Milwaukee: Wisconsin's major league city brews up good times on the glorious shores of Lake Michigan - City of the Month

Travel America, May-June, 2002 by Randy Mink

Most tourists view Milwaukee as a summer place, a northern city that comes out to play in June, July, and August. It's a time when the newly developed RiverWalk springs to life, and lakefront festivals fill the calendar. Families flock to the city's famous zoo and one of the Midwest's best state fairs.

Even in other months, visitors pretend it's summer. They shop in an enclosed downtown mall, ogle free-flying butterflies in a museum's tropical garden, splash around in a Caribbean-themed hotel waterpark, and view horticultural splendor inside the geodesic domes of a renowned conservatory. When it's raining, they can watch major league baseball in a new, climate-controlled ballpark sporting a retractable roof. Year-round, Milwaukee's got it covered.

Located in southeastern Wisconsin, on a bluff overlooking cool, blue Lake Michigan, Milwaukee lies about two hours north of Chicago. With a population of 600,000 and 1.4 million in the metropolitan area, it is America's 19th largest city. The Algonkian Indians called their land "Millocki," or "gathering place by the waters."

The baseball world will focus its attention on the Milwaukee Brewers' new home, Miller Park, when it plays host to the All-Star Game on July 9. Unveiled last year, the state-of-the-art stadium boasts North America's only fan-shaped, convertible roof, which--at the touch of a button--covers the natural-grass field in bad weather. Indoor temperatures can be up to 30 degrees warmer than outside.

At the end of each game, to the strains of inspiring music, the roof is opened or closed so that everyone can witness the engineering phenomenon in motion. Also worth a look are the concourse murals that depict local baseball lore and Wisconsin industries like dairy farming, brewing, and paper-making. Behind-the-scenes tours include the press box, a dugout, and luxury suite. TGI Friday's Front Row Sports Grill, which overlooks left field, is open 363 days a year.

Fans at the new park, built next to the site of the torn-down Milwaukee County Stadium, still enjoy Milwaukee baseball traditions like tailgating in the parking lots, eating bratwurst with tomato-based Secret Stadium Sauce, and cheering on their favorite sausage character--a brat, hot dog, Polish, or Italian--in the Sausage Race. Mascot Bernie the Brewer plunges down a long slide to celebrate his team's home runs.

Just as Miller Park's massive roof of glass and green girders has recast the skyline west of downtown, a dramatic addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum graces the Lake Michigan shoreline to the east. The exclamation point of the new, boat-shaped pavilion is a "flappable" wing-like structure, a moveable, louvered sunscreen that can be raised or lowered to help control both light and temperature inside. Shading the 90-foot-high, glass-and-steel reception hall, it has a span larger than a Boeing 747.

The museum's monumental, $100-million expansion includes new gallery space, a lakeview restaurant, museum store, and elegant gardens with fountains and water jets. Conceived by renowned Spanish-born architect Santiago Calatrava, the building was named Best Design of 2001 by Time magazine.

The RiverWalk is another shining example of a city breaking out big time, part of Milwaukee's $2-billion boom in tourism development. A stroll along the Milwaukee River reveals an area bustling with bikers, joggers, and entertainment in the heart of downtown. The winding course passes popular restaurants, brew pubs, and eye-catching works of art. Enjoy a lunch, dinner, or cocktail cruise on the Edelweiss tour boat or take a leisurely gondola ride. Rock Bottom Brewery has slips for 20 boats and offers music outdoors during the summer.

A few steps from the river is Old World Third Street, a little collection of restaurants, shops, and art galleries with vintage charm. Take a stroll down memory lane through this two-block fairytale "village," the last remaining portion of the original German retail district.

You can't visit Milwaukee without having at least one hearty German meal at a place like Mader's restaurant on Old World Third. At this baronial castle decked out with beer steins and medieval suits of armor, dirndl-clad waitresses serve up calorie-laden Teutonic specialties like liver dumpling soup, sauerbraten, and wiener schnitzel.

Across the cobblestone street, the walls of Usinger's meat market sport German verse and 1906 murals that depict sausage-making. Locals and tourists line up to buy the famous Usinger bratwurst, liver sausage, and salami. Beef summer sausage comes in the shape of a football or beer bottle. The Wisconsin Cheese Mart, a gourmet shop a few doors down, also offers distinctive mementos, such as cheese in the form of a cow, the state of Wisconsin, or a Green Bay Packers football helmet.

For a truly exotic experience on Old World Third, have a lunch of peanut stew at the African Hut, owned by a Nigerian. Or poke into the Spice House, a fragrant emporium offering vanilla from Madagascar, curry powder from India, and whole cloves from Zanzibar.