usa: wisconsin: milwaukee and kenosha

I chose to make this post about the two cities I visited in Wisconsin.

Kelley and Jon like to travel and explore as well, but don't get to do it as often as I do. (Not many people do.) Though I usually say they live in Chicago, that's not quite true, they live in one of the suburbs. I mention this because when you look at a map you realize it takes just as long to get into downtown Chicago as it takes to get to Milwaukee, in Wisconsin. There are a number of fairly large cities that aren't all that far away if you have your own transportation.

We decided to do a quick half day in Milwaukee one Sunday, just because we could. The drive was easy, and only about an hour.

Milwaukee has nearly 600,000 people, and is the largest city in the state of Wisconsin.

Our first stop was related to one of Jon's loves, beer. He loves brewing beer, so it made perfect sense to visit one of the cemeteries in the city where a number of beer barons and their families are buried. There was supposed to be a museum/information center in the cemetery, but it wasn't open when we arrived. Maybe because it was Sunday? Maybe I'll come back another time and learn more.

We parked and walked through various parts of the cemetery. There were different sections for the family that started Pabst, and Schlitz (sp?) and more. Not surprisingly, some of what we saw were big, fancy mausoleums. I wonder how often or if family members come to visit their dead relatives. It was saddest to see the graves of children who didn't even live long enough to be named.

From there we drove through the city to a modern art staircase with a nice view of the city. The stairs aren't the sight, it's the little observation platform at the bottom of the stairs that is the sight. 

The guidebook that lists this set of stairs says locals have mixed feelings about it, because it doesn't really fit into the neighborhood aesthetic, and they don't love random strangers driving through just to stop and take photos of and on the stairs.

The same guidebook that listed these stairs also listed a bridge in a suburb of Milwaukee. We drove there, only to be quite disappointed. It was just a bridge over a small valley. No water that I could see, no view worth seeing. I have no idea how this bridge ended up as a listed sight.

At that point we were feeling peckish, so we headed to a chili place Kelley wanted to try. She got food to go for her lunches at work that week. Jon and I were able to hold off until we got to a branch of Leon's Frozen Custard.

Apparently frozen custard is a Milwaukee thing. It's basically ice cream, but with egg yolks in addition to the milk and cream. This makes it heavier, and meltier. Leon's has two or three traditional flavours, as well as a flavour of the day option. I went with three scoops of raspberry, which was pretty good but not amazing.

Somehow all of us ended up eating it all without dripping all over ourselves, woo hoo!

From there it was an easy drive back home. I'd definitely come back to Milwaukee, especially to explore other areas of the city. I don't know if there is a central place I could park, then walk around all day?

Later on that week I drove Kelley to work, then borrowed her car so I could go to Kenosha, Wisconsin for the day. Kenosha is just over the state border with Illinois, it was easy to get there.

Kenosha feels a like a small town, but has a population of around 100,000 people. There has been habitation in the area for a long long time, with evidence of this going back to at least 13,000 years ago.

My first stop was a diner. I didn't really need to eat, but when I find a diner I rarely walk/drive past it. Franks is in an old train car, there isn't much space. Their specialty is something called a garbage plate: a half plate has three eggs, hash brown potatoes, eggs, cheese, and onions. You can add in meat and veg too. A full plate has 5 eggs with all the other stuff.

It looked and smelled good, but I made the mistake of ordering French toast with fruit topping. It took 45 minutes for my food to arrive, and that was after I asked what had happened. The fruit had clearly come from a can, and the whipped cream wasn't very good. I'm pretty sure they forgot me, and didn't put any effort into the French toast. I won't make that mistake again.

I was able to park for free near Frank's for three hours, and since that time wasn't yet up I walked to the marina area. (Kenosha is on Lake Michigan.) 

Very pretty, but VERY windy. The marina shape was created when they piled up a bunch of big rocks, the wind nearly blew me off the rocks.

There was a small splash pad nearby, I would've walked through the water if it hadn't been so windy. I followed the pavement just behind the rocks for a while, enjoying the smell and sound of the water. Something about it is calming.

Coming around the peninsula near the marina I saw a couple lighthouses. I don't know why they were so close to each other, or if either of them is still used. I wanted to walk over to the biggest one, but when I pulled out my phone to figure out how to do it I realized the streets were connected in a way that it would take me quite a while.

Instead I walked through a sculpture park, then to a small city park where a summer concert was taking place. I saw people of all ages, which made me think school hadn't yet started here for the fall. (I knew it had started in Chicago, and my hometown.) There was a veterans' memorial near this park, which was nice to see. There aren't nearly enough memorials and monuments to those who have served in the States.

From there I walked through the downtown, cute area of Kenosha. I was thrilled when I stumbled on a pie shop, woo hoo!! 

Did I need to buy any pie? No, but did I? You bet. The flavours were good, as were the prices. I'm definitely going back.

After the pie shop I found the local library. I don't know if the building was originally a library, but it is gorgeous. A lovely rotunda in the middle, the librarians encouraged me to stand directly under it to take a photo. From what I could see during my walk through, the library had a good selection of books as well as programs to serve the community. I hope that library is as valued as it should be.

I walked back to the car, then drove to an area with two museums. The Civil War Museum sounded interesting, but the entry fee was $10USD. Maybe next time, when I come back for more pie and better food from Franks?

Kenosha Public Museum was free, and fabulous. A series of permanent exhibits with the history of the area, and a temporary exhibit of Edo prints from Japan. Very cool. There are a couple big skeletons to see, as there was prehistoric life in this area with fossils still to be discovered. Really really well done.

After the museum I got back in the car and drove to the beach area. The beach itself was quite nice, but with all the wind I don't think it would be fun to hang out for the day. There were people doing just that though, so my anti-sand campaign wasn't followed by everyone. I love beaches, I just don't love being covered in sand. I did enjoy walking the length of the beach, and hearing the happiness of those who were enjoying their last days of summer freedom on the beach.

The biggest lighthouse was really close to the beach, so I walked over to see what it was all about. 

I admit I was pretty disappointed to discover an artist had set up shop in the bottom of the lighthouse, so it wasn't one you could climb.

My last sight of the day was another park, about 15 minutes away by car. There was plenty of parking at Petrifying Springs State Park, which was mostly flat from what I could see. I didn't find the springs after which the park was named, mabye I was in the wrong area? That being said, it was nice to be out in the trees. There are several different walking trails throughout the park, nothing strenuous but still nice.

Despite visiting a city for the day, my favourite places were natural: the lake, the beach, and the state park. And the pie, I can never forget good pie :)

usa: indiana: moscow, marion, and fairmount

In previous posts I'm pretty sure I've mentioned some of the 'international' city names in Indiana. While looking at a map I found another one, Moscow. Since I currently live in Moscow, Russia, I figured I should see what Moscow, Indiana is like.

Wikipedia tells me Moscow, Indiana goes all the way back to 1832, which is amazing. The town is so small it doesn't even have a post office. There was one originally, but it closed more than 100 years ago.

Moscow, Indiana is now an unincorporated community, there are less than 100 people in town. I can't find exact numbers, but that seems about right. Looking at the map shows just a few cross streets. I think I saw a stop sign? I wonder where kids go to school, if there are any kids in town.

The drive from Bloomington to Moscow was ridiculous, as Moscow is very very rural. The distance by road is almost 90 miles, going on a lot of county roads. It took me around 90 minutes!

After Moscow I headed north, toward the city of Marion. The reason for visiting Marion came from a Lonely Planet author who is originally from Marion. In an Instagram post he mentioned that James Dean was born in Marion, and grew up in nearby Fairmount, so I decided to do a tour de Dean. When I found out James Davis was also born in Marion and grew up in Fairmount I decided to change my day tour name to 'tour de James.'

Fun fact: Marion is where Julia Roberts married Lyle Lovett in 1993. They chose Marion in which to get married because one of the bus drivers for Lovett's band went to church there.

Marion, Indiana is in Grant County, with a resident count of just under 30,000. The city is named for Francis Marion, an army general during the American Revolutionary War. Some fighting took place in the area during the war, but the city wasn't established until 1831. The city is now mostly industrial, producing products like paper plates.

It wasn't hard to find the exact spot James Dean was born, as there is a marker right next to a park platz. Dean was born in an apartment building that no longer exists, but the town doesn't want you to forget.

By the time I saw this marker, it was after noon and I'd driven for over three hours already. I was hungry, since I hadn't eaten breakfast, so I looked to find a diner for lunch. The first two I found were closed (even though they were listed as open on the map, argh,) but the third option saved me. Good food, cheap food, good service. What's not to love about a small town diner?

After eating I found a city park, and the walking trail that has been developed through the park. It was a nice walk, mostly along a river. Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of shade along the trail, so I didn't walk as far or as fast I would've in better weather.

After my walk I went back to my car, and drove 12 miles south to Fairmount, Indiana. Fairmount currently has less than 3000 residents, and seems to be mostly a bedroom community for Marion.

The area Fairmount was settled around the same time as Marion, in the 1830s. The people who founded it were completely different though, they were Quakers coming from North Carolina. The city itself was platted in 1850, and officially incorporated in 1870.

James Dean lived in Fairmount in the 1940s, with his aunt and uncle, and graduated from Fairmount High School in 1949. The high school no longer exists, it was torn down in 2015. 

I have no idea who thought it was a good idea to tear down the school, but the stage on which Dean performed was saved from destruction.

My first sight in town was actually from the end of his life: the cemetery in which he is buried. It wasn't hard to find the gravestone, I was surprised it wasn't very big. There are a few flowers, and other items left from fans, but in the grand scheme of things, you wouldn't know a famous actor was buried there.

After the cemetery, I drove just slightly north, to the farm where Dean grew up. It is still owned by the family, which allows you to pull into the driveway and take a photo of the farmhouse.

From there it was a quick drive back to the center of Fairmount, to visit the James Dean Gallery. It's basically a private collection of anything and everything related to the actor. In front of the building was a lifesize statue of the guy, wearing a red jacket and jeans.

I paid my entrance fee of a couple dollars while asking the owner how the place came to be. He said he moved from New Jersey to Fairmount to open the place!

On display were James Dean photos, souvenirs, records, etc... There were quite a few international items, though Dean was American, he was internationally known. My favourite item was a small case with a basketball trophy, and a photo of Dean from his high school basketball days. High school basketball is life in Indiana.

From there I walked a couple blocks to a small park, with a bust of Dean in the middle. Not very exciting, to be honest. After that I went back to my car and looked more closely at the Grant County tourist information brochure I'd gotten at the Gallery. There were sights listed, and more importantly, there were food spots listed.

I decided to add one more sight to my day: a covered bridge. I love covered bridges, even though they all look pretty similar. This one was near the sight of a former mill, just outside the town of Matthews. Very pretty, and I liked the information/history sign at one end of the bridge.

The bridge was a measly eight miles from dinner. Well, not dinner, just dessert. Ivanhoes is a diner best known for its long list of sundae options. I went for the one in the picture in the brochure: a strawberry shortcake sundae. They give you a choice of whipped cream or ice cream or both on top of the shortcake. I chose both, but when I go back, I'll just get the ice cream. It was a big serving, and beautiful in the way of food porn.

Just outside the diner was a Garfield statue. Looking more closely at the Grant County brochure, I found out it was just one of many Garfield statues. Apparently there is a 'trail' of Garfield statues around the county! I need to come back to see the rest of them :)

I'm glad I had the sundae, as it took me nearly 3 hours to get back to Bloomington. Driving around Indianapolis in the evening is not fun, especially when there are wrecks and road construction to deal with.

russia: moscow: instagram museums

Not too long ago the girls and I bought tickets to a series of 'museums,' five in total. At the time we decided to do one that day, then spread the other four out over the next few months.

Instead of going for a walk and seeing a sight in my free afternoon after school, I stayed at school and did a lot of work, then met up with the girls.

On this Wednesday we decided to do another one, called the Mirror Maze. We met up near a metro station, then walked to Old Arbat street. A number of the museums are in one building, so it was easy to find.

The museums are on several levels, each level has a separate bag and coat check area, making everything convenient. We put all our stuff away, then started to walk into the mirrored area.

As we walked in, the guy at the ticket desk said we had to wear plastic gloves on our hands. We didn't want to, and asked if it was necessary, he said it was. Sigh. I know I sound whiny here, but living in Moscow has me putting on shoe covers what feels like every day, I hate to see all the waste created by these things. 

As soon as we moved past the first mirror pane, we realized why we had to wear the hand coverings. There were so many mirrors, and no path was very long, you have to put your hands on the mirrors quite a bit to figure out where it is open to walk. We realized if everyone touched all the mirrors without their hands covered, everything would be covered in fingerprints and hand oils, it wouldn't be nearly as much fun.

At some point I realized I had no idea where I was, if I was moving in the right direction, it was a bit scary. You see all kinds of reflections, but you don't know if you're looking at the right thing, or just a reflection. It was hard to keep track of Angela and Claire too, I know they lost me too.

Since I'm writing this, we obviously made it out. Lots of fun, I'm glad I did it.

We went to a new (to us,) restaurant for dinner, it was just across the street from the 'museum.' I don't know the name, it was an imitation of an old school diner in the states.

I ate too much, but oh well. It was worth it, and I'd make the same changes again :)

A little over a week later we three met up again to do another one of these museums. This time we chose one called the 'Giant's House.' It was located in the same building as the Mirror Maze, so we knew exactly where to go, and how it all worked.

A different guy marked our choice off our tickets, and in we went.

This one wasn't as much fun, as all the GIANT pieces of 'furniture' were crammed together. There wasn't enough space to take good photos of many of the items without getting other items in the frame.

We liked the kitchen sink, and the clothes washer. We liked the Forbes magazine cover, and the giant clock. As much as I love having photos taken of myself, I only have a set number of poses, I need to work on that. ;)

There was one item I didn't like, a pack of cigarettes. They're not healthy, I feel like that isn't a funny picture, and shouldn't have been an option. Okay, now I'm off my soapbox.

We went to the same place for dinner, the diner across the street. I ordered less food, and appreciated all of it this time. I'm sure we'll return, for the desserts if nothing else.

We still have two more 'museums' to 'see.'