Earlier this month, I returned to Milwaukee (my hometown) for the first time in six years to meet up with my parents (who also now live in another part of the country) and a few old friends. Predictably, Laverne and Shirley (and The Bronze Fonz) remain the city’s most recognized cultural touchstones, as seen in this tableau across from the elevators in my hotel.
The weather was gorgeous for this time of year, so I skipped some of the more touristy indoor places I was considering visiting (including the soon-to-be-moved Milwaukee Public Museum). However, I couldn’t resist the Milwaukee Public Market.
This Third Ward perennial actually didn’t open until about a decade after I left town. I’m afraid don’t know the story behind the giant rooster watching over all the stalls.
An anchor of the market, St. Paul Fish Company also has a location in suburban Mequon (which we had lunch at the following day, in search of decent seafood in the area.)
Seen on the staircase at the market. The big Allen-Bradley clock in Walker’s Point (often nicknamed “The Polish Moon”) is as much of a Milwaukee landmark as the Citgo sign is one for Boston.
After the market, we headed over to the East Side and Brady Street, picking up pasta and focaccia at Glorioso’s and Italian cookies from Sciortino’s. Decades on, Art Smart’s Dart Mart (and Juggling Emporium) endures (as does the city’s distinct, classic “harp” streetlights and those black bus shelters.)
On to West Allis for a Friday Fish Fry at Kegel’s Inn, a meal no trip to Milwaukee is complete without. I can’t find great German cuisine in Boston, so it’s always a treat to get my fill of potato pancakes and Hacker-Pschorr here.
Each time I go to Kegel’s, I notice something I haven’t before, such as the detail in these stained-glass windows.
That evening, we met up with a dear friend at Le Reve in Wauwatosa Village, which had excellent cocktails, good mussels and a display case full of tasty French desserts.
Following our lunch in Mequon the next day, we drove north to Cedarburg where I had not been in over a decade. We took a walk down the Washington Avenue Historic District and all the cream-colored brick buildings stood out to me in ways they hadn’t previously.
The vivid blue skies provided a striking contrast to these 100+ year old structures.
Naturally, we ended up at the Cedar Creek Settlement Shops, which I did not take any pix of this time. Here’s the Milwaukee River, which runs behind it, although this was taken a few blocks further south.
For dinner on Saturday night, we tried Jack Pandl’s Whitefish Bay Inn, a historic restaurant that my parents and I somehow had never previously visited (I do remember going to the now-defunct George Pandl’s in Bayside.)
Our party of five was seated at a large round table near the bar, decked out in knickknacks one would likely only expect to find in Wisconsin.
Whitefish Bay is a rather affluent suburb, so it’s a hoot to see one of its most venerable establishments decked out in dinky taxidermy plaques.
If any classic beer brand screams Wisconsin, it’s not Miller or Pabst, it’s Schlitz!
Recovering from our brandy old-fashioned soaked evening at Jack Pandl’s, we took it easy on Sunday: a stop at Kopp’s Frozen Custard, then an early evening walk at Grant Park on Lake Michigan in South Milwaukee. I hadn’t been there in nearly two decades. This gingerbread house-like bridge has always been one of my favorite places in the area (even if someone drew a dick on it, as partially shown above.)
After crossing the bridge, one is led through a series of paths, stairways and other bridges along a ravine.
The end point is a small beach on the Lake. This was my “ocean” growing up and it was a thrill to return.
On our last day, I made a run to Irving Place Records and then down to Colectivo on Lincoln Memorial Drive for a smoothie and rest and relaxation on their massive patio. Although I’ve now lived in Boston for most of my life, Milwaukee will always remain a part of me. It’s nice to know that I can always go back for a few days, even if my heart’s now fully in another city.
Haunted Jukebox 