Bradford Beach on Lake Michigan
My parents and grandparents drilled certain adages into me during my formative years — among them, “Never make assumptions” and “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Nevertheless, I’d dismissed Milwaukee as a beer-centric destination holding no appeal for me until this past fall, when I attended a meeting there — my first flight in two years.
Some niche visitors travel to Milwaukee for its outstanding Harley-Davidson Museum, the same way a niche of history visitors gravitates to Virginia. My reasons for deciding to visit the city — its size and varied architecture — had to do with similarities to Richmond, particularly culinary appeal and repurposed buildings (one former brewery is a hotel).
It’s an easy long-weekend getaway, with multiple one-stop flights available from Richmond.
In
Home base was Saint Kate The Arts Hotel. Many hotels have an abundance of art in public spaces and even in individual suites, plus music played at least three nights weekly in lobbies or lounges, but a real musical instrument — a ukulele — for guests to play in their rooms? Saint Kate has them, along with more surprising touches, including stacks of vinyl records in suites and ceramic bathroom sinks signed by their creators.
This was the first hotel I’d experienced with so many offerings in my room that I might never have left it if I hadn’t come to Milwaukee to see the city’s sights.
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Burnham Block
Out
My favorite activity was a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Burnham Block. Led by trained docents ($15, free for ages 16 and younger), it showcases six Wright-designed homes built in 1916. The houses represent the largest concentration of Wright homes on one block. Tour reservations are necessary.
Even if you’re not a Harley fan, you’re sure to appreciate the world’s only Harley-Davidson Museum (adult tickets $22). The exhibit covering off-road riding on makeshift byways before paved roads was my favorite temporary exhibit. There also are two floors of permanent exhibits, with dozens of preserved bikes, artifacts and details of H-D’s history and heritage.
The Harley-Davidson Museum
A friend raved about the city views during her half-day kayak trip on Lake Michigan. I opted instead for a stroll along downtown’s sandy Bradford Beach on the lake, stopping at Colectivo Coffee on the riverfront. I noted restaurants and bars with public docks for patrons to float or paddle right up for a meal.
Eat
In choosing Lakefront Brewery Beer Hall for dinner and entertainment — country music, polka — I first took the brewery’s 45-minute tour, during which the lore and jokes kept our group laughing as we absorbed beer-making facts and pours (souvenir glass included), followed by fried cheese curds, kielbasa and kraut as my dinner choice.
My choice the second night was a French restaurant, Bartolotta’s Lake Park Bistro. It was pricey compared to a beer-hall menu, but the staff is knowledgeable, and everything I sampled was superior, including an appetizer of Bouchot mussels steamed with cream, white wine, shallots, garlic and fresh herbs.
Don't Miss
As one who grew up along Virginia marshlands, my tour of the Revival-style City Hall showed the foresight of planners, who drove 2,584 white-pine pilings into the marshy land surrounding the Milwaukee River as the foundation for the eight-story building — with a massive open atrium in the middle and a tower at the end rising to 350 feet.
