Milwaukee

  

     Milwaukee is the best little big town you never knew you needed to visit!  There is so much to do here and the best part is everything is affordable and it is never busy or crowded.  We visited in May of 2021 so the weather was great but there were still some pandemic restrictions.  I hope you enjoy Milwaukee as much as we did. Here are some our recommended activities for this fantastic city. 

Bradford Beach 

     This fantastic beach is located just a few miles from downtown.  Lake Michigan often surprises people who have never seen it.  It's huge, you can't see across it.  This beach is free and it has free parking.  There are bike trails that lead to the beach too.  There are several tiki bars on the beach that sell alcoholic beverages.  There are also 2 restaurants on the beach.  You are allowed to bring your own food items too.  On a nice summer day there is nowhere better to be in the city than this beach. 

Slushies on the beach 

The Domes

     The Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory otherwise known as the Domes are located just a few miles from downtown.  They are apart of the  American Horticultural Society Reciprocal Admission Program so we were able to visit for free with our Fredrick Meijer Gardens local membership.  In the first dome they showcase Tropical plants, in dome two they have a desert theme and in dome 3 they rotate the plants out. It is a very cool place to visit. 

The 3 domes 

The Desert Biome

Birds of paradise with a waterfall in the back ground

looking up at the dome

Discovery World 

     Discovery World sits right on Lake Michigan.  It is an ASTC museum so free admission for folks that have a membership through the passport program.  It features your typical science center activities but it has an aquarium in the basement that is really fun.  They have glass floors where fish can swim under you.  They have a glass tunnel where fish can swim over you.  The have several touch tanks where you can touch sting rays and sturgeon. 

Jellyfish at Discovery World

Fish swim over you in this part of the Aquarium

The great lakes exhibit on the main floor looks out onto Lake Michigan

glass floors let me see the fish swimming under me

Petting sting rays 

The Historic Third ward 

You can find the Milwaukee Public Market here along with some great restaurants and shops.  This is the art and fashion district of  Milwaukee.  It was once the warehouse district but has turned trendy in recent years.  There's great art scattered through out this area and is fun to walk through. 

Historic Third Ward 

Inside the Public Market

Milwaukee Zoo 

     This zoo is fantastic.  There are lots of open enclosures and the zoo is compact so you get to see lots of great animals in a very easily. This zoo is free is you have a membership with an AZA zoo.  Your membership gets you in but you still have to pay $15 for parking.  This is one of the better zoo's that I have visited.  They even have a miniature train that you have to pay extra for. 

The hippo came right up to the glass 

You can feed the Giraffe's here

They have a great collection of big cats 

I love how close you can get to the elephants

Orangutans are so fun to watch

You can also see the polar bear bellow the water

Old 3rd Ward

     This is the German part of town.  At one time Milwaukee had the highest percentage amount of Germans living in their city than any where else in the US.  You can still feel that heritage when you walk on Old 3rd Ward.  If you want to experience some really good German food or beer, this is the place to visit. 

Bublr Bikes

     This might have been my favorite thing about Milwaukee.  I loved their bike rental system.  They had bike kiosks all over the city.  You put your credit card in and select your bike and you can ride for .25 a minute.  When you arrive at your destination you dock your bike.  They have bike trails along the lake shore and bike lanes downtown.  This makes biking anywhere easy and cheaper than parking your car in a lot.  The kiosks had bikes that would fit maybe a 11 year old- adults.  So this option wouldn't work for families with young kids. 

Bike Kiosk 

Riverwalk 

Milwaukee not only touches Lake Michigan but the city has 3 rivers that wind through the city.  They have many great restaurants that sit on the river. So on a nice day you can sit and watch the river.  You can also enjoy the Riverwalk which is a board walk system of trails that let you walk along the river.  There are statues and art also on this walkway. One of them is the Fonzie statue from Happy Days. 

Hydro Bike

    There are all kind of boat rentals through out the city.  You can rent paddle boards or pontoon boats on the river walk.  Also, outside the Discovery Center you can rent hydro bikes or paddle boats.  If you have used a Bulr bike that day you can rent a hydro bike for only $5 for an hour.  It was a new experience for me and it was alot of fun. 

Catch a Brewers game 

     The Brewers baseball games are unique.  They have a retractable dome that they can close if their is bad weather.  They also do a great job of making the game fun with mascot races and there's always the yummy food at the park.  If you order a drink at the local bars they will bus you for free to and from the stadium. 

Joan of Arc Chapel

     On the campus of the University of Marquette they have a unique building that is worth seeing.   It's the Joan of Arc chapel.  It was built in France in the 1400's and brought over stone by stone and reassembled on the campus. The chapel wasn't open due to the pandemic but it was a cool building to see.  The campus is full of other great statues and buildings too. 

  

Fried Cheese Curds 

These little balls of goodness are worth the trip to Milwaukee alone. They are so good and served at almost any restaurant or bar. They are a must eat in this town!

Lynden Sculpture Park

This is a great little sculpture park outside of the city that is a very quite and reflective place.  It was free and pretty small but they have a nice collection of sculptures.

The Basilica of St. Josaphat

     This was one of the highlights of my trip.  I am not catholic but I appreciated this Basilica and think it is well worth a visit.  It is located a few miles outside of the city.  It's a national historical building so there are signs all over for the building.  The parking is free and they have a self guided audio tour this is $5.  When this church was built the only other dome in the US bigger than it was Capitol building in Washington D.C.   The church was built by the Polish immigrants that lived in it's community.  The Priest heard that a post office in Chicago was closing and they were selling the materials at a fraction of the cost so the church had it sent up on trains and the community volunteered their time and built the church.  They even reused the door handles from the post office.    

The inside of the beautiful dome

The Basilic 

The reused door knobs

Milwaukee Art Museum

This is me standing outside the art museum.  It was closed the whole time we were there.  But it's worth a visit and the next time I come I can't wait to see their art! 

See the place where Teddy Roosevelt was shot and then delivered a speech before going to the hospital  

Inside they Hyatt in Milwaukee is a plaque to honor the place where Teddy Roosevelt was shot.  If you're a history lover like me you get excited about these little gems.  It's inside the building.  They are use to people asking where it is. 

The Cheese Castle 

So the cheese castle is about 1/2 hour outside of Milwaukee but is worth the stop if you are coming into the city from the south.  It's right off the high way and they have a great collection of cheese from around the area.  They also have a restaurant and lots of other souvenirs.