City of History: Kenosha, Wisconsin

Yesterday, despite the fact that we've officially entered winter and the coldest part of the year, I ventured an hour south of Milwaukee to the lakefront city of Kenosha.  Kenosha is best known for its production of automobiles for Nash, Rambler, Hudson and AMC between 1902 and 1988, and has remained a city rooted to its past.  It even has historic, fully-operational streetcars that run throughout the city.

I have only been to Kenosha a few times, most memorably to visit the Bristol Renaissance Fair a few summers ago, but had never been to the downtown area.  I knew they had a lot of interesting museums, and I took the time to visit two of them, the Public Museum and the Civil War Museum.  But first I had to see the lakefront.

I knew from seeing other photos online and video on TV, that Kenosha has a very nice red lighthouse that jets out into Lake Michigan.  And I knew I wanted to add to my photographic collection of lighthouses with this one.  What I didn't know was that this part of the lakefront has 3 lighthouses including matching red and green striped ones, the green one close to its rocky coast and the red one further out into the lake.  I tried to get a good photo of pairs of these lighthouses, and a couple of them turned out better than I expected.  I had used my telephoto lens when I was in Port Washington because the lighthouse there was so far away from land, but since the red lighthouse was so close, I was able to use my wide-angle lens (and my polarizing filter) to get the lighthouse pairs.

The lakefront also has some cute sculptures in its Harborpark.  My favorite was this pig with a tuba:

After getting as many photos as I could at the lakefront before the sun rose too high, I headed over to the Public Museum and the Civil War Museum which, conveniently, sit side-by-side down the street. 

The Public Museum was small, but free (donations encouraged), and their main exhibit was a history of the Kenosha area which went back all the way to before the ice age, and included indigenous animals, the life of Native Americans in the area, and the bones of a mammoth that was discovered there.  They also have a second floor of rotating exhibits. 

The Civil War museum (which costs $9 in admission) was fascinating.  Every hour on the hour, they have a 15-minute 360 degree film where they show the lives of Union soldiers which feature professional reenactors and was filmed at Old World Wisconsin.  They also present a complete history of the war with makeshift buildings including stocked general stores, a train depot, and boarding houses, each with newspaper clippings of the war plastered to their walls, so you get a year-by-year account.  Like the Public Museum, they also have a second floor of rotating exhibits.

There was one more museum I wanted to visit, but I ran out of energy.  That was the Dinosaur Museum.  That will be something for another day in Kenosha. 

 

On the Waterfront: Port Washington, Wisconsin

It has been gorgeous here in Southeastern Wisconsin lately.  Like, insanely gorgeous!  Normally by December 1, we have at least half a foot of snow on the ground and everyone is either digging out their snowshoes and gassing up their snowmobiles or stocking up for a long hibernation (sometimes until May).  But last Friday it was sunny and 50 degrees outside, so I decided to head up to Port Washington, a charming city 30 minutes north of Milwaukee right on Lake Michigan.  It was my first time there, and it was even better than I expected.

Port Washington is the closest I've seen to a New England town that I've been able to find in Wisconsin.  I love the rocky shoreline and the long piers jetting into the water.  When I got there, I headed right to the lakeshore and had a quick lunch of a very tasty fish sandwich at Smith Bros. Coffee Shop, located in the Duluth Trading Co. building, which used to be Smith Bros. Fish Shanty (you can see their original sign above).

One of the reasons I've been wanting to visit Port Washington is because of its new Port Exploreum, a maritime museum.  For many decades, starting in the 1840's, the port was used to export wood, wheat & rye flour, bricks and fish, and was a well-known place for commercial fishing.  However, both shipping and commercial fishing have seen a rapid decline in recent years.  The museum's current exhibit highlights these industries and, subsequently, some of Lake Michigan's most notable shipwrecks.

The lower level of the museum has a lot of interactive games for families, and a video where you can experience what it looks like to take a boat ride on the lake.

The most famous landmark in Port Washington is the Pierhead Light (also known as the Breakwater Light), which gets photographed often, including earlier this fall when hurricane-like winds pounded Lake Michigan and caused waves as high as the lighthouse itself.  I spent most of my time down at the lakefront taking photos of the lighthouse from all different angles as well as the city itself from a long pier over the water.

 

 

The lake shore has a lot of interesting statues including this one that pays tribute to fishermen lost in one of the lake's shipwrecks.

 

The day was so beautiful, I saw a lot of people out walking, biking and, of course, fishing:

Port Washington is a city I would love to go back to again and again.  Not only does the city celebrate its shipping and fishing history, it also has a great shopping district of unique shops & restaurants, fun summer festivals (all revolving around fish) and the largest number of surviving Pre-Civil War buildings in Wisconsin.  I would go back just to see those.  And now that I know how easy it is to drive up there, it may become one of my go-to road trip destinations!

Milwaukee Museum Mile

Another dreary weekend in Milwaukee.  A great weekend to spend some time checking out some of the city's wonderful museums.  We have a great collection of museums besides the Milwaukee Art Museum and the Public Museum, and this weekend residents from around the area were able to tour 5 of them for free.  Known collectively as the Milwaukee Museum Mile, the tour consisted of the Charles Allis Art Museum, Jewish Museum Milwaukee, Museum of Wisconsin Art at St. John's On the Lake, North Point Lighthouse, and Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum.


After having breakfast down on Brady Street and taking some shots for future challenges down by the lake, I started my tour at the Charles Allis Art Museum.  Charles Allis was an heir to Allis-Chalmers, a manufacturing company in Milwaukee known mostly for producing tractors.  Charles Allis was only in charge of Allis Chalmers for about 6 years, but he built up enough of a fortune to purchase an amazing collection of art from around the world in the early part of the 20th century.  The collection is on display in the house he shared with his wife Sarah designed by architecht Alexander Eschwiler.  Unfortunately, due to many security cameras placed around the museum, I was nervous about taking any photos.

The next place I toured was the Jewish Museum Milwaukee (shown above).  This place is truly a hidden gem, and I will now tell anyone who visits Milwaukee they have to check it out, whether they are of Jewish descent or not.  Starting from the early 1800's when the first exodus of Jewish immigrants came to the city, to the zionism movement, it was truly fascinating.  I had no idea so many local (and national) businesses were started by the Jewish immigrants who came here.  Although some immigrants used carts to sell their wares, as shown in this photo:

Appropriately, an extensive part of the permanent exhibit was dedicated to Jewish descrimination, including the Holocaust.  Another thing I learned today was that in the mid-1920's, there was a quota on how many Jewish persons could be brought into America.  Whether or not this led to the massive amounts of Jews exterminated during WWII, I can't be sure. 

In front of the museum, there is a very respectful memorial to the Jews lost during the Holocaust, shown below:

From there, I took the (free) shuttle to Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum.  This is a really cool museum that looks like it's right out of Florence, Italy.  Below, I took a picture of the museum (right) and two of its neighbors.  This diversity of styles, in this case Victorian, Greek and Italian, is indictative of many streets in Milwaukee.  We are a land of immigrants after all, and I think it's great that architechts and designers have the guts to mix styles in such a bold way.

Villa Terrace was onced owned by Lloyd Smith, owner of A.O. Smith, a company that produced hot water heaters. 

Next, I visited the North Point Lighthouse.  The highlight of this museum is you can go up to the top of the lighthouse and look out over Lake Michigan.  I, instead, chose to take a look at the bridge in back, which makes up one of Milwaukee's many parks.  That's where I took a picture of the lion, one of many that ornament a lovely bridge and pathway throughout the park.  Back inside, there is a very interesting set of exhibits detaling the lighthouse's history, including one woman who saved lives by keeping the light going for 30 years.

Although this was a special event to attract more visitors to these spectacular museums, I hope this will inspire tourists and locals alike to check them out.  For more information on the Milwaukee Museum Mile, visit http://www.milwaukeemuseummile.org/.

Photo Friday Challenge: Tall

This was taken when I visited Racine, Wisconsin last October.  While trying to get to the Racine Zoo, I drove along the lakefront and came upon this lighthouse situated next to one of the beaches.  I thought this would be the perfect picture to enter into my first Photo Friday challenge, which this week is "Tall".