Sunday, April 08, 2007

It's Miller Time

My grandfather always drank Black label Johnnie Walker and Miller High-Life beer. He never ever deviated from this combination except, on occasion, to trade up to red label. So when we ended up in Milwaukee this weekend, it had an air of destiny. Of course, it could also be that it's one of the few places within a half day's drive of the Twin Cities. Once you've done Chicago and Madison, that pretty much leaves Milwaukee.

About the huge swatch of rural Wisconsin one must drive through to get to Milwaukee I'll just say that "Git R Done" T-shirts and American eagle statuettes abound. Oh, and people smoke everywhere including in line at the gas station mini-market. People from Wisconsin are euphemistically described as "friendly" by we "frigid" Minnesotans. I guess we just need to feather our hair and "let loose" more often.

So what exactly did we do in Milwaukee one wonders. We managed to 1) see half of a Cubs-Brewers game (Cubs' fans = rowdy and kinda scary in a frat boy I'm-smiling-and-laughing--now-but-I-could-at-any-moment-become-agitated-and-violent sort of way) 2) take a brief driving tour of the city, which alternates between crumbling in a charming way and crumbling in a blighted way 3) see the Milwaukee Museum of Art designed by Santiago Calatrava. A-maz-ing. 4) eat at a Greek restaurant where the food seemed oddly German (let's just say the moussaka was heavy on the potatoes) and 5) consume authentic "frozen custard" at Bella's Fat Cat. All in all a very satisfying experience.

Would I go back to Milwaukee? Why yes, I would. After all, it's that or Winnipeg (prounouced winny-peg by G.) when you live in the TC.

Comments:
Even the Greek food is German in Milwaukee - I love it.

I was re-reading my beloved Minnesota children's series "Betsy-Tacy" recently, and was struck by one chapter in which Betsy visits a friend in Milwaukee, which is still so strongly German (it's set at the turn of the century) that it's like visiting a foreign country for her. No feathered hair then!
 
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