From Across the Lake

Friday night Travalon and I celebrated one year since our first date. Instead of recreating that date, we went to a new place, Fresco, which has an incredible view overlooking State Street. The food was good, and the cocktails were amazing. Then we joined some coworkers of mine and their various friends at Dane Dances, where a disco band played. From Monona Terrace we could see a very interesting-looking building across the lake, all lit up and with red lights inside. We had seen it before, and even looked at it through binoculars without being able to ascertain what it was. Travalon thought it was a yacht club, but he was game to go on a search for it once Dane Dances finished. And were they popular this past Friday! There was a line to get in because only so many people can be on the Monona Terrace roof at one time. We got there just in time, so we didn’t have to wait to get in.

After Dane Dances was over, Travalon and I drove around the lake. I was afraid we wouldn’t be able to recognize the mystery building from the street side, but just past Olbrich Park we spotted a building that was all lit up in the back. It was called the East Side Club, and the front door was locked, but there was a sign saying there was a tiki bar around the back, so we went exploring. We ran into some people and asked if it was a private gathering, but they said, “No, and anyway if it was, we would invite you – you seem cool.” So we went to the tiki bar and ordered drinks, then we sat on chairs down by the lake. When we looked back at the club, we were sure this was the building we’d seen from the Monona Terrace. The red lights we’d seen were exit signs inside the building, not Chinese lanterns or anything exotic, but otherwise the club lived up to the excitement we felt viewing it from across the lake. In fact, it was so nice I was a little sad that we had already reserved a hall for our wedding reception, because the East Side Club would have been a lovely place to have it, but maybe it’s more of a summer place, and after all, we are getting married in mid-May. We are going to go back sometime for their Friday fish fry and hopefully can hit the tiki bar at least one more time before summer is over. And guess what? The Monona Terrace looks like a really happening place from the East Side Club. Because it is!

Famous Hat