Don't ask me why--it has been 35 years since I was in Milwaukee. And that time it was for a tour of the breweries, so I really don't remember very much about it!

So, on a hot summer day in late July, I corralled Tom and jumped in the jalopy to head up I-94 to visit Chicago's neighbor to the north. I found a lovely city with a revitalizing downtown, lots to see and do, a fabulous art museum, some unsung small museums, interesting neighborhoods, a terrific riverwalk, gorgeous lakefront, and I didn't even visit a single brewery this time.

We arrived late on Tuesday, July 31, and ended up staying in a chain hotel near the zoo. But on Wednesday, we moved to the Ambassador Inn, which is a nondescript but nice adjunct to the Ambassador Hotel, on the edge of the campus of Marquette University. We had breakfast at the Caffé Deco in the Ambassador, which really lived up to its name.

The inn was on Wisconsin Avenue, which is one of the main thoroughfares to downtown. We walked downtown a couple of times, where we found lovely architecture, such as the old City Hall (below) and the Art Museum (center right).