5411. Go to Doors Open Milwaukee

 For the last couple of years, I have been wanting to do Door Opens Milwaukee. Usually it conflicts with the Fox Cities Marathon Weekend. Last year we were in La Crosse so Stacy and I made plans this year to have Girls' Weekend be Doors Open.

Doors Open Milwaukee is an event sponsored by Historic Milwaukee, Inc that celebrates Milwaukee's architecture, history and neighborhoods. Buildings open their doors to the public. You can get behind the scenes tours of places you normally get to see and inside buildings you normally don't get to see. This year there were over 100 places to see, some of which required tickets. Most buildings are free but some of the more popular tours are $10.

In typical Amy and Stacy fashion, we created an overzealous plan. I sent Stacy the list of places I wanted to see so she could come up with a grand plan since she knew Milwaukee way better than I did. I get a text from Stacy that asked if we could do 52 stops in 2 days. I was like we sure can the heck try. The final list was 32 stops in 2 days including a few things that were not part of Doors Open.

We ultimately knocked off 20 Doors Open Locations over the two days. Historic Milwaukee updated dates and times certain places were open since the original list dropped otherwise we would have knocked off two more.  By Sunday afternoon, I was beat and we ended up skipping a couple due to time. We did hit a few that were not on our original list as well.

Here is what we ended up doing on Saturday

Carmex, Inc.

Firehouse Station 21 -- I said I needed only to see one firehouse. Station 21 is located in Riverwest Neighborhood. When we got there, the engine was out on a call and no one was around. We just kind of poked around. Just as we were about to leave, the engine returned. The firefighters were more than happy to let us go upstairs and see the living quarters which usually is not allowed even for Doors Open. There was even a fire pole. They were unprepared for Doors Open but did a really good job at hosting.  

Sanger House Gardens -- This was one of Stacy's requests. I glanced at it initially and thought it was an interesting stop but wasn't sure about it since where it was located. It was only a few blocks from the firehouse in the Brewer's Hill Neighborhood. The gardens were fantastic. There were not big but were very well done. I am glad we were able to check them out and realized the cottage behind is an Air BnB.

Milwaukee City Hall -- This was a fun stop. The building is unique as it's long and narrow. It is also 7 stories and you could explore all the stories. We were even able to check out the Common Council chambers. The entire building is very ornate. I'm glad we decided to add this stop on Saturday. Plus the "pancake" sculpture outside was a fun statue.

Pfister Hotel -- We ended up having lunch here but we also gawked at the ornate staircase and chandeliers while we were in the building. Still didn't see any ghosts. I would love to go back and explore more.

Milwaukee Central Library -- After we did the rotunda tour, we did explored the rooms that they had open for Doors Open. The Chinese Room which was part of the Milwaukee Public Library when they shared a building. The floor still is the original design. The Boardroom was also open which is at the end of a wing. It is very ornate and gorgeous. The children's area with the lighthouse and statues is also amazing.

Milwaukee PBS -- This was actually very cool. We joined a tour and learned how they produced PBS shows. We could man the camera or be on camera in front of the green screen. I tried my hand at camera operations and it was definitely not my forte. 

Turner Hall -- Stacy wanted to see the ballroom. This was a last minute decision since we were close by. Unfortunately the ballroom was closed due to a private party. We got to at least peek inside.

We did not get to the Federal Courthouse because the line was around the corner. It was probably due to security. We will have to plan ahead and start with it in the future if we want ever to check it out.

Sunday, with the kids in tow, we managed to knock off a few more

Kilbourntown House

Falcon Bowl -- This bowling alley was the first bowling alley to have an automatic pin setter. It is in the basement of a corner bar and has five lanes. They still kept score manually though. 

Best Place at the Historic Pabst Brewery -- We just explored it. I wanted a tour but the wait was too long and we wouldn't have seen much else on our list. I put it back on the list for a future trip. 

Grain Exchange Room at the Mackie Building -- Gorgeous and Ornate. It is your typical exchange building from when commodities were traded in regional buildings like this. I love old ornate buildings with grand staircases.

Hilton Garden Inn -- We had to check out the ornate staircase. It would be perfect for a wedding.

Grand Avenue Club -- This was a spontaneous decision since it was literally across the street fro the Grain Exchange and next to the Hilton Garden. This is was an amazing place at what they do for the community. My favorite part was the old bank vault. The stairs were narrow.

We Energies- Public Service Building -- This was another grand staircase building. We quickly checked it out and moved on. 

Holler House -- This is the oldest functional bowling alley. It is a small 2 lane bowling alley in the basement of a corner bar. You have to sign up online to reserve a lane. It does not have manual pinsetter so they have to a pinboy set the pins after every turn. One day I will bowl here.

Milwaukee Fire Museum -- This was our last stop of the weekend. It was an old fire house that was turned into a museum. The hose tower is still there. I learned about a plane crash in Milwaukee. I definitely need to take the hubby here.

Overall it was a very busy but fun weekend. I also know I need to do Doors Open again. I have a master list started so we can hit new places every year. I would highly recommend checking out Doors Open in the future. You don't need to do full days like we did. You can hit one or two places that you've always wanted to see and places change every year.