Door County, WI: Day 6 of the Midwest/Great Lakes Adventure

Welcome back travellers. I'm doing pretty well with this once a week blogging malarkey. Just ignore the fact that this trip was around eighteen months ago. I'm catching up, slowly. And so, after a packed day in Milwaukee in the previous blog, we were due to head off early for a day in the 'thumb' of Wisconsin; Door County.

But I couldn't start the blog without mentioning our 5am wake up call, in the form of the fire alarm in our hotel. My partner didn't even wake up, I had to shove him awake. We weren't particularly quick at getting up and out. We forgot to even take a phone or anything, and just slipped on shoes and coats over our pyjamas. As we left for the 'emergency exit' we stumbled upon another couple - the hotel mustn't have had many guests - and exited into a creepy below-stairs-horror-movie-area, which eventually led out to the rubbish store out the back. We walked around to the front of the building to find no visible smoke, the alarm still resounding and just one other couple waiting on the front porch.

The member of staff on reception had no idea what was happening, if there was a fire, or what might have set it off. They also did not remove themselves from the building but stayed on the front desk twiddling their thumbs. Some other guests took the lift (elevator) down - the one thing you're not supposed to do in an emergency - and at the most there were a dozen of us. The alarm didn't stop for twenty five minutes and they sent two fire engines. Around five minutes after the fire engines arrived we were told it was safe to re-enter. I will say one thing, a 5am fire alarm, wake up call, really brings people together. We met some lovely people from the US and also some visiting from the UK. Sleep after that: impossible.

But enough about that, we took an early breakfast and got on with our next leg of the road trip: Sturgeon Bay, Door County, Wisconsin.

 Hit a little rain on the drive from Milwaukee. 

Now there's a big gnome. 

Sturgeon Bay
This charming town at the gateway to Door County is well worth a visit. Cool bridges, museums, a Visitor Centre, a funky food truck, great shops and amazing pancakes. What more could you want after a two and half hour drive from Milwaukee?

3rd Avenue, Sturgeon Bay. 

Door County is a large peninsula that you could easily spend a week on and still fail to see everything. On one side you follow the bay, Green Bay to be exact, and on the other side you look out over Lake Michigan. There are several state parks, lighthouses, wineries and orchards, amazing places to eat and stay, and the further options of ferrying up to Rock Island State Park and Washington Island. So much to do, and for us, only one day to do it. In fact, we weren't even staying the night on Door, so it was more like 10 hours to explore this Wisconsin gem. Better get going. (Here are some links for more information on Sturgeon Bay and Door County. You can also find decent guides to Door County within the Wisconsin State Guide and as a separate guide. Moon guides are especially good for this.) http://www.sturgeonbay.net/  http://www.doorcounty.com/  http://moon.com/destinations/

Arriving in Sturgeon Bay we were more than ready to stretch our legs and first of all stopped in at the Visitor Centre, There we picked up a few brochures and were able to plan our day, over pancakes of course. 5am fire alarms automatically mean second breakfasts, it's the law. I had the classic Blueberry with hot Maple syrup and my partner had Cherry sauce on his, from the famous Door County Cherries.

 Mmmmmmmmmmmmm pancakes.

Fuelled and ready to explore, we headed down the main street, 3rd Avenue and found some incredible homeware shops selling all sorts of decorations, furniture and essentials for the home. As we were there in October, there was an abundance of autumnal (fall) and Halloween decorations. Now this is something we lack in the UK and as someone who loves autumn and Halloween, I am always disappointed at the UK's attempt to celebrate the season. But America, you know exactly what you're doing, so I left with several items and a spring in my step.

 Inside and out of The Brick Alley Shop. My favourite. 

We had a stroll along 3rd Avenue and then down to the shipping yard and the ship canal. We took in the Michigan Street Bridge and even saw it open for a boat that would have been at home in a Bond movie. I can imagine this place being busy in the summer, but in autumn it is quiet with mainly the locals about, meaning we had a calm and relaxing time.

 Michigan Street Bridge.

 Open sesame. 

Heading back into town we took Michigan Street and passed Nistebox LLC, the Sturgeon Bay food truck, on the corner of 2nd Avenue. At the time it was selling hot apple cider as well as some hot food and snacks. It even has some seating outside and is worthy of a brief pause in any travellers day. Check it out. https://www.facebook.com/nistebox

From there we took a walk past the old library - which is now the most beautiful tax and accountancy office, ever - and visited the Door County Museum. Oh do please carve half an hour, or longer, out of your time, to visit the museum. It is absolutely charming and charts the history of Door County from 1850 onwards, through many different artefacts and displays.

 The old library, now a tax office. Kinda makes you want to become an acc.......nah, can't get through that sentence, but it's a beautiful building and must have been an incredible library space. 

 The wonderful and free to visit, Door County Museum. Don't forget to sign the visitor's book. 

The musical instruments section and the telephone section were amongst our favourites, but the old fire engines and other transport were also fun. There is a lot to see, but with free entry you can take in as much or as little as you have time for. I would recommend a visit, especially if Sturgeon Bay is your first port of call within Door County. You can find out more about this interesting peninsula and its history. http://map.co.door.wi.us/museum/(Visit the website for opening times and more details.)

That was all we had time for in Sturgeon Bay, but I think we packed quite a bit into ninety minutes. From the leaflets picked up in the Visitor Centre, we were able to plot our next stop at Orchard County Winery and Cider Mill, taking us bayside, through Egg Harbour.

Orchard County Winery and Cider Mill
There are other wineries on the peninsula but what attracted us to Orchard County was the cherries. Door County cherries are as renowned as Maine wild blueberries, and we were eager to sample, take a tour and come away with some souvenirs. Orchard County offered cherry, apple and grape offerings and we couldn't wait. http://www.orchardcountry.com/

You can take a $4 tour, yes that's right, a $4 tour of the vines and winery. With your $4 fee you also get to sample a few of the wines and keep the wine glass. A-ma-zing! We had the wonderful Skip as our tour guide and were told about the processes involved, how they get the fruit off the trees and what types of wines and other products they make. Top stuff! (Quick reminder to those coming from outside the US, you have to be 21 to drink alcohol.)

The market shop is fabulous. They have all sorts of cherry, apple and grape products, but the cherry stuff is pretty special. We're talking salsa, jam, sweets, dried cherries - they made a lovely change to dried cranberries in my cookies - chocolates and wine. There were also cook books detailing the many things you could do with cherries and lots of cherry related souvenirs.

From here you could pick your own apples in the orchard. They have several varieties of apple to choose from and all are delicious. The Honeycrisp was particularly special. We took a couple of those with us for the road and they were massive! When visiting you also need to sample the different ciders they have, and I must remind the UK readers here, that cider in the US is non-alcoholic. But the different flavours they have are just mouth-watering: Apple cider, Cherry and Apple juice, Tart Cherry juice and Sweet Cherry juice. We took a huge carton of the Cherry and Apple along with us for the ride and it kept us going all day and the next morning. You really should drink this juice at least once in your life. (If you're lucky to live in any of these three states: WI, IL, MN then they actually deliver. You lucky so and so's.)

Throughout the year they have many exciting festivals and events. They offer pick your own fruit sessions and lots of activities for the whole family. Whilst there, why not have a turn at the Cherry Pit Spit? How far can you launch yours? And if it is autumn time you might find their lawn area dominated by many varieties of pumpkin and squash. If only we had enough baggage allowance to get them all back to London..........

Needless to say we didn't get very far with this. 

 So many shapes and sizes and colours. 

 Bag of apples anyone? How many pies and cakes could I make with those?

 Lots of knobbly bobbly ones. 

                                     

Watch out, you seem to have a crazy person in your pumpkin patch. 

Heading on for lunch time, we asked for a recommendation to eat somewhere close by and the lady at the market directed us to nearby Fish Creek. The Cookery is a cafe, bar and restaurant open all day serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as cakes and snacks. With the chill of the afternoon we chose soups and were not disappointed. A white fish chowder for the gentleman and a French tomato and bacon soup for me. 

The Cookery, Fish Creek. A delightful spot for any meal of the day. http://www.cookeryfishcreek.com/#home

This village is described as 'the soul of the county' and boasts the highest number of pre-twentieth century structures on the 'thumb'. Fish Creek was all dressed up for autumn and ready to shower us with exciting shops and food. Anyone visiting Fish Creek should dedicate a little time to wandering the streets, and definitely take a walk down to the bay. There are a few Inns, Motels and Guest houses if you choose Fish Creek as a place to stay and there are also several eateries, a couple of theatre troupes (Performances between May to October) and a Drive In. You can take a boat trip out to Chamber Island or stay on land and visit the haunted Noble House. You are also a short drive, or cycle away from the Peninsula State Park. Not bad for a hamlet boasting around 200 inhabitants. 

 Find out more about Fish Creek at their website: http://visitfishcreek.com/

 Down by the Bay.

A quick drive by Noble House. Escape the ghosts. 

On the road again, continuing north only about five miles from Fish Creek, you'll hit the village of Ephraim (pronounced EE-frum) and I will admit our main reason for stopping was the leaflet we'd picked up about Wilson's Sundaes. An ice cream parlour that transports you back to the 50s with its blue booths and wall mounted jukeboxes, and has so many varieties of ice cream to choose from it'll take you a while to compose your ideal sundae. http://wilsonsicecream.com/

 Some tunes with your ice cream?

My sundae made up of Strawberry Cheesecake Yoghurt and Apple Pie with actual Pie Crust. Oh yes!

Ephraim has plenty to do and see, but we were beginning to run out of daylight and wanted to make it to the top of the thumb and back down the Lakeside before dark. Find out more about Ephraim and what it has to offer at their official website: http://ephraim-doorcounty.com/

So off we trundled, stopping briefly at Sister Bay (http://www.cometosisterbay.com/), Ellison Bay and Gills Rock, to take photographs and admire the scenery. But you know, sometimes speed tourism backfires, and this particular day it definitely did. We had to rush down the Lakeside of Door County, not able to see much and we missed out on a lot. But that just means when we make it back over there, we'll still have tonnes to do. And besides, we had thousands of kilometres to travel on our tour of the Midwest and the Great Lakes and a fairly tight schedule to stick to. Not much wriggle room, though if we did have some, we would probably have stayed the night and had another day on Door.

 Sister Bay

 Gills Rock

Northport

From Gills Rock there are passenger ferries over to Washington Island and Rock Island State Park. Fitting these into your schedule will involve another couple of days and probably an overnight stay on Washington Island. You can take the car over to Washington Island from Northport just a mile or two east of Gills Rock, as the car ferry leaves from there. Here are two links to ferries running between Door County and Washington Island. http://www.wisferry.com/ and http://www.islandclipper.com/.

Our accommodation for the night was in Appleton and we still had around a two and a half hour drive there, so our Lakeside tour of Door became a rather rushed lighthouse hunt, starting with Cana Island Lighthouse.

 Heading out to the eerily deserted Cana Island.

 Creepy, creepy. 

There you go, the most photographed lighthouse in Wisconsin. 

I will fully admit to being slightly freaked on this island with no one else around, except all the huge rabbits that kept jumping out on us. I've seen a few too many horror movies to feel completely comfortable on a deserted island. There was a definite feeling of eyes watching us, though that could have just been the bunnies. It was the first time I actually felt like I'd willingly walked into a horror scenario. It's certainly well hidden away. I couldn't wait to get back to the car. I advise visiting when it's open and there are a few other signs of life or some sunshine, though the grey mist definitely added atmosphere. Watch out as well, the causeway can flood, so prepare to wade if you have to, or risk being stuck on Horror Island. Muhahahahahahaha. (Okay, so it's not that bad, but I challenge you to go there on an October day with nobody around. You'll feel like you're the only person on Door County never mind Cana Island.)

Here's me leaving pretty sharpish. 

We also managed a quick sighting of the Range Lights, but as it was already dark by then, we just did a drive by and I was unable to get any photographs. One is on the beach and the other is slightly inland. Still, I do love a good lighthouse sighting, so I was happy with a tally of three. 

We set the Tom Tom for Appleton, put the radio on for the Packers pre-game ramble and drove through the rain. What a fabulous day in Door County. I know we skimmed through things and only got a sample of its wondrousness, but if I managed to convince even a few people to visit from my crazy ramblings, then that is a job well done. I would advise at least two days and of course if you want to have a long, relaxing break, then a week would be perfect. We weren't sure if we could fit it in, originally, but I'm so glad we managed even a few hours here as it is truly a charming place to visit. Thank you Door County.

Appleton

We arrived in time for a late dinner and a small beer at the Appleton Beer Factory, which was a recommendation from our Air BnB hosts. The Packers game was on, we tried some local brews and Green Bay won in the end, so all in all, a pretty good day in Wisconsin. https://appletondowntown.org/ Visit the Appleton website for more details of things to do if you have time. I really wanted to visit the Paper museum and discovery centre. What can I say? I'm a writer, I love paper. But sadly, it didn't open until 10am the next morning and we had some serious ground to cover, so I'll leave that as something to do the next time I'm in Appleton. 

A little beer at http://www.appletonbeerfactory.com/.

There you have it travellers, another of many reasons to visit Wisconsin. Door County has so much to offer, but if you can take just a sample, I would say cherries, ice cream, the Door County Museum and a lighthouse or two - preferably during opening hours. You could probably throw in a state park and a fish boil to your agenda too. I really hope I've inspired a few of you to try something different, go somewhere you wouldn't necessarily have thought about, and enjoy the wonderful state of Wisconsin. 

Join me next time when we'll be visiting the famous Lambeau Field, home of the Green Bay Packers, we'll be listening to far too much Country radio and we'll be continuing our road trip up and around the top of Lake Michigan, to the delightful Mackinaw City, MI.

Keep travelling.

The Sarky Traveller.

Day 5 of Midwest Adventures: Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Welcome to day 5 of the Sarky Traveller's Midwest and Great Lakes Adventure. Day 5 sees us leaving dear Chicago behind and moving north into Wisconsin, a huge state which stretches alongside Lake Michigan and also up to the south western tip of Lake Superior. It is flanked by Minnesota to the west, Michigan to the north east, Illinois to the south and Iowa to the south west. It contains State and National forests, as well as Indian reservations, especially more in the north of the state. It is home to the Green Bay Packers, one of the oldest American Football teams, and is famous for fish fries, frozen custard, cheese, and the architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

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. 

Prior to this trip I had of course heard of Milwaukee, but I didn't really know where it was or anything much about it. But after purchasing the Moon Wisconsin guide, I immediately put Milwaukee on the itinerary.

Chasing the El Train on our road trip to Milwaukee. 

Breakfast in the car, courtesy of Hoosier Mama's Pie Company (see the previous blog, Day 4 Chicago for more info). This was the Chocolate Chess. Oh my. Amazing. http://www.hoosiermamapie.com/

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 Wicked Hop where we would end up later for drinks. http://www.thewickedhop.com/

 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/

It was such a beautiful walk and allowed us great views back on the city. But also great views looking forward to the Milwaukee Art Museum, which has one of the most incredible buildings. It's so impressive to see.  http://mam.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.