Winkler ‘aka
the Bronze
Fonz’ on the
city’s beautiful
Riverwalk.
Harley-Davidson has been
manufacturing their motorcycles
in Milwaukee since the early 20th
century. The Harley-Davidson Museum
celebrates the iconic bike with colourful
exhibits and a fun hands on children’s
area for young easy riders.
Although the kids can’t enjoy the
beer, the free Miller Brewery Tour offers
a fascinating insight into the history
and production of this world famous
beer business. Walking from the
brewery (opened in 1855) to the beer
garden, you almost feel as if you are
on a film set. Milwaukee is also home
to one of the best interactive science
museums I’ve ever visited, the amazing
Discovery World. Here you can pluck
up the courage to experience a ‘bed
of nails’ as well as touch real fish in the
Aquarium’s ‘touch tank’. Contrary to my
impression of Milwaukee as a declining
industrial city, the city is booming with
tech start-ups, glorious eateries and
hipster coffee joints.
Despite clocking up seven US road
trips, we had never been to a famed
State fair. All that was about to change
as I deliberately
timed our visit
with the annual
Wisconsin state fair. With the state fair’s
origins in promoting its agriculture,
no wonder the ‘Dairy State’ put on a
grand display. From admiring the cows,
to dog shows and funfair rides, we
had an amazing time. We even got to
sample a State Fair favourite, the Krispy
Kreme bacon cheeseburger, which was
surprisingly tasty.
From Milwaukee, we drove just
over an hour to Wisconsin’s capital,
Madison. Madison is a beautiful town
with a famed Farmers’ Market held
every Saturday in the grounds of the
State Capitol Building. Here we had the
chance to sample Wisconsin’s famous
food from squeaky cheese curds to
maple syrup. Just outside of Madison
is the small town of Middleton, where
we experienced one of the more unique
culinary highlights of our visit, National
Mustard Day. Middleton is home to
the National Mustard Museum and as
luck would have it, we were in town
for a celebration of all things mustard.
From Mustard Bowling to sampling
frozen mustard custard,
this place ticked the
top of our Americana
bucket list.
After a few days in
Madison, we set off
for the Wisconsin Dells
where even more kitsch awaited us.
Nestled along the Wisconsin River,
the Wisconsin Dells is known as the
‘Waterpark Capital of America’. You
know you’ve arrived when every
hotel sports multi-coloured tubes
sprouting out of the walls. Our hotel,
the Wilderness Resort, had eight
waterparks alone, as well as America’s
largest wave pool. My kids could
not have been happier and it was
wonderful to watch my four year-old
brim with confidence as she raced
down her first waterslide.
After eventually dragging ourselves
away from the Dells, we headed just
under three hours north to Green Bay.
Enroute we stopped off at the town
of OshKosh (who knew Wisconsin
was home to all these famed brands)
to visit the EAA AirVenture Museum.
This museum is a must for aviation
buffs with over 200 aircraft on display.
Despite being a family of plane geeks,
this was not the real draw for heading
to this part of the world. It was the lure
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