Hey Porter, Hey Porter

Well today we had our first train ride in the USA - excluding local City trains and underground trains. For much of the journey I had Drew singing that Johnny Cash hit, Hey Porter, Hey Porter; and though that song is about going down to the south, being on an Amtrak train just makes it seem right.

It competed for the title with Union Station and My Cousin in Milwaukee, but more of them later.

Plans for Today

When I originally planned the holiday it was clear that Wisconsin was not going to make an easy fit into a journey across the continent, but it was one of the states Drew hadn't visited. Looking at it any journey north would be repeated by the same journey south. So instead of booking anywhere in Wisconsin I suggested we would stay in Chicago and do a daytrip, I assumed by car, up to Milwaukee, the nearest place in Wisconsin of which I had heard.

Since coming to the US I have been looking at that journey and wondering how it would made sense. Having to get the car from valet parking and then putting it back, plus the I94 North of Chicago is a mess of major roads works. So I looked for alternatives. Well it turned out that five times a day a Amtrak train runs from Chicago to Milwaukee, so not having travelled by Amtrak before, we decided to redesign the days plans to 'let the train take the strain' (1980s UK rail marketing advert).

Breakfast

I woke this morning at 4.00, not sure why this extra 30 minutes a night is occurring, but it is better than being stuck at 2.00 am. 

I spent some time editing the photos from yesterday and writing the blog post. I realised how much fun yesterday had been as I captures the enjoyment in words. At 6 I made Drew and myself our first coffee, the suite comes with a coffee machine, I made the second while Drew was bathing and then I went for my shower. After the crush at breakfast yesterday we went downstairs at 7.30 and I had sausages and eggs (omelette) followed by a bagel and cream cheese. Drew opted for the sausage and egg and then went for a cinnamon roll and a blueberry doughnut.

Union Station

At 8.00 we left the building to walk down to Union Station, we walked past Cook County Hall which is also Chicago City Hall <<co-pilots note: Blues Brothers fans will know this place>> and other distinctive Chicago buildings. It struck me as we walked that Chicago is so different from New York especially because the buildings are so random. in New York you are either in a high-rise area or a Brownstone area and so on, in Chicago buildings seem to have arrives in a much more haphazard fashion and it is strangely more attractive because of that distinctiveness. One of this morning's delights was the Methodist Church which starts by looking like an office block and then 20 or so stories up becomes a traditional church tower with belfry. 

The route from the hotel to Union Station is below:

As we approached the station Drew asked: "Why have they named a station after a band" for those of you not in the know, Union Station are a band that sing with another of my favourite country singers - Alison Krauss. 

Because of a childhood lived with a father who would always arrive places late I, along with at least one other member of my family (hint, it is not my brother), tend to arrive very early for things. As King Theoden says in the Lord of the Rings 'better not to have arrived at all than to arrive too late to be of aid" and that view has led us to be at Union Station an hour and 45 minutes early for the train. Still I head off and buy tickets, having to call Drew over to join me as we have to give photo ID to purchase tickets. 

I then go to get us some coffee, a mocha for Drew and a ordinary coffee for me, while Drew tours Union Station looking for the stairs on which Elliot Ness shoots the gangsters - as it turned out they were closed for refurbishment, but there are similar stairs around the station. 

At 9.45 we are called to the train, the Hiawatha to Milwaukee. The route Is below:

We sat in the quiet carriage in very comfortable seats on an air-conditioned train, a really excellent experience. They even have free wi-fi on the train, it is a bit spasmodic, but enough to track our route on Google Maps and see when we leave Illiniois and come in to Wisconsin.

Given the excitement of being in Chicago I didn't spend much time on being in Illinois on Friday, but with Wisconsin today Drew has now chalked up 6 of the 8 target states for this holiday. He is two away from the 48.

My cousin in Milwaukee

So we arrive in Milwaukee at the Milwaukee Intermodal Station, a model of integrated transport that Drew’s former boss, Professor Stuart Cole, hopes to introduce to Cardiff.

A friend had pointed me to the song by the Gershwins called My Cousin in Milwaukee and it makes some humorous references to the cousin and her way of singing and why of life which are not really flattering, implying this is because she is from Milwaukee!! 

The scope and scale of Milwaukee is so much smaller than the cities we have visited to-date. It may not be that small but it feels very compact and on a Sunday the centre was very quiet.

We took the route below, a bit of walking back on ourselves, but hopefully not to much:

I would also say Milwaukee is not a tourist centre, it make a good effort by putting clear signs around the riverside walk but there is not really a lot for the non-Wisonsin tourist to do. This is actually a nice change from New York, Toronto, Detroit and Chicago. Milwaukee has a lived in kind of feel, rather than a place for others to come and watch.

We had downloaded the three ‘riverside walks’ recommended, but the highlights are as follows:

• Milwaukee Central Library
• Milwaukee Repertory Theatre
• The Marcus Centre for the Performing Arts
• Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design (MIAD)
• Beer Production
• The Old World Third Street, a three-block historic landmark zone just north of downtown
• The Bronze Fonz – the highlight of Drew’s trip

When you add:

• Two Catholic Churches

and

• City Hall

 You have about it all.

We began at the Central Library, it was closed but it forms a formidable building overlooking the City.

We walked down State Street and discovered the place where the Typewriter was invented, now I find that interesting, but it wasn't highlihgted in the tourist information. Then on to the Old World Third Street, this is a mix of student types bars - all of which were strongly promoting free travel to this weekend's Irish Fest. Then we came to the places where German Sausages are made and a hundred year old restaurant that German families, long time dominant in this region, had developed. 

Drew and I decided we would eat like American's and have Brunch rather than an evening meal today, so we went into Mader's Restaurant at 12.30 pm and were introduced to the Brunch Buffet which is the only option this time on a Sunday. I'm not a fan of buffets, but this was served well and the selection was enormous as indicated by this list. 

My dinner

For my first plate I opted for Sauerbraten, Kassler Rippchen, Beef Goulash, Spatzel, Sauerkraut, Red Cabbage, Mashed Potatoes and Corn on the cob - they were all cooked perfectly and each was tasty in its own right.

For seconds I went for the Meat of the day, Pork Loin and accompanied this with salad and cheese.

Drew's Dinner, my poor photography

Drew's first dish was not dissimilar to mine (I think he missed out the Goulash)

He then moved on to desserts having four of them. First Lemon Cheesecake, then strawberry cake and lemon meringue and then chocolate profiteroles. 

We were both quite full after the meal, but it was very enjoyable. We left at 1.45 and walked along the riverside as indicated by the guided tour, it is a very pretty riverside with lots of art displays - it is mainly modern art, so this philistine could not describe it for you. 

We then met the Bronze Fonz, Drew was taken by this, from the rhyme in the title for a start and then that anyone would commemorate the star of Happy Days. He expected there to be a queue to have your photo taken with the statue, but as it happens he was alone in requiring this while we were there. <<Co-pilot's note - Why it was so quiet I do not know, it was as least as significant as Vernon's Hammer.>>

As we moved away from the Fonz, Wells Street began to rise. Along the river the streets are all bridges, and unlike Chicago where the old bridges have long stopped being moved, the Milwaukee streets are lifted up to make space for the boats.

We walked further up the road, past City Hall and on the St John's Cathedral, which looks pretty on the outside. Strangely the hardest day to get in to a Church in this country seems to be a Sunday, at least in the afternoon - we walked all around the church and their was no opening.

By this time the heat was intense and it was not only 93F but also very humid (55%), Drew in particular struggles with humidity so rather than it being me looking for a sit down and a rest after our walk, it was him.

We came across another old Church, called Old St Mary's but again it was all locked up. We stopped outside the Marcus Centre for the Performing Arts near a fountain under some lovely tree cover. In the background were the tunes of West Side Story being played by an orchestra of volunteer performers who were putting on an open air concert. A nice background to our sitting and cooling down.

After 30 minutes we decided it was time for a coffee and some air-conditioning, we walked towards the intermodal station and found a coffee shop called Stone Creek Coffee Roasters where we had some lovely coffee while waiting until 30 minutes before the train was due to leave to get back to the station. 

The train again left on time and arrived at 7.14 in Chicago. We walked up Lower Wacker Drive on to East Wacker drive and stopped at Subway for a snack before going back to the hotel and packing. I had Chicken on Whole Grain Bread and Drew had Turkey on White.