STILL in Milwaukee

August 21 – Uh oh!  Both of us received a recorded message call to our phones at the same time this morning!  It was the ferry company letting us know all ferries for today were cancelled due to 7 -10 waves on the lake.  Crap!  We had said yesterday we could have used another day, so looks like we’re going to get it.

First thing was to call the front desk and extend our room another night.  Then to call Enterprise and let them know we were keeping the car another day.  We called the ferry and told them we wanted to try for tomorrow.  Once those tasks were completed we went for breakfast.  They pretty much have the same things as Comfort Inn.  They had bacon today

A Frank Lloyd Wright House

and more waffles, fresh fruit, 2 types of eggs and hash browns, plus oatmeal, boxed cereal and pastries.  No one was going hungry.

We started our day by going to see the Frank Lloyd Wright American Build homes.  He designed them to be economical homes.  Some were single

Single family house

family and some were 2 family condo type houses.  If you know his work you can tell immediately that they are his design.  Some are privately owned and some are in a foundation but they were not open to the public today.  Surprise, surprise!

Inside the dome

Closer in to the city is the St. Josephat Basilica that I read was really worth seeing so that was out next stop.  It is breathtaking!  It reminds you of the old churches and cathedrals in Europe.  The stained glass, the painted dome, the overly ornate columns, walls and niches are so European.  The gentleman working in the

One of the stained glass
windows

gift shop was very informative regarding the hierarchy of the church.  Pictures do not do it justice, for sure. 

Time for lunch!  Where to go?  We decided to hunt up one the places that honor the Miller tokens and ended up kind of down

The Basilica

town.  We both had the brisket and it melted in our mouths.  Wow!  I had a Blue Moon with my lunch and gave the other token to our server.

As we were pulling out of our parking spot we noticed a “going out of business” sale so re-parked and went to check it out.  This was a Boston Store, part of the Younkers stores.  We spent a little time there and boy was it getting down to the nitty gritty.  I bought 2 tops and a couple other things at such a good price!

I googled used book stores and found there were 2 big ones in the area, but one was literally at the airport and we didn’t want to deal with airport parking and all that so we went to the other one.  It reminded us of Bookman’s in Tucson.  We left with 20 used books!  Yeehaw!

For dinner we went to El Bizo, a Mexican place.  Neither of us was very hungry so Bill got their taco special and I had a tamale and a fish taco, no beans, no rice and that was plenty. 

We did most of our packing as we bought way more stuff than we can carry on, so we planned to check my cooler bag and our duffel and carry on the rest of our stuff in a heavy duty shopping bag.  The question is:  will the ferry run tomorrow????

It was nice to lay in bed and read, very relaxing!

Back in Wisconsin

August 20 – We decided last night that this motel was fine for where we were headed today, but it was too far from the stadium and ferry for leaving.  So I cancelled our second night here and booked a Hampton Inn near the airport.

We enjoyed a waffle breakfast along with sausage, fruit, sweet rolls, the works!  Well, we didn’t have it all but it was a nice way to start the day!

First stop today was Port Washington, however, we spotted a St Vincent De Paul thrift store and had to check it out.  That place was awesome and huge.  There were 6 rooms of stuff.  It was very well organized and their pricing is always good.  I like the one in Clermont when I get a chance to go to it.

Port Washington
Lighthouse

Port Washington
Breakwater Lighthouse

Back on the road, we had no problem finding the 2 lighthouses in Port Washington.  Once you get into town they have great signage directing you to what you’re looking for.  We went to the Port Washington Lighthouse which is on the mainland but of course, it is only open on the weekends.  What else is new?  Then we went back down into the town and parked at the breakwater.  You can see the Breakwater Lighthouse but it was better to walk out and get a good view.  Bill went half way and then worried about us leaving our wallets, etc in the car so he went back.  It’s about ½ mile to the lighthouse and when I got out there I was all by myself.  It was windy out there but super cool!

Not far was a cheese factory, our only chance for one close by, so we went to Cedar Valley Cheese factory and shop in Belgium.  The place was packed!  They offered lots of samples and Bill mistakenly got some super hot cheese.  Smoke was coming from his ears!  The only way to stop it was for him to have an ice cream!  Well, that’s his story!

We bought several kinds of cheese and a log of summer sausage and got back on the road heading somewhat south.  I’ve been on a search for the perfect rain jacket and found the right one, just not the right color, so I brought with me in case we were near a Cabela’s.  I was very excited that they had the exact style in a teal so we did an even exchange and were on our way.

Since we had some gift cards we decided to stop for lunch at Cracker Barrel.  Not my favorite place but it was free so, why not?  Service was terribly slow and they were not that busy.  As usual everything was over cooked.

One of the many Miller buildings

Fermentation tanks, I think

Next stop is the Miller Brewery where we got on the next tour.  They have a gift shop, of course.  The tour is about an hour.  It’s all walking and there are 46 steps up and then back down.  We got to see one of the packaging areas, the warehouse, then the area where some of the fermentation tanks, and hops tanks, etc are.  The end of the tour is an outside Beer Garden!  They give you 3  6 ounce pours.  The first is always Miller Lite, then you get to choose from 4-5 other beers they make.  Then they give you 2 wooden tokens and a list of local places you can turn in the token for your choice of Miller beers.  I’m not a beer drinker so I had my Miller, then had them do a Radler, and then I had a Leinenkugal Summer Shandy. 

Our new hotel wasn’t far so we went ahead and checked in and unloaded the car.  We took a bit of a rest and then headed to the stadium for the 7:00 Reds vs. Brewers game.  We

Miller Park

ordered preferred parking with our tickets so that was nice.  We were in the second lot out but that’s close compared to others.  Our seats were excellent but it was sad to see the Reds lose!  We had lots of unhealthy food for dinner!

Time for a good night’s rest!