August 28 - 31 - Lake Michigan, Milwaukee and southern Wisconsin

I wanted to see as much of the shoreline as I could before I left Lake Michigan so spent several hours driving from Potawatomi State Park down the scenic route to Milwaukee, and from there across to our campground.  From there I went back to the Madison area for our last couple of nights - it was the beginning of the Labor Day weekend and getting a reservation was tricky, and they gave me one in a spot I thought we could live with.


Route Maps

route on Wednesday the 28th

close-up of Milwaukee route on the 28th

route on Friday the 30th

Campgrounds

* Country View Campground, Mukwonago - Decent campground that looks like it used to be a KOA, based on the main building; family-run operation with teenage girls behind the counter and the dad sitting in an easy chair watching TV.  But they were all pleasant and polite and helpful, and the campground was more comfortable than I'd thought at first.  The front section has very few trees, and the back section is nothing but trees.  But I got the campsite I wanted and there was plenty of room to walk the dogs, so who can complain.

* Madison/DeForest KOA - I was back at this campground I'd stayed in earlier in the month.  It's still comfortable, even though it was jam packed for the holiday weekend.  But there was one odd thing - I've worked out a schedule for walking the dogs that has so far avoided almost all other dogs, and here it didn't work.  It seemed like nearly half the campground had one or more dogs with them, which upped my chances anyway of seeing one.  But even on my early walks when I can always be assured of being alone, I'd see one or two or three dogs each walk.  It was crazy.  I mean, how many people would you expect to see walking their dogs at 5:45 in the morning?  I'll be so glad when this holiday weekend is over.  And even more glad when people stop this silly camping hobby until next summer.


Comments from the road

I finally passed a field of this crop I've been seeing growing throughout Michigan and Wisconsin located where I could stop and take a photo without risking a car wreck.  I still don't know what it is, but maybe Kris's idea of soybeans is the right one.

I saw 4 Blue Jays together, which is pretty unusual for me and I was glad to see them.  Maybe a family.

I passed through the town of Algoma, population 3,100, and saw some large murals about local history.  There aren't any photos online that I can use, so I'm sorry I didn't stop to take any myself.  There are a couple at this link that you can see, if you want.   doorcountypulse.com/the-murals-of-algoma

The wind was really blowing hard today from west to east, making driving a challenge to drive southward.  I didn't turn westward until the afternoon, when the wind had died down at least a bit.

Continuing the names-like-Alaska trend I mentioned the other day, I passed through the town of Alaska today, where I saw the Alaskan Supper Club and Motel.  And the town of Two Rivers (south of the even smaller town of Two Creeks) is home to Machute's Supper Club.  What is this "supper club" thing?

Some tourist-service government person was being interviewed on the radio about places people could go for Labor Day weekend, and she pointed out many people [including me] don't realize that freshwater bodies can produce beaches and that Wisconsin has many really nice ones.

Along those lines, the city of Sheboygan calls itself the Malibu of the Midwest, and claims to have the best surfing on the Great Lakes, especially in midwinter [when any sane person would be sitting inside with a hot toddy].

I also heard that the Lake Michigan Flyway is very active during bird migration and 234 species have been spotted in the area.

Kewaunee County advertises itself as offering "The Good Life on a Great Lake."

I passed the Luxembourg American Museum.  Didn't know there is one, did you?

I saw a bumper sticker on the car of a young black man that said, "The Hippies Were Right."  And there you have it.

Jefferson County, where my campground is, has a sign saying it's "Dementia Friendly."  I have no idea what that's about.


Milwaukee

I was so far behind in the blog postings that I hated to take the time to see anything else, but I also hated to leave Wisconsin without having seen anything at all of its largest city, other than the state fairgrounds.

front of the Milwaukee Public Market

mascot

I saw somewhere that Milwaukee has a public market and thought it might be like Seattle's or Philadelphia's so decided to go.  I was a little daunted when I saw it doesn't open until 10 AM - most city's markets open earlier - but still decided it was worth a shot.  But when I saw the front of the building I changed my mind.  You can see in this photo how very attractive and civilized it is, with all the tables and umbrellas for people to sit outside with their coffee or lunch.  I was expecting something much more functional, grittier I guess, and lost interest in seeing the inside.  It's an old market, as maybe you can tell from the mascot on the sign, so maybe I should have given it a chance.  But instead I walked the dogs around for a while and left to go for a bit of a driving tour.

This photo (below left) of the city hall just presented itself while I was sitting at a red light, and I never got a better view.  The building dates back to 1895 and was the tallest building in town for the next 80 years or so.

The Menomonee River runs all the way through town - I guess the city built up on its banks, because the river empties into Lake Michigan not far from where I took this photo (below right).  So there are bridges everywhere and it makes the city very pleasant to me.

Menomonee River in Milwaukee

Milwaukee City Hall

I'd heard that Milwaukee had mansions along the lake shore - a slight twist on the house-between-road-and-water routine - and I decided to try to find them.

They're there, all right.  Miles of them.  Some of them were far enough from the road that they had a lot of landscaping as a buffer, but others were on a much narrower strip of land.  Some clearly qualified as mansions, while others were just very very nice houses.  Here's a small sample.

the water is barely visible in rear

the nothing behind the house is Lk Michigan

gives you an idea of the sort of cozy homes they have

From somewhere I'd heard that one of Wisconsin's contributions to the country's cuisine is the butter burger, which is (no surprise) a hamburger patty cooked with a pat of butter on it.  The originator of this culinary delight is reputed to be Solly's Grille in Milwaukee, so that's where I went.

I ordered Solly's Original.  The very nice waitress gave me a choice of cheese or no cheese, and boiled onions or no boiled onions.  I'd heard that the onions are part of the deal so went for them, but decided that burgers and butter were rich enough without the cheese.  And this photo shows what I got.  Very greasy paper and greasy burger with no condiments whatever - just bun, burger, butter, onions and grease.  It was good but certainly not something I'd go out of my way for ordinarily.  Or order again, for that matter.

But I did get one great thing out of it - the menu said they serve Sprecher's Root Beer which, they claimed, is America's best and made only 2 blocks away.  So I ordered it and it really is good root beer.  And when I was walking the dogs later, I found the Sprecher's facility, scarcely even 2 blocks away.  And a sign said they offer tours, which is certainly something I'd want to do when I come back.

Solly's is the kind of place where they have a sign: "Our credit manager is Mrs. Helen Waite.  If you want credit, you can go to Helen Waite."

I passed the former Schlitz Brewing Co., including a building with an onion dome, though I didn't take a photo and can't find an uncopyrighted one online.  Schlitz was once known as "The Beer That Made Milwaukee Famous" so I think it's sad that it scarcely exists anymore.  The company was sold several times and, over the years, the original beer recipe was lost.  When Pabst bought it, they reverse-engineered it and began producing it again, though not in Milwaukee.  The buildings now are part of something called Schlitz Park, which seems to be a conglomeration of things, though if it includes a park I didn't see it.

I saw somewhere that the Miller Brewing Co. offers tours of its packaging and shipping center, but that doesn't sound as interesting to me as the brewing end so I didn't check further.

I drove for several hours in the morning and had a couple more hours of driving ahead in the afternoon so didn't stay in town very long.  But I can say that I liked it a lot, it gave me a good feeling for some reason, and I'd be glad to go again sometime when I have more time.