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

Yep, Steve, that blinged up bike was WAY over the top. And that's a definite understatement. I had to pull my sunglasses out of my purse (or handbag...uh oh, here we go) to get my sunglasses while looking at it. It was sort of like looking at an eclipse of the sun.

 

Day #3: Another trip to the Harley-Davidson Museum. More bikes, beer, and bourbon--the Trifecta of B's!

Mr. Sandi and I had breakfast at the hotel restaurant, Ash, this morning. I had a delicious dish--grits with kale and poached eggs. Yeah, sounds rather foo-foo but it was delicious! And it helped me rationalize all the cheese curds and beer.

Out behind the restaurant is an outdoor area that is used during the summer and warmer months of spring and fall. It's called The Yard. On this day, these were some folks with dog doing a doggie photo shoot. Hilarious!




This is the cool bridge that we crossed over each time we went to and from the hotel to the museum. On Sunday morning the skies were blue and the temps were lovely--and we saw TONS of motorcyclists out taking full advantages of the great conditions!



We stopped midway across the Menomonee River to admire the view and read this information about shipping through Milwaukee via the rivers during the late 19th Century.



Ok, after crossing the river we're back to the business at and, the H-D Museum. Here's the Dynamic Hill Climber statue between the Museum and the store and restaurant.





And back inside the Museum.....










That my ten photo allotment for this post. More in my next post to immediately follow.

 

Day # 3 continued: More from the Museum

The venerable Harley-Davidson Sportster was first released in 1957. Has "taken a licking and is still ticking"! (A Timex watch ad reference for those of you who are like.....licking, ticking, what??!)



King Kong!! Crazy....... And definitely a one off!




One little display that caught my eye was just encased in a glass "window". Toys!


She--Devil on Wheels! Yeeaaah.....


The tank wall was one of my favorite displays! It was stunningly presented and such an interesting way to see the changes in something as "simple" as motorcycle tanks across time.



A bike from Harley's Buell days, basically 2003--2009. Buell was sold when the U.S.'s Great Recession occurred.


More Museum fun in my next post.....

 

Day # 3 continued

Another of my favorite display rooms was the Engine Room. Beautiful engines across time beautifully displayed in chronological order. And the other side of the room (not pictured) had interactive displays that show, when you crank a handle, how the engines actually fire. Very cool and interactive. There was even a little display where you listened through headphones to the sounds of different motorcycles and then choose the one you think it is then get feedback about your answer.




This was a very moving display. An entire wall of photographs from the early 1900's to present day of "regular" guys and gals on their motorcycles . Or kids on motorcycles. Or dogs on motorcycles. And every so often one photo would light up and there would be audio of the person in the photo describing what motorcycling meant to them. I found it quite moving.


If you saw the lighted outline around Serial #1 in one of my previous Brew City & H-D Museum posts, you will know about The Shed. Here's a photo of a replica of The Shed. Some guy mistaken bulldozed it down when the company was expanding. Oops!








A couple of Iron Horse Hotel photos too.

This is our room on the 5th floor. We had a terrific view of the downtown skyline and could also see the Menomonee River and the Harley-Davidson Museum grounds out our window. In each room, one wall is a mural of a Milwaukee woman. Here's the one in our room.


And the story behind the murals.


The view out of our hotel room window. The hotel provided ear plugs in case the train's rumble kept us away. But we were so happy and pleasantly fatigured (not to mention a bit tipsy!) at the end of each day that we never even heard trains huff by in the night.


My nightcap at the hotel bar tonight...a lovely gin that was distilled across the street at the Great Lakes Distillery. This one came highly recommended by the bartender who told us that it was aged in Zinfandel barrels.


Tomorrow's post--Heading Home. Or trying to, anyway! Airline travel.....

 

Thanks, Dartplayer. I haven't had the Jose Cuervo 1800 Anjeo in ages and just looked up and read a couple of reviews after seeing your post. I'm very intrigued, I must say. One reviewer in Bourbon & Banter said, "This is a great transition bottle between traditional whiskeys-especially bourbon-and the growing tequila and mezcal scene." I've put the 1800 on the list of bottles to add to the home bar. Thanks for the suggestion!

That all said, Mr. Sandi and I do love the Don Julio 1942. It's pricey, though, so we buy up 2-3 bottles right before Christmas when, for some inexplicable reason, Costco seems to get a few large shipments and it's sold and a decent discount. We meter it out across the year and consider it a "special occasion" tequila.

 

I'd love to hear what they think of the 1942, Dartplayer! Just be sure to tell them to be ready for the price tag. They might want to go in together to buy a community bottle to do their taste tests! I didn't check--do you know the price of the 1800?

 

I'd normally agree, Steve, but somehow the preparation of these two foods at Iron Horse was really outstanding. I've never had grits quite like these--much more corny (the vegetable, not the humor) and creamy. And the kale was a good foil to the eggs and grits. Plus I felt a little less guilt about all my beer and fried cheese curds by eating a few greens.

 

Thanks, Billy! Yes, the Tsunami Bike was one of the most amazing as well as most moving displays in the whole museum.

 

We do get lots of what we call "Snowbirds" (not to be confused with Snowflakes!) that come here for the winter. In fact, I have an aunt and uncle who live in East Lansing, Michigan. About 15 years ago they bought a house about 20 miles north of where Mr. Sandi and I live. They move to Arizona for the winter just after New Year's and they return to Michigan in May. Those of us that live in Arizona year round sort of dream of doing the same type of thing but in reverse--we'd like to move somewhere cooler for the summer!