Lake Michigan Road Trip 2017: Milwaukee bus tour

Photos.

The first (and, in this case, probably only) time we visit a city, we often take a bus tour to give us the "lay of the land" and a decent overview of the area. I had read good reviews of  this one so we gave it a shot. As instructed, we met under the famous clock at Milwaukee City Hall Friday morning at 10:00 a.m.

Several tour members were already waiting when we arrived about ten minutes early, including Pastor John, a clergyman from a suburban church who had lived in the city for about 15 years, a couple from Menomonie, a young woman from Tomah, and a professor from Long Island who drove in for the day from Chicago, where she was attending a conference. Another five people arriving late on the train joined the tour about 15 minutes later.

Black Cat Alley

Our tour guide, Mike (the one in the reviews) arrived promptly a few minutes before ten and we immediately visited City Hall. The building is beautiful and I would have liked to stay a little longer han we did.

Milwaukee Museum of Art

Our stops were frequent and fairly interesting,  I particularly liked Black Cat Alley and the Milwaukee Art Museum, a stunning space built with dynamic "wings" that move several times a day. The views of Lake Michigan were lovely on this sunny morning. I enjoyed the drive along public parkland that extends all along the shore within the city limits, with free parking everywhere.

Our tour ended at the Lakefront Brewery. Bob thought that spending the last hour of the tour at a brewery was "killing time", but I enjoyed it. I had two small glasses of the East Side Bavarian dark lager. Delicious: rich but not too heavy. Bob had a glass of beer with a "grapefruit" flavor that he didn't particularly like.

After the tour, we picked up a sandwich lunch (one chicken, one steak) at a Vietnamese restaurant that seems to have taken over a Subway space. The chicken was great and the steak is yet to be enjoyed, as we brought it home with us today.