I spent a couple of days over Memorial Day weekend in downtown Milwaukee. It's my old stomping grounds, so I like to visit now and then.

I stayed at The Ambassador Hotel on West Wisconsin Avenue. ( Not to be confused with The Ambassador Inn.) The Hotel is nothing to look at from the outside, but has loads of charm on the inside. Lots of restored details and glamour from the 1920s. I had a deluxe room with two beds and the room was very large. The hotel has a free shuttle which will take you any place downtown. And the hotel has free parking.

I had dinner at the hotel on Friday night. If you know Wisconsin, you know Friday night means a fish fry. So I had to choose it from the menu. A generous meal of baked cod, creamy coleslaw, rye bread, applesauce, and potato-chive pancakes. I also ate in the restaurant the next morning and had standard breakfast fare. Both times the food was good, but I thought it could have been warmer.

On Saturday my brother came to town. We went to The Lakefront Brewery and to The Grohmann Museum as well as drove around the east side of town to see my old neighborhood and the lakefront. The Lakefront Brewery was great fun. The tour was $7 and 4 tasting tokens were included. After purchasing a ticket, I asked where we were supposed to go to meet the tour. The response was "to the bar of course. You're in Wisconsin". That made me smile. Unlike the large well known brewery tours, this tour encouraged beer tastings before, during, and after the tour! Not much of a beer drinker, I cashed my tokens in for root beer which was also made by Lakefront Brewery, and was delicious. My brother said the Wisconsite Weiss Beer was great. The tour guide was very funny, irreverent. Perfect for this little brewery. The place was jammed when we ended our tour. A fun place and highly recommended.

The Grohmann Museum is part of Milwaukee School of Engineering. In fact, classrooms and professors' offices can be found inside. The theme of the museum is Man at Work. All of the collection is truly reflective of occupations, and reflects work dating back about 400 years. To quote my brother, the place is "a gem". And with a coupon admitting two-for-one ($5), absolutely worth a look.