As the #1 College Town in America AND #1 Party School, you would think life couldn't get any better for the Badgers. Add in a night game against the "almighty" Ohio State, plus ESPN College Game Day and you have the most perfect weekend imaginable for a Wisconsin college student.
You think that since it's a night game you get to sleep in right? Think again. We set our alarms for 8 am. Time for the Dane County Farmer's Market. First stop: Stella's Hot & Spicy Cheese Bread. Two words: life-changing. Imagine a huge warmed-up roll of Challah bread with melted cheese inside.
Next goal: Mark's Award Winning Cinnamon Rolls, pumpkin cream cheese muffins, giant M&M's cookies, Old-Fashioned potato buttermilk donuts, fruity scones, and chocolate oat bars. Finally, after strolling by endless vegetable stands, we found ourselves at the vendor with the fried cheese.
I think everyone can relate to having approximately 20 pieces of the pizza cheese fired up on the grills. AND to top it off, for Ohio State weekend, they pulled out the special cranberry cheese. It sounded weird at first, but again, it was life-altering.
Then, it was time for some infamous Wisconsin beer, brats, and gooey cheese curds at the bars. This is the pre-pre-game. We snuggled up in a booth with friends and family gathered around and watched the other college football games on the TVs.
3 o'clock started to roll around and we were ready to hit the tailgates. Full stomach, full hearts, can't lose. Langdon was popping with students running around in a sea of red. All you could hear was screaming, laughing, and blaring music. Empty Natty light cans scattered the the sidewalks. Red solo cups matched the outfit of every Badger fan.
Time for the pre-game meal. You obviously need a full belly before making the trek to Camp Randall. If you were in the mood for the classic, you headed to Ian's to grab a slice (or 5) of mac n' cheese pizza OR headed to PDR to grab a slice with a side of garlic knots. Some people even went to Mooyah to design their own burger with a shake on the side.
It was finally time. Kick-off at 7 pm under the lights. Wisconsin stayed in the lead for three quarters and students treated themselves to warm pretzels and some treated themselves to cheesy nachos. By this time, we all were beyond proud that the boys were kicking some major Buckeye a**.
During overtime, I seriously thought I was about to suffer from a severe meltdown and tantrum. Well, when we lost, I dropped to the ground and cried... cue in the emotional eating.
At this point, it is thunderstorming and all Badger fans looked like their hearts got stomped on. So, naturally, I was a girl on a mission for ice cream. Most people were too sad to go anywhere at this point so they resorted to picking up some Ben & Jerry's at Fresh Market on their way home. Meanwhile, I resorted to Insomnia Cookies, where I found some much-needed solace.
To sum it up, Ohio State weekend was a weekend filled with many, for lack of a better word, "ratchet," emotions. Basically a roller coaster. But the two lessons learned from this are: 1. Ohio State is a state that sucks and 2. food is the solution to everything.