tell me about milwaukee

I'm pretty sure literally every good record store in Milwaukee closed in the last couple of years. Beyond that, I dunno...

I don't know enough to make worthwhile recommendations about live music or vintage stores-- maybe some else here can help you out with that.

The Union Theater on the UW-Milwaukee campus usually shows interesting things but they don't publish their film calendar until school starts for the fall semester. Right now they're closed for the summer, and otherwise the only film venues of note are the Landmark theaters on the east side, which are vintage buildings and really pretty, but just show basic new arthouse releases. If you come between September 23rd and October 3rd, the 2010 Milwaukee Film Festival will be going on at different theaters around town, but they haven't released their calendar yet either.

Any park on Lake Michigan is basically pretty nice. Lake Park and Veterans Park on the lakefront north of the art museum are probably the ones most worth checking out for a tourist.

Restaurants, I dunno. Comet Cafe has good food and drinks but gets incredibly crowded on the weekends. I'd recommend eating fish fry somewhere if you're around on a Friday for the full Milwaukee experience. Also, get frozen custard somewhere, preferably either at a Kopp's location (where you can also enjoy a delicious cheeseburger with the works) or at Leon's on the south side. Jake's Deli makes really good corned beef sandwiches during lunch hours if you don't mind going to the inner city to get it.

What else... The Lakefront Brewery tour is the most fun brewery tour in town and they make the best beer too. If you're a beer snob, I'm pretty sure that the best bars for that are in the bar district along Kinnickinnic Avenue, including Sugar Maple and the Palm Tavern. The best liquor store in town is Discount Liquor on Oklahoma Avenue. Huge, cheap, and they have a really choice selection of beers. And, um, I guess that's it. Milwaukee is a pretty nice place to be when there's leaves on the trees, so enjoy, I guess!

We are coming upon the best time of the year to visit Milwaukee - between the end of the summer into early fall. What types of outdoor recreation are nearby, I can't remember?

I don't get out a ton, but there are a lot of parks with mountain bike trails in southeastern Wisconsin. Maybe the Kettle Moraine region would be the best for that? Or just go out for a drive and maybe go up a hiking trail to a lookout tower like the one by Sheboygan. Also muskie fishing or whatever on any of the lakes in the area. It's the one month of the year that Lake Michigan isn't too cold to swim in, so you could do that or go parasailing or rent a jetski at Veteran's Park. You can also rent rollerblades at Veteran's Park and go up and down all the parks by the beach on Lincoln Memorial Drive. Bradford Beach in Milwaukee has a ton of nets set up for beach volleyball that are open free to the public. Also there are a ton of good public golf courses in the area.

Well, I'm a regular visitor here, but Milwaukee has certainly had its share of visitors. The French missionaries and explorers began visiting here in the late 16th century.

Hey, isn't "Milwaukee" an Indian name?

Yes, it is. In fact , it's pronounced "mill-e-wah-que" which is Algonquin for "the good land."

I was not aware of that.

This is a touristy thing but I thought the Pabst mansion was actually pretty impressive.

Also there's a massive used book store downtown. I don't remember what it's called but it shouldn't be that hard to find. MASSIVE.

If it's the book store I'm thinking of, it's godawful. The owner's a prick; the used vinyl is sealed with tape which ruins the jacket (they honestly think someone's going to make off with a $2 Sa-Fire record with no jacket???); and, worst of all, there's nothing to buy. It's full of disogranized junk, more a graveyard than a store (although the wiki above suggests that it's improved).

Atomic Records - Most of the record stores I loved are prolly gone but I'm sure this one is still going.

Ugh I should have done my research. Atomic closed six months before I wrote that! :( RIP. Here's a Popmatters requiem all about it.

thanks so much, folks, for all the recommendations!

i like going to Roots for brunch. love lisa's pizza too.

oh, and nessun dorma is my favorite bar in town. great food (inexpensive too), amazing beer/liquor list, and by far the nicest atmosphere in riverwest.

I still haven't been to the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milwaukee_Art_Museum, I keep thinking of the Calatrava thing as new. Seems like it would be great to try your camera out on.

Is Ren Books the same store that has an offshoot in the airport??? Because I love that place and wish I could fly through there EVERY SINGLE TIME I FLY AT ALL.

Also the Milwaukee airport has a bar with a smoking fishbowl/area right next to it, so you can take your beer in and smoke INSIDE the damn airport.

I attended a summer college program there in 1993, when I was 15. I made friends with these crazy punk dudes & we snuck out of the dorms one night & saw a triple bill of Ed Hall, Flipper & The Dwarves. It was one of the best shows ever!

These are my favorite things about Milwaukee, unless I'm confusing it with Minneapolis, which I may be.

iirc it is a good city for skateboarding.

Is Ren Books the same store that has an offshoot in the airport??? Because I love that place and wish I could fly through there EVERY SINGLE TIME I FLY AT ALL.

yup, it's the best airport bookstore in the country (maybe the only used bookstore in an airport?). i have fond childhood memories of getting sci-fi books there before family trips.

Also there's a massive used book store downtown.

I guess you were talking about Renaissance Books, but speaking of massive used bookstores in downtown Milwaukee, there's also Downtown Books, which is on Wisconsin Avenue east of Water Street and has a much better used comic book selection than Ren Books does.

Also, the UWM Union Theatre just mailed out their fall 2010 film calendar. Hopefully they'll update their website pretty soon. Lourdes, Trash Humpers, the films of Bruce Conner-- any of this sound interesting? Also, mini Kurosawa fest at the end of September.

I love that there IS a used bookstore in the airport, but I find their prices weirdly high and never actually buy anything there.

The Milwaukee Art Museum is great -- as you'd expect from Milwaukee, some good German Expressionism in the permanent collection, and as you might not expect, some good, weird folk art too.

I have always heard good things about Serbian food there, esp. Three Brothers, but have never been. I like the Polish restaurant in the Public Market.

Endorsing the art museum, with its flapping wings and fun and manageable yet extensive collection. The public market had a great lobster dinner (I know, not exactly local fare) for $12. Waterpark in the Hilton Hotel was great for kids and isn't just for hotel guests.

some good German Expressionism in the permanent collection

The Expressionist print room is my favorite part of the art museum by far. They have a gazillion of them in the collection and rotate them out on a regular basis.

Pretty sure my bf applied for a job there but it was a long shot and no answer (yet?). But hey, I could end up back on this thread, wait and see!

And by "there", I mean, Milwaukee. Not the art museum in particular.

http://www.cmftool.com/Milwaukee_logo.gif

Someone had to do it.

OK, I guess I was lying upthread-- the lake was cold as fuck this morning. I don't know why I thought it ever gets any better.

Anyone who lives there know if the weather is generally that much better than it is in the Green Bay area? Is there really a difference?

Heading downtown there this evening. Will try to visit the Safe House.

Okay, Safe House would be much more fun as a group and visibly intoxicated.

Okay, Safe House Milwaukee would be much more fun as a group and visibly intoxicated.

any ethnic recommends that folks could recommend? maybe something in the central/east europe category? or whatever.

i've had some really good tacos from trucks in milwaukee, but have never been to a proper restaurant

proper mexican restaurant, i should say

yes, i've heard people rave about Three Brothers, i think it's Serbian.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/01/us/murder-rates-rising-sharply-in-many-us-cities.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=first-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

76% rise in murders so far this year in milwaukee : (

this is not what i want to hear when visiting brew city

i'm visiting in August. were's a good place to go for beer??

Sugar Maple