Last December, Andrew and I took our cousin Miranda for her thirteenth birthday, to downtown Madison to hang out and watch a Badger basketball game. We surprised her on her birthday party with the tickets for the Badger game, something she’s been wanting to do ever since she met Brad Davison at a youth gathering for our church. Before we had left our house, I had surprised Miranda with an Ilford HP5 disposable camera. Because I’ve been in the habit of developing my own film, I thought Miranda might get a kick out of seeing the whole developing process and taking part in it herself.
It was a chilly and overcast winter day as we parked in a local parking garage and walk the half a mile to the Kohl’s Center to see the game. We ended up scoring really good ticket prices by seeing a game during the college winter break. Our seats were in the nosebleed section but we were right up in front and had the perfect view of the court. I ended up bringing my own disposable camera in the form of a Kodak Funsaver. The game was amazing and they, of course, won against Grambling State. It was fun to watch Miranda take part in the competitive atmosphere and cheer for our team.
After the game was finished, we made our way to Dlux, one of the best burger places in downtown Madison. We hung out, ate fried pickles, and scarfed down our burgers. We made a quick stop to Starbucks afterward for a latte and some hot chocolate and continued our adventure to the Capitol building. We walked around the building, appreciating and photographing the architecture. At this point, the Christmas tree was set up in the middle of the building. We walked all the way to the top of the building, getting a pretty fantastic view of all of Madison.
After the Capitol visit, we spent the rest of our time downtown, walking around State Street and hitting up all the local shops. We hit up all the well-known names and ended our shopping trip in Urban Outfitters where both Miranda and I bought some frames for our Instax pictures, something that has always been our thing together ever since I gifted her the Instax Mini 70 a few years ago for her birthday. It was such a fun day, ending our night with a sleepover at our house. We don’t make it to downtown Madison very often but when we do I always love the high energy and atmosphere that the city can fill you with. It’s definitely an adventure that we try to take a few times every year.
