A post in Travel + Leisure yesterday lists 37 things to do in Milwaukee. Naturally, it's called "37 Things to Do in Milwaukee, Wisconsin." That’s pretty cool, right? A lot of things.
In a brief intro, veteran travel scribe Alex Schechter writes, "There’s a lot to love about Wisconsin’s largest city," Schechter writes. "For starters, two of television's most beloved sitcoms hail from here – ‘Happy Days’ and ‘Laverne & Shirley’ were both fictionally based in Milwaukee (in fact, Henry Winkler has a life-size statue in his honor, appropriately named the Bronze Fonz).
"And this city has plenty of fun things to do for beer drinkers: Pabst Blue Ribbon was established here in the 1800s, and the legacy of the city’s original ‘beer barons’ lives on today at places like Brewhouse Inn & Suites, Miller and Lakefront Brewery."
Milwaukee = "Happy Days," "Laverne & Shirley" and beer!
Sigh.
Then, Schechter answers the question, "Where is Milwaukee?"
Sigh.
But, hey, he came, he saw, he wrote, right? We're happy for that. And, let's be honest, it's in no way Alex Schechter's fault we're locked into this tired reputation.
Schechter talks to Milwaukee Food Tours’s Theresa Nemetz, who guides him in the right direction for some classic eateries, like Leon’s, and great contemporary places, like Red Light Ramen.
Schechter touts our beaches and our festivals, and suggests shopping in the Third Ward and in Tosa Village. He suggests kayaking on the river. He likes the Milwaukee Art Museum and Sculpture Milwaukee (RIP). Yes, he shouts out our breweries, distilleries and beer gardens and Teri Regano’s fine neighborhood tap, Roman Coin (I didn't claim we're teetotalers).
Finally, he submits a rather impressive list of places to stay, from the Kinn Guesthouse to the Brewhouse Inn & Suites.
What all of this suggests to me, is that Milwaukee – which is not all that hard to locate on most United States maps, folks – has a lot more to offer than "Happy Days" and beer.
Thanks to Schechter, readers who read the article all the way through will see that pretty clearly.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
