southtwelfth:

Here is a neat (by which I mean “fairly boring”) trick for those readers that now live in Minneapolis-St. Paul, but who once lived and loved in the great city of Madison, a city that you still occasionally pine for. That’s at least ten of you, right? Five?

Well, regardless, take a look at this. The first photo above is the famous approach to the Wisconsin state capitol, on Washington Avenue near Ingersoll, right in the middle of the isthmus.

Now, look at the second photo up there, a stretch of road on Smith Avenue, on the West Side of St. Paul, before it veers west and crosses the river. You can see the Minnesota state capitol from that approach (hard to see in the photo, but it’s there).

Wow! Look at the way the respective capitols gleam in the middle distance! It looks exactly the same! Kind of! It’s actually better at night, when the details are a little hazier. This stretch of Smith gives more the impression of being in Madison, if not an actual replication of the experience. I remember driving back from a meal at Caspar’s Cherokee Sirloin Room a few years ago, and being very struck by the resemblance.

So, displaced Madisonians, if you’re ever feeling lonely for home, just make the ten-minute drive to the west side. You can park on Smith, turn up To the Best of Our Knowledge on your car radio, and weep softly into your Plaza Burger or bag of Nature’s Bakery granola as you stare off into your past.

Holy crap, it’s like this blog post was custom ordered for me! Although I might instead go for a slice of Ian’s Pizza, a bottle of New Glarus’ Coffee Stout, and WYOU’s “Cooking With Bob” playing on the portable television.