1) Train ride and dinner to Two Brothers Brewery in Aurora.
2) Pedway tour that I saw advertised in the “On the Go” section of the Trib.
3) Farnsworth House in Plainfield – the Mies van der Rohr Glass House.
4) foot detox at The Salt Cave.
5) Milwaukee boat brewery tour that I read about in the June issue of Cooking Light.
Haven’t done the train ride yet, but we did look at the schedule. It appears that we would have to drink about three hours worth of Prairie Path beer should we decide to train and dine there – and that’s the weekday schedule. There is still time, however in September for that adventure.
Have not taken the pedway tour but I think it still sounds cool. There are a few offerings and it looks like the one that costs about $20 is worth it, as the tour guide is also a bit of a historian.
Still need to get uptown for the foot detox. Just putting my feet into cool water and sitting there for a half an hour sounds heavenly.
We did go to the Farnsworth House on a gorgeous Thursday for the two hour tour. Plainfield is a trek and it took a good hour and fifteen minutes to get there. There is a movie that is shown prior to the tour so you get a bit of the history. The story of the house and of Dr. Farnsworth, her relationship with Mies and the actual building of the house are fascinating. We had a very good docent who gave a great tour and answered any and all questions.
Finally, the boat brewery tour was a blast! I read about it in Cooking Light magazine in a small section about gastronomy in the Midwest. Tours are arranged by Riverwalk Boat Tours phone number 414-283-9999, www.riverwalkboats.com. For $30 a person, you have a 4-hour combined tour and boat trip along the Milwaukee River. We started the day at Lakeshore Brewery where we were treated to a very fun, alive tour for about forty-five minutes. Upon arrival at each brewery, each participant gets 2 tickets for 2 beers per stop. We also each got an orange 12-oz cup. So, you get 2 12-oz beers per stop times 3 equals 6 regular sized beers! (Plan to stay overnight, we didn’t so I could not imbibe as much as I would have liked).
There are about 50 people in the group. After the first tour – we got to taste some of their specialty beer as well during the tour from a tapper installed in the basement – I think it was 8.6 percent – we boarded the pontoon and went to Milwaukee Ale House. There was a short talk there, describing the beers. The actual brewing occurs at a warehouse a few blocks from the Ale House.
Since this was our first time on a tour like this, we were not sure about eating lunch or if we could even get food along the way. At the Ale House, we got 2 tickets once again and also had a leisurely hour to spend eating and drinking as it is a full serve restaurant. The final stop was Rock Bottom Brewery – again 2 tickets and a full menu. We met some people from Boston and talked Hawks, Patriots, Bears. Also the tour guide was sitting with us. We commented on the amount of BEER on this tour and she laughed and said when people first come on board, they want to know if they can buy more tickets for beer. She quipped, “Believe me, you won’t need more tickets.”
We arrived back at Lakeshore Brewery at 5:30, a four hour tour. It was a delightful day, made even better by perfect weather and great company….oh and good, oh so good, beer. Riverwalk Boats offers a few different types of tours; my son told me he attended a bachelor party on a tour. Fun, but Sunday afternoon is probably free from that type of party. The tours start up in May. It’s a great way to spend a Sunday or if you are heading up to Milwaukee for a couple of days, this is a fun way to see the riverfront. Enjoy - !
