We planned to spend two days in Milwaukee at the end of our Door County trip. We wanted to re-acquaint ourselves with a city we hadn’t visited in many, many years. Since this was Cindy’s birthday trip, I decided to spring for the Presidential Suite at the Hotel Metro, which is an Autograph property by Marriott. It has a great address, meaning we would be able to walk to everything and park the car for two nights. It is described as an Art Deco masterpiece and it had a restaurant and bar, which if the weather was bad would be a salvation.
We arrived and had a hard time finding the building since we were looking for something Art Deco and what this was wasn’t what we were looking for! We just assumed that all the cool designs, stained glass and other aspects of art deco would be inside; they weren’t! Check-in was very orderly, friendly and efficient. We were told that the Presidential Suite was ready and we could go right to the room which was a pleasant surprise since it was only about one o’clock. I was very excited to see Cindy’s reaction to the suite so up we went in an old - but not stylish - elevator.
The room was large and laid out in a funny way. The entry was long and dark and the door needed to be pushed hard to close it. Once in the sitting area, the room opened up and there was a table with coffee fixings and water, a large couch, a large desk and chair, and a fireplace. The bedroom was off to the side and had a king bed but no chairs or other places to sit. There was a small closet with five hangers, but no robes or slippers (as per the advertisement). There was also a small set of drawers but no place to unpack suitcases. The bathroom was large and old but serviceable. The ‘panoramic windows’ were filthy and hadn’t been washed, inside or out, in many a year. There were new insulating glass fittings over the old windows which meant nothing could be opened. The frames of the original windows were made of wood which was falling apart and needed lots of work and paint. One of the windows was cracked. It was just as well since there was nothing to see from the windows, even if they had been clean. Oh, did I mention that the suite cost $550 per night, before taxes?!!
We managed to unpack as much as we could and went down to have lunch. I stopped at the desk and told them what I needed: hangers, robes, slippers, etc. They weren’t sure they had robes but would look. I asked where to find the Art Deco and was told to go look at the Pfister hotel around the corner!!! Not the answer I wanted to hear. Lunch was just ok, although Cindy had to send her meal back since it wasn’t what it was described to be. We were on a roll!
We decided to take a nap and after a lovely forty-five minute rest, we got up and Cindy went into the large room to see what the noise was. Turns out some sales rep for the hotel was showing the suite to five Asian men!! Yep, they just walked into an occupied room and looked around! Things were going from bad to worse so we decided to go for a walk to the Milwaukee Art Museum on Lake Michigan and take a look. We checked at the desk to make sure we would be heading in the right direction and the desk clerk pointed the way. Four blocks later Cindy was studying her iPhone map in some confusion and a nice man stopped to ask if we needed help. Turns out we did - the desk clerk had sent in the opposite direction! (Later we found out that it was his 2nd day on the job and he wasn't from Milwaukee.) Once we arrived at the museum we found that it is marvelous and huge, sleek and modern, and filled with treasures that even I enjoyed. We actually spent about two hours in the museum and as we were coming out into the large foyer, we heard lots of loud music. Seems that on Thursday nights they have a DJ and sell booze for the younger crowd, I assume to get them into the museum. Thursday is also ‘pay what you want” so students and others with limited incomes can come in and pay a very small fee if they want. (We paid full fare 'cause we are culture vultures!)
On the way home we stopped in the Pfister Hotel, where I’ve stayed before, so that Cindy could see the truly opulent Art Deco ceilings, pillars and stained glass. We should have stayed there but they didn’t have a suite available. We also found a place to have dinner nearby at "Lupi and Iris" so we made a reservation and walked a bit more to the hotel to change. Dinner was excellent with a very, very professional staff, excellent wine list and topnotch cuisine. We were really enjoying Milwaukee, at last.
The next morning Cindy ran along the River Walk, which is lovely but devoid of any restaurants, cafes or bars. You would think they would be littering the place but there was nothing. Cindy discovered the Milwaukee Public Market a block up from the River Walk and we walked back to it to get coffee, but while you could walk around, none of the stalls, bars or restaurants opened until 10am. We cleaned up and walked back to the lake where there was a Memorial Day celebration going on and there were flags everywhere. We walked for a few hours and stopped at a place with tents and tables that called itself the Biergarten. So we had a German beer and Bratwurst which hit the spot.
Still hungry, we walked back to the market and found two stools at the counter for the fish restaurant. The place was jammed and the service friendly and fast. The guy next to me, noting our confusion with the menu, said he eats there all the time and to try the shark bites, which were really chunks of grilled swordfish, which we ordered after we finished our blue point oysters and ice cold NZ white. The fish dish came and it was spectacular so I ordered another one while Cindy got the lobster roll, again highly recommended, and it was, according to Cindy, divine.
More walking and napping until it was time for dinner at another excellent restaurant around the corner. Again great service and high quality food, not cheap but worth every penny. All and all, a great way to get re-acquainted with Milwaukee after so many years. We had one last meal at the Delta Club at the airport which had a local lager on tap and pretzels and brats; one could not find a more fitting meal in Milwaukee!
