AUTHOR’S NOTE: This is Part 5 of our trip to Wisconsin.
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We were in Milwaukee for only 1.5 days…
…but we did our best to drive around, admire the beautiful architecture…
…and seek out some of the unique features of the city (the Bronze Fonz).
After checking into our hotel, our first stop was actually a grocery store…
…called Glorioso’s Italian Market.
Granted, my initial desire to go was because our Sicilian heritage links us to many Glorioso’s (could these be distant cousins?)…
…but I also love food and was, therefore, so happy we went.
Not only did they have my favorite Italian breakfast cookies…
…they also had a great selection of pasta…
…various types of arancini…
…cookies galore…
…and even the cassatina, a miniature Sicilian cassata with sponge cake, ricotta, icing and a marzipan shell.
This alone was worth the trip!
Later that afternoon, we headed to Black Cat Alley…
…which I missed completely when driving to find it.
But once near the entrance (on foot), the colors grabbed us…
…and we were easily pulled in…
…to see every piece.
Luca fell asleep, so my mom and I decided to grab a beer at Von Trier…
…which has a beautiful bar inside and a nice outdoor patio where we could relax a bit.
But once Luca woke, he wanted to check out Sip & Purr Cafe…
…to get up close with some cats…
…and possibly make some new friends.
After a delightful meal at Kawa Ramen and Sushi…
…we drive off to Leon’s for some frozen custard…
…and there were many others with the same idea…
…but the lines moved fast and the custard was absolutely delicious!
The next morning, we headed to the North End area…
…for a flavorful brunch at Birch and Butcher (left – naan bread with nduja chorizo spread, roasted broccoli, ricotta/ right – pulled pork shoulder, polenta, roasted mushrooms, hollandaise)…
…and even a little dessert with this Pop Tartish hand pie…
…filled with blueberry, basil and chevre cheese.
After our visit with the Fonz and the nearby Bastille Days festival (I’ll write about that in the next post)…
…we drove around to see even more sites…
…like the Holler House (which was unfortunately closed)…
…and the St. Joan of Arc Chapel…
…erected in France in 1420, shipped to the US in the 1920’s and donated to Marquette University in 1964.
While this isn’t the chapel that St. Joan of Arc prayed at (a misconception I had when visiting)…
…there is a stone in the base of the a wall niche behind the alter that is apparently the stone that St. Joan of Arc prayed on before battle and kissed.
Finally, one of the last things we did was a brewery tour at Lakefront Brewery…
…where we got to talk beer, drink beer…
…and inevitably carry around my sleeping child who missed his nap.
That evening, as he continued to sleep, we went to AJ Bombers…
…for a satisfying double cheeseburger with grilled onions, chunky peanut butter and pickle.