Power and Water

The Wauwatosa water tower on 84th Street, seen from the power lines a few blocks east. The setting sun lends a golden haze to the view.

Moving Out

As the weather warms up, the bars and restaurants have been moving their patio furniture out and setting up for the summer, like this establishment in the Third Ward.

Firkin Festival

The First Annual Milwaukee Firkin Craft Beer Festival will be held at Cathedral Square Park on June 12th. Beers from many local brewers will be served and voted upon by the attendees. A firkin, according to Merriam-Webster, is "any of various British units of capacity usually equal to 1/4 barrel". The barrel above is a firkin, tapped at Sprecher last fall as part of their Beer Week festivities.

Span

Construction continues at the former Pabst Brewery, converting the industrial site to residential, retail, and office space.

Sunning

A couple gulls try to stay out of the cold wind and sun themselves on one of the bridge supports along the river.

Light It Up

Light posts and colorful banners line the Riverwalk in front of the Time Warner building.

One Of These Things...

The roof of the Germania Building in silhouette against a clear sky. I hadn't noticed before, but one of the spires seems to be damaged and missing its spike. Lightning strike, perhaps?

Going Wide

Another photo from last Saturday's races on the river. The men's fours head upstream, and this was the tightest group of teams we saw that day. It was exciting to see them jockey for position and pass one another.

Renovation

I'm guessing that this doorway was probably larger, wooden, and included an arched window over the top when this building was new. It can be seen from the Riverwalk on the west side of the river just north of the Knapp Street bridge.

Crab Apple

Many trees are in bloom, and this crab apple tree is no exception. The pink and white blossoms look great in the afternoon sun. Now, if we could only get some warm weather! :)

Cracked

A concrete retaining wall shows its age, and is ready for replacement.

New Name

The Midwest Airlines Center is (appropriately) being renamed to the Frontier Airlines Center, as Midwest's parent company has decided to drop the Midwest brand. This electronic sign on the back side of the Milwaukee Theatre building announces the news.

Bags

This weekend, the Pettit hosted the Brew City Bags Bash, billed as the World's Largest Indoor Cornhole Tournament. Cornhole (or Bags, as they are used interchangeably) is a game where two teams attempt to toss a bag into a hole on a board. Similar to horseshoes, it has been gaining in popularity for a few years. Easy to learn, and fun to play - especially when enjoying a cold beverage while tailgating!

Eight Plus

The Marquette Crew team hosted their first ever Spring Duel Match on the Milwaukee River today. Teams from Lawrence University and the University of Chicago came to town to compete in races of Men's 4's and 8's, Women's 4's and 8's, and Mixed 8's. Today's photo is of the U of C Women's 8 team, moving up river near the Knapp Street Bridge.

Nice View

A building (condos?) along the lakefront as seen from Veterans' Park. The recent warm weather has really pushed the leaves along and everything is greening up nicely.

Juicy Flame-Broiled

Today was the first time that we've hit 80 degrees for the season, and it was a day made for grilling. Take some fresh ground beef, add salt, pepper, and flame. A perfect dinner outside.

Lilacs II

The lilacs have spread their leaves, and the flowers are just starting to show their color. Once they've bloomed, their fragrance will fill the yard. Until then, I'll just have to wait.

Where and When

Today's photo isn't so much about the building or the facility inside it, but the street it's on and today's date. The Public Museum is located on James Lovell Street, and today is the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 13 accident, which Commander Lovell and crew flew to a safe return. To this day, Apollo 13 traveled further from the earth than any other manned spacecraft. Hopefully, I'm still around when that record gets broken and mankind is on the way to Mars or beyond.

Seeing Stars

The decor of bowling alleys can sometimes be a trip into the history of popular design. Our local lanes feature these eight-pointed stars in orange and blue on a black background on the table tops. Perhaps it has to do with they way they look when the black lights are on for moonlight bowling sessions, but I couldn't say.

Sausage Kings

Tonight, the Brewer game was shown on ESPN, and the broadcast crew had some interesting facts regarding the sausages sold at Miller Park:

- Over 910,000 sausages are expected to be sold at the park this season
- Miller Park is the only stadium in Major League Baseball where sausages outsell hot dogs
- Milwaukee sells more sausages than 22 big league teams sell hot dogs

Some impressive stats - now let's hear about beer consumption!

Have a great week!

Happy Clouds

Spent most of the day outside today getting some much needed work done in the yard. Fortunately, the weather was very cooperative, even if it was cool for a good portion of the afternoon. Grey clouds came and went, leaving us with blue skies and puffy white clouds.

Tunnel

A tunnel runs beneath one of the former Blatz brewery buildings from Highland Street. It appears to end in a courtyard off the back of the building.

New Brew

Alcides Escobar played most of last season in Nashville, the Brewers top farm team. He made some appearances in Milwaukee late last season, and became the top shortstop in the organization at Spring Training this year. His speed will be welcome on the base paths, and make him a great addition to the club.

Raffle Ticket

Today I was fortunate to attend the Brewers game. The Brewers Community Foundation is running 50/50 raffles, where half of the proceeds go to the raffle winner, and half to the foundation. Today's winner received over $2500, and unfortunately, it wasn't me.

Fear The Deer

With a 79-74 win over the Chicago Bulls tonight, the hometown Bucks clinched their first spot in the NBA playoffs since... well, it's been a long time. It's a shame that Andrew Bogut is out for the season, but we'll have him back next year for another run at it. Good Luck, Bucks!!

Road Crew

I was a little disappointed that I didn't take the chance to go to the Brewers' home opener today. Imagine my surprise when this pulled down our street and stopped outside - a converted ambulance, decked out as a full-blown tailgate extravaganza, complete with its own portable toilets on a trailer in tow. If you see this hanging around at Miller Park this season, take the time to look at it closely - the owner really put a lot of work into it!

Parallels

The Brise Soleil at the Art Museum and a spire from the footbridge point toward the sky. The arch of the Hoan Bridge can be seen in the lower left corner.

Splash Landing

A gull comes in for a landing on the Milwaukee River, in search of food.

Good Fryday

Tonight, tens of thousands of Fish Frys were served in and around Milwaukee. A Friday night tradition year-round, it takes on a whole new meaning during Lent. I had mine at the Water Street Brewery location in Delafield, and the Perch pictured here was quite tasty.

April Theme Day - Red

The April Theme Day is Red

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

I've featured this sculpture by Richard Taylor in the past, but when today's Theme Day was announced, this was the first thing that came to my mind. It certainly fits the theme.

I hope the rest of April is as pleasant as today has been!