Walking Around Milwaukee - Our Birthday Adventure

 A little-known fact: in non-Leap Years, TaGeez and I celebrate our birthda ys two days apart! This year we decided to celebrate our birthday adventure in Milwaukee! ShelleyJean and I enjoyed exploring Milwaukee last year, and I knew it was TaGeez's kind of town.

You know we love a good road trip!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TAGEEZ!

Michigan to Indiana and Illinois to Wisconsin. Traffic was so bad in Chicago that Waze detoured us to Chinatown in Chicago! What a cool energy! We will spend more time here on our summer visit to Chicago.

And we detoured ourselves to downtown Highland Park. It's nothing like the one back home. Here's another area to explore during the daytime - there are so many restaurants!

HAPPY SATURDAY!

Saturday morning found us explore Lakeshore Drive in Milwaukee. What is it about Lake Michigan and our birthday adventures? Not really much ice on the lake after an unusually warm day the day before, but this morning the wind was brisk! Perfect day to visit a historic cemetery, water tower, lakeside park, and lighthouse. 

And part of the charm of this adventure is our antics in front of THREE webcams! Again, that wind was harsh, but we love a road trip! 

Milwaukee webcams

We are cold and hungry so it's time to turn inland and head for some food. No trip to the area is complete without a stop at the Tardis cache! It deserves the 1100+ favorite points!

We found out later that our good friend from back home, GeoConsumer, visited this cache just a few hours earlier!

Hey, TaGeez, I think it's time to head out for some food. Any idea where the spy bar is? 

This door looks promising!

The Safe House is definitely a place to spend the afternoon exploring! Check out this 1,000+ Fave point geocache, watch the magician at the bar, and visit all the rooms, reading the walls. Happy Birthday to us!

The Covert Cache

Afterwards, we explored the ladybug building, the Milwaukee Riverwalk, drove by the yacht-shaped art museum, sought the Pabst Mansion, and visit the Lego Store on release day!

One last sweet cache before we headed to our temporary home with some takeout.

Story Time

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SCRAPCAT!

We are starting early heading home so we can make many stops along the way. First stops were different travel bug hotels to drop off our birthday trackables. Then we found the Frank Lloyd Wright houses on the Burnham Block before heading to the Third Ward neighborhood for the Milwaukee Public Market!

We picked up vegetarian samosas and birthday cupcakes for a picnic lakeside before heading home.

TaGeez loved Wind Point Lighthouse in Racine - we had the place to ourselves! Too bad too cold for a quick dip!

We stopped in Portage, IN for caching and then dinner at Quaker Steak & Lube! We wrapped our caching adventure at sunset by grabbing Adventure Labs and puzzle finals at the Pure Michigan rest stop across the Michigan border.

What a glorious weekend! We drove 1,000 miles, sang in the car, enjoyed good food & great experiences. What more can you ask for? 

Lake Michigan Circle: Natural Wonders & Lighthouses

As much fun as we have with the oddities and rarities found on our Lake Michigan Circle Tour, there is no doubt that the natural views and majestic lighthouses on Lake Michigan are breathtaking. 

Lake Michigan is home to 44 remaining lighthouses, and, lucky for ShelleyJean and I, we weather was with us on most of our visits.

First stop in Wisconsin was this beauty in Racine. Here we scored a geocache, an adventure lab, beautiful views, and pretty rocks for our collection. 

Wind Point Lighthouse - Racine GC3Q58D

Typical for us, we spied the Adventure Lab stop at Wind Point, so then we had to complete the rest of the lab in Racine. This took us to the Christopher Columbus Causeway. Racine has a pretty little marina and multiple harbor lights.

Christopher Columbus Causeway GC4CRP9

The next to cross our paths is the North Point Lighthouse. It's in Milwaukee, but it's up on a hill. You can't spot it unless you were looking for it.

North Point Lighthouse - GC5VT5R

North Point Lighthouse - Northern Milwaukee

South Milwaukee has lighthouses and adventure labs, too. That sun was intense this day!

Milwaukee Harborlights 

I know I've already shared the Milwaukee Riverwalk, but you have to appreciate it's beauty, too. There were walking paths on each side of the river, local art, spots to stop and take photos, and historical markers. Something draws us to the water...

Milwaukee Riverwalk

Milwaukee Riverwalk

When we left Milwaukee, we headed north to Port Washington and the Lessons in Modern Cartography Webcam GCH51C. Lo! This little island in the marina were home to many native birds including these little fellahs munching away at the flowers. He looks like he's posing, doesn't he? 

The funny thing is I must've taken 50 pictures of this little ray of sunshine and his friends, but it was the first one that came out the best. 

American Goldfinch - Port Washington

When people ask, "What's in Door County?", the most crooked road always comes up!

Take Highway 42 between Gill's Rock and Northport to experience this unnatural wonder. This road curves 15 times in a one-mile stretch! Tradition has it this road was designed this way from a "desire to avoid cutting down too many trees." [AtlasObscura.com]

I cannot even imagine the traffic backup during the Fall change of colors. I bet there are so many photographing tourists you can't even see the twisty road!

Crooked Road - Door County GC7P78J

Further up the shore, outside of Oconto, is this neat new Virtual literally out in the middle of nowhere. Well, actually, it's the Bay of Green Bay. 

Ever curious, SJ drove out there in the middle of a storm. So cool and you can see just how deep and powerful the water is from here. 

End of the Road Virtual GCAJFZV

Next up along the shore is Michigan and the Sand Point Lighthouse. Sweet little spot with wildflowers and sandy beaches.  

Sand Point Lighthouse Virtual GC9P63N

If you show any Michigander a picture of this road, they will recognize the underappreciated yet scenic view of US-2. 

Stretching over 300 miles from St. Ignace to Ironwood, US-2 is one of the most popular thoroughfares in the U.P. The route cuts a path through more than a half dozen counties across the heart of the U.P., past waterfalls, pasty shops (like Three Seasons Cafe in Manistique), and small towns.  [source]

Note for SJ - this is a great idea for a future road trip! We can go visit the giant Stormie Kromer hat and the World's Biggest Calumet virtual!

US-2 Michigan's Upper Peninsula

And that leads us to the aforementioned St. Ignace. The less said about our hotel the better, but the view outside my balcony was stunning!

View outside my hotel in St Ignace

The last (and rainy) day of our trip brought us to the Seney Wildlife Refuge.... 

Marshland Wildlife Virtual GCK2EC

Seney has been on our list for years, and today we enjoyed the 6-mile drive through the refuge. We saw deer, swans, loons, kingfishers, blue herons, king birds, blue jays, orioles, pied-eyed grebes, sandhill cranes, and a beaver.

And, finally, Lake Superior. Yes, why are we visiting Lake Superior on the Lake Michigan Circle Tour? Because we can!

The Gales of November Virtual GC9P6B2

Ceder Waxwing. "What?"

Whitefish Point Lighthouse GC9P6PE

As the rain continued and the sky grew darker, it was time to pass over this amazing structure and head for home.

1,700 miles in 5 days visiting the Western side of Lake Michigan with my fabulous geo-partner, ShelleyJean. 

One more special post tomorrow.