Exploring Milwaukee’s eats, streets and waterways

This past weekend, I cashed in my birthday IOU from my daughter Rebecca for a day together in Milwaukee, a city I’ve frequently visited since Rebecca attended Marquette University and now lives there, but not one I’ve explored much. We decided to do a few of our favorite activities: eat, shop and go kayaking!

We began our day dressed up in spring dresses for brunch at Blue’s Egg in West Allis and then, overstuffed with monkey bread, hoppel poppel and grilled cheese, we went to Milwaukee’s Historic Third Ward for some shopping—and walking off our breakfast calories. Rebecca found more great buys than I did, but I was excited to finally get the chance to visit this much-talked-about shopping destination.

We took a break to sip iced drinks from Starbucks and rest at Atwater Beach on our way back to Rebecca’s apartment. Then in mid-afternoon, we made our way to Milwaukee Kayaking Company on Water Street for our first kayaking excursion of the year.

After renting two single kayaks, we traveled up the Milwaukee River, turning west and moving up the Menomonee River, taking in the views of the businesses in the Menomonee River Valley, including the Harley-Davidson Museum, Twisted Fisherman and Potawatomi Hotel & Casino as well as Valley Fields on Canal Street, where Rebecca used to cheer on the Marquette University soccer team (in other words, scope out the boys).

We turned around at City Lights Brewing Company and headed back down the Menomonee to the Milwaukee River where we went north, passing the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, the Third Ward, Marcus Performing Arts Center, Edelweiss Docks and the Lakefront Brewery.

We enjoyed a beautiful warm afternoon soaking up the sun and seeing all the happy people boating and hanging out along the shoreline at outdoor restaurant patios. While there were plenty of docks at the eateries along the river where we could have pulled ashore for dinner, we spent our kayak rental hours paddling. After more than three hours on the water, we headed back to the Milwaukee Kayaking Company and turned in our kayaks.

We ended our day sharing scrumptious tacos and margaritas at the Blue Bat Kitchen & Tequilaria.

The food, shopping and kayaking made for a wonderful day in Milwaukee. Best of all was making memories with my daughter—the perfect birthday gift.