On “Mornings With Dave & Natalie,” we asked for your help compiling a bucket list for my first summer in Madison – and boy, did you deliver! I plan to check off many of your suggestions throughout the summer – and beyond – and write about my experiences. You can also follow along on Life 102.5’s Facebook and Instagram pages, where I’ll be posting as I go. Thanks for helping to make my first Madison-area summer a memorable one!
My first water ski show was at Sea World when I was 10. It was a very memorable trip in general because I was in a wheelchair with a broken foot, but the show left an impression too with its flips, tricks and the man sitting in the audience heckling the skiers, then jumping off the bleachers into the water. (Turns out, he was part of the show.) I was so disappointed the next time I went to Sea World as an adult and found out they had discontinued the show.
Now knowing that, you can imagine how pleased I was to find out that I can go to a free water ski show every Sunday during the summer without even leaving Madison! I was sold.
We went over the 4th of July weekend with my parents, who were in town. My dad grew up in the Land of 10,000 Lakes and has water skied a bunch, so he was excited, too.
To get good seats, we got to Law Park about 45 minutes early and brought lawn chairs and snacks to bide the time. That was definitely way earlier than we needed to — and now we know — but we did end up with incredible seats. We were right in front of the spot where the skiers swam in to shore once they’d completed their tricks.
And tricks they did! They started the show with perhaps the most impressive one of a human pyramid.
The leaders of the ski school had a little 80s-themed side show going to pass the time between skiers. While the jokes were cheesy, the music was good, and it kept things moving.
This may have been a group of amateurs, but overall they really impressed me! One thing that especially stood out about the Mad-City Ski Team was that there were people of all different ages and abilities. The youngest performers must’ve been 6 or 7, and the oldest maybe 50 or so. They all looked like they were genuinely having fun and supporting one another.
I’ve never been water skiing before, and now I really want to try it.
In the meantime, where should I go next?