Brew City And Bikes - Milwaukee & The H-d Museum

Hey, gang! Mr. Sandi and I recently returned from another great moto-inspired trip that included lots of beer and bikes. And bourbon. The "B" trifecta. And, yes, I'm starting another (non) Triumph thread. Next time I start a thread it will be Triumph-focused. I promise!

We took a long weekend and flew from Tucson to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to see the Harley-Davidson Museum. Neither of us had been to Milwaukee and several good friends told us the museum was a must. Plus we had two airline tickets we couldn't use earlier in the year that were about to expire. So we had to go somewhere! After securing our dog sitter to care for Annie the Boxer, off we went. This moto-adventure, unlike previous ones, didn't involve riding. That was the only downside to our wonderful weekend. As I've done with previous moto-adventure threads I started, I'll post stories and pics from our trip over the next several days.

Day #1: Tucson to Milwaukee by air. Quicker than riding there but not nearly as fun!





One of Milwaukee's nicknames is Brew City. That right there made me want to check it out. This city is definitely beer proud! And, hey, having grown up in Minnesota I know that there's not much to do in the winter except drink beer and watch football. So while it wasn't yet quite winter (though quite chilly compared to Tucson), we did drink a lot of beer and watch a bit of football.



Milwaukee really is Brew City. Several major breweries began here, namely Pabst, Miller, Blatz, and Schlitz. Today Milwaukee still has several large breweries in addition to numerous newer microbreweries. Milwaukee is a veritable cornucopia of beer! And...Milwaukee's Major League Baseball Team name is the Brewers and they play their home games in Miller Park. These folks revere their beer!


We stayed The Iron Horse Hotel, an 8 minute walk to the Harley-Davidson Museum. It was a splurge for us but worth it! The Iron Horse was created by a visionary and enterprising 30's something guy who purchased the old abandoned warehouse that had been a mattress factory built back in 1907. He transformed it about ten years ago into one the the coolest hotels in Milwaukee.



And The Iron Horse Hotel is DOG FRIENDLY! Here are a couple of the many pooches we met over the weekend. This one is an 8-month old Great Dane girl who was very sweet.



Each day all of the hotel's canine guests were welcomed and listed in the hotel lobby.



This yellow lab faithfully guarded her pool-playing mom in the bar most of the evening!


Our first of three nights in Milwaukee at the Iron Horse we ate at Ash, the hotel restaurant. We happened to be there on grand opening night. The restaurant was previously a steak house and had been changed into a "dining experience" (their words not mine) with seasonal dishes and a centerpiece hearth where wood-fired dishes are cooked. While my food was good the Wisconsin-style Old Fashioned was my favorite part of the meal. (I had a beer earlier so felt it was ok to opt for an Old Fashioned.) We later learned that the Old Fashioned cocktail is actually Wisconsin's State Cocktail. Geez, who knew there was such a thing as a state cocktail? I'll have to research what the state cocktail of Arizona is.



Tomorrow we head across the 6th Street Bridge over the Menomonee River to see the Harley-Davidson Museum! So there will be motorcycle photos galore. Yes....motorcycle photos on a a motorcycle forum.

 

Thanks, Helmut Visor! I had no idea. And while I've lived in Arizona since 1991, I've yet to have even one Tequila Sunrise. Guess I'll be forced to give it a try even though it looks a little foo-foo for my tastes. When in Rome and all. We do have some great tequila on hand in our household. But we don't have orange juice. Hmmm, what does that say??

 

Day #2: An amazing day of motorcycles, cheese curds, and beer

After a wonderful breakfast at our hotel we moseyed over to the Harley-Davidson Museum and complex. We could see the museum area out our hotel room window and it was a short walk over the river to get there. The museum and hotel are fairly close to downtown in an older industrial area which is being "gentrified" these days. The black circle on the photo is around the museum itself. The building with the 1903 on it is the store and Motor Bar and Restaurant.


From this map you can see that Milwaukee is situated right on the western shore of Lake Michigan. We didn't really get a chance to see the lake, though, as we were on the wrong side of the plane flying in and didn't make it that far between looking at motorcycles and eating and drinking. Next time!!




This photo was taken in the lobby area where you pay for your tickets (our were free as we're Harley Owners Group members) and get maps and such. This motorcycle is a model 10-F (whatever that means!) and is from 1914.


Wow, we were blown away by the design of the museum itself, the diversity of displays, and, of course, the bikes. Motorcycle enthusiasts of all types--in addition to people who don't even care that much about motorcycles I think--would all love this place. Lots of and lots of history. And I can't imagine how they got their hands on so many old documents, letters, notebooks, clothing items, posters, and other memorabilia. Such fun!! I'll just share lots of Museum photos today with a bit of commentary here and there. Today I'll focus on motorcycles and tomorrow will share more photos of motorcycle-related "stuff" but not necessarily. I took so many photos it's tough to know what to share!

A number of motorcycles were displayed in rows down the center of the first floor and second floor. But there were numerous side rooms or areas that were more focused on a particular era or style/purpose. Military/police bikes hill climb/board track racing are a couple of examples.








There were also some specific motorcycles that were highlighted because they were special in some way, either for what they meant to Harley-Davidson or because of who owned them or how recognizable they are. Here are some examples....

This bike is Serial #1. While the information indicated that this was not exactly Harley-Davidson's first bike, it is the first one to actually have a serial number. It was really beautiful and the display area and room itself was super cool. The lighted area around it indicates the size of the original "Shed:, the place in Milwaukee where William Harley and Arthur and Walter Davidson built their first motorcycles--really motorized bicycles.


This is the "Captain America" bike ridden by Peter Fonda in the film, Easy Rider.


Continued in my next post....

 

Day #2 continued:

Here's Elvis Presley's motorcycle.




One of Arnold's intact and uncrashed Fat Boy's from "The Terminator". This bike and movie motivated Mr. Sandi to start riding again around 2001. And he bought, yep, a Harley Fat Boy. That's what he had when I started riding with him as pillion. That lasted about a year before I decided to ride my own. No offense, Arnold.


The (probably one of more likely) bike from the movie, Captain America.


There were also many motorcycles that were simply "unique" for one reason or another such as this 100th Anniversary motorcycle that was signed by H-D employees around the world.



Or this blingy bike that was created by a couple who just loved each other and loved to ride. Oh, and I guess they REALLY liked bling!


And the Museum has the "Tsunami Bike". That crustiness on the bike is actually coral that started growing and living on the bike when it was in the water. Amazing!

 

Day #2 -- last post from today (even though I'd love to share ALL my photos with you guys!)

A couple more unique bikes among many, many, many.....! I'll post more photos from the museum tomorrow because we decided to go back for a second day to take a closer look at some of the bikes and exhibits that we'd sort of glossed over the first day.





Man and woman do not live by motorcycles alone so we found ourselves at Motor Bar and Restaurant in search of sustenance. Found it!!

Wisconsin is known as a "drinking state" and that moniker is well-deserved. Lots of great beer and other great adult beverages as well. Here's today's lunch. Mine anyway. A local IPA from MKE Brewery accompanied by an iconic Dairyland State snack, fried cheese curds. Yum!


The restaurant itself was very cool with the kind of decor I'd like to have in our house. Mr. Sandi has, however, limited motorcycles and engines to the garage and won't allow me to decorate the living and dining rooms with them.



What motorcycle experience would be complete without SHOPPING! Well, my motorcycle experience wouldn't be complete without it anyway. The Shop at the Museum was about as cool as the museum and restaurant. I did splurge on one thing--a hand sewn race jersey replica which I'm wearing in the photo by the Tanks Across Time display. That display was one of my absolute faves and there will be another much better photo of it in tomorrow's installment of this thread.




My dinner this evening, avocado toast to balance out the cheese curds from lunch and house made potato chips. That beer is War Pigs "Foggy Geezer" IPA. Not local but who can resist a beer with THAT name? It was delicious and I'm going to go looking for it here in Tucson.


And dessert. Bourbon. Bikes, beer, and bourbon. Ahhh... What a great day!


More of each of the Three B's tomorrow!!

 

You're welcome, Nikki. I enjoy sharing my motorcycle-related experiences with you all. And I equally enjoy seeing and reading about your and others experiences, too!

You and learningtofly are absolutely correct about the winters in the Midwest in the U.S. They are brutal! I grew up in Minnesota on a farm and moved West as soon as I could get outta town, so to speak (right after college). Since I left I've lived in California and Arizona in much more temperate climates. @learningtofly, your comments about your family effectively being housebound in the winter during their time there is spot on. My youngest brother still lives there--he farms the family farm that we all grew up on. My great grandfather moved to Minnesota from Sweden and started the farm that has been in my family since 1900.

My husband used to go on about moving to Minnesota to live on the farm with my brother and his family until he added my hometown (of 400 people!) to his weather app list and started looking at the daily weather reports throughout the winters. That certainly changed his thinking! I told him that he would have accept doing the things we love to do, namely ride motorcycles and bicycles, half as much as we do those things now...for the rest of our lives! Come November and lasting through usually April it's very difficult to do those sorts of activities at all.

BTW, it's predicted to snow Tuesday and Wednesday this week in Milwaukee and was raining there and quite cold yesterday. I think Mr. Sandi and I hit the last nice weekend before winter moves in for the next six months!

 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, Ron. I know your, shall we say, "feelings" about Hardly's as you call them. But to my way of thinking, they're all part of the wide world of motorcycles. And while I'm not the biggest fan of some makes of motorcycles (which shall remain a mystery for now), at least they aren't mini-vans, Priuses, or tractors. Ah, geez, I'm sure I've offended someone by that comment.

You may beg to differ. Hey, you don't even have to beg, we can just differ. I love Triumphs too, and I have to say that your Scarlett is a gem even among Triumphs.

Now, perhaps I misinterpreted your use of the "expressionless" emoji. If so....never mind.

 

Thanks, DD! Glad you're enjoying my Milwaukee and Museum write-up . I'll post a bit more today or tomorrow so check in again when you get the chance.

Hmmm, our next motorcycle trips are in the planning phases. Most likely the soonest one will be a shorty three-day/two-night trip the first weekend of April just up the road to Cave Creek Bike Week which is part of a larger rally called Arizona Bike Week. We went to that last year and it was great fun. We're also talking about going to Laughlin, Nevada again for the River Run Rally at the end of April and then hopefully we'll be able to do a longer 8-9 day touring trip up through New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. That would be in June. We shall see! I'll keep you posted for sure.

 

You were very respectful, Ron, and demonstrated remarkable restraint. My Road Glide and my Low Rider and I appreciate it. And my Speed Triple says hello to Scarlett, BTW.

 

I too was very moved by the story of the tsunami motorcycle, Joe. Yes, many of our day-to-day concerns pale in the face of tragedies like this one in Japan. I also was moved by the owners' wish that the motorcycle be displayed in the museum as a tribute and reminder.

 

Under the circumstances, I guess Scarlett could be considered a "cougar" since my Speedy boy is a youngster and Scarlett is, well, more "seasoned".

 

Thanks, Dartplayer. Glad you're enjoying the posts. Hmmm, a bartender, eh? I'll bet you have some stories from those days! Have you had Don Julio "1942" tequila? That's a favorite of Mr. Sandi's and mine. One of the many perks of living in southern Arizona only an hour from Mexico is having a very wide--and delicious--selection of tequilas and mezcals readily available.

I had planned to continue my Milwaukee and Museum thread today (Sunday) but the day got away from me. Well, not really. The weather was terrific and I was out riding motorcycles with my "gang". More stories and photos tomorrow!