This is a plesant sort of a city, clean, simple and easy to get around. It is home to a few American Icons including Miller, Happy Days, Leverne & Shirley and Harley Davidson.

A quiet night in Milwaukee, well it could have been if we hadn’t found a treat. The B52’s were in town so we went along for a bit of fun. All their classics, Rock Lobster, Private Idaho, Planet Claire and Love Shack. They were a bit of a laugh and turned the little theatre into one big party, sadly Fred didn’t do his solo classic  “There’s a monster in my pants and it just wants to dance”

The night was some sort of fund raiser and it was full of drag queens and other interesting people. To give the place a nice relaxing feel there was plenty of  free beer. Yes,we certainly made the most of their offerings with around 7 or 8 different varieties to try.  It’s been a good day for free beer!- no its been a great day for free beer!

Milwaulkee is the home of Miller, so what better way to start exploring this city than straight to to Miller Brewery for a free tour of their factory which ends up at the Miller Pub where beer flows freely for free and they even give you free pretzels- what a great attraction.

This museum was a good one, it not only had over 300 flash muscle cars on show and for sale but many cars used in movies. There were plenty of familiar cars including Herbie, The real Back to the Future Delorium, The A Team’s truck a Batmobile and Kit from Nightrider. The museum is called the Volo Auto Museum and is about half way between Chicago and Milwaukee.

1 2 ►

We didn’t build our hopes up knowing that it would  be crap, and we were still disappointed.  You can buy a gallon of soft drink for $3 something, I dont’ know why because for $1.29 you get a bottomless cup. Burgers hard to describe but you can buy them in packs of 10 and 20. They were not to big but I’m sure they were jammed packed with nothing healthy.  Have to be tasted to be believed- …seen might be the better word. It’s a ONCE in a lifetime experience.

The Sears Tower is the Tallest building in the USA and was the tallest in the world for over 20 years until the twin towers in Malasia topped them. The view of the city is quiet spectacular.

“Beer is the Proof God Loves Us and Wants us to be Happy”  Benjamin Franklin

About a hours drive over town we found the Walter P Chrysler museum. A pretty shiny flash display of about 70 classic Chrysler vehicles. The also ran a film which about Walter Chrysler….”the greatest industrialist of the 20th Century” ..His vision made the Automotive industry” and a heap of other quotes like we heard yesterday about Henry.

We took the bus over to the Rouge Truck Plant for a walk around the final assembly process of the all new 2009 F150. What a monster truck they are so flash, leather captain chairs, 18″ mags, moon roofs and plenty of chrome- very impressive.  The plant is only about 10 years old and state of the art, they even have turned the roof of the huge plant into a bird sanctuary covering it in grasses and plants for wild life to live in. All the storm water keeps it alive and it acts as not only a carbon offset but a really good insulator for the factory and the geese seemed to love it.  The plant also had a couple of theatres one with a pretty good film on how the Rouge plant was built and the history of the site and another multi sensory film which would have been more suited to a themepark.

This guy must have been mega rich- this home even has its own hydro electric power station.  The original budget (back in 1909 was $200,000 but like most Ford budgets it blew out to a whopping $2 Million. Remember this is 1909 – the average wage for a Ford worker was $5 a day in 1914 – so if my maths are right in todays terms the house would have cost upwards of $80 million.  It’s not hard to see where the money went it is spectacular and quiet lavish, marble exotic woods and plenty or ornate carvings. Some 800 people worked on site building the house, nearly all the carvings and stone cutting and work happened on site. The house is set on a magnificent US garden and with the trees changing colour we are probably there the best week of the year – quiet spectacular- with plenty of squirrels hopping around amongst herds of Canadian Geese. It’s amazing the saintly story you get of Henry on the tours, a man of the people, a family man, loved fury animals etc.  It was very sugary and very Disney like. No mention of his awards from Hitler, his mafia links, his power hungry rule with Edsel or even his womanising.

We were thinking that Henry Ford’s Greenfield Village would be a Ford version of Disneyland- pretty crap with Furry Model T’s replacing mice, dwarfs and princesses. But no it was a very well executed look back to at the history of the USA, Set on what must have been more than a hundred acres of beautiful autumn gardens were recreations of many of the historical characters of the USA houses. Not just reconstructions most were the actual buildings relocated and painstakenly rebuilt from the 4 corners of the USA. The most amazing thing was the authenticity and integrity of the park there was no commercialism or advertising.  The place was manned by people who loved history and quiet a few of them were in for a long yarn about the’ good old days’ some were a bit scary….stop talking to me in your ye olde language I am scarred buy they were very happy – no disgruntled Ford employees here.