Day 10: Wisconsin
Hello Wisconsin. First stop was Lake Geneva. After the Chicago Fire in 1871, many of the wealthy escaped the city and built mansions surrounding this pretty lake in Southern Wisconsin. It earned the nickname “Newport of the West” for the stately mansions that now surround the shore. Fortunately, they thought to keep the 26 mile walking path around the lake open to the public. I only did 2 miles but it was beautiful, no hint of the smoke that is coming from the Western fires all the way to New England.
Next stop was Kenosha, only 30 miles to the east of Lake Geneva. I wanted to see the place in the news recently for the police shooting and subsequent unrest. At first as I was driving in, I thought this looks like any other suburb, restaurants, a Planet Fitness and shops. It was only after I stopped at a park and set by GPS for Milwaukee did I come across the downtown area that showed the scars of the recent unrest., While there were many new boarded up windows, there was also a lot of evidence of urban decay, not far from the pleasant suburbs.
When I arrived in Milwaukee I headed to the Museum of Art which is located right on Lake Michigan and has a really nice collection ranging from 17th century Flemish Art to Andy Warhol. I also drove by the home of Miller Beer (no tasting or tours open) and the Brewers baseball stadium. Milwaukee is really nice. I can’t believe I lived for 1 ½ years, an hour away from here, and never thought to check out Milwaukee. Guess I was too busy memorizing the starting 9 of the Cubs.
Last stop was Madison, where I walked around the capital, nice looking city but all around the capital is evidence of recent civil unrest. Today kids were playing in the grass and it was very peaceful.
Podcast: I continued with Smartless today Maya Rudolph. I actually really laughed hard at today’s episode. The other host is Sean Hayes from Will & Grace. A good way to spend the first 45 minutes of the drive.
Book on Tape: finished the Pioneers today
Song of the day: Ain't Nothing Beer Can't Fix, Thomas Rhett
Beer of the Day: Spotted Cow, New Glarus Brewing (Thank You Suzanne Fiske)
Total Miles 230
We had the lovely opportunity to visit Lake Geneva about 5 years ago-it IS beautiful!
ReplyDeleteSafe travels!
One of my work colleagues lives in Ogden dunes - very much a funky beach town- they also have ski jump there too! Outrun onto a soccer field -might have rivaled Harwoods. GReat reading your journey.
ReplyDeleteReally smoke filled haze here today in Massachusetts.
ReplyDeleteBest beer/podcast/book-on-tape so far?
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