#Milwaukee East Side

[mercerharlan]

I-94 EB (top) / Brady Street (bottom) - Milwaukee, WI

February 2011

Sony Cybershot DSC-W220

[mkeblr]

N Prospect Ave East Side

[dominionproperties]

5 Best Milwaukee Breweries to Explore

Some know it as “Brew City.” Others have called it “The Beer Capital of the World.” Whatever nickname you use, Milwaukee has a long history with beer. It reaches back to the 1840s, when settlers of the Great Lakes region began to brew the beers of their native countries. Fast-forward nearly two centuries and Milwaukee is home to more than two dozen breweries—including well-known brands with Milwaukee in the name. And its major league baseball team is even named for the city’s history of beer-makers. Explore these five of the great Milwaukee breweries and see for yourself.

1. Miller Brewing Co.

Speaking of a long history, Miller Brewery (4251 W. State St.) has a story that begins nearly 170 years ago. When you visit this historic city landmark, you learn about Frederick Miller and the operation that produced some of the world’s most popular beers. Along with historical stops, like a visit to caves used as beer coolers before modern refrigeration, you’ll check out the bottling facility and hit an outdoor beer garden. Check out millerbrewerytour.com to learn more.

2. Sprecher Brewing Co.

A more family-friendly experience, Sprecher Brewing (701 W. Glendale Ave.) offers a tour that not only includes four beer samples, but also unlimited soda. Sprecher Brewing Co. was started in 1985 by Randy Sprecher, a former Pabst employee. While you may have seen Sprecher beer in stores, its sodas now account for a majority of business. Suffice to say, this might be the best Milwaukee brewery tour for fans of root beer or cream soda. Find out more at sprecherbrewery.com.

3. Lakefront Brewery

Billed as “America’s favorite brewery tour,” Lakefront Brewery (1872 N. Commerce St.) prides itself on an entertaining and engaging tour experience. Visitors get to sample the brews of one of the city’s largest craft breweries, see the production facility and get an up-close look at Bernie Brewer’s chalet that was once part of Milwaukee County Stadium. For more, visit lakefrontbrewery.com.

4. Best Place (Pabst Brewing Co.)

Pabst may have left Brew City in the 1990s, but you can still sip a PBR or Schlitz and learn some of the city’s earliest brewing history in what’s known as Best Place beer history tour (917 Juneau Ave.). Pabst began in 1844 and grew to become the largest lager brewery in the world. After leaving Milwaukee in 1996, Pabst brewing returned in 2017 until operations were moved to San Antonio in 2020. Get more information at bestplacemilwaukee.com.

5. Milwaukee Brewing Co.

Milwaukee Brewing Co. launched in 1997 and grew into a beloved craft brewery. Now under new ownership, Milwaukee Brewing Co. has a taproom at 2335 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., while its production facility is at S64W15640 Commerce Center Parkway in Muskego. The facility is also home to Eagle Park Brewing Co., so the tour covers both brands. Learn more at mkebrewing.com.

Many more to see—and sip

Milwaukee is home to more than two dozen breweries, so these five are just a sampling of the historic and well-known options. Beer enthusiasts can embark on further exploration and will likely find other spots they’d rank among the best Milwaukee breweries.

[selwyngrimm]

[tanagause]

[itgirlsam1717]

garbage day

[414graffiti]

Upper East Side Milwaukee (Downer Stone Creek) - August 19, 2024

[uwmspeccoll]

Good Bye!

This is my last post as Special Collections Graduate Intern. I am now a Master of Fine Arts and I am using this post as an opportunity to share some of my own work.

My Dress, is an accordion-folded artists book printed from four hand carved linoleum blocks. Two blocks on each side of the single sheet, yellow and a deep navy. Conceived of in 2021, published in 2023 as a small boxed edition of 4. This copy will be a part of the UWM Libraries' Special Collections.

The book was a part of my thesis exhibition, In Here, Out There. My exhibition was about the work of 'becoming' queer, work typically done in safe interior spaces, like our homes where we can play and experiment with our how we perform gender. The work of 'becoming' queer involves orienting oneself towards objects that allow you to imagine new possibilities of being. In this book that object is my dress that I carefully select from my closet and pull on over my head, I then joyfully fly through the apartment and the book to the mirror in which I appreciate the work I have done.

I will be staying in Milwaukee; I love this city and have an amazing supportive community here. I will have a studio at the House of RAD and I will be teaching workshops at Anchor Press Paper and Print! Including one on creating a linocut accordion fold book, much like this one. So, keep a look out!

Also, come and see Boyfriend Material, an exhibition of Queer Milwaukee based artists, including myself, curated by artist and curator, LaNia Sproles. Open May 22 – July 15, 2023 at the Brooks Stevens Gallery, located at MIAD, 273 East Erie Street, Milwaukee.

Follow my work on Instagram @teddylepley, and on my website Teddylepley.com.

Read more posts by Teddy! Read more Fine Press Friday Posts!

Thanks for reading! Too-da-loo,

Teddy Dean Lepley III, M.F.A.

[crmsnmth]

September Sky Chapter One, Part 4

"Want to just meet here then?" I asked.

"Yeah. Sure. I get down with my last class around four, so quarter after?" She replied with that same perfect smile.

"Sounds great. I'll see you later then," I said. She gave me a small wave and headed back into the writhing mass of the crowd. I lost her almost instantly. As she walked away, she did turn back and look at me, so I think that's a good thing? I don't know. I was way out practice.

I had enough time to walk to my place in Riverwest, shower, and change clothes quick. Yeah, I did miss the bus, and at this point it would be faster for me to walk than wait for the next bus. I just didn't enjoy the walk without my headphones, which I had forgotten when I left the apartment earlier that morning.

I headed out of the cafeteria as fast as I could go. With the adrenaline from asking someone out for the first time in years, I could move pretty fast. I made it out the door, and out into the late spring air.

I practically ran and crossed the bridge over the Milwaukee River. I had to stop for a few moments to catch my breath, and to cease the stabbing pain in my side. I was really out of shape, and the smoking probably didn't really help. I checked my phone for the time and found there was enough that I could maybe just walk like a normal person.

The bridge is basically what separates the East Side and Riverwest. It was strange, but for some reason, you could actually feel the change. In the air and in the noise. As the hippies that roamed the streets of Riverwest would sat, "it's in the energy, man."

Riverwest was basically a safe haven for misfits and outcasts. A neighborhood for artists and their muses. Everybody here is an outcast, and this tiny little splat in Milwaukee was the holy ground we prayed at. Everybody (who was a decent person) was welcome. No matter if you're a hardcore punk, or a knitted hat wearing hipster, or maybe even a witch who cares more about the style than the substance. They were all accepted with open arms.

I lived over on Booth street, with two room mates. One of them, Tom. had put an ad on Craigslist and I got lucky. I had the first months rent, and I'd be taking over someone's lease. I had no problem with that, and a week later I was moved in, trying again to start my life over.

Tom was an alright. He at least acknowledged my existence. We had even had a few conversations. I guess the best description of him that i can think of would be a jock hipster. Technically, he should be kicking his own ass. Somehow, though, he made it seem natural.

Dennis, on the hand, did not like me. Not one bit. This didn't bother me. I'm no hypocrite. I wasn't his biggest fan. He was a deep-seated conservative. Maybe even more than that even. I know he was deep into ROTC stuff. And he definitely looked the part, with the crew cut and the ever present smug of a soon to be military person. When he was at the apartment, his room was constant virtual gunfire war video games. And hey, I like to game just as much as anyone else, but I'd much rather be doing something.

The house was empty when I got there. I'm assuming they both had class or were to whatever it was that they did for jobs. For being room mates, it's kind of strange of just how little I knew of them. And they knew barely anything about me, other than what they saw at our place. And that wasn't much at all, considering most of my time home was spent locked away in my tiny room.

It looked smaller than it was, mainly because my walls were covered in posters for horror movies and punk bands. I had a small closet in one corner of the room that held most of my t-shirts. And I had a lot of them. Of course, they were all black, and usually with a horror movie's poster on them, or a punk bands logo. A TV stood on a stand with an Xbox that I used mainly has a DVD player. Across the room was my mattress, just a twin that sat on the floor. I tried keeping a sheet on it, but with the amount of movement I have in my sleep from nightmares, I ripped it up every night. So I stopped trying. Who did I have to show anyway? A small dresser sat against one wall, with a turntable and my stack of vinyl on top of it. Right next to it was a bookshelf filled with horror DVDs and a few books based on some form of anarchist ideology. I wasn't all that political, but I classified myself as an anarchist. It just kind of suited me, with the punk thing I had going on since I turned 13 and found a Descendents album at a Goodwill. My laptop lay on my mattress, plugged in to the wall behind the dresser. The wall above my bed was covered in red Christmas lights.

[guerrerense]

Milwaukee Road 32A Cologne Minnesota por Jeff Terry Por Flickr: The Gourmet Express, operated by the Friends of 261, ran over the tracks of the Twin Cities & Western (the former Milwaukee Road main line to the west coast) on October 3, 2021. No. 261 led the train west; E9 32A led the trip east. The train departed Chanhassen at 10:00 AM and stopped on the west side of Glencoe. It then reversed directions, and stopped in Glencoe for lunch and photo runbys.

[secondguessing-reality]

Manifested Wrong

Written privately some time in December 2022:

What really happened, as of summer 2023:

You’re here. You’re finally here on my side of the country, in my city where you always said you’d be. I’m here with you, not living together yet but I made it, and you did too. We’re dating, we’re together. We speak daily, see each other a few days a week unless we’re busy - which happens to be often but at least we get a few days.

This is cute. You moved in immediately, and not only do we spend time together every single day, we sleep together a few nights a week. We speak all the damn time! <3

Sometimes you come over just to watch me with housework while I sip wine and have music playing in the background. These nights we spend together end in us tangled up together. Sharing details about our day as you help me put away dishes and place a kiss on my neck.

Oh, my beloved. Things turned out so much better than I imagined. I come home from work and everything I have piled on my to-do list is done already, thanks to you. When we spend the evenings together there's nothing to be done EXCEPT become wrapped up in each other. When we're home, we get so absorbed in our love that we don't even have time to get through videos and craft projects like we said we would. We're just too into each other that anything else seems almost like a distraction from our endless conversations.

On the weekends we hang out with our friends, with my sister and her family, my fiancé, or just with each other. We go places, do activities, find new places to try, all the fun things we said we’d do together. We have dinner at the fancy restaurants I like, and we find new cafes constantly. I take you to Rise or Asa's and you brag that nothing is better than NY bagels. It makes both of us laugh.

We definitely spend more time with each other than with anyone else. I'm happy to report that everything else is true, except I haven't taken you to a bagel shop here, yet. Soon!

I show you all my favorite spots in the suburbs that I call my home, a place that always felt solid and familiar. Sometimes we go out to Milwaukee to visit my family, spend time with my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I’m not afraid of introducing you, especially to my mother's side. Seeing us in the dynamic doesn’t worry me as I thought it once would.

I've shown you many places that hold meaning to me. I feel lucky I've gotten to see similar places to you. The family that has met you has loved you.

Sometimes we go out East to visit your family, your friends. Sometimes it’s for cons, sometimes it's just back to the Island for little weekends, occasionally it's for the City. We watch sunsets, we walk by the beach, I make an excuse to touch seawater every single time I get near it, you tell me about historically significant buildings and landmarks we pass, we share street food, I point out wildlife. You take my hand as we walk through the villages telling me this is the best love you’ve ever had. 

We've been back twice so far. This prediction was surprisingly accurate! Look at it! Everything came true. Well, take me back to the city for another day of adventures.

We share our traditions, or culture, stories from our upbringing and what its like to be raised by parents raised by immigrants. Things I thought most people wouldn’t understand but you do. The good, the bad, the ugly, the dirty, and the beautiful parts.

In the nights we stay up talking, joking, having sex, watching Netflix, laying next to each other in blissful comfort. We trust each other. I never thought it was possible to trust someone this much, I thought it was a myth, that it was something I only read or see on TV but you make it real. The closeness, the vulnerability. I overcame aversions because I want to be with you more than I’m afraid of being vulnerable. We learned from each other. The lessons we knew we needed to learn. You helped me to rely on others, to be open with others, to ask for help and let people help me. With my fierce love and adoration, I hope I'm helping you learn how to see the greatness within yourself. We’ve grown with each other, becoming better, stronger for each other all with the intention to continue to grow with and for each other.

Wow, okay. All true. Plus a plethora of pets. We've been through so much else the last few months, but when you look at it from December's perspective, I had no idea the depth of our bond could take us this far, and almost too easily.

I open up to you in ways I haven’t opened up to people before. And the best part, you don’t look at me like I’m crazy, or that I’m from another planet. Even if you thought as such you never make me feel alien for it. I don’t need validation, and you know that, but you let me find comfort in you without the fear of feeling like I made a mistake.

I let you be the weak one when you need to be. You want to be strong for me because I AM strong for you and for myself, but you know when to put away the façade and take a break. We lay down on the couch, your head on my chest as I play with your hair. Your long, silver, cloud-soft hair that I love so much. You talk as if no one is listening, opening up about things you keep buried deep. I respect your boundaries and you respect mine but we ask each other questions and tell each other our concerns without having any worry.

And when we look at each other and into each others eyes, we know it, better than we’ve ever known. We’re in love, and we always will be.

This is what I imagined for us. Prayed for. Beseeched the old Gods to grant for us. And it's true, except...

It's so, so much better than I dreamed.

[mourning-again-in-america]

How do I describe what I like about Chicago? It all comes to me as a mix of scenes, watching the storefronts switch from Guatemalan to Korean to Yemeni walking east to west along Lawrence, seeing the flows of crowds of college students leaving and entering the bars on Lincoln Ave, waiting for the last Metra train of the night in a 24-hour diner right next to the tracks--and these are hardly idiosyncratic experiences in any real city (author's note: I'm not sure if either SF, DC, or Seattle are real cities)

Some of it must be a matter of familiarity -- the streets of cities west of the Rockies are all too damn wide, while all the streets in cities on the East Coast are either too damn tiny or are near-freeways. Some of it comes from the comfort of the building heights -- there's not much for suburban single family housing on the north side, especially as you get near the lake; even the more suburban areas are more likely to be 3-4 story walk-ups. Even though I live a good few miles north of city center, I'm still in a mid-rise apartment building and can see several such buildings out my window.

Some of it is certainly food -- I've not had a proper gyro (where the edges of the meat are crisp and crackly and the inside is thick and wet and spiced) outside of here and it's certainly much easier to find a restaurant that'll serve a half-pound of decent meat here than in Boston, Seattle or SF (also, Chicago's meat foods, like the Polish sausage or Italian beef knock any local meat-between-bread meal out of the park, go suck on your cheesesteaks, Philly). And there feels like there's more options for different cuisines here than anywhere not-NYC -- I really like being able to have a Cuban place and a Serbian place and a Kazakh place and a Nepalese place within a few miles! This isn't even for a lack of good American food -- the burgers here are a significant notch above the Bay, the fried chicken and barbecue are the best you'll get in a Northern city, and I even found a hole-in-the-wall breakfast place that opens at 7am and serves a five egg omelette with bacon and cheese, side of potatoes and rye for under $15!

Some of it has to do with the ease of walking around, people like to make Chicago out to be a dangerous city, and it is dangerous, in the way cities are and suburbs are not, but things feel far more demarcated than they ever were in Boston or the East Bay. I know the local hotspots from just reading reddit (Hermosa, Cragin, Lawndale, largely, for a north-sider, southside is more complicated but I can round it off to "anywhere >1mi from the river and not Hyde Park" and be done with it). In Boston, none of it made any goddamn sense, even just walking up Neponset/Dorchester Ave from Quincy -- things were certainly fine in North Quincy, got sus as I crossed the river, got worse and worse as I went north until I hit the Indochinese district just a bit south of UMass -- and then somehow things get worse again as I approach Andrew, but north of Andrew is completely fine?!! What gives? At least on Chicago I know that outside of the Milwaukee Ave sitch, things generally get worse as you go west and south. Simple as. East Bay, nobody seemed to talk about it, or assumed that if there was ever a problem, the problem was with YOU. So I got some weird signals west of MLK (except for the area near Tamaleria Azteca and Al-Maida, those places are goated), couldn't pick up any new info, there wasn't anything around I was interested in seeing, so I just gave up and learned the areas on Telegraph as well as I could.

A large part of it has to do with the night-scene--there's food-places open after 10pm here, that aren't even bars! What a wild world, coming from Boston and the Bay! More than that, they're often even open after midnight in the hotter areas--what bounty being able to choose if I want pizza, tacos, or a Polish around 1am on a night-walk!

I don't know why I like it here, but I do.

[dominionproperties]

Tiny Space, Big Bash: How to Host a Party in a Small Space

Got a cozy apartment that's tight on space, but want to throw a gathering that's larger than life? Fear not! With a touch of creativity, resourcefulness and enthusiasm, you can transform your limited space into a party paradise. Here are several ideas on hosting a party in a small space.

Dance the “furniture foxtrot”

Do the foxtrot with your furniture to open up every square inch and uncover creative nooks for seating. Think foldable chairs, floor cushions and stacking stools. Your space will grow magically larger in just a few minutes.

Create a finger-friendly feast

Roll out a bite-sized spread for your guests. Opt for finger foods that are as delightful as they are easy to manage: veggie trays, mini sandwiches and tiny truffles. Big buffet table not required!

Strike a bright ambiance

Simple lighting can give your space a beautiful glow-up that makes it look bigger. Fairy lights and colorful LEDs create a warm, inviting glow. Your guests will feel welcome as soon as they step through the door.

Gather for group games

Who says you need a huge room for epic entertainment? Dive into the world of group video games, whip out board games or challenge your pals to trivia. It's a guaranteed blast of an apartment party without needing acres of space.

Host a fitness fiesta

Invite your workout friends over for stay-in-place bodyweight exercises. You'll burn calories without bumping into furniture. Throw in some yoga or Pilates for a “Zen meets fitness” get-together, all within a few square feet of your living room.

Tiny spaces, grand celebrations

Hosting a party in a small space might seem like a puzzle, but with the right attitude and a touch of ingenuity, your apartment can be the hottest party pad in town. Go ahead, invite your friends over for an apartment party and let the good times roll!

[jimmyflemion]

Death Songs

40th Anniversary Visitation

Why Death Songs? Easy, we finished playing our final show at The Starship club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1982, the club was closing, there was a finality to it all. After the show, we had agreed that we would not play a show again out in a live setting until we had all original material. For 2 years we had graced the stage with but a smattering of our own compositions. Soon shortly, come May 4, 1982, I moved out, exiting our childhood home & in together with Dennis to a Jupiter Deluxe apartment on the East side, 6 c to b exact. The songs that would mark this new next phase direction came from my pen on the subject of death. Why around this same time at the early age of 21 would I find myself attracted to such an old subject where these thoughts & feelings & ideas come to mind usually at an advanced ripe old age, well looking now back over my shoulder now I have a theory. My hair had seen a slight receding at the temples & I saw to it to even see a hair clinic about it with their magical shampoo product line which evidently backfired for those of you in the judgement field & myself allegedly judging your judgmental position. Life, death, reason, purpose, a duty, a privilege, a path, importance, all the breathtaking scenarios. Death entertains life & purpose & wonder. A question, why am I here? Do I have the answer, is my purpose my real purpose? What truly matters, is important, which are all personal questions that contribute as we all do to the cosmos. Everything in service to someone or something. Am I helping, what's it all for? Anyway regardless, none of that influenced anything, these songs just started coming out with the same thought in mind for some reason from a cobwebbed corner of my brain & collected themselves in a conceptual fashion & quite easily attached & named themselves, Death Songs. It became a running routine as after one was finished, we had a pretty good idea which direction the next selection would take. The different characters deeply imbedded within their own curious character weaving their tales in an attempt to fulfill their desired destruction. Dennis would go on to paint monsters on his drums not once but twice, Multi colored on white shells & then again paint the sides black with white monsters. As an artist he got bored easily so eventually he ended up painting completely over the monsters a third time. When our friend & yours Bobby Brabant came over & saw that Dennis had completely painted over the monsters he got mad, couldn't believe he would have done that. To his point, as a testament & to the fact that we r a bit French, definitely in name, Flemion, say it with me, the heretofore monster painted drums, in time machine fashion should b hanging in the Louvre today, as I type, write & breathe. All the songs r here from The Death Tour which saw Dennis' wife Janice create & construct the original signature wings & the fog machine & flash pots completed the scene. The Frogs "Death Songs" (40th Anniversary) has arrived, a reimagined vision. All the favorites r here from an unearthed synthesizer driven "(I've locked you in my) Dungeon, previously unheard revved up take 2 of Hades High School, 2nd take of the exciting bass version of the upbeat co penned & Dennis sung, Sunny & Bright, songs from the period u have yet to hear that will soon lend a neighborly ear, a total of 16 cremation creations, & an aditiional disc of 16 to boot hill. 40 years later, the celebration begins & ends from your friends, The Flemions, or as you have come to know them The Frogs.

Love,

JImmy

The Frogs

Death Songs (40th Anniversary)

Out today in this digital wonderland of Spotify, Itunes, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera...

#jimmyflemion

#dennisflemion

#deathsongs

#40thanniversary

[jeshala]

@homoqueerjewhobbit I'm on the east side of Milwaukee, just a small jaunt away, and that is so foreign to me. States really are their own little countries. Love Chicago, though. It is, at least, not as fast as New York, where I am sure I would spend an entire afternoon holding doors open for people behind me.

Natalie Portman being confused by the fact that you have to say “hi” to someone before starting a conversation in France got me like ?????

[whitepolaris]

Forest Home Cemetery

Long whispered to be one of Milwaukee's spookiest cemeteries, Forest Home is also one of the most spectacular. Massive white marble monuments and ornate crypts, oversized but graceful statues, and rolling terrain accented with a pond and a concrete bridge make Forest Home a gorgeous place in which to spend eternity. Unusual headstones abound, such as the top topped by a concrete replica of a boat, or the giant monument of an elderly couple with their portraits sculpted in realistic relief. The couple's faces lurk at eye level, seemingly to pop right out of the stone and stare at those who walk by. The cemetery also features a Hall of History, a giant mausoleum where the founding fathers of Milwaukee are memorialized. The whole place is done in pink marble and pink carpet, a soothing color for eternal slumber.

A hill adjacent to the pond on the north side of the cemetery has been said to cause strange reactions in some people who walk it, making them feel sick and fearful. One person reported experiencing visions of splintered coffins and shredded corpses, followed by headaches and bloodshot eyes. The report was posted online and received this reply.

I read what you wrote about Forest Home Cemetery. That reaction is very common among people who go there-in fact, that exact spot you're talking about I am the Director of SEWPI (South East Wisconsin Paranormal Investigations), and we heard about Forest Home Cemetery. We went there and talked to a groundskeeper and also the assistant day manager of the place, and they both told us odd stories about that area in question. We went out there (in the day) to take a look, and there was a woman and her teen daughter walking by. Our eyes met, and we smiled at each other. We took some pictures and got an odd outcome; all three control pictures were bleached out. But the two afterwards, in a different area, turned out okay. What was interesting was when we went back to our car, a couple cars away with this lady and her daughter. She must have seen our ID's. Anyway, she asked if we were a "ghost-hunting group." I said yes, and she said, "My daughter told me to ask you if it means anything she feels ill every time we come to see my father." I said, "Well, it could be just that the whole cemetery thing upsets her or freaks her out, as it can some people." And she said, "That could be, but it's only in a certain area." And guess what area she described? -Heidi