What do you do when you have a few hours to kill in Milwaukee? That was my situation on a recent visit to the city. Aside from taking in the Harley Davidson Museum, I wanted to do a couple “touristy” things and also hit up a few local spots.
The first stop was the cliche Wisconsin entity – a cheese store! I had heard that cheese curds were the thing to try, but the place I visited appeared to only sell frozen cheese curds. Boo – I had assumed they would be fried and ready to eat, like french fries. Oh well. But I did get some ridiculous photos in cheese garb.
A quick swing through downtown after visiting the Milwaukee Art Museum took me past some unusual art, like this weird orange thing. It took me awhile to figure out the name of this piece, because Google searches for “Milwaukee orange spiky art museum thing” didn’t yield satisfactory results. Turns out it’s a sunburst sculpture called ‘The Calling’ by Mark di Suvero, and it was created in 1981.
The Riverwalk is a cool area to check out. I had to swing by the Bronze Fonz for a photo with a statue of Henry Winkler’s bronze statue from Happy Days. Don’t tell me you wouldn’t stop for a photo too!
The river was frozen! There were no kayakers on this day…
Milwaukee is known for having a lot of beer brewery tours, but it wasn’t feasible to check out an actual brewery tour on a late Sunday afternoon, so instead I headed to the Pabst Mansion. The signpost tells the story of German-born Captain Frederick Pabst, who joined his father in law’s brewery after moving to Milwaukee and helped turn it into the world’s largest brewery.
The captain lived in this mansion, which sits just near Marquette University, back in the 1890s. I didn’t take the mansion tour, because photography is not allowed inside, and I won’t patronize any institution which bans photography. There’s no good reason for such a ban, so I’m taking a stand. These places will not get my money until they wise up!
I’m an ice cream and dessert fiend, so next it was off to Leon’s Frozen Custard, an old-time food stand where you order from a window and eat in your car. I ended up getting a caramel flavored milkshake, because I’ve never seen such a thing. It was really tasty, although I have to wonder why Leon’s has virtually no hot foods. I know they like to be old-fashioned, but all they offer is hot dogs and sloppy joes. They can’t even be bothered with french fries?
I had planned to swing by Miller Park to grab some quick pics of the statues outside the stadium for a future installment of the Sports Statues Photo Teaser guessing game, but sadly I ran out of time. Next time!
Finally, I had to end up at a dive bar. Some online research revealed that Blackbird in the Bayview neighborhood would be the place for me, and it sure was. If I had to design my own dive bar, it would pretty much be exactly like Blackbird. A couple tvs at the bar, vinyl booths throughout, interesting art on the walls, and pinball machines and board games for patrons to play. Board games!
Milwaukee had some of the same charm that Pittsburgh does – it’s sort of like a city that feels more like a small town. A nice place to spend time when I want to get away from the craziness of Chicago.
I will be back, Milwaukee.
Ahh, cheese. We haven’t had cheese in MONTHS (Thailand isn’t heavy on the dairy usage) and Kali is struggling.
I agree about the “no photography” rule – drives me batty. Way to take a stand!!
Christy @ Technosyncratic recently posted..Peak Spa: A Taste of Luxury in Chiang Mai
Yikes, I can’t imagine going months without cheese!
I miss cheese ~~ (currently on a diet that only allows cheese 2 times a week at most)…I was hoping to see more photos of cheese when I clicked into the post….(sobs)
Annie – FootTracker recently posted..The Trail That Has It All @Monterey
I’m trying to cut back on cheese, it’s tough to do!
Oh! Plenty of cheese here in India especially the paneer!! Loved the frozen river shot, looks great!
Wish you a wonderful sunday Scott:)
Arti recently posted..The Village Woman By The Riverside
Frozen rivers are cool. I always imagine ice skating on them.
Cheese! I understand You, Scott. Have You ever been to France?
Victor recently posted..Banteay Srey – Genuine Woman of Cambodia
No, I have not!