MADISON, Wisconsin — Following a series of CoviDarties on Saturday, local frozen Lake Mendota at sunset has jumped to the number one hottest spot in the world to take an Instagram photo. The change comes as people flock to take pictures in puffer jackets and Ray Bans on the glistening ice that has caught the attention of millions around the globe.
While previous number one Insta spots in the world have included the white houses of Santorini, Greece, the blue-ass water of Bali and the Egyptian desert, something about Mendota’s frozen water under a sun that has set every day since the world was created beats it all. Littered beer cans also add to the appeal — Instagrammers can show they were a bit ~risky.~
High-profile celebrities like Kylie Jenner and Gigi Hadid have flooded the Dane County airport in their private jets eager to get some clout on the barren, snow-covered landscape. Jenner posted a picture with $16,000 Gucci earrings and a special-edition North Face, captioning it, “Just out in the country.”
She said lakes are now the move.
“I’ve, like, never even really been to, like, a lake, and now I’m, like, standing on one!” Jenner said as she struck a pose next to an ice fisherman. “It really feels like the country out here. I just love looking at all the normal Midwesterners just doing their thing. And this snow color makes my spray tan look even better in my disposable pictures!”
Local Instagram servers nearly failed Sunday morning as UW students emerged from their hangovers, put some filters on their ice pictures and scoured a “Best Instagram Captions RIGHT NOW” blog post to make their followers think they had a sense of humor. The lake even got a second wave of Instagrammers after some unlucky students discovered their Saturday pics might just not be Instagram-worthy.
UW junior Bradley Wright said the lake view just never gets old. He is often mesmerized by the fact that large amounts of water can freeze into something you can actually walk on and credits the lake for most of his happiness in life. He was spotted Saturday staring curiously at the ice before posting a picture in a hockey jersey captioned “Yeee.”
“Yeah bro, I swear that ice and sunset combo just hits different every time. I personally think it’s the best spot in the world but that might just be me since I’m usually here or at my parents’ second home in Palm Beach,” Wright said. “Why travel to Europe when we have Mendota darties, amiright?”
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One student fell into a hole in the lake and received treatment for a case of near-death hypothermia but was still able to get her post up while in the ambulance. Another even took to Facebook to make sure their extended family saw how cool they looked on the lake.
Instagram has since added a special filter for the south side of Lake Mendota that puts a special sparkle on the ice, text saying “At the center of the universe,” and a local COVID-19 death count in the top right corner.
