bakerstreet

Posting for anyone making a first visit to Milwaukee and looking for ideas -- thanks to prior posters and especially nycuwsapt and bjl for specific help with my trip. Post somehow ended up in Road Trips so putting this in US, which is where I looked for help in planning. We definitely flew to and from Milwaukee.

We visited Friday evening to Sunday mid-day (July).

Checked in to our hotel downtown -- Saint Kate's, which we recommend -- and left for an early Friday fish fry dinner at Kegel's Inn, which our Uber driver and hotel front desk said said is a very typical Milwaukee event. Kegel's takes reservations (I had made reservations everywhere possible since our time was limited). From Kegel's we went to the Brewer's baseball game at what is supposed to be called American Family Field but everyone calls Miller Field. Great, fun game vs. the Rockies, with affordable good seats and avid and friendly fans all around. We got lucky and saw two Brewer's home runs so got to see the mascot slide down the slide high in the stands. Got to watch the stadium domed roof close.

Saturday morning we took nycuwsapt's good advice and had breakfast at Fool's Errand in the Third Ward -- excellent -- before visiting various Milwaukee locations and attractions, such as:

1. the Mitchell Domes -- three glassed-in large domes with horticulture of different types. One contains desert plant life, and one tropical rainforest-type flora. They were interesting and worth the visit.
2. the Pabst Mansion -- the restored family home of the Pabst family. Took a guided group tour, which lasts an hour.
3. the Milwaukee Art Museum on the lakefront. We spent several hours in this modern, white, airy museum with a great view of the lake and on this day, the air show.
4. the Public Markets in the Third Ward; a collection of small food shops, bars, eateries, etc. sort of reminiscent of a smaller and newer Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia
5. Tour of the Lakefront Brewery -- amusing, irreverently led by a guide whose explicit language was well-suited to the bachelor parties that were also on the tour (just a warning to those planning a visit with young children)

Dinner was at the Harbor House restaurant on the lake and was excellent.

Sunday we had another delicious breakfast in the Third Ward, at Sweet Diner. They don't take reservations so expect a bit of a wait, it's a popular place. Then we headed for the airport.

Milwaukee is a city on the water, which is nice, and full of friendly people. We cancelled our rental car and got around beautifully using Uber; the drivers were eager to tell us about Milwaukee. The only traffic holdups we experienced were when a boat on the river caused traffic to stop while a bridge was raised.

We had a good time in Milwaukee, which exceeded our expectations. It is a city of BEER, BEER, BEER! The prominent names are beer family names. A Milwaukee Bloody Mary comes with a glass of beer as a chaser. The city's basketball stadium decided to change the brand of beer available from one brand to another and the newspaper reported the change in an article on page 2. It is also a city of CHEESE! And sausage. A Milwaukee breakfast omelet is made with sausage and fried cheese curds. We indulged in the local offerings and I'm pretty sure we gained a couple of pounds and had fun doing it.

Daniel_Williams

Thanks for this trip report. I will be bookmarking it as I’d like to visit Milwaukee at some point.

bakerstreet

Good idea! I probably would not have gone had I not recently decided to figure out which states I have never visited and target those for a trip, and I started with Wisconsin. I am glad I did; it was worth a visit even NOT as part of a "go to all of the states" push.

Daniel_Williams

Hi bakerstreet (is that name after the one in London UK?)—

Fun goal to see each state! For me, my interest in Milwaukee is that (later in life) I’ve realized how interesting Midwest cities can be, having only checked out my first, Chicago, in my mid 30s. Since then (now 51), I’ve really enjoyed checking out Cleveland, Saint Louis and only this year, Indianapolis and Columbus. I’m curious to get to know some of the others now!

Best wishes

Daniel

baldone

Thanks for the report. Milwaukee holds fond memories for me, since my grandparents lived there and we'd visit every other year. On one trip, after I was legal age, I toured the Big 3, Pabst, Schlitz & Miller's. Schlitz was stingy on their refills. Only one. Miller would keep pouring as long as you asked. Pabst would refill your glass as soon as it was about half empty. Or is that half full? Without asking. And Pabst's waitresses? Think St. Pauli girl. Fun city. Wife and I both went back many years later and I was impressed as to how much it had changed. I cant remember what the area was called, but there were several restaurants, microbreweries and it was lake or riverfront. I think river.

nyse

Interesting report ~ I love Milwaukee.
Did you visit the Bronze Fonz statue on the river walk?



Also, at the game, hope you got to watch the famous sausage race: