Once, I thought of Milwaukee as the ugly duckling of Midwest cities, a colorless runt with the grit of Chicago but none of its allure. Silly me. It’s true that downtown Milwaukee, during the day, is not exactly flashy.
Go to story ...Oak Leaf Trail, a 100-mile chain of paved paths, parkways and connecting streets. But the city also is surrounded by old Yankee mill towns and German settlements.
Go to story ...There’s one city in the Midwest that never will get too big for its lederhosen. Milwaukee, sometimes called the biggest small town in America, doesn’t brag — though it should. It has a swell baseball stadium, a beloved art museum and a beautiful lakefront. Gemütlichkeit, the German term for congeniality and good life.
Go to story ...On a beautiful summer day in Milwaukee, history's underdogs were having a ball. They were listening to pianists play Chopin. They were dancing an exuberant style of polka. They were tucking into pierogi and paczki. Call it payback time for Poles.
Go to story ...We all know Milwaukee for its beer, bratwurst and oompah bands. But not many people know it’s also a great place for bicycling. Sure, there’s a constant stream of bicyclists on the lakefront stretch of the Oak Leaf Trail. From Lake Michigan, bicyclists can veer off onto a secluded stretch of the Milwaukee River or head toward Miller Park on the Hank Aaron Trail.
Go to story ...For people who love beer, there’s no better place to drink it than in a brewery. In 1880s, beer-loving Milwaukee had more than 80 of them. Three became national giants, giving Milwaukee the nicknames Beer Town and Suds City, but only one survived. That’s Miller, acquired in 1969 by Philip Morris and now part of Molson Coors. Schlitz closed in 1981, and Pabst in 1997.
Go to story ...Until recently, my memories of college dorms mostly involved sloppy drunks, sloppier roommates and a bathroom shared by the whole floor. Then my husband and I stayed at Marquette University in Milwaukee. It was as quiet as a cathedral, and we had a private bath and a panoramic view of the city from our 17th-floor picture windows.
Go to story ...No one ever accused Milwaukee of being flashy. Best known for tractors, motorcycles and beer, it’s a meat-and-potatoes kind of town, stolid and practical like the Germans who built it. It’s not what you’d call a trendy destination. And yet every time I go there, I have a great time.
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