Thanks Yelp, for the tickets. Without you, my husband and I probably would not have made it to this…read moreyear's event. The one building that we wanted to see was the Frank Lloyd Wright-built house on the corner of Burnham St. and Layton Blvd. The line to tour the house, as expected for any FLW tour, was long and moved slow and that was only because they were limiting the number of people allowed in the home at one time, as the house is currently occupied. The current tenant, a professor of architecture at UWM, was nice enough to greet each tour group. He shared a little history of the house as well as what it was like to live there. We also saw the Arthur C. and Leonora M. Votteler Manegold House located on the corner of Scott St. and Layton Blvd., and Fire Station 26 located at the corner of 26th and Scott streets. The history of both buildings was very interesting and sparked both of our interests in learning a bit more about architecture in Milwaukee. I kept the tour booklet so that I can visit some of the "exterior only" tour sites at my leisure throughout the rest of the year. I hope we can attend next year because there are several buildings/homes that I would love to check out and a lecture that sounds interesting. 106/2015

The is nothing like it anywhere!…read more Historic Milwaukee, Incorporated is an active group dedicated to the history of Milwaukee, and not just to the preservation of Milwaukee's architectural gems but to the celebration and general enjoyment of those gems. Two major events each year allow thousands of folks to enjoy them. The two annual events are Doors Open Milwaukee in September and the Spaces & Traces neighborhood tour each May. (I actually participated in a couple of the Spaces & Traces tours many years ago, as a member of a club, providing vintage automobiles to add a touch of authenticity to the subject neighborhood, but I digress.) Spaces & Traces has been a part of Milwaukee for 34 years. In 2015, Spaces & Traces returned to Layton Boulevard. Over a century ago, 27th Street was way out in the country, a part of the old Town of Wauwatosa. It was the site of a celery farm and summer homes for well-to-do Milwaukeeans. As the city grew outward, this stretch of 27th Street became Layton Boulevard and was supposed to be the new Gold Coast for Milwaukee. Some spectacular homes were built on Layton Boulevard but it never developed as such. Like its counterpart to the east, the area developed into an ethnicity diverse neighborhood with a myriad of churches and styles of homes. Some participants in this year's Spaces & Traces opened up their homes, allowing us a glimpse into life in the neighborhood in the early 20th Century. A home designed by Milwaukee's prolific architect, Alexander C. Eschweiler, was open on Layton Boulevard. Severely damaged by a 2002 fire and by fire fighter efforts to save it, the home is being lovingly restored by descendants of the second owner. The fire company that helped save the house is a block away and was also open for touring! The School Sisters of St. Francis were kind enough to open their facility, including tours of their chapels, one being the location of a talk by noted local historian, John Gurda, who gave us an informative talk about the growth, ethnicity and development of Layton Boulevard and the nearby Silver City neighborhood. Also open for touring this year were two of the six Frank Lloyd Wright designed American System homes. Wright envisioned several homes for moderate income American families. He advocated the construction of homes off site and assembled at the build site. Unlike a prefabricated home, Wright advocated the cutting and fabrication of components at a factory, then shipping them to the site for assembly. He claimed this "American System" would cut waste and reduce labor costs by requiring fewer craftsmen at the job site. Only a few examples of his American System Homes were built, including these rare structures on Burnham Street. As always, there were far more properties open than is (likely) possible for one person to tour, but what I did see, and learn about Milwaukee, was well worth my effort. Here's a thank you callout to our Yelp rep, Rachel F., for opening the Yelp connection with Historic Milwaukee! Thanks to Historic Milwaukee, to the hundreds of volunteers, Frank Lloyd Wright Wisconsin and especially thanks to the owners who opened their doors to us to see into the past. Don't miss Spaces & Traces next year - and I'll be looking for you at Doors Open Milwaukee in September!

The first year we went in 2023, we LOVED Brewfest. We did VIP tickets to enter early, there were a…read morebunch of breweries we had never visited before, it was fun to try all of the creative beers that the breweries brought to sample, Wingstop gave away free wings, and the vibes were right. This year, it was the same day as Harleyfest, the air show, and German fest so parking was INSANE. I was actually grateful for the air show as it added extra entertainment to an otherwise lackluster showing for Brewfest. It felt like there were way too many non-beer options (ciders, seltzers, wine, CBD, kombuchas, n/a, etc) when we paid good money to sample, you guessed it...BEER. A lot of the beers we did sample were pretty common ones you see in the grocery store or straight dumps because they were nothing special. For $75 per person, I do not think we got our money's worth.

Wow-Brewfest 2017 featured great weather and a pleasing-to-the-eye lakefront setting paired with…read more100 breweries from all over! Beer festivals are one of the easiest ways to be able to try anything and everything, and to discover new favorites. Personal highlights include Next Door Brewing Co's Livacious saison, Steel Head Aleworks' amber ale, Mershon's artisan cider (apples & honey), and Blake's Hard Cider (El Chavo with habanero and mango; Wake Fire with Michigan cherries and orange peel)! The line to get into the festival for ticket holders/advance purchases was kind of ridic but once we made of inside, the vibes were pretty chill. Some breweries ran out of brew before we had a chance to sample (it happens) while others had really long lines (also happens). When we encountered either of these scenarios, we simply pivoted in a diff direction and kept the cups full. Good food vendors! Had a blast! Pro tip--BYO pretzel necklace and up the game by adding things like beef jerky, cheese sticks, fruit snacks, etc. - leveling up goals for next year.

This was the second annual Big Gig Bbq and I don't know how I missed it last year, free parking and…read moreentry by the way. I had to add them to yelp so I could show my fellow yelpers what it is. It's on the summer fest grounds so the property is already set up for big venues and spread out nicely. I got there early so planking was close and the lines short so I was some of the first people in the gate. The map shows about 16 Bbq places to eat at but it's way bigger with much more vendors all over the grounds from corn on the cob, chili stuffed pretzels, ice cream, beer, pop corn assorted drinks etc etc. Most of the Bbq places had full plates and smaller sample size items if your like me and want to try a few places. Since I got there early I had no lines to get the food which was nice. The live music was on stage and playing right at opening. With so many food options I had to do my home work and since I have been to most of the places already it's going to be the few that I have not been to. Maxie's for the jambalaya, Docs for the smoked wings and brisket slider, Charcoal Grill for ribs. Overall I thought it was great event if your a Bbq hound like me and I hope this is a yearly Milwaukee event.

Awesome time!!!! First time there free admission ; free parking !!!! 5000 dollars drawing no charge…read morefor a ticket !!! Great music !!!! Awesome local bands it's a one day gig but AWESOME FOOD AND SEVICE !!!!

Very well done tour! So much restoration ongoing... tour ahead and behind us were pretty full as…read morewell so always great to see! The details are impressive throughout. Very modern for the 1800's

Went to the Pabst Mansion on a trip to Milwaukee. Had the best docent Karen guiding us on a tour as…read morewe stepped back into the Guilded Age. This massive mansion was built in 1892 and is 20,000sf with 37 rooms and 12 bathrooms. Incredible! I recommend taking the time to view this amazing property. The tour is about 1-1/2 hours and you go through 3 floors. Everything on the first floor is original,, which is amazing when you think about it. It's so wonderful that group of women spearheaded to save this mansion. It's a gem.

I was lucky to be able to join the tour even though tickets were sold out online. I am so grateful…read morethey squeezed me in. I wouldn't recommend wandering around too much, certain parts did not feel safe to me. The tour, especially for students, is extremely cheap. They should charge more, especially since they are in need of funds! The tour was great. I learned a lot about the history of the block of houses. Each one has a different story and history. There is no AC in the houses. So plan accordingly if you have a hot summer day.

We toured these houses on a beautiful Saturday afternoon and it was a lot more interesting than I…read morewould have expected. I knew little about Frank Lloyd Wright and took the tour with my Dad who is an architect. It was a great experience for the both of us. Our guide was very knowledgeable and did a fabulous job. She really immersed us in the vision Wright had for these houses. We were lucky and got to tour the house that they just acquired and will be restoring soon. It isn't officially part of the standard tour just yet, but we happened to be before a special private tour so they let us check it out too. I would recommend this to anyone who is even mildly interested. The gift shop closes at 3, so be sure to grab any goodies before the tour if you are taking the 2pm.

All the best beers are here! So many samples and just enough time. Sours, IPA's, stouts, pilsners,…read moreciders, you name it, it's here. A fantastic variety of microbreweries across Wisconsin and even representation from Minnesota and Illinois! Not even the gloomy weather and short showers could sway away these beer loving folks! I started by standing in the gold line because I saw a line and jumped in, not knowing there were different entrances. Something to note for next year. The food selection that I took note of included grilled cheeses and the sausage cart. Gruber offered free pretzels and N/A beverages if you happened to stop by his booth, which I thought was awesome. Firkinfest veterans were spotted wearing pretzel necklaces, aka "palate cleansers." The walking musicians were awesome as well! There were many more tents and breweries here than I had imagined. The water to clean out your glass came in handy a few times. Police presence was here but no one was noticeably drunk or obnoxiously rowdy, just good conversations and good beers. The bonus pint glass on the way out was nice too!

Firkin awesome. As the glass said…read more had to upgrade this year we were blessed with a wonderful break in the heat wave and blessed with gentle cool breezes off Lake Michigan. A day later, on Sunday we get a steady pm shower to hopefully green up cathedral square park. Improved processing of the the lines to get in were moving quite quickly. I'm guessing they found a way to card people and get them in quickly. The band was extra crispy brass band, a very entertaining group. Parking was a plentiful near by unlike Bastille day. The firkin style of beers were plentiful and I found 5 that I really enjoyed. It is Good to see the family of Yelpers grow every year, even had a chance to chit chat about stuff not beer related. Lol. And guess who got red sunglasses for checking in at the YELP Booth?? Me!! Thank you Rachel and Jessica S.

Beer & food, you can't go wrong! The place is packed. Kuki Japanese is rockin' the sushi too. Best…read morefood at the event. Famous Dave's had some kickin' pulled pork sliders. There must have been well over a hundred Midwest craft beer breweries representing. All the festival goers cheered every time somebody dropped & broke their beer tasting glass. It was a riot! The $50 entry was well worth it. I think most everybody would agree, especially those who were bombed out of their mind. Great way to kickoff the first beer festival of the year.

This was a great, well-executed event…read more Hosted at the State Fair Convention Center, there would be plenty of parking... but why would you drive to a beer event? Slick in and out for our uber driver. Check in was speedy and organized - check your id, get a bracelet (which I REALLY liked because they were fabric bracelets - so much better for the environment AND no sticking to your arm hairs!) They give you a little glass, which ended up being a silly mistake as every time an imbibing patron knocked into one another, the entire crowd would ohhhhhh as the glass shattered on the ground. There were TONS of vendors. A great variety as well, many different beers, but for those who don't like beer there were a LOT of cider and distillery booths. There were a couple booths like "Milwaukee HOME" and "Happy Endings Cat Shelter" and "Wenzel's Farm" that were selling items and giving out samples. It was really a great diverse crowd. The only thing I would recommend is to have actual food purchase options at these booths. There was the option to buy large packs of beef sticks, but the places that had actual food (Kettle Range was serving samples of braunschweiger on buns, Rodizio Grill was sampling) but it'd have been nice to have had the option to buy a full plate. Shout out to Tapuat kombucha for not only sponsoring the event, but also giving out free FULL SIZE bottles of their booch to everyone interested. Awesome event, worth the ticket price, and very well organized. Definitely would recommend it!

Beautiful museum…read more The beautiful building is free to access from the outside, and inside (just the lobby area, where it is the most beautiful). The museum exhibits are inside the square building with an entrance past the lobby. Any art lover will be wowed by the beautiful exhibition. There are special exhibits at different times throughout the year, and these are great times to visit. The cafe/restaurant downstairs is also beautiful, with a gorgeous view of the lake. Food and coffee is actually quite lovely as well! It's a small, and overlooked part of the experience. The store also has lots of cool stuff, though as a local Milwaukeean, I'm thinking a bit overpriced to get anything personally.

What a treasure Milwaukee has in this art museum! When I moved here 18 months ago, the first thing…read moreI did that made me feel like I was truly home was to buy an annual membership to the museum. It was worth every penny, and it's especially easy to get my moneys worth because the museum is only about a 10 minute drive away from my Bay View home. My latest foray to the museum was to see the Gertrude Abercrombie installation, which I highly recommend. Then again, I can recommend anything going on at the MAM.