Because of the nature of my job, I've had the opportunity to experience Milwaukee in a way that not everyone else has. I've been privilege to race around the Milwaukee Mile in an Indy car, fly above the city with the Blue Angels and the Red Barons, and ride along with the MPD Vice Squad as it keeps Milwaukee safe.
But that's not to say I've completely crossed off everything on my Milwaukee "bucket list." Before I go to that great cheese castle in the sky, I've got more than a few experiences I must try.
I've broken down this list into stuff that I have done (read: checked off), stuff that I need to do (read: attainable) and stuff that I'd love to do (read: probably unattainable).
So what do you think? Add your own ideas using the Talkback feature below ... or better yet, help me cross these all off my list.
Already checked off:
- Catch a foul ball at a Brewers game
- Take an out-of-town visitor to The Safe House
- Take the Lake Express to Michigan
- Polar Bear Plunge
- Close Wolski's
- Tailgate on Opening Day
- Sail on Lake Michigan
- Sit in skyboxes at every Milwaukee arena/stadium
- Watch a Violent Femmes show from backstage
- Do the Miller, Lakefront and Sprecher Brewery tours in one day
- Show Robin Yount my life-size growth chart from 1985
- Ride the little train at the Zoo
- Give the president of the United States a tour of my office
Need to do:
- Race as a sausage
- Run the Hoan
- Go to Summerfest every day -- but not for work
- Have a Serb Hall fish fry
- Ice skate at Red Arrow Park
- Visit every Frank Lloyd Wright building in Milwaukee
- Catch a home run at a Brewers game
Love to do:
- Run the Lakefront Marathon
- Throw out the first pitch at a Brewers game
- Dine atop Allen-Bradley clocktower
- Eat the four-pound burger at Kelly's Bleachers
- Open the Art Museum's wings
- Play the organ at the Oriental Theater
- Introduce the headliner at the Marcus Amphitheater
- Win the media home run derby at Helfaer Field
- Host an entire show alongside Dave and Carole
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.