If you haven't signed up for one of their walking tours, you are missing out on some cool Milwaukee…read morehistory and trivia. Also, there little store downtown, just blocks from the Public Market, is a great stop for souvenirs and all things 414.

This store is a gem in downtown Milwaukee! It's full of unique items made by Milwaukee artists. The…read moreplace looks like a charming movie set with dark wood bookcases and enticing display tables. Shout out to Kat who pointed me to some great gifts! While I was there, she also managed a tour group, handing out headsets and answering questions with aplomb. I love Historic Milwaukee for their annual Doors Open event in September, and I look forward to visiting the store whenever I'm in the area- just a short walk from the Public Market or the Hop!

We did a ghost tour around Halloween. It was such a fun and entertaining experience. The group size…read morewas large, and it was fun walking around and learning all the ghost stories

Tonight, I went on a walking tour in Milwaukee titled "Ghosts of Christmas Past". The tour started…read moreout at the Pabst Theater on Wells and Water and crossed the street to Milwaukee City Hall where we learned about the suicide problem in which 7 people jumped to their death from higher floors into the open lobby below. Horrifying but also fascinating! From there we visited the Pfister Hotel where we learned about Charles Pfister who watches out for his guests and less-nice ghosts who have scared the bejesus out of Major League Baseball players, leaving some unwilling to stay at the hotel again. We walked past the old Newhall Hotel where 70 guests perished in a fire on our way back to the Pabst Theater where we learned about Captain Frederick Pabst who remains present at the theater that bears his name, the mansion he built on Wisconsin Avenue and his brewery village in the city. Our tour guide, Tea, was very knowledgeable and entertaining. There are other local tours in the Third Ward and Brady Street that I look forward to joining this summer. The price was very reasonable. When you go, tip your guide!

I love how easy the skywalk system makes getting around Milwaukee. Each skywalk is a little…read moredifferent, some including an insight into some of the history of Milwaukee or the different neighborhoods. I used to live and work downtown and the skywalks were great for getting around in the winter or inclement weather. Now, only working downtown I find it a great place to go for a walk at lunch or get somewhere.

This is one fun tour. I guess I get a little geeked out when walking around and learning about the…read morehistory of things. For Milwaukee it is no less different. I also did not realize how many Skywalks Milwaukee has. They are scattered throughout and show different views of this great city. The lady who gave the tour was awesome and she really is up on the history of the city. It was an informative tour and we also got a little cardio in to boot. Good stuff!

Want to cruise Lake Michigan affordably and have a boating experience that recreates history? By…read moreall means, get yourself down to Pier Wisconsin pronto and take a sail on the Denis Sullivan. In my mind, this is one of the most amazing experiences the city of Milwaukee offers. Hands down! The Denis Sullivan is a 140-foot sailing vessel that is a recreation of an 1890s cargo vessel. It has space for 50 on its upper deck, three full sails, and three jib sails on the mast. There's a lower compartment that has a head (bathroom), sleeping quarters, kitchen mess, and a gift shop. An exhibit that is part of Discovery World, your ticket buys you a two-hour tour during the summer. Truly, if boating is your thing, this is an amazing must-do. My family and I took the tour recently and we had a blast. The six of us spanned ages from 2 to 73. We all enjoyed it equally. My two year old great niece enjoyed the fact that she had room to roam around to her liking. She wandered everywhere happily. We got pictures of her steering the boat on the rear wheel that controlled the rudder. All of us enjoyed the performance by the ships cast of 8 crew members. They involved all 50 of us on board in a discussion about safety, then gave commands to hoist all of the sails once we had motored comfortably away from the pier and cut the engine. The ropes and sails were neatly and precisely tucked away in a manner any experienced sailor will tell you is proper. Along with other guests, my great niece and her dad helped hoist the sail, and my niece was fascinated with pulling rope for the rest of the trip, "helping" the crew in her own fashion. The crew was on hand to answer questions and quite hospitable with the guests. "This boat is a fiberglass magnet," one crew member told my family, pointing to the boats that pulled up alongside our vessel. They also noted that the boat was weighted in a manner that if it tipped, it would pop back up - a good feature to have on a sailboat that can lean in the wind. A wonderful bonus occurred when two of the crew pulled out a banjo and a fiddle and performed bluegrass music, singing and clapping. My great niece danced and the rest of us enjoyed the performance. The pristine view of Milwaukee's skyline and lakefront is unparalleled. The breeze is cooling and comfortable and the sail is a most enjoyable thing to do on a weekend. Take a trip on the Denis Sullivan. You won't regret it!

A few weeks ago a woman told me the new Pier Wisconsin building adjacent to the Art Museum on the…read morelakefront has the best view of Milwaukee's skyline available without a boat in the city. Intrigued by that and an indoor aquarium, I stopped by this weekend to check it out. Overall, this is a very cool place. The building is beautiful in a modern way that accentuates the Calatrava next door. The lines are clean and nautical and the slat wood floor in the main hallway/promenade was beautiful and different. In general, there is an unfinished feeling to the place despite its having been open more than a month. I can understand the desire to open to the public as soon as possible, but paying $16 for a lot of unfinished exhibits bothered me slightly. That said, there are some wonderful things in this building, which now houses Discovery World, as well as the Pier Wisconsin aquarium and a permanent home for the Denis Sullivan sailboat. The highlight of the aquarium is a tunnel where fish swim a few feet over your head. The glass is so smooth and clear that from certain angles it feels as if you are viewing the image of fish on a hi-definition screen, not actual fish swimming a few feet over your head in a spectacular mega-tank. There is also an open tank for petting small (barbless) stingrays and other fish. We didn't have tons of time to see Discovery World, but needless to say this place is an educational kids heaven. Everything is designed to be touched, felt and understood. In the new (unfinished) techno-jungle area, lots of hip 20-somethings in white lab coats helped kids play and understand a hovering people mover, an inra-red camera, a storm simulator, and best of all, a virtual reality control that led through the streets of Milwaukee. I unfortunately walked right off the bridge over Lincoln Memorial Drive to the Art Museum before surrendering the control to an actual child. Overall, I think Milwaukee has done very well for itself here. The location is amazing, parking easy (underground), the aquarium spectacular and views from the edge of the building are indeed among the best of Milwaukee's lakeside skyline.

I've been to this spot on a few occasions now and love this little gem nestled in the Third Ward…read more Most recently, we were holiday shopping in the Third Ward and needed a break from the hustle and bustle of shopping. We stopped in here for one of their velvety smooth and delicious caramel lattes and a little lunch. For lunch, I got their veggie wrap. It was super basic but the toppings were fresh. It wasn't anything special but fortified me for more shopping. The service is always lovely, the atmosphere is bright and relaxing, and the prices are reasonable. Get to it!

A fun space right in the heart of the Third Ward! Full coffee menu, and was surprised to see a wine…read moreand cocktail menu, even a sangria flight too! It was later in the day so they were running low on bakery items, but spotted a red velvet cookie, YUM! Was doing some shopping and decided to pop in for a pick me up. Service was friendly, and decided to get my chai for dine-in, to enjoy a moment with all of the fun artwork and to catch up with a friend. Chai was delicious, and chairs by the window were a comfy spot to take a moment and people watch along Broadway. Pretty cool conference space that you can rent, looked like it had all the bells and whistles for a productive meeting. Nice to be able to peruse the art gallery and art pieces for sale as I waited for my beverage. Highly recommend, and prices are competitive to any other coffee shop in the neighborhood!

Our Guide, Mike, gave an exceptional tour! Saw so many activities, food places, and historical…read moresights in Milwaukee we never knew existed... and we live close by!! Highly recommend this tour, especially if you're looking for the best of what Milwaukee has to offer !!

We had the best time on this tour! Mike was funny, informative and friendly!…read more I would recommend this to anyone visiting Milwaukee or if you even live there and want to know more about the city's history and architecture. This isn't only a on the bus tour, you also get to hop off at some spots. We had so fun!! We would do it again! Thanks Mike!

If you can't make it to Milwaukee for a tour, or want to bring some delicious food to you, I highly…read morerecommend their advent calendars. They are pricey compared to cheap chocolate ones, but everything in the boxes is high quality, local stuff. I ordered the Michigan one, and so far have enjoyed a variety of candy, coffee, nuts, and dried fruit, and the sizes of the items are decent. It's a big box, but it doesn't need to be refrigerated, and if there's anything you don't want to keep for yourself, they'd make great stocking stuffers.

The Milwaukee Christmas Lights & Desserts Tour was just okay, especially for the price…read more The tour felt expensive for what was included. The desserts were minimal and not what we expected - especially since we've been on the bakery tour by the same company and absolutely loved it. Based on that experience, we expected much more. Two of the four "desserts" were a pre-packaged cookie and chocolate, which didn't feel festive or special for a holiday-themed tour. Another thing not clearly mentioned is that the tour includes a lot of group sing-alongs. While that may be fun for some, it felt like filler after the first few songs and went on longer than necessary. Becca was very patient and kind with the children on the tour, which we appreciated. However, the presentation itself could have been more polished - there were several moments where information was forgotten or counting had to be redone, which made the tour feel a bit disorganized. Overall, the tour could easily be condensed to about two hours and would need to be priced lower to better match the quality and quantity of desserts. It wasn't terrible, but it didn't live up to expectations given the cost and past experiences with this company.

Doors Open Milwaukee is an annual event when over 100 buildings open their doors for free tours…read more Most tours are DIY, but there are many that are docent-led ticketed tours, for more insight. We've done Doors Open for a few years, and in 2017, decided to focus mainly on the clean water industry, which Milwaukee is becoming known for in industry and University circles. Doors Open Milwaukee had a Water Passport, to see if you could hit up all of the sites. Pack some water, a snack, and comfortable shoes, use the helpful PDF guide or app ahead of time to plot out your stops, or pick up a physical booklet on your first stop. Sites we enjoyed in 2017- Global Water Center Milwaukee County Greenhouses UWM School of Freshwater Sciences Mitchell Park Domes An annual event, you can hit up Doors Open Milwaukee every fall. A great annual City event!

Doors Open Milwaukee is wrapping up as I write this, all done for 2016 but if you missed it, don't…read moreworry, it'll be back next year. It's not too early to be thinking about what places you'd like to visit next year. In case this is all new to you, Doors Open Milwaukee is just exactly what the name implies. Many buildings, structures and businesses that aren't usually open to the public throw their "doors open" on the third weekend of September every year. Places might be theaters (Riverside, Modjeska) government buildings (city hall, courthouses, wastewater treatment plant) structures (bascule bridge, lift bridge) cemeteries (Forest Home, Bluemound) Hotels (Pfister, Ambassador) museums (Wadham's gas station, fire museum, Chudnow, MSOE Grohmann) fire houses (Milwaukee, West Allis) and churches of many kinds including the stunning Basilica of St. Josaphat. New on the tour this year was Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, the last commission of Frank Lloyd Wright. Folks in southeastern Wisconsin have been curious about the church since it was built in 1959 and hundreds of people took advantage of the opportunity to see the inside of this magnificent structure. There is a great deal of "right" with DOMKE, although there are a few issues with it, too. One of the more pleasant issues is that there were over 150 places open this year. Too much to see in a weekend, so one much choose carefully. Parking can be an issue around popular venues, as can long lines. It was even tougher this year with on-street parking restricted in many places due to construction. Remember DOMKE for next year, and remember that next spring, Historic Milwaukee will sponsor Spaces & Traces. See you there!

I honestly had no idea what to expect when I signed up to do this... had heard that it was a…read more"haunted" tour. Heard that it was a "Gothic" tour. Also heard that it was an "historical" tour. It was all of those and more! It started raining about an hour before we were supposed to meet, and was considering skipping out. I am SO glad that I made the decision to join the group. Rain or shine, good weather or inclement, I would recommend Gothic Milwaukee tours to anyone and everyone. Anna's love for history and Milwaukee, shine through her as she regales her followers with stories of fame and fortune, ballrooms and back allies. She. Is. A. HOOT!! I got goosebumps more than a few times, listening to her tell stories about what has happened behind Milwaukee's beautiful facade. All said and done it's about 90 minutes, and approximately 3 miles of walking. The terrain is easy, it's all on city sidewalks. And Anna does a fantastic job of attracting your eyes to all the amazing things that downtown Milwaukee has to offer. If you like ghost stories you need to book a tour with Gothic Milwaukee. If your love is history... Anna is your girl. If walking around and learning about architecture and cool "fun facts" about where all the businessman went for their lunch breaks (hint: it wasn't a soda shop), then you need to walk this walk! Just found out that Gothic Milwaukee also has self guided walking tours of Milwaukee in card form!! I am TOTALLY getting these for everyone for Christmas! What a great way to show people how great Milwaukee is AND get props for giving the coolest gift of the year!! I am happy. Thank you, Anna.

I really wasn't sure what to expect with this tour. The website www.gothicmilwaukee.com is pretty…read morebland, there's not a lot of information about the tours online as far as reviews go.....but DAMN this tour was WELL worth the $10! First and foremost, the tour guide Anna is phenomenal. Who knows if the stories are true (although doing some quick google research, all the stories seem to pan out!) She is very friendly, a great story teller, and really...really funny. The walking was light, with plenty of stops along the tour. Great stories about people you've heard about in Milwaukee, and some you haven't. The stories about the Pfister Hotel were really really interesting. This tour is definitely worth $10...and I'm looking forward to the Holiday tour as well.