___Life After the Aisle___: Milwaukee Weekend Getaway

We took a weekend fall getaway to Milwaukee last weekend. It wouldn't be a Sanford vacation without some crazy happenings before we got to our actually vacation. Somehow... we missed our flight on Friday morning. We had a straight flight set up from Kansas City to Milwaukee and were supposed to leave at 6:40am and get in around 8:15am. I blame Tom's alarm setting skills, and he blames me for forgetting my ID and realizing it half way to the airport. Yes, his argument might hold a little better, and there is some serious evidence to back it up - but, let's not point fingers! ;) I would say it was a combination of the two.

We got to the airport and saw our plane pulling away. Luckily, Southwest was easy to work with and they got us to Milwaukee (with a short detour to Baltimore) before noon. It was quite the start to our trip! They didn't charge us a dime either.

We rented a car and found a spot in the Third Ward District (www.coquettecafe.com/) to eat lunch. After lunch we walked around and window shopped, and then drove all along the lake and admired the gorgeous houses, and beautiful trees. It really was the perfect time of year to go with all the leaves changing colors. We then checked into our hotel, and of course had to take a mini nap. We found a grocery mart that had a wide selection of New Glarus beers - Tom was really excited, and we got a lot to ship home. We ate dinner that night at Distil, and had some great small plates, cheeses, and beers. Tom even got to try the Belgian Red by New Glarus at dinner, and I think he had reached beer heaven. After dinner we headed over to Sugar Maple to try some MORE unique beers that Tom could only find in the area.

Saturday morning we took a long walk along the water. It was fun to people watch. All of the boats were still out on the water, and it was a gorgeous morning. I think I could have stayed there all day long, but we were getting hungry by noon. We went to eat brunch at Cafe Hollander - which we highly recommend. YUMMY! After breakfast we went back to the Third Ward and went to the Public Market. We tried our first wheat grass shots. They weren't as bad as anticipated. haha! We didn't feel like we could conquer the world after we took them though, so maybe we should keep trying. More than anything it was interesting to see how they were made!

There were so many unique areas, shopping districts, and houses in Milwaukee. That afternoon we went to Lake Front Brewing. Unfortunately, there tours stopped early due to a wedding, but we got to see the set up, and try a few of their beers. It was located on "Brewers Hill," and was a really nice space. Tom approved!

We got to watch K-State destroy West Virginia at a local pub before heading to "our" restaurant for dinner. Sanford restaurant is very well known in Milwaukee and the chef there has been nominated and won the James Beard Award several times. We made sure to put the reservation under "Sanford," so our presence would be known when getting there. (kidding) The food was amazing, and we got the most delicious dessert. It was a little ball of ice cream/peanut brittle/chocolate/heath goodness. WOW.

Overall we really recommend Milwaukee for a weekend getaway. The flights are really cheap from KC, and the city has a lot to explore - we didn't conquer half of it. I would say it's a must to go in the fall, to see the trees by the water. Enjoy the photos!