The River Walk

When I first moved to the city of Milwaukee almost three years ago, one of Dave's and my favorite things to do on a Sunday afternoon was to head downtown, take a stroll along the River Walk, maybe have some lunch at the Rock Bottom Brewery, and then visit Borders bookstore for a while. We hadn't had one of those Sundays in quite a long time, so yesterday we headed downtown.

The day was chilly but bearable. With the sun peeking through the clouds and the near 40-degree temperatures, the weather would have been downright pleasant had it not been for the wind. It hit us as soon as we left the apartment, and I had to turn back to get a hat to keep my ears warm!

As we drove along Lincoln Memorial Drive, we noticed that the waves on Lake Michigan were bigger than we had ever seen them. They were huge and white and BRRRR did that lake look cold! I decided to pull into a parking lot facing the lake so that I could get out and take a few pictures.

When I got out of my car, I noticed that there were quite a few cars in the parking lot and I wondered, "where are all the people?" Turns out, every single car was occupied and the people inside them were just sitting and watching the waves! The waves were pretty cool, especially when they crashed against the rocks and the walls and caused a big spray, but parking just to sit and watch them?



As for us, we snapped a couple of pictures and enjoyed the view for a minute, and then drove on to continue our day. In hindsight, I think perhaps I should have knocked on those people windows and said, hey! Visit my blog! There's more to do than this on a Sunday afternoon in Milwaukee! It was quite amusing.

Our next stop was Broadway Paper in the Third Ward. Being the creative type, this store is a little piece of heaven to me, even though I can't afford much in there. I love to peruse their colorful wrapping paper, funky stationery and party supplies, pretty invitations and journals, fun gift sets and my current favorite: their entire section dedicated solely to weddings.

I was in search of a particular chocolate brown guest book that I'd seen on the Milwaukee board on The Knot. From the photo I'd seen, it was rich-looking and elegant, with the word Wedding written across the front and tied with a pink ribbon. I found it right away, completely loved it, turned it over and - it was $72.00. I showed Dave and he just laughed, but I was really disappointed. Seventy-two dollars for a little guest book? My Lord! I guess when people are spending 20K on a party, they figure, what the heck - but you have to draw the line somewhere!

Needless to say, I left empty-handed.

We walked down Broadway back to our car, but first stopped in front of an old fire station to visit the fire fighter lounging with his dog and read the sign about the station. The Third Ward is filled with so many old, interesting buildings and sites - I love it down there. We debated stopping at the Public Market since we haven't been there since the opening weekend, but we decided to wait until another day.



Finally we parked near Borders on Wisconsin Avenue (and hit it up after our walk) and made our way onto the River Walk. It was pretty deserted, except for a few joggers, which is to be expected on a windy winter day. In the summertime, though, the River Walk is filled with joggers and walkers and people eating and drinking on outdoor patios, and the River is filled with kayaks and canoes and fishing boats.

We were pretty cold, but we still managed a half-hour walk in which we goofed off in a (real live) telephone booth, discussed (ok, who am I kidding? said "hey, look at that" to) some of the many sculptures, took quick peeks into the windows of several buildings and restaurants, and sat on a ledge and waved as two fishermen went by.



The River Walk is a really great asset to downtown Milwaukee. As I said, in the nicer weather it's a hubbub of activity, and for those who live, work and visit downtown, it's clean, accessible, and attractive place to take a walk or just sit and relax and enjoy the water and the city.

For more information, you can here, here, or here.

Comments

[David Ernst]

Back in the day, Late 1950's before endulgent parents and apartments, we teenagers would all park down there and watch "the submarine races". There was a police officer who patrolled those parking lots and he would shine his flashlight into the car to make sure that the girl had BOTH FEET ON THE FLOORBOARD.

[Andre]

As I get older, I've come to believe that's not quite why those police patrols are shining flashlights into the cars.

[parisian cowboy]

My girlfriend is from Milw and it's a pleasure for us to read your blog !