Mom in Milwaukee

On the eastward-bound leg of this trip I could only stop for a quick dinner in Milwaukee before heading on to Columbus; heading west I made time to stay two nights and spent the day exploring the city with my Mom. A dozen years ago I used to visit fairly often when I lived in Chicago, but have only stopped in twice in the last dozen years. The city has changed!

We started our downtown trek seeking a book store, and found ourselves caught up in a charity walk/run. We continued our exploration at Milwaukee's Public Museum, which hosted a special community event for residents to show off their collections of... whatever. Stuffed animals, miniature tea sets, frogs, etc. I was delighted to chat for a bit with David, who proudly displayed his collection of early American photographs. He even made us a gift of a small tintype photo. (note -- Turns out David had attended a week-long Gettysburg seminar that my old school friend Joel recently attended. It's a small world!) My Mom is excited to participate in next year's show to display her massive collection of lions.

After the museum we hunted out lunch, and I was pleased to see the rejuvenation around the Historic Third Ward neighborhood. The area supports a vibrant public market, several small performance venues, art galleries, restaurants and bars, with condominiums or apartments on the upper floors of most buildings. It seemed like a very livable neighborhood.

We also visited my Mom's husband Okorie (aka Chief) at Bradford Beach, where he spent the sunny Saturday selling sunglasses from his push-cart. (His usual weekday for the last 20+ years is downtown at 3rd and Wisconsin. He's there consistently enough that you can see his portrait in Google Maps Street View if you enter 301 W Wisconsin Ave -- though you've have to mess with Street View a bit to find the right image. I needed to "walk" to 304 W Wisconsin before he came in clear. Look for the guy in a white outfit.) Bradford Beach was very busy for so late in the season. A live band entertained swarms of volleyball players and sunbathers at the tail-end of a sand castle contest. The sand was nice but the day was a bit hot, so we didn't stay too long.

After an evening of chillin' and laundry and cocktails it was nice to hit a real bed for a second night and then enjoy a second home-cooked breakfast. Though the stay was perhaps too brief for Chief's sensibilities, I really as eager to get back on the road with thoughts of hitting Seattle by the end of September.

(Photos)