I’ve never been to the state of Wisconsin before. We were beckoned by a family wedding in Milwaukee, and as is our usual habit we spent a lot of our spare time exploring the city on foot. It’s one of those solid midwestern American cities, built on the foundation of a few solid industries. In this case of course one of them is brewing. You see the Pabst and Schlitz names a lot. Our first day there didn’t feature a lot of touristy destinations, unless you count a party at the home of a prominent local sculptor (he was works on display at the Milwaukee Art Museum as well as on the Riverwalk). But I didn’t take any photos of his museum-quality back-yard sculpture garden. But wow.
Our first forays out then were on Saturday. Milwaukee is a city of manageable size. It strikes me as being somewhat smaller than Cleveland. Still having most of the amenities but with everything in a more compact area. And that means — walkability! Our first stop was the Riverwalk, which you can take from the northern end of downtown all the way around to Lake Michigan. The Walk is dotted with monumental sculptures by local artists.
Solomon Laurent Juneau, founder of Milwaukee, was the cousin of Joseph Juneau, who founded the eponymous city in Alaska.
Not far away is this other sculpture, in front of one of the municipal buildings. From another angle it reminded me of the Big Boy, carrying a tray of burgers.
The main event was the wedding itself Saturday evening. The venue was the Santiago Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion at the MAM. The design is a close match to the much larger Oculus at the World Trade Center site in Manhattan. But what it lacks in scale it more than makes up for in its setting and functionality.
It occupies a large grassy area on the shore of Lake Michigan, with spectacular views and all the breathing room a structure like this needs. Also, the roof opens and closes during the day! This was originally to be a feature of the New York Oculus, but the budget required the whole thing to be scaled back in its ambitions.
The interior leaves you awestruck.
The facilities are beautiful all around.
There was another event Sunday which we missed, so instead we struck off for the historic Third Ward, which is similar to the Warehouse District in Cleveland or what Soho used to be in New York in a different century. Our substitute breakfast and lunch were in the Central Market, which is where apparently everyone in Milwaukee goes to eat on a Sunday. A really fun place full of local vendors or everything from coffee (a couple of local roasters) to fish (I had fried walleye) to bratwurst (of course) to baked goods (we saw a Napoleon that could have served a family of eight) to soft-serve ice cream (a really big deal here). We ordered some native Great Lakes seafood and took it upstairs to see the market from above.
Afterwards we wandered around the Third Ward. It’s fairly well gentrified. Moreso than Fell’s Point in Baltimore, but still fun with some nice local businesses that haven’t been pushed out by the big chains. While Saturday was a nice warm sunny day, Sunday was overcast and quite chilly. So we were pleased when totally by accident we discovered the Skywalk.
We joined it in progress while looking for an ATM. Entering on the east side of the river, we were able to go many blocks completely aboveground and sheltered, through office buildings, food courts, and bridges. A brilliant idea for any city, and especially for one with brutal winters.
So a good time was had by all. But I understand there are some really good record stores in town, a fact that was kept hidden from me until it was too late. How come nobody opens record stores in New Jersey?
So, I’m willing to go back.