Hi, I'm James. And I'm Laurent. And today, we're in beautiful Milwaukee.
Because Milwaukee is only 1 1/2 hour from Chicago, we love coming here for weekend
getaways. There's so much to do in Milwaukee, from museums, to breweries, to cool neighborhoods. And
also a great lakefront. We think Milwaukee is a completely underrated city. And in this video,
we'll be sharing our favorite 10 places to visit in Milwaukee. So, let's go!
Number 1 on our list, has to be the Milwaukee Art Museum. It is a premier museum. And both the
building itself, and the art collection inside the building are spectacular. The museum is located
right on the lakefront, in downtown Milwaukee. The main pavilion was designed by Spanish architect
Santiago Calatrava. He is one of our favorite architects. Since then, Calatrava also designed
the Oculus, at the World Trade Center, in New York. And there are many similarities between
the two buildings, such as the white cathedral ceiling, and the Star Trek looking beams. But the
Milwaukee Art Museum has something that the Oculus doesn't have: The sun shading Brise-Soleil, that
opens during the day, and closes at night. When it's open, it looks like two giant wings, with
a wingspan of more than 200 feet. It makes the building even more spectacular than it already is.
Inside the museum, the collection contains 25,000 pieces of art. It goes from Renaissance
Dutch paintings; all the way to contemporary art, with a great impressionist collection,
that includes work by Monet and Caillebotte. Given how extensive the art collection is,
there will be something for everybody at the Milwaukee Art Museum.
And Number 2 on our list is the Harley-Davidson Museum. It's another museum, but completely
different from the Art Museum. Harley-Davidson is one of the iconic brands of Milwaukee. And the
museum features both bikes and Harley-Davidson memorabilia. And the big question is:
Will you enjoy the Harley-Davidson Museum, even if you're not a biker? And the big answer is:
Absolutely! Neither of us are bikers, and we still had a great time visiting the museum.
Harley-Davidson was founded more than 100 years ago. And they kept one of every single model, that
was ever built. The early models were fascinating to me. They basically looked like glorified
bicycles. But over the course of the 20th century, models evolved towards the Harleys we know today.
Another great section was the one about racing. Back in the days, bike racing was done on wooden
tracks. The wood would quickly deteriorate. And the track would also become slippery,
with all the oil spills. Riders even died on these things. It was really dangerous! What also looked
dangerous, were the hill climb competitions. These hills looked so steep! It must have been crazy.
Yeah! Another great section, was the one about customized bikes. Bikers go crazy with
their Harleys. And there were some pretty funky bikes out there, as well as some famous bikes,
like the one from Terminator 2. Or Elvis' bike. It is such an awesome museum. We highly recommend it.
And number 3 on our list, is touring a brewery. Milwaukee is a big German town.
And beer is part of the city's DNA. There are lots of breweries to visit in Milwaukee.
Some of them are small micro breweries. But you can also visit the huge Miller
Brewery. The visit of the Miller Valley plant is very well organized,
with signs of all the manufacturing steps. And we also like the historic aspect of the visit,
with the Gettelman House, that dates back to the mid-1800's, and the Bavarian-style Miller Inn.
There's a lot of different types of tours, and even if you're not into beer,
there will be something for you to enjoy. Some of the tours focus on the brewing process. And
others focus more on beer tasting. Me, personally, I'm not a big beer drinker. But I like technical
stuff. And I really enjoy seeing all the burners, and the chillers, and the tanks.
Another great option is to visit a distillery. We visited the Great Lakes Distillery,
which is 2 minutes away from the Harley-Davidson Museum. And the tour combines both the
manufacturing process, and liquor tasting, at the end of the tour. It was great. It was good.
And Number 4 on our list, is the Riverwalk. Just like the Chicago River runs through Chicago,
the Milwaukee River runs through Milwaukee. And in 1993, the city of Milwaukee decided to completely
redevelop its riverfront. And as its name indicates, the Riverwalk is a pedestrian walkway,
that runs along the river. It starts from the Pierhead Lighthouse, on Lake Michigan. And goes
through the entire downtown area, including the Historic 3rd Ward. Once completed, the Riverwalk
will be 3-miles long. Along the path, you will walk past lots of bars, and restaurants, with
sculptures, and street art, including the Bronze Fonz, one of Milwaukee's icons, from the 70's
sitcom Happy Days. The statue is life-size. And he was actually much shorter than we thought. On
summer nights and weekends, the Riverwalk is super lively. And it's a great way to discover the city.
And Number 5 on our list, is the Public Market. The Public Market is a building,
right in the Historic 3rd Ward, which is kind of like the Soho
of Milwaukee. And it hosts all kinds of restaurants and specialty food stores.
It's a great place to hang out, especially if it's raining or cold outside. You can
easily walk from downtown. Or you can take the light rail, which stops in front of the market.
All of the stores are small local businesses. And a lot of them offer artisan or ethnic food.
You can find artisan cheese, deli meats, fish, spices. And our favorite, was an olive oil store.
But even if you're not going to buy anything, the Public Market is a great place to visit.
And Number 6 on our list, is exploring the Milwaukee neighborhoods. Milwaukee
went through a population boom, at the end of the 1800's. And a lot of the buildings
from that era have been preserved. And because Milwaukee is a walkable city,
we love just strolling around, and enjoying the architecture. The core downtown has a
lot of Romanesque-revival buildings, such as the Federal Building, or the Pfister Hotel.
We also like the 2nd empire-style Mitchell Building, and many others.
But if you really want to experience Milwaukee's German influence,
you have to walk north, along the Riverwalk, to Old World 3rd Street.
This is where you will find several German bars and restaurants, including the famous Mader's.
And just south of downtown, is the Historic 3rd Ward,
where the Public Market is. As we mentioned before, the 3rd Ward is like the Soho of
Milwaukee. It is home to plenty of bars, and restaurants, and also plenty of cool stores,
and art galleries. It's a great place to wander around, with no particular goal in mind.
And just north of downtown are the Lower East Side, Murray Hill, and the Upper East Side.
It's a little bit too far to walk, but you can easily get there with the light rail.
We especially like looking at all the houses,
along the lakefront. And although it's gentrified a lot, it still has a cool vibe.
And Number 7 on our list, is the Basilica of St Josaphat. When we travel to Europe, in France,
or in Spain, or in Italy, visiting churches and cathedrals is always a big part of our trip. But
in the US, it's rarely the case. Because churches tend to be smaller and newer. And to be honest,
they're just not as nice as in Europe. St Josaphat happens to be a beautiful church. And it's right
here, in the Lincoln Village neighborhood of Milwaukee. St Josaphat was modeled after St
Peter's in Rome. And even though it's smaller than St Peter's, it's still a massive church;
the biggest in Milwaukee. Like St Peter's in Rome, St Josaphat has a huge dome in the center,
that's more than 200-foot tall. But what's most impressive about St Josephat,
is that there isn't a single square inch that is not painted. Throughout
the whole church, there are motifs, and sculptures, and stainless windows.
And even though there's a lot going on in the design, it doesn't feel overwhelming.
We went on top of the bell tower. And from there,
you have a beautiful view of the city, with the skyline in the background.
And Number 8 on our list, is the lakefront. Milwaukee is on the shore of Lake Michigan.
And the entire lakefront, between the lake and downtown, is made of parks, and beaches.
And the best way to explore the lakefront, is to rent a bike, or to just walk through one of
the many parks. When you think of Milwaukee, you don't necessarily think of a beach resort.
But Milwaukee has several beaches in the city proper, such as McKinley Beach, or Bradford Beach,
on the north side of the city. One of the fun things to do, at the end of Bradford Beach,
is to visit the North Point Lighthouse. The lighthouse is 150-feet high. And if you climb
the 84 steps to the top, you'll have one of the best views of downtown and Lake Michigan.
The lighthouse is also a maritime museum that is great for kids.
And Number 9 on our list, is the Pabst Mansion. You're never far from beer in
Milwaukee. The Pabst Mansion is a large house, that was built in 1892, by Frederick Pabst,
the founder of the Pabst Brewing Company. But the Pabst family only lived in the mansion for
16 years. It then belonged to the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, for the next 70 years. And in the 70's,
it was added to the National Register of Historic Places, was bought by a conservation group,
and is now open to the public for daily tours. The Pabst Mansion was built in a Flemish
Renaissance-revival style. And to be honest, it's not our favorite type of architecture.
But it's still a beautiful building, with lots of intricate details, and sculptures.
And what's really interesting about the visit, is that it takes you back to the life of
the rich people, of the late 19th century. And you can see both the owner's quarters,
and the servants quarters. It's got a little bit of a Downton Abbey feel to it.
And 10th on our list, is the Milwaukee County Zoo. Whether the zoo should be higher or lower on your
list, really depends on what you're looking for. If you're from a small town in Wisconsin, and
you're looking for things to do with your family, while visiting the big city, then you should
absolutely visit the Milwaukee County Zoo. But if you're from out of state, and you've already seen
bigger zoos, like in San Diego or Brookfield, and you're looking for things that are truly
unique to Milwaukee, then the Milwaukee County Zoo won't have anything, that you haven't already
seen elsewhere. The zoo is huge, and has separate sections for each type of animal, bears, giraffes,
elephants, and our favorites are the otters. And the penguins, they were so much fun to watch.
But there's a lot more to do in the zoo, than just watching the animals. One of the
big activities, is to ride the Safari Train, that goes all around the zoo.
Or ride the chair lift. I've never seen a chair left in a zoo before. Me neither.
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