Hello Everyone! Gosh, it’s hard to believe that we’re in the last week of August. I know that summer will last for several more weeks, but those fall colors are right around the corner. I’m going to soak up what’s left of the summertime with everything I have, but will also welcome fall with open arms when it arrives. I’m the kind of person who always runs hot, so cooler days are always a comforting thought. That being said, I want to be out of the region before the first big snows come so that means I need to put a little hustle in my step. I’ve been feeling really good lately though, have been getting to the gym every day and have tried to just enjoy the little gifts that each day brings my way. I’ve found the people of Wisconsin to be just as warm and welcoming as I remember them to be and have enjoyed being surrounded by people who try to enjoy life and see the best in things. That being said, they are also being cautious regarding Covid and masks are far more prevalent here than they were in Michigan. It’s been a good week and I’ve definitely started my time in Wisconsin on a good foot.
Before I get into what I’ve been up to this week though, I got an interesting email from my friend Matt, who used to be the General Manager of the tour company I worked for. With the closing of our company, he has changed roles to manage a different tour company which still fell under the umbrella of companies in the Travelopia brand. He has asked if I would be interested in joining a tour out west for a week or so to take some photos for their upcoming brochures. I don’t know if it’s going to work out, but it is certainly an interesting proposition and a solid week of paid work would be very welcome right now. I’ll let you know what comes of it, but don’t be surprised to get this newsletter in the coming weeks from Arizona! It’s flattering to be considered if nothing else. Now on with my travels:
I headed north from Kenosha last Thursday morning and stopped in Racine to buy a kringle. Racine has a huge Danish-American population and this is one of the dishes they are known for. The kringle is actually Wisconsin’s State Pastry, so of course I had to try it out. I think in most of the country, we would probably refer to it simply as a “Danish”, but the ones in Racine are on a whole different level. A proper kringle takes three days to make and comes out in a ring that’s about a foot long. I chose to get mine at Bendtsens which is just one of the kringle bakeries in Racine. I got a blueberry kringle and it was really delicious and took me three days to finish. My belly full of kringle, I headed on back to Milwaukee and straight to the Harley-Davidson museum. Harley-Davidson is definitely one of Milwaukee’s legendary products and I was eager to learn more about the history of this iconic brand. The museum’s exhibit began at the turn of the 20th century with a look at the founders, William Harley and his childhood buddy Arthur Davidson, as they tinkered in their tiny garage to build a small motor for their bicycle. They weren’t the first to do this, but their motor-bicycles would soon be considered some of the best in the world. In 1906, Harley and Davidson produced 50 motorcycles and ten years later they were building 15,000 a year. The U.S. Army put in an order for 20,000 Harley-Davidson motorcycles during World War I and the childhood friends were off and running. I really enjoyed this museum as it traced the history of the brand, not holding back when discussing their near-bankruptcy in the 1980s and the workers who banded together to bring them back from the brink. When I finished with the museum, there was some live music at their outdoor bar and plenty of Harley riders in the parking lot to enjoy it. I stuck around for a while and then headed a little bit further downtown for a wander around the Historic Third Ward and Deer Town. I got a brat and some beer-cheese soup at the Milwaukee Brat House and even found the statue to one of Milwaukee’s most memorable TV characters, The Fonz.
On Friday, I headed out to the old Pabst Brewery for a tour and a healthy dose of nostalgia. When I was a kid I toured the Pabst brewery often, as the tours were free and so was the beer afterwards (cokes for me back then). Since then, Pabst has closed down their breweries and now produces their beer through contracts with Coors and Miller. The main brewery has been converted into a hotel and apartments, but the old accounting offices in the historic “castle” have been purchased and turned into an event space, bar and gift shop celebrating all things Pabst. Since there isn’t much left to actually see of the brewery, the “tour” is more of a history lesson with beer, but it was exceptionally well done. I learned a lot about Pabst and beer production in Milwaukee as a whole as well as what kept them going through prohibition (ice cream, cheese and malt extract). When I was finished with the tour, I headed out to meet my uncle and his son-in-law to go to the Milwaukee Brewers baseball game at American Family Park. We had some delicious brats and beer in the parking lot before heading into the stadium for the game. They wanted me to see a presentation called the Bud Selig Experience which told the story of how one man brought baseball back to Milwaukee after the Braves left for Atlanta in 1966 and then went on to be the commissioner of the Major Leagues. It was only about 10-15 minutes long, but it was really great and paid tribute to the Milwaukee fans who kept the stands full and the beer pouring. The game was against my hometown Washington Nationals though, so I had to cheer for my hometown team. It was a good game and my Nats managed to pull it out in the end. It was definitely fun to be there with family and it’s always good to see some live baseball.
I slept in a bit on Saturday and then headed over to the library to get some work done. Then I headed back downtown for a bit to have some lunch and a few beers before hopping on a shuttle to Milwaukee’s Irish Festival. Irish Fest is traditionally one of the country’s biggest Irish music events, with eight stages set up on the shores of Lake Michigan. This year was a little different because there weren’t any bands coming from Ireland due to travel restrictions, but there was some great music nonetheless. I was definitely surprised that there wasn’t a Guinness to be had in the whole event, but there was plenty of beer flowing regardless. The weather was hit-or-miss all day with intermittent storms passing through. Only three of the stages were under cover, so when the rain came those were definitely the places to be. I had a heavy Irish meal of potato pancakes and bangers which made me tired and I considered calling it an early night, but then I found some upbeat bands which brought me back from the brink and I managed to catch the first half of the headliner: Gaelic Storm. One of the great things I found in Milwaukee was the proliferation of shuttles used to get people to and from events and games. Every bar I went to seemed to have shuttles pick people up and take them (for free) to the Brewers games, and there were also plenty going to Irish Fest as well. I caught one from the State Fairgrounds which made getting there significantly easier. It’s nice when a town will acknowledge that people are going to drink at these events and does its part to keep them off the road.
I had a very relaxed Sunday Funday this week, as it had been a busy week and I wanted to catch up on some sleep and get some planning done for the rest of my time in Wisconsin. I started the day by heading to the grocery store to pick up Milwaukee’s traditional Sunday morning meal – hot ham. Hot ham is just what it sounds like, hot deli ham, but you do get free rolls with it. In the South, most people eat fried chicken on Sunday after church but in Milwaukee, it’s hot ham and rolls. After my hot ham, I headed over to Sheridan Park which is right on Lake Michigan in the town of Cudahy. I got out my notes and my maps and my guide books and spread them all out on a big picnic table and looked at where I wanted to go in Wisconsin and came up with a rough plan. It felt great to get this done and made me excited for the month ahead. When I finished my planning, I headed over to a little tiki bar called Trader Nick’s which was right down the street. Nick was a great guy and I had a blast at this little bar, chatting with the regulars and enjoying a rum cocktail or two. It was a great way to end the day and the weekend.
Monday morning, it was time to get out of Milwaukee. I took one last, long cruise through the city which was really great. I saw some of the historic neighborhoods, drove past the old Schlitz and Blatz breweries and finally past some of the mansions in North Milwaukee before cruising on out of town. I didn’t go far, though, stopping in the cute little town of Cedarburg about a half hour north. Cedarburg is an old mill town straddling Cedar Creek which has maintained a lot of its historic character and small-town charm despite its proximity to the big city. I really enjoyed meandering around town for a while taking photos and then headed just outside of town to see the last covered bridge in Wisconsin. From there, I made my way further north to Port Washington, an old fishing town right on Lake Michigan. Port Washington has definitely maintained its nautical history, but was a clean and pleasant place to wander. There were two old lighthouses there (one from 1860) and a wonderful marina. I had a delicious perch sandwich at Smith Bros. and a nice walk out along the breakwater. By that point, the day was waning quickly so I headed on up the coast to Sheboygan for the night.
Port Washington Lighthouse
I started out my Tuesday with a drive around Sheboygan. While I respect any town’s right to reinvent itself, in my opinion Sheboygan has taken it a little too far. I kept thinking that a little makeup is nice, a little more and you might look glamorous but too much and you it’s hard to recognize what’s underneath. Sheboygan has a heavily industrial past, but today it seemed hard to find much evidence of those roots. It’s a clean and beautiful town and I have nothing bad to say about it but it didn’t do much for me. Up the road in Manitowoc, I felt just the opposite. They’ve embraced their malt-extract factory and their shipbuilding past while updating some areas and keeping the whole place clean and presentable. Definitely more my kind of place. I hadn’t planned on going to their Maritime Museum, but the World War II submarine USS Cobia out back changed my mind. I went on an hour-long tour with a former submarine cook and found the whole thing fascinating. I’ve been on submarines before, but this one was very well preserved/restored. The whole thing was so tight, though and our guide told us that there were 80 men on board and that the temperature was a constant 90 degrees or above. He said it was so humid in there that the dripping condensation made it feel like it was raining all the time. I enjoyed the tour quite a bit, but simply can’t imagine being down in one of those. My van never felt so spacious as it did last night. After the submarine I went in to explore the rest of the museum which went deep into the shipbuilding legacy of Manitowoc, including the 28 subs they built during World War II. There were also great displays on local shipwrecks, leisure craft and some great areas for kids to explore. I was down on the lower level when they came on the speaker and said they were going to move the upcoming sub tour up because of a weather front moving in. That tour never happened because the storm came in faster than was expected, and boy did it come in. Wind and rain and thunder and lightning which I was very happy to watch from inside the museum. The power went out for a while and I tucked into a corner and took a little cat nap. Finally the power came back on and I was able to see the rest of the museum, but the whole experience definitely took a big chunk out of my day.
I moved on up the coast to Algoma and saw some beautiful coastline as I went. Algoma is just a wonderful little town right on the doorstep of Door County. Someone there has a keen sense of aesthetics, and it didn’t go unnoticed. There were wonderful murals, beautiful old buildings and it seemed that most of the bigger businesses had lovely hand-painted signs. The beach was clean and well-kept and the marina was also really nice. The whole place just had a comfortable and welcoming feel to it and I really enjoyed walking around. I was rewarded for sticking around with a magical sunset, the kind that can only happen in the wake of a big storm like that. The clouds were lit up in a hundred shades of orange and red and pink. It was truly a special evening. It had been a long day, though, so I took advantage of the last of the daylight to head on to Sturgeon Bay which is where I’m writing to you from today. I haven’t had a chance to look around yet, but I’ll let you know what I find here next week.
When I’m done wrapping up this week’s post, I’m going to go out and have a little look around and see what Sturgeon Bay has to offer. I have a call I have to take a little bit later today and then I hope to head further north into Door County this afternoon. Everyone I’ve talked to simply raves about Door County, so I’m looking forward to seeing what all the fuss is about. I do hope to get out to Washington Island for a day at the tip of the peninsula and spend a few days just taking my time and stopping often to see the sights. From here I’ll be heading out across the middle of the state towards the Wisconsin Dells, Baraboo and then all the way to the Mississippi River. I’m excited to learn more about the northern stretch of the Mississippi as I’ve spent so much time on its southern shores. I don’t know if I’ll be all the way across by this time next week, so you’ll just have to check back and see. Thank you all so much for reading and for your continued support, for all the travel tips and corrections and for giving this journey an audience. It certainly wouldn’t be the same without you. Have a great week out there and I’ll see you in September.
-Mike