Milwaukee Adventures

Thanks to a fatal drop of my iphone I've temporarily lost all of my pictures from last week.  So I'll have to post about my bowling league, crafting, and Saturday day trip to Chicago later.  But I have plenty of photos from today to share!!

This weekend was Open Door Milwaukee.  A wonderful event across the city that allows you to enter and tour buildings that would otherwise be closed to the public.  Meg and I had a great time tromping around the city, although we may get a cold now...

(We met up at City Hall to start our adventure.  This was part of the courthouse, and looked almost fake it was so pretty!)

(Our first stop was across the street at the Historic Pabst Theatre.  It's the 4th oldest continually operating theatre in America.  The architecture was absolutely beautiful!)

(They literally let you crawl all over this place.  We ventured up to the scaffolding over the stage where they work the curtains.  There were so many ropes, and it's all done manually with weights and manpower!)

(A couple of blocks over we walked into one of the 

Catholic churches off of Cathedral Square, St. John's)

(The absolutely beautiful sanctuary.  The natural light was absolutely amazing.  It's been redone/restored a couple of times, but they seemed to capture something of the previous design  and incorporate it. Ex. The priest and archbishops seats were constructed of the previous communion rail. So neat.)

(The beautiful super modern sculpture/art/crucifix in the middle of the room.  It's supposed to represent the sacrifice as well as the resurrection.  Jesus' hands and feet have nails in them, but he isn't nailed the the cross. Oh, and the "wishbone" in his right hand, that's supposed to be the Holy Spirit in the form of a dove.  Don't worry, I definitely asked the significance of "the wishbone."  Embarrassing.)

 (Next up was the Pfister Hotel.  I'll definitely be heading back there to check out their bar, which is on the same level as this picture was taken.  I can only imagine how great the view is at night!)

 (Next up was The Grain Exchange.  A breathtaking event space.  You literally wouldn't need a single decoration to have your wedding reception here.  It was beautiful!)

(We then took the long walk over the the Marquette campus to check out the cathedrals over there.  Once again, they were breathtaking!)

(View from the pulpit area, looking out towards the front of the church.  If that isn't one of the prettiest stained glasses I've ever seen...)

  

(Meg and I strutting our stuff in the Wisconsin Club's gazebo.)

(Meg, myself, and Nicole waiting in line to go to the 

42nd story of the US Bank Building to the Observation Deck!)

(View of the lake/marina from the 42nd floor.  It was awesome!  You could walk the entire way around the top of the building, definitely the best view of the day!)

(Meg and I with the Third Ward in the background.  My condo is where Meg's left shoulder is!)

Natalie met up with us tonight to continue our Milwaukee Adventures at a restaurant that none of us had eaten at in Bayview. Now obviously I haven't eaten at all that many places, but Meg and Natalie have lived in or near the area for years, so I'm glad we could try something new!

(Outside Palomino.  Home of tequila vinaigrette salad dressing, homemade mac and cheese, and wild rice and pistachio burgers.  They also had a "vegan country fried steak."  While Meg and Natalie were adventurous, I stuck to the classics of Ranch dressing and grass fed beef:))

(We finished off the night with some Leon's Butter Pecan Custard.  Natalie treated us (thanks again Nat!) to the best custard I've had yet!)

Now off to bed!  I've got a lot of work, packing, playing, and all around living to do this week!

COLLEGE STATION BOUND IN FOUR DAYS! WHOOP!

Until next time...