Hey friends! I hope your week is off to a great start. I’m feeling like I could sleep the rest of it away already, as the past several days have been jam-packed and go-go-go!
Jeremy and I took a weekend trip to Milwaukee and squeezed in as much as we could over a day and a half before coming back a bit earlier than we normally would on Sunday afternoon, so I could dive right into preparing for and practicing a course I was tasked with teaching during an all-employee education day for work yesterday. I’m happy to report that everything went swimmingly – and has left me totally exhausted in the best way.
I’ll save you from my presentation on social networking and keeping things professional online (unless you really want to hear it!) and instead share a few highlights of our quick, whirlwind trip to Milwaukee! The main reason for this trip was to attend Bon Iver’s For Emma 10 Year Anniversary Show on Saturday night, but we decided to make a mini-vacation of it.
We left on Friday morning and were happy to have experienced such a smooth trip up north – even passing through Chicago wasn’t too stop-and-go this time around. Our first destination in Milwaukee was Beerline, a bright and airy café specializing in vegetarian options.
I was so overwhelmed with the menu that it took me forever to decide, and even then, I couldn’t narrow it down to one dish (because, come on, how often do you see vegan dishes with vegan cheese available?!) Our food and drinks were so good, we legitimately discussed the idea of coming back for another meal there later (we didn’t, but happily would have!)
We recommend the loaded nachos, chickpea chorizo tacos, beermosa, and their homemade strawberry-turmeric lemonade.
We knew before even booking our trip that if we were ever in Milwaukee, we wanted to go on a brewery tour. There are SO many to choose from in the city! We landed on the Lakefront Brewery tour, though, as we had several friends recommend this one, and as it was just minutes down the street from Beerline Café.
The tour was so much fun! It hadn’t dawned on me until Jeremy brought it up that, though we’ve been to plenty of breweries over the years, we’d never actually gone on a tour through one, though we had done a winery tour before (Elk Creek Vineyards in Owenton, Kentucky – highly recommended!)
We had a really animated and enthusiastic tour guide, and a great group to go on the tour with. The space was gorgeous and there was such a fun history behind the brewery’s story, its building, and its owners.
From Lakefront, we swung by the Historic Third Ward – which is a twelve block area full of shops, pubs, restaurants, museums, arts, and culture. We will definitely be spending more time here when we go back, as we only managed to explore a few blocks before things started closing down.
If you’re in the area, we suggest grabbing a coffee at the Hudson Business Lounge’s Spirited Café (a really sleek co-working space), pairing it with a truffle from Red Elephant just across the street, and taking a stroll around to see what catches your eye. We ventured into a few shops before closing time, and passed by several food and drink establishments that looked very promising.
After it got dark and the sun went down, things got very cold, very fast – so we decided to check into our accommodations. We landed on the Aloft Hotel, as it was just around the corner from the BMO Harris Bradley Center, where the show was taking place (and because there was an awesome 40% off deal at the time of our booking.)
We were a little hesitant about booking our stay at a hotel, after having spent so much of our time traveling staying in Airbnbs over the years, but were pleasantly surprised with our experience and would recommend the Aloft if you’re looking for an affordable and well-located option in the city! We love that they allow pets, are within walking distance to so many attractions and restaurants, and that they’re environmentally conscious – doing what they can to make their space more eco-friendly. Rather than leaving trial-sized soaps and shampoos, they had dispensers in the shower, and if you opt for their “Make a Green Choice” (decline housekeeping during your stay) they reward you with a $5 voucher each day of your stay to use at their lobby café.
We spent a little time thawing out, then decided to knock out a little more adventuring before calling it a night. We hailed a Lyft over to the Pabst Brewery & Taproom and accidentally ended up exploring far more than we meant to, looking for this particular building, because the Pabst campus is massive. There’s a giant courtyard, a small, original pub, private event spaces, and a mansion – with many of the old building now being used for other purposes.
The grounds took our breath away, even in the dark! Once we found the new taproom and took a seat at the bar, Jeremy tried a flight, and we couldn’t resist trying some of the PBR fudge (so worth it!) This space had several board games, played great music, and had some incredible PBR-themed art in every hallway.
Our final stop of the evening was Fuel Café (the Walker’s Point location on 5th Street.) This eclectic little spot is described as a “punk-rock coffeehouse” and we fell in love as soon as we stepped food inside. They’re also incredibly vegetarian and vegan-friendly! This place definitely won us over on their drinks – Jeremy had a City Light’s Brewing Company Coconut Porter (maybe the best beer I’ve yet tried) and I was served one of the best-dressed Bloody Marys I’ve had in ages!
We recommend the smashburger, vegan sloppy joe, and fries.
As is almost always the case when we travel, we crashed the minute we crawled into bed back at the hotel!
The next morning, we started the day off with a chilly walk down to Brunch – a colorful breakfast spot with a jam-packed menu of breakfast dishes, including lots of specialty breakfast drinks. This is a rather popular place, but even on a Saturday morning, the wait was less than 20 minutes, and totally worth it.
I had a dish filled with all of my favorite veggies, mixed with shredded potatoes, red quinoa, and topped with chopped avocado and scrambled eggs, and Jeremy had the cheesiest omelette you’ve ever seen (it was loaded with cheese curds… hey, while in Wisconsin!)
We recommend the Wiscomelette, the Vegan Hash, and an iced Toffee Coffee.
Following breakfast, we made our way back to the hotel to pick up the car via the famed Milwaukee Riverwalk.
We found the Bronze Fonz (confession: I was excited to find this statue, but maaaaaybe didn’t quite know who exactly Fonz was), and stopped every few feet to look at various art installations, architecture, and the crazy amounts of ice that had formed atop the river.
Once we made it back to the car, we were off to the Mitchell Park Domes – Milwaukee’s botanical conservatory. I was so pumped we happened to be in town while they had their Alice in Wonderland exhibit in their main showroom.
The display was so beautifully done – down to the tiniest details. We weren’t quite sure what to expect when reading the description of this limited-time showing, but we certainly were not let down!
It was set up in a big circle in the center of the dome, so you can work your way around in order. The first page of each chapter is set in front of a display that portrays the scene at-hand.
After making our way around the main showroom, we walked through the two other domes – one was desert themed and the other tropical.
As a self-proclaimed plant lady, I was in my happiest of places and could have easily spent a few more hours there!
As we walked out the doors, we realized it was snowing rather heavily. We’d planned on heading back to the Third Ward to spend the afternoon walking around, but it was a bit too wet and blustery for that, so we ended up at Antiques on Pierce and found several treasures!
This is a four-story building filled top to bottom with antiques and collectibles. While we were there, they had an upcycled/local artist event on the fourth floor. If you made it up there and took some time to look around, you were presented with a wristband that got you 10% off you’re your total purchase, which was a wonderfully unexpected treat!
I usually love to peruse antique shops while we travel, but rarely walk out with anything. This wasn’t the case in Milwaukee, as I ended up with a pretty decent haul!
We realized after leaving the antique shop that time had flown by, and if we wanted to eat before the show, we should grab dinner. So we drove over to Palomino, which was just a bit outside the downtown area. This was such a cozy place, perfect for watching the snow fall while we chatted and warmed up over delicious drinks and food. I was also excited to see that they partnered with Honeypie – a restaurant I’d wanted to try but we didn’t have time to make it to – for their dessert selection!
We recommend the wings, veggie po’boy, fried pickles, and Honeypie’s key lime pie.
After dinner, we had just enough time to freshen up back at the hotel before walking over to the show at BMO Harris Bradley Center.
The stadium was far more massive than either of us had imagined, but even though we were in the “nosebleeds,” the show was everything we’d hoped for! Bon Iver has been a significant part of our relationship since the very, very beginning – the For Emma album specifically – so getting to experience this was so indescribably special to both of us. It allowed us an opportunity to take a stroll down memory lane and inspired both of us to set aside more time for our own creative pastimes, which is a push we’ve needed for a long while now! I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to experience the one-night only event (thank you, J!) and it’s one I’ll never, ever forget.
Milwaukee treated us very well, and we will absolutely plan a longer trip in the future – perhaps when the weather warms up slightly and the river is flowing again!
xo, Aly