Final Day Milwaukee: Lakeshore Ride and Greek Fest

All of our family that lives in Milwaukee and St. Louis all headed north today to go to Coon’s Franklin Lodge in northern Wisconsin. Bill and I could have planned our Milwaukee stay better to take this into account. So, we were on our own for the entire day.

While I was riding along the lakeshore on Thursday, I thought Bill might enjoy this. So, Bill and I set out heading east on the Hank Aaron Trail and then made our way south along Lake Michigan.

Shortly after leaving State Fair Park, we passed through the VA Hospital property. On the property are several old buildings from the VA, that are registered historic buildings. Three are under renovations to be used for veteran housing. The most impressive of the three is “Old Main.”

Opened in 1869, the building housed Civil War Veterans, who needed both housing and continued care. The old Soldiers home closed in the 1970s and the VA used the building in various capacities over the years. I actually was in the building several times when I was participating in a VA medical research study on high blood pressure. Undergoing a renovation, it will again provide housing to veterans in 80 planned apartments.

We headed toward the lakefront. Milwaukee has a series of parks along its lakefront, making it accessible to the public from Bradford Beach in the north to Grants Park in the south.

We continued down the lakeshore, stopping to try to capture a selfie with the city in the background.

Our turnaround on this ride was Sheridan Park. We had lunch at Lakeside Pub and Grill, a neighborhood bar and grill, a very popular concept in Milwaukee. There must be hundreds small corner bars that also serve food, the most obligatory meal is Friday Fish Frys.

Here I am a little closer to downtown.

We retraced our ride and stopped for a picture of the Polish Moon.

This 4 sided clock tower was the largest in the world until a recent tower opened in Mecca. Officially, the Allen-Bradley Clock Tower, now part of Rockwell Automation, was completed in 1962. Because of its close proximity to the lake, it serves as a navigation aide. Called the Polish Moon, because of the ethnic makeup of the neighborhood. Although today, it could be called the Mexican Moon, because of changes to the ethic makeup of the area.

On our way back along the Hank Aaron Trail, we passed The Twisted Fisherman, a local bar and entertainment center. Bill could not resist the photo op.

We chilled for a while at the trailer, took Mouse for a walk and headed to Greek Fest, which happened to be right here in the Fair Grounds Park. When we lived here, it was down on the lake front.

We walked the grounds, watched the dancing and Bill had a quick ride on the Tilt-A-Whirl

I was content to watch. That last ride in San Antonio Sea World left a “lasting impression” on my lower back.

We bought some Greek Bread to have with our left over pasta. The woman at the stand, could not understand why we would waste good Greek Bread on Italian pasta. She thought we should buy some “greek” lamb instead.

On Sunday morning, we packed up and headed north. Driving along I-43 north of Milwaukee was a drive through memory lane. Bill and I drove this daily from 1989 until 1998. We lived off I-43 near Cedar Grove for our first 9 years.

We did not drive by the house. We both don’t really like doing that. But, we did stop for lunch in Belgium at Hobo’s Korner Kitchen, a place we frequented. It hasn’t changed, except that most everyone that works there, were not even born in 1989.

We are now settled in at Tranquil Timbers in Sturgeon Bay. No, that is not a cemetery. It is an RV Resort.

We will spend the next few days exploring Door County.