BY
JANET STEINBERG
The jewel of the Great Lakes and Wisconsin’s largest
city, Milwaukee has grown from “Brew City” to “New City”. Bold,
beautiful, and spectacularly progressive, it is the kind of place where you can
best experience the very spirit and values that built America. This city
of contrasts and surprises is full of cosmopolitan flair and down-to-earth,
Midwestern charm…where an art museum takes flight against Lake Michigan…where
the food scene celebrates James Beard award-winning cuisine alongside brats and
beer…and where a cemetery is a popular tourist attraction
The
very first place I had to visit was the Milwaukee Art Museum with its
breathtaking brise soleil by noted “Starchitect” Santiago
Calatrava. Calatrava, whose City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain
brought him world renown, is the son of an orange exporter with an aristocratic
Spanish name.
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The
Milwaukee Art Museum's $110 million Calatrava-designed expansion is Calatrava’s
first North American commission and a signature masterpiece on Milwaukee’s
lakefront. Described as a moving sunscreen with a span larger than a Boeing
747, the wing-like brise soleil is a dynamic addition to Milwaukee's
skyline.
The
Milwaukee Art Museum boasts more than 20,000 permanent holdings that span antiquity
to the present and include works by Degas, Monet, Warhol, and Picasso, not to
mention one of the largest Georgia O’Keefe collections in the world.
I
could have spent an entire day at the Milwaukee Art Museum, but there were so
many other wonderful museums to experience: A trip around the world courtesy of
the Milwaukee Public Museum; pop culture at the Eisner American Museum of
Advertising and Design; the Jewish Museum in the historic Helfaer Building; the
Grohmann Museum for a fascinating Man at Work Art Collection; and, for those
who are ready to rumble, the Harley-Davidson Museum helps you get to know the
muscle behind the machines.
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Milwaukee
also boasts of exclusive hidden treasures found only in this beautiful
lakefront city.
Only
in Milwaukee can you take a two-thumbs-up photo with the "Bronze
Fonz", the undisputed King of Cool. Milwaukee served as the setting
for the popular “Happy Days” TV show. In 2008, with the unveiling of the Bronze
Fonz, its main character, Arthur Fonzarelli, (aka actor Henry
Winkler) came home to stay on Milwaukee’s Riverwalk just south of the Wells
Street Bridge.
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| TAKE A PHOTO WITH “THE FONZ" |
Only
in Milwaukee, can you find a 15th century French chapel where Joan of Arc once
prayed. St. Joan of Arc Chapel, on Milwaukee’s Marquette University
campus, was reassembled stone by stone from its original location in France.
The chapel has a haunted history. According to legend, after praying before a
statue, Joan of Arc kissed the stone beneath the statue. To this day, it
remains colder to the touch than the surrounding stones.
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JOAN
OF ARC CHAPEL
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And,
only in Milwaukee can you check out the final resting place of the country’s
most famous beer barons in Forest Home Cemetery. Included among the
monumental family plots are those of Joseph Schlitz, Valentin Blatz, and
Frederick Pabst.
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FAMILY
MEMORIAL OF BEER BARON VALENTIN BLATZ
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BUY A FAUX
CHEESE HAT AT THE CHEESE MART
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We saw how
pizzas are made on a Palermo Pizza factory tour, and tasted the yummy results
after the tour. We lunched on the flavors of the Milwaukee Public Market, from
sushi to decadent desserts. And, when we got thirsty, it was off to Lakefront
Brewery, an award winning, green microbrewery, and Great Lakes Distiller,
Wisconsin's first distillery since prohibition.
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| MUNCH, OR LUNCH, AT THE MILWAUKEE PUBLIC MARKET |
Milwaukee’s
secrets are almost too good to share, but I’m happy to share them with you.
JANET
STEINBERG IS THE WINNER OF 41 TRAVEL WRITER AWARDS AND A TRAVEL CONSULTANT FOR
THE TRAVEL AUTHORITY IN CINCINNATI/MARIEMONT, OHIO
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