Schlemiel, Schlimazel

Day 1 Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA

Landed at 5 PM and took the bus from the airport to our hotel.

Walked around the corner to Monica's , a friendly, cold, dark, windowless respite from the very July weather. 

Headed to Central Standard Crafthouse and Kitchen for dinner 

They weren't kidding about it being a Giant Pretzel

Wrapped up the evening at Tied House

The drinks were phenomenal and we were entertained by the owner? manager? who was like a coked-up Ben Stiller 

Walked back to the hotel and got to bed about 11:30

Our suite at the Knickerbocker was larger than the main floor of my house 

 

 

Day 2 Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA 

Woke up around 4:30 and read my Atlantic magazine until Bhob got up at 6:15

Discovered the secrets of the hollow doors at the hotel 

What you did before Post It Notes were invented 

Got breakfast at Café at the Plaza 

Then we were compelled to visit Y-Not II, a bar that opens at 6 AM, not because we needed to, but because we could. 

Germaine the bartender (AKA Mama) has been working there for 16 years, and her aunt and uncle worked there before her. She's been a bartender since 1977. 

Walked to the river to check out the Bronze Fonz

He's short, and looks like my former coworker,Vince 

Went back to the hotel for the first of what turned out to be many shirt changes (80°F and 75% humidity), then made our way North, stopping at a couple of the Monica's bartender's suggestions (which were seconded by Germaine)

Brady Street was giving me Provincetown vibes

Found Black Cat Alley 

And stopped into a couple of record stores on the way home 

Cooled off, changed shirts, and headed West. The farebox on the bus was broken so the ride was free! 

They spelled it wrong 

Their corned beef is transcendent!

Arrived on time for our reservation at  Mosler's Vault  for a cocktail tasting. The drinks were fantastic but the bartender was pretentious and joyless, and there was not much air circulation so the small space got very warm.

"We have experimental jalapeno bitters at home"

Treated ourselves to a Lyft back to the hotel. We were a little bit hungry so we walked a few blocks to the convenience store to buy a couple of frozen pizzas. Our suite had an oven so why not take advantage of it?

Got to bed by 9

 

Day 3 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

Woke up at 5:30 so we could get back to Y-Not II and thank Germaine for her great suggestions for how to spend our Saturday.

Hung out there for awhile, then went back to the hotel for a breakfast of cold pizza.

Walked toward the lakefront and back, took showers, packed and checked out with 5 minutes to spare.

Filled some time at Fairgrounds Coffee 

Then took the bus (once again, no charge. Woohoo!) to Great Lakes Distillery

We'd planned to get a late lunch at Conejito's, but a sign on the door informed us that it was closed for some kind of staff member's day off. 

Luckily, we had a hot tip from Brendan, the Great Lakes Distillery bartender, that La Casa de Alberto was run by someone who used to be a cook at Conejito's. It was only a couple of blocks away, and still very near the bus stop to the airport.

Score!

The beer was ice cold and the mole enchiladas were sensational. 

Caught the bus to the airport and arrived with plenty of time. The departures board had no information about our gate, so we just hung out at the halfway point and waited.

Random Observations 

Everyone we had a conversation with had some kind of St Paul connection (they had just visited or were about to visit, they had a kid who went to school there, etc)

Apparently, Milwaukee is a very segregated city, but we were told that the place with the phenomenal corned beef sandwich is an exception; it's kind of on the border of the different neighborhoods, and all kinds of people hang out and have a great time.

FAQs

Why Milwaukee?

Because we had a soon-to-expire Sun Country voucher for about the same amount that it cost to fly there.

Also, we'd had one of the most enjoyable, memorable weekends of our lives here with Jay in 1985, when his band 2i opened for Fishbone at UWM.

During that road trip, we stayed at the Knickerbocker in a room with a closet so big that Bhob slept in it. 

Jay and I came up with an idea for a sitcom called "Room To Live": each episode was basically two people, two beds and a 30-minute conversation about nothing.

Once per episode, Bhob would groggily step out of the closet and say "Hello, everyone!" (or some to-be-determined catch phrase), and be met with uproariously applause from the studio audience.

This was years before Seinfeld. 

How was the weather?

Warm and humid. Highs in the 80s and humidity generally above 70%

How were your flights?

Short and uneventful. 46 minutes in the air there, 1 hour, 17 minutes back.

Return flight was delayed by about 40 minutes. The airline did absolutely nothing to inform us of the gate, and it's only through my obsessive walking up and down the concourse looking out the windows for Sun Country livery 👿

Then there was a fuel valve issue that delayed us another  

hour.

Then there was some sort of air traffic control issue that delayed us another 20 minutes.

However, we were haunted at MSP by the announcement that the flight to Omaha at the gate after ours had been rescheduled from 4:30 PM to 7:30 AM the next day.

Note to self: When flying Sun Country, make contingency plans and always confirm your flight status before leaving for the airport.

You get what you pay for 😕 

Silver lining: I almost finished reading my two-month old issue of The Atlantic 

Any highlights?

Friendly people, cool buildings, Y-Not II, and that corned beef sandwich at McBob's

Any lowlights?

Warm humid weather made aimless wandering less appealing 

Staying at a historic hotel meant no central air and the window AC unit was rather noisy 

Any surprises?

Everywhere we went, the streets and sidewalks were really peaceful and quiet. The whole weekend felt like a Sunday morning (yes, I realize that part of the weekend was indeed a Sunday morning). Germaine the bartender theorized that because there had been several big events the previous weekend, everyone was staying home.

How much did it cost?

I don't feel like calculating it right now, as I have two fewer hours to get ready for work tomorrow.

Maybe some other time.

Would you return?

Absolutely! 

Now that we know the area a tiny bit, it would be a likely destination to see a band we like that is playing in Milwaukee but not the Twin Cities