Memorial Union Pier

After a long, frozen winter, it doesn’t take much more than 45 degrees to get students into shorts and sandals. And once Lake Mendota thaws, they trade their textbooks for towels and head to the pier. Memorial Union’s current swimming pier takes three to four days to install — a process that usually happens in early June — because the parts are carted over on barges from the north side of the lake. Once the pier anchors are down, the pier will host more than 20,000 visitors each year, making it a challenge for swimmers to claim a spot. The pier normally stays in place until about Labor Day, when the Union removes it before the water gets too cold. Then sunbathers start the countdown until it returns …

Beverages and Brats on the Terrace

At around 10:30 a.m. on sunny, warm days, the tap handles start going in at the brat stand on the Memorial Union Terrace. About half an hour later, there’s smoke and sizzling as an bounty of bratwurst is laid on the grill. Whether people want a mid-morning snack between summer classes or a dinner with friends, the Terrace is one of downtown Madison’s premier dining locales during the summer months. By the end of every season, thousands of patrons have enjoyed about 60,000 brats and countless pitchers of beer. Will you be one of them?