Tell me about Milwaukee

A friend of mine is a huge fan of the Packers and wants to finally see a game at Lambeau. The game is literally on my 40th birthday and he asked if we wanted to come too. Admittedly I'm not a huge Packers fan but i have wanted to see a game and if I'm gonna see a game might as well see it in the most historic stadium right?

The thing is, Green Bay is stupid expensive to stay in and fly into, like.....$259 for a Motel 6. But Milwaukee is much much cheaper and has some stuff I'd like to see, including an NBA game, Les Paul museum and there are many shuttles to Green Bay on game Day. Seems cool right?

But according to the interwebs it's not necessarily a safe place to visit. Anyone here have first hand experience? Springfield MO is also considering dangerous and I thought it was fine 

I have no idea about hotel prices, but flying into or out of  Appleton has been historically cheaper. 

I would check hotel prices in Appleton, Oshkosh, or Fon du lac. Maybe  smaller surrounding towns like Pulaski, shawano, or Denmark. There is a good amount of civilization between Green Bay and Milwaukee. 

If you drive to Milwaukee,  you'll never get out. I've driven there the better part of 90 times. I've successfully left without getting twisted around exactly 3 times. I wager half of the people living in Milwaukee came there for a concert and couldn't find their way out, so now they live there.

Appleseed said:

If you drive to Milwaukee,  you'll never get out. I've driven there the better part of 90 times. I've successfully left without getting twisted around exactly 3 times. I wager half of the people living in Milwaukee came there for a concert and couldn't find their way out, so now they live there.

 

I refuse to drive if I don't have to when I go a place I don't know. We are gonna do Uber and public transport as much as possible.

Also apparently there is about 50 great places for Bloody Marys so I'll be fairly drunk most the time lol

Folgers said:

I have no idea about hotel prices, but flying into or out of  Appleton has been historically cheaper. 

I would check hotel prices in Appleton, Oshkosh, or Fon du lac. Maybe  smaller surrounding towns like Pulaski, shawano, or Denmark. There is a good amount of civilization between Green Bay and Milwaukee. 

Good point. I actually was considering a G League game in Oshkosh so I'll look around there too

In 8th grade (class of '76) we had a big day visiting Milwaukee.  

The highlight was the Miller Brewery Tour - no beer for us but we all bought a lot of souvenirs.

There's a car dealer that leans towards Italian cars.  I always drive by.  

https://www.reinaintlauto.com/

Milwaukee is safe - west side is nice.

Find an O & H bakery, buy everything you can manage to buy. Attempt to take some Kringle home. 
https://www.ohdanishbakery.com

i thought the area was beautiful. Get out to the lake shore.  
 

Its got its methy trashy probs, but what place doesn't anymore? it also has a ton of beautiful scenery and good things to do. 

The Old Third Ward is a fun place to venture out.  Lots of good bars and brewpubs.  This summer we stopped at the Explorium Brewery after touring the (close by) Harley-Davidson museum.  Great food, great beer.  And interesting looking Bloody Mary's on the menu.

I live in the lovely city of Milwaukee (south suburb actually but who is counting) and have been here for 15ish years now.  

The city is 100% safe everywhere you would go as a tourist, and even the bad areas are not super stabby.

Milwuaukee in the early fall is really nice, tons of stuff to do.  You will have a great time.  

93gsxturbo said:

I live in the lovely city of Milwaukee (south suburb actually but who is counting) and have been here for 15ish years now.  

The city is 100% safe everywhere you would go as a tourist, and even the bad areas are not super stabby.

Milwuaukee in the early fall is really nice, tons of stuff to do.  You will have a great time.  

That sounds perfect, I was hoping someone around the area was on here.

It's a tradition to have Bloody Mary's on my birthday for breakfast so finding out that Milwaukee has some of the most ridiculous ones is great. 

This popped up in a search, I guess I could do ok with only 1 full deep fried chicken....

einy (Forum Supporter) said:

The Old Third Ward is a fun place to venture out.  Lots of good bars and brewpubs.  This summer we stopped at the Explorium Brewery after touring the (close by) Harley-Davidson museum.  Great food, great beer.  And interesting looking Bloody Mary's on the menu.

I'll add that to the list, thanks!

TJL (Forum Supporter) said:

Find an O & H bakery, buy everything you can manage to buy. Attempt to take some Kringle home. 
https://www.ohdanishbakery.com

i thought the area was beautiful. Get out to the lake shore.  
 

Its got its methy trashy probs, but what place doesn't anymore? it also has a ton of beautiful scenery and good things to do. 

True, I pretty much assume every city has at least one area like that. I think websites that mention crime and safety really err on the side of OMG, CRIMEZ!!!! Because I've been in several area they make sound like everyone who enters died and thought it was fine. Maybe it's just perspective? Because Springfield is described as incredibly dangerous and I didn't even see anything slightly worrisome.

Bakery is added to the list as well

I'll add this. As you drive from Milwaukee to Green Bay stop in Manitowac and go to the maritime museum, it's excellent. It even has a WW2 submarine. 
there are also hotels there and it's half way so it may be an option for lodging. 

It'll be safe. 
 

Stop at Maders. Then walk across the street to the Usingers store. 
 

Last time I was there and stayed for food, we ate at McBobs at the recommendation of a local. Dingy looking bar. They had the best corned beef I have ever had. Get the Reuben

In reply to Antihero :

You mention the game is on  your birthday.  Your profile says Jan 1 as birthday.  But,  your profile doesn't say where your home town is.

This makes me wonder,  do you understand how cold it is in Green Bay on Jan 1st?

If you do,  that's great,  I just want you to be ready/equipped! 

John Welsh said:

In reply to Antihero :

You mention the game is on  your birthday.  Your profile says Jan 1 as birthday.  But,  your profile doesn't say where your home town is.

This makes me wonder,  do you understand how cold it is in Green Bay on Jan 1st?

If you do,  that's great,  I just want you to be ready/equipped! 

Thanks for the concern, I live in North Idaho so I'm used to tons of snow and cold and usually am out working in it around that time.

mtn said:

It'll be safe. 
 

Stop at Maders. Then walk across the street to the Usingers store. 
 

Last time I was there and stayed for food, we ate at McBobs at the recommendation of a local. Dingy looking bar. They had the best corned beef I have ever had. Get the Reuben

I'll add it to the list, thank you

NY Nick said:

I'll add this. As you drive from Milwaukee to Green Bay stop in Manitowac and go to the maritime museum, it's excellent. It even has a WW2 submarine. 
there are also hotels there and it's half way so it may be an option for lodging. 

That sounds fun, I'm adding it to the list

Antihero said:

John Welsh said:

In reply to Antihero :

You mention the game is on  your birthday.  Your profile says Jan 1 as birthday.  But,  your profile doesn't say where your home town is.

This makes me wonder,  do you understand how cold it is in Green Bay on Jan 1st?

If you do,  that's great,  I just want you to be ready/equipped! 

Thanks for the concern, I live in North Idaho so I'm used to tons of snow and cold and usually am out working in it around that time.

One of the best fisheries in the world. Go ice fishing!

"I am looking for a Safe House."

I lived in Milwaukee for 14 years before moving to California last year. Agree with the other comments that it's safe, there are parts of town you wouldn't want to go to but there's no reason you'd go there unless you specifically got up and said "hey, I want to go to the bad part of the city that's industrial fallout and not much else."

Not sure where you'd be staying in town or for how long but there's a fun bar in the hipstery Bay View neighborhood called Vanguard that plays 80's WWF wrestling and punk rock while serving up sausages loaded with toppings and poutine. It's one of the few things I missed from town almost immediately. Stop and get a slice of pie for dessert at Honeypie just up the street afterward. Lots of great beer bars too (Stubby's, Camino, Sugar Maple come to mind). Foundation Tiki Bar in Riverwest is one of the best tiki lounges I've visited in the entire country and the guys that run it are great dudes.

If you want to do a brewery tour and support someone more local than MillerCoors do the Lakefront Brewery one, also great people.

einy (Forum Supporter) said:

The Old Third Ward is a fun place to venture out.  Lots of good bars and brewpubs.  This summer we stopped at the Explorium Brewery after touring the (close by) Harley-Davidson museum.  Great food, great beer.  And interesting looking Bloody Mary's on the menu.

If you happen to go to the Harley Museum and have the urge for a Margarita  just over the bridge by the museum there is a restaurant call Conijito's. They have the best ones in town! It is a safe town and the third ward has lots of thing to visit.

In reply to MyMiatas :

Conejito's definitely does not have the best margaritas in town...unless by "best" you mean "a downright stunning amount of booze for how cheap they are" in which case yes, they are the best 

I was expecting to see Alice Cooper. http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=o5FT3IGXtAk