The two main cities are Milwaukee and Madison, both in the south of the state; Madison being the state capital and a big University town. Another huge draw for the state is Door County, a peninsula jutting out of the east side of Wisconsin, into Lake Michigan. It boasts wineries and dairy farms, cherry orchards, lighthouses and State parks, along with many places to eat, shop and relax.
I will fully admit to not knowing a great deal about Wisconsin before planning the trip. But as we knew we were driving alongside Lake Michigan, and up into Canada to follow Lake Superior, then I bought a guide and realised what a gem it is. We managed a few slices of Wisconsin in our brief time there and I would highly recommend it to everyone.
So travellers, after four fabulous days in Chicago, we left early in order to collect the hire car from Downtown and then enjoyed a short drive to the next stop on our Midwest and Great Lakes Adventure: Milwaukee.
Bye, bye Chicago.
Chasing the El Train on our road trip to Milwaukee.
Snaking up north out of Chicago on the 94, takes you straight to the city of Milwaukee, another city on Lake Michigan, and often referred to as 'The Beer City'. There are a host of local breweries here, some of which offer tours. Milwaukee is also famous for its bikes, those of the mighty Harley Davidson, and the museum is awesome. The city has a lovely laid back feel to it and was a great place to spend the day for our first taste of Wisconsin. Yes, we only had one day and one night, but we made it worth our while.
Bit of state hopping. I love seeing the signs, welcome to........Wisconsin. Whoop!
Arriving in Milwaukee, with a pretty cool bridge over the Milwaukee River.
We arrived at around 10am, the drive having taken less than two hours, not bad for a day trip from Chicago, which is also serviced by trains and buses if you don't have a hire car. We opted for the Harley Davidson Museum as our introduction to the city, and arrived there just as it opened.
The huge, metal, industrial, exposed brick look of the museum, really sets the scene before you even enter, but it gets even better inside, believe me.
The museum will take a good couple of hours to explore, probably longer if you've got the time. There are so many bikes on show, spanning over a hundred years of innovation and inspiration. You get to see the way the bikes have evolved, different uses for them over the years and through the wars, and there are exhibitions about them being raced and lots of memorabilia from Harley Davidson groups and clubs from around the world.
I'm not giving too much away, as it is a fantastic museum with a great story to tell. There are games to play and interactive displays. There are lots of things you can touch, but most of the bikes are there to be looked at and not sat on. There is of course a cafe and shop to purchase a few souvenirs and replica bikes, but this is such a well put together museum, I would highly recommend it to anyone visiting the city, as it is a huge part of their history and future too.
Looking out of the museum into the glorious sunshine of this October morning in Milwaukee.
He he. Love this water tower.
We then took a drive through the centre to find our hotel and to see if the room was ready. We stayed at the Park East Hotel and were lucky enough to have a Lake View room. For details of room rates and availability, check the website here: http://www.parkeasthotel.com/
Yay! Lake Michigan, you large lake, you.
We had worked up quite an appetite, so before we explored Downtown, we wanted to find somewhere to eat. Luckily for us, just down State Street and north on Van Buren, about four minutes' walk from the hotel, was the delightful Mykonos Gyro and Cafe. Just what we needed. Yummy Greek food, lovely staff, super reasonable and super tasty. It was the first time I'd ever seen tzatziki in a squeezy bottle. And we shared a galaktoboureko for dessert. Sticky, gooey, goodness. Thank you Mykonos. Sadly they don't have a website, but if you get the chance, look them up.
Mmmmmmm, Galaktoboureko.
With stomachs pretty happy and legs itching to explore, we continued straight along State Street until we hit the Milwaukee River. Time for the Riverwalk. Now obviously it is on a smaller scale than Chicago, but has no less charm or exciting things to look at. In fact, the Riverwalk is full of sculptures and free art and beautiful bridges. And a pretty famous Milwaukee resident.....................
Check out more information here: http://www.visitmilwaukee.org/riverwalk
These beautifully designed railings make excellent shadows on the pathways.
Local children's designs have been utilised as decoration on the Riverwalk.
Some really thought provoking pieces too.
And the terrifying spider's web. You don't wanna get stuck in there.
'Aaaayyyy'. It's me and the bronze Fonz. Milwaukee's fictional hero.
I love this intersection of high and low bridges across the river.
We took the boardwalk for a short way before heading inland to the Milwaukee Public Market: http://www.milwaukeepublicmarket.org/main.html It is such a great market, with one of everything you could possibly need: cheese stall, meat counter, fish counter, spice stall, local beers, maple syrup, wine and gifts. It's a really pleasant place to spend an hour and treat yourself to something yummy.
On exit from the market, you are perfectly situated to explore the Historic Third Ward District, which is full of interesting shops, bars, galleries and restaurants all set up in old industrial buildings and factories. http://www.historicthirdward.org/ I guess in a way it is sort of the hipster district of the city, but is much less pretentious than other hipster places. For instance, you don't need a beard to wander here, and your clothes don't need to be worth $400. It's effortless and funky and full of independent businesses, and you'll enjoy stepping into these old buildings to see what they've done with the interior.
The Historic Third Ward.
The badger, Wisconsin's State animal.
Paper dreams in Broadway Paper. http://www.broadwaypaper.com/index.html I love this shop.
Engine Company No 10, sculpture.
It's a really chilled city, and you never feel rushed or in the way. Everyone we met was really friendly and astonished that we were visiting from London. Don't be astonished, we actually met a woman working in the market who was originally from Camden, UK, where we currently live. Small world.
Enjoying the green space at Catalano Square.
After the Historic Third Ward we decided to head Lakeside as we wanted to see the Art Museum and enjoy the sunshine. We started a little low down and ended up walking through the rather creepyly deserted Summerfest grounds, which are used for big festivals during the summer but are otherwise disused.
Summerfest.
Continuing north, we passed through the Milwaukee Lakeshore State Park and past Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin. This is a science and technology centre and a great place to visit with children of all ages. We didn't have time to visit, ourselves, but as always we are just leaving things to come back for, in the spirit of Speed Tourism. The State Park is beautiful and worth a little walk around. There was even an app you could access to explain the flora and fauna as you were wandering. Nice touch.
Pier Wisconsin and Discovery World: http://www.discoveryworld.org/
Santiago Calatrava's Masterpiece. Though what I love is that he also designed the Trinity Bridges in Salford, UK, where I attended Uni and lived for a few years.
Outside in the sculpture garden.
Inside. A colossal space, with so much light and depth.
A bird preparing for flight? A swan perhaps? Quite the entrance.
We stopped for a drink in the museum cafe and enjoyed a brief walk around and outside. It had been a difficult decision on which museum we would visit, but as we only had one day, we only had time for one and Harley Davidson won. But what is great is that you can experience the art and architecture of the building itself, especially the walkway, entrance and outside, without paying admission, and you can visit the cafe and see the atrium and lobby without paying the admission. It is almost two museums in a way. The architecture of itself and the art it holds. So next time, we'll go and see the art and more of the inner building, but I like that simply by approaching the building you experience part of the magic of the way this museum is put together. It is a piece of art in itself.
At this point we weren't far from the hotel, so we swooped back to get changed into our running gear and head out into the sun for a jog. Chicago had weighed pretty heavy on the stomach and we definitely needed a bit of cardio. We jogged around Juneau Park and Veterans Park, past the incredible kite shop, down to the Art Museum and back to the hotel. About 4kms, but not bad considering we were on holiday.
The kite shop in Veterans Park, Gift of Wings. https://www.giftofwings.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/events.html?E+mystore1
Along Lakeshore to the Art Museum with Downtown in the distance. Quite the scenic jog.
Then it was time to pick our night time spots, and it was difficult. There are loads of places to eat and drink and take in some music or sport, or all of the above. It's a University town too, so it has a lot of reasonable prices and cool bars with beers and cocktails on the cheap. Friday is fish fry night in Wisconsin and frozen custard is a Wisconsin delicacy - although we did manage to find it in Chicago - but sadly none of the custard places were in the centre and we were there on a Wednesday. Damn it! But there are tonnes of choices of cuisine and venue for every taste.
The hotel had a terrace upstairs which we visited just before leaving to get a sense of the city at night. It was pretty chilly at that point but well worth a gander.
We chose Bar Louie for food and drinks, but were also treated to several live sports playing on big screens in and around the bar and dining area. There was a singer songwriter, who I felt slightly sorry for because no one was listening to him, apart from me. I clapped after every song and he thanked me every time. I also gave him a nice tip. It was difficult for one man to compete with so many sports, but he held my attention. Anyhoo, where was I......? Oh, yes, Bar Louie.
Far right, singer songwriter. Above him, massive sports screen.
The closest I could get to a fish fry on a Wednesday.
I hadn't realised it was a chain, when we visited. It was only when I was looking for the website that I realised there were multiple locations. But we enjoyed it, it had a great location on water Street and it was exactly what we needed. $5 Martinis for me and plenty of beer options for my other half. Winner.http://www.barlouieamerica.com/locations/Water-Street.aspx
Water Street, a hub of activity, especially once the lights go down.
What with the run and our walking tour of the city, we were feeling quite tired, but we needed a digestive walk and wanted to see more of the city by night, so we wandered back over to the Historic Third Ward and went for drinks and cake at the Wicked Hop: http://www.thewickedhop.com/
The Wicked Hop.
Hmmmmm, Angry Orchard Cider.
What I love about Milwaukee is that it is a very pedestrian friendly city. I loved that we could walk everywhere from our hotel and only ever be about half an hour away. We managed to see the main sights, sample some of the districts and hang with the locals. If you are ever in the area, or visiting Chicago, I would definitely recommend a nice day trip to Milwaukee, or weekend if you can manage it. It has a lovely feel to it, so relaxed and fun, and throughout the year is host to many festivals including Polish Fest, German Fest, Indian Summer and the Wisconsin State Fair. When I go back, I would like to be there on a Friday, to partake in a fish fry and I would probably visit the Art Museum and a take a brewery tour. I would retake the Riverwalk and see what new sculptures they are presenting, and I would probably go bowling too as the city is home to 81 bowling centres.
If you're a sports nut there are the Milwaukee Brewers baseball team and also the Milwaukee Bucks basketball team. Milwaukee is home to a huge Ice rink with Olympic regulation speed skating tracks, as well as two full sized hockey rinks. It is well served by Amtrak and Greyhound, with services in and out of state. (For instance Chicago Union Station to Milwaukee takes an hour and a half and costs about $25.) So what are you waiting for?
Haven't convinced you yet? Well stay tuned for the next blog when we'll be creeping up to Door County, taking a cherry orchard tour, visiting lighthouses and eating mahoosive ice cream sundaes. Stay tuned for more Wisconsin delights.
Keep travelling.
The Sarky Traveller.
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