Matt and I are back in the Show Me State after spending 3 1/2 days up in Milwaukee with my friends Chris and Sarah. When we told people that we were travelling 6.5 hours to go to a state fair, we got a lot of crazy looks, but lemme tell you, it was awesome!!
The Wisconsin State Fair held every year is certainly not your ordinary event... Aside from the chickens and cows, there are tons of vendors, exhibits, and concerts to see. And of course the best part... The food!! We ate grilled cheese sandwiches, honey lemonade, apple cider donuts, the infamous cream puffs, root beer flavored milk, deep fried cheese curds, roasted corn on the cob, and deep fried s'mores just to name a few items... We don't recommend the s'mores, but everything else was fantastic! Matt and Sarah also rode down a HUGE slide and all of us took a ski lift across the fair grounds. The whole thing is so huge it fills the Milwaukee Mile raceway and surrounding areas. The weather was really perfect, too. It rained for a bit while we were at the fair, but cleared up in less than an hour.
While the fair was all that I expected it to be, I was really blown away by the rest of the city. Milwaukee has an incredibly vibrant downtown with a very active nightlife. They actually have a special park on the lakefront reserved for the practically weekly festivals!
After our arrival Friday night, we headed out for dinner at Elsa's which was very swank. There is a sister restaurant also in New York and they actually swap the art back and forth to keep the atmosphere fresh. In our efforts to try new foods, Matt and I split a pork chop sandwich, which was good (but not great). We went all out on the beverages, though. I had a yummy mango martini while Matt had his first experience with absinthe. It was banned in the US for a long time, but is now available in select bars. It's surprisingly sweet after pouring over the sugar cube, but with a bit of a licoricey after taste. Quite strong, though! From there, we headed to the much hyped Safe House. Sarah has been telling me about this place for years, so I had to see it myself. It's located in an alley without any signs whatsoever. You walk into this little vestibule, where you get this schpeal on espionage, then you are asked for the password. Well, Sarah and Chris of course didn't give us this information, so this bookcase opens to reveal a secret doorway, and we are left alone with the inquisitor. She makes us frisk each other in order to ensure that we are not hiding any concealed weapons and after she is satisfied, the bookcase opens. Once inside the bar, Chris and Sarah are cracking up..... Because it was broad casted all over the entire bar! From there, we wandered around exploring all the interesting details of espionage. The best way to describe it is kinda like the City Museum... on crack!
In case you can't tell from the dark pic, it says "Espionage .055km"
By the time that Saturday night had arrived, it was decided that we definitely did not have enough time to see all the sights, so we decided to stay through Monday. Then on Sunday, we woke up, picked up some breakfast and headed down to the South shore of Lake Michigan. It was incredibly beautiful with the waves crashing into the break water and the downtown skyline in the background. The dogs also had a great time playing in the water and with each other. Afterwards, we were able to fit in a quick trip to West Bend to see Matt's Grandma J. After lunch and more walking, we headed back to Milwaukee for our final evening. We stopped at a local discount market to buy our much needed cheese curds... $40 worth! Then on to dinner at Barnacle Bud's. It is located on a nearby river and mostly only patroned by boaters. Then after driving around a bit more, we checked out one more bar down in the 3rd ward. This area is kinda like Soulard, U City, and the West End rolled into one.
So, sadly it was then time to return home. We really did fall in love with the city and we hope to return very soon. I will be uploading pics tonight, so you can also check out my facebook account to see them all!
