2019/20 Illini Men’s Basketball - Final Home Game, Champaign, IL

Though I didn't know it at the time, I had a pretty major weekend very near the start of all the pandemic stuff. I traveled to C-U Friday night, which was Unofficial St. Pat's, then to Indy for one night to visit their cabaret. pretty sweet little weekend, with a drive back to IL on Sunday, as planned. BUT, during the trip, I was offered a ticket at the last Illini Men's basketball game on Sunday night. Hmmmm. What to do, what to do...

I couldn't pass that up! It did mean I would leave after the game and drive back to Chicagoland, but that's only a 2.5 hour drive at that time of night.

So, I did what any true Orange & Blue would do, I accepted the ticket and went to the game. Turns out it was a pretty good one to attend - the last Illini home game for the season and, I'm pretty sure, the last game the Illini men played for the entire season. They beat Purdue in a tight little battle. Even the last seconds were pretty nail-biting.

The stadium had been refreshed since my undergrad and grad days in C-U, so it was nice to see this new space and also see they have the same level of excitement as we did back in the early 2000's.

While our seats were pretty high up, we walked down near the floor after the game, to see what we could see...

They now have a small museum in the ground level of the stadium too. Pretty cool to spend some time here before or after you head to your seats for the games...

Krannert Center for the Performing Arts (50 years), Urbana, IL

As a young man on the campus of a Big10 school, with a summer's worth of time to kill, I found myself gravitating to where a couple friends worked and could get me into their employers multiple shows, either at a reduced price (cha-ching!) or on short notice (they would tell me when tickets were leftover). The place was the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts on the University of Illinois campus in Urbana IL. 

I also happened to graduate from my bachelor's business program a bit "off schedule", in January of 1998 (please, don't do the math). Due to this "Spring Graduation", our ceremony was held in the Krannert Center, the Foellinger Great Hall to be exact. While I'd seen a number of amazing musical performances in this hall, like YoYo Ma & Wynton Marsalis, this was the first and only time I was ever on the stage myself. It felt good... as good as it could have, I guess. My parents and some siblings had come down for the ceremony, marking, I think, the 2nd time they had visited since I started school in C-U. (To their credit, we had many children to take care of, and a new small business to run, so partying with #3 wasn't high on the list of priorities).

Anywho - This post is simply a walk back in time for myself and the friends that I spent many hours with in this space. Check out the images below and be transported to a simpler time. Also note that this 2019-2020 season is their 50th anniversary. Pretty special. Pretty special place too.

You are told on the tours, I presume still, that while the wood Teak is no longer allowed to be imported into the USA, they received the US' entire annual allotment when this floor was put in. It also is said to represent the look of IL from the air, with all the corn fields in the area...

Don't forget the outdoor auditorium. It looks like it has some fresh new white paint, visible all the way almost to the Quad too.

I love this performing arts center, always have and always will. If you're in the neighborhood in the coming months, you might be able to sneak in a show in their 50th year.

n+1 bike & beer, Verona, WI

I'm not sure the city and area of Madison WI gets the credit it deserves for being an awesome weekend town. If you have a 2-4 day weekend on the horizon, I would highly recommend this area for their small town feel (an technically actual size), restaurants, outdoor activities, Big 10 university, brews, coffee, and much much more (I've done a form of glass blowing here).

Anyways, I was in town for a weekend and with insider info from a Verona native, I wanted to check out this bikes+brews+coffee hotspot in the small(er) town of Verona WI. If you don't live in the world of bikes, the term "n+1" is a sort of inside joke. It represents that ideal number of bikes for a bike lover to have in their collection/garage. As in, if you have 6 bikes, the ideal number is now 7 bikes. And so on. It works out that way for most bike nerds too.

I have to say, this place did not disappoint in much. They had great service, beers, fancy bikes, coffee, and treats-a-plenty. The only thing I might suggest more of is more bikes for sale and on display. Now, I do understand that this is mostly a custom, made-to-order kind of bike shop, but still, people like to drool over things. And it helps plant ideas in their heads too.

I went in for a light brunch and was happy to sample a few things from the menu, like - cheddar-rosemary biscuit, coffee stout, ham&cheese sandwich and a hot chocolate. All were really good, high-quality items. I'd go back for more in a second.