We took in a Brewers game in August with the Brassers when their neighbor game them some good tickets. August was a good time to go to a game. Even if you didn't see a good game, you got one of these:
Yes, that is a $10 voucher which was given to every one who came to a game in the month of August. You could spend it on concessions or at the gift shop. So in addition to free tickets, we also got free food! There was some speculation that the amount that the Brewers spent on these vouchers was about equal to the amount that they would have paid Ryan Braun for the month. Nice that the fans got to enjoy it!
On the Friday and Saturday of Labor Day week-end we had the first of (hopefully) many outings with Roger and Sheryl, since we are all retired now. We call them
"field trips without school buses and kids." But we are kind of surprised to find how hard it is to find dates that work out for all of us, considering that we ARE all retired! Our first outing was to the Paine Museum in Oshkosh to take in the Chihuly exhibit. We really enjoyed it! It was great to watch the video that shows what goes on in his studio where these spectacular pieces are created. The museum was great, and we also enjoyed having Roger and Sheryl spend Friday night with us. Oh, and of course we hit a couple of good restaurants, too.
If Rog ever shaves his beard, or Bob decides to grow one, we'll have a hard time telling them apart!
I had seen an article in the Milwaukee Magazine about various trails---hiking, biking, walking---in the Milwaukee area. So one nice sunny day in early September, we decided to go check out one of these places. We chose Lion's Den Gorge Nature Preserve, which is right on Lake Michigan north of Milwaukee. We had a nice walk there and enjoyed the view of the lake from the bluffs . By the way, we have no idea how they came up with that name---there were definitely no lions to be seen! (and I was quite relieved about that!)
Yes, Bob was there, too.
The picture above shows our view as we ate our lunch. We speculated a bit about how it might compare in price to our house. And yes, we know that our house would come in on the low end of that comparison!
On our way home we noticed a sign for Cedarburg and the Cream and Crepe Cafe. Well, that certainly was calling MY name! So we took a side trip and enjoyed a dessert crepe there. No picture---I didn't want to be too cruel to my daughters.
The week-end of Sept. 21-22 there was an event in Milwaukee called "Doors Open Milwaukee." On those days there were about 130 buildings around the city that were open to the public. Many of these are building that you would not normally be able to get into or would maybe have to pay to get into. There were many on the list that sounded good to us, but we had to pick just a few. We started with a tour of a Frank Lloyd Wright home on the south side of Milwaukee. There are six of Wright's homes on one block, and this is the only one that has been renovated and is open for tours. There is another one currently under renovation, and the other four are occupied. The plan is that all six of these homes will eventually be renovated and open for tours, as they raise enough money for the project.
Our next stop was the Clock Shadow Building, which is quite a new building that has been designed with many "green" features. It includes a roof-top garden with a very busy bee hive. (sorry, no pictures of the bees)
The view from the roof-top garden.
From there we went to a rather new museum, called the Museum of Yesteryear. It is in a big old house near Marquette's campus, and each room features a different store or something as it would have looked in the 1920's. And our last stop was at the US Bank Building, which is one of the tallest buildings in Milwaukee. We were able to go up to the 41st floor where they have an observation deck. By that time the clouds had gone away a bit, which made the views a bit nicer.
Apparently people are not allowed up on the observation deck very often. Amy Jeninga works in that building and she said that she has never been up there. They do have a "stair climb" there once a year or so, to raise money for some charity, and the people who do that get to go up there---if they can make it! I was happy for the elevator. :)
And yesterday we had our second field trip with Roger and Sheryl. We went down to Oak Park, and toured the Frank Lloyd Wright home and studio there. It was very interesting! We had a guided tour through the home and studio, and had a great guide who had lots of interesting information for us. And then we took a walk through the neighborhood using headsets, to see more of Wright's homes and other interesting architecture. We ended the day with an early dinner at a restaurant nearby. A fun day!
(I sort of went out of order here---there were a couple of trips that will get a post of their own.)
