Tuesday, July 25, 2017

3 Nights in Milwaukee


Planning a week in Milwaukee and Chicago seemed like an ideal follow-up to last spring's 2,200-mile road trip -- we're visiting nearly all of the great cities of the Midwest. The kids had never seen them, and even Paul and I haven't been since about 2004.

We arrived in Milwaukee just in time for supper, arriving at the Craft Beer Garden at Humboldt Park at almost exactly 7 p.m. Why more cities (ahem, Columbus) don't have beer gardens is a mystery to me. Who doesn't want to sit outside on a beautiful day, a drink in one hand and food in the other, with a playground just across the way for after-supper fun for the kiddos? It was a wonderful (re)introduction to the city.

The next day was Independence Day, and there was no better way to spend it than by watching some baseball. But first: food. We ate lunch at the Milwaukee Brat House before getting bracelets to use the restaurant's free shuttle to the Milwaukee Brewers' game that afternoon.

But first we strolled along the Riverwalk. The day was already hot, and the Milwaukee River was full of boats, kayaks and even a few paddle boards.


First pitch was at 3:10 p.m., and we got to Miller Park about an hour early. We purchased tickets for the cheap seats and explored. Edith loved the free slide in the kids section on the ground floor (and later, a play area near our section). Atticus was practically asleep before we got to our seats, and Edith napped during the last few innings, which meant that I actually got to watch some of the game! And it was an exciting one -- 4 or 5 home runs, and the Brewers won 6-2. Even better, we all appeared on the billboard cam thanks to the uber-patriotic clothing and crazy dancing of a guy sitting in front of us.





Paul and Atticus's selfie



All in all, it was one of the best ballgames that I've ever been to. The weather was perfect, our seats were shady and it was only 2.5 hours long. It was an ideal holiday afternoon.

After the shuttle back downtown, we drove north to a Sprecher restaurant. Paul had wanted to try the beer, but we couldn't fit a tour into our schedule. We did this instead. The mango radler was one of the best beers I've ever tasted.

At Sprecher

We started the next day at Discovery World, a kids museum downtown. It was separated into two sections -- technology and an aquarium. We spent only two hours there and saw everything -- a great way to spend a morning (especially since admission was free with our COSI membership here in Columbus).




View from Discovery World

View from Discovery World

Next up was lunch and a tasting flight at Lakefront Brewery, followed by a stroll along the river. Milwaukee likes its beer, and the kids learned almost as much as we did since we went on a Miller brewery tour next. They were thrilled with the free lemonade while Paul and I sampled some of our favorite Miller products.



We had another drink later, this time at the South Shore Terrace Beer Garden, where we met up with an old friend from Brooklyn and her two kids. It was right on Lake Michigan, which made for lovely views that I totally forgot to take photos of.

We left for Chicago the next morning with the impression that Milwaukee is much like Columbus, with more beer and brats + a lake. It was a relaxing few days in an iconic Midwestern hub.

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