park campground there and had a look around.

Madison is home to the University of Wisconsin, which is a great school and is spread over a wide area but doesn't appear to have the beautiful grounds of many campuses. State Street extends from the university to the capital building and is filled with ethnic restaurants of every variety you can imagine.  The street is restricted to pedestrians only for much of its length, and we spent quite a while walking and choosing where we'd have lunch, and we had a great and very reasonable one at an Afghan restaurant.

State Street ends at the State Capitol, which is an architectural gem, and there are great little shops all around that neighborhood.  We bought some local product at a wonderful artisanal cheese shop there.

Madison is situated on a pretty lake, the people are friendly, there are lots of good and great restaurants, the streets are attractive, it's a sophisticated place, and because of the university there's a lot of cultural activity.  It's now one of our favorite cities, and we could see ourselves living here one day.  The winters might be a little harsh, though.