6/25 - 6/27 Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee was not what I thought it would be. I was expecting bars and brat stores every block, not to mention permanent overcast skies. Sure, there were very run-down parts of the city, but some areas were beautiful. The city and weather surprised me.


MILWAUKEE BREWERS GAME AT MILLER PARK:

Billy and I were 5 rows from the top... and it still was a great view.

The design of the stadium was very unique.

MILLER BREWING TOUR:

That's actually a bridge for the beer. Every case of beer they produce travels on conveyer belts moving from one building to the other.

Being that it was Saturday, not too much was occurring on the factory floor.

They estimate there to be nearly 1/2 million cases of beer in this one big warehouse that's as big as 5 football fields. Each day, the entire inventory is replenished on a constant rotational basis. That's a lot of beer.

Some cases in action.

The "Historic Caves" are where Fredrick Miller stored all of his beer in the mid-1800's before the invention of refrigeration.

The caves.

The brew house: at the beginning of the brewing process.

It was super HOT and humid in these rooms.

"WISCONSIN'S SUMMER SOLSTICE BEER LOVER'S FESTIVAL":

You might not be able to tell from this angle, but it's a little glass. After 3 hours of "sampling", it seemed like a full pint... I then started asking for a 1/2 glass the last hour.

This made my day. Former WVU b-ball star and current NBA player, Joe Alexander, spotted me wearing my WVU jersey as he walked right by me. He pointed to me and said, "Let's Go Mountaineers!" If he didn't call to me, I wouldn't have even noticed him. He's wearing a walking cast -- Get well soon Joe!

SPRECHER BREWERY TOUR:

Sprecher is the oldest (not very old - 1985) and largest microbrewery in the state. Very good beer.

I expected to hear a faint Rick Moranis voice, "Hey, hosehead.... let me out!" (If you saw the movie Strange Brew, you might understand)

We went to Solly's afterwards. It's known for it's great burgers. Apparently, Milwaukee likes to fry their burgers in lots of BUTTER! Disgusting, but quite good.

MILWAUKEE ALONG LAKE MICHIGAN:

We drove around near the lake and found really nice spots. There were amazing homes in the area.

Nice city parks along the water.... and lots of docked sailboats in the marina. It looks like Milwaukee is revitalizing many areas of the city.