Milwaukee

[Boltlady]

It's 62 years since I lived there but it seems like I should be recognizing things. I don't except for the names of the various suburbs. It seems surreal to keep hearing the name over and over because the convention is being held there. I lived in the middle of the city until I was 12 and then about 10 miles away in a suburb until I was 22. I even went to high school in Waukesha a small city that has been mentioned fairly often for various reasons the last few years.

There are many areas and small cities in the country that never get mentioned for anything and yet Milwaukee and its surrounding areas have been in the news a number of times. My parents are buried there but that is the only connection I still have there outside of old memories. Those have been surfacing with the name being mentioned so often but it's all different now. It truly is a weird feeling.

 

[Zam-Zam]

It's 62 years since I lived there but it seems like I should be recognizing things. I don't except for the names of the various suburbs. It seems surreal to keep hearing the name over and over because the convention is being held there. I lived in the middle of the city until I was 12 and then about 10 miles away in a suburb until I was 22. I even went to high school in Waukesha a small city that has been mentioned fairly often for various reasons the last few years.

There are many areas and small cities in the country that never get mentioned for anything and yet Milwaukee and its surrounding areas have been in the news a number of times. My parents are buried there but that is the only connection I still have there outside of old memories. Those have been surfacing with the name being mentioned so often but it's all different now. It truly is a weird feeling.

I'm not from Milwaukee, but I experienced something similar when I left my hometown to join the service. I was gone for twenty years, and when I returned to see some old friends, my little town was simply a different place.

Life takes you down different roads, and there really is no going back, is there?

No worries - It's all good.

 

[sensible don]

It's 62 years since I lived there but it seems like I should be recognizing things. I don't except for the names of the various suburbs. It seems surreal to keep hearing the name over and over because the convention is being held there. I lived in the middle of the city until I was 12 and then about 10 miles away in a suburb until I was 22. I even went to high school in Waukesha a small city that has been mentioned fairly often for various reasons the last few years.

There are many areas and small cities in the country that never get mentioned for anything and yet Milwaukee and its surrounding areas have been in the news a number of times. My parents are buried there but that is the only connection I still have there outside of old memories. Those have been surfacing with the name being mentioned so often but it's all different now. It truly is a weird feeling.

So you are 74 or 84 years old ? Good for you, keep taking care of yourself !

So you say 62 years since you last lived there and you say you lived there at 12 and nearby at 22 ? 62 years is a long, long time and change will happen. Did they have any professional sports teams then, maybe the Braves ? I have vacationed in Wisconsin and loved the countryside, lots and lots of dairy farms and plenty of area to walleye/ perch fish with all those lakes.

 

[Boltlady]

So you are 74 or 84 years old ? Good for you, keep taking care of yourself !

So you say 62 years since you last lived there and you say you lived there at 12 and nearby at 22 ? 62 years is a long, long time and change will happen. Did they have any professional sports teams then, maybe the Braves ? I have vacationed in Wisconsin and loved the countryside, lots and lots of dairy farms and plenty of area to walleye/ perch fish with all those lakes.

In the late 1950's the Milwaukee Braves won the world series and all of the bars (there were many, about 3 to every grocery store), set cases of free beer outside of their bars for a massive party. They loved their Braves.

 

[Jack4freedom]

In the late 1950's the Milwaukee Braves won the world series and all of the bars (there were many, about 3 to every grocery store), set cases of free beer outside of their bars for a massive party. They loved their Braves.

In 1972 I had just graduated from high school and turned 18 in April. A friend of mine who had relatives in a little town called Cedarburg which was 15 miles north of Milwaukee was going to spend the summer out there and work in a machine shop and play some American Legion Baseball.

I decided to go with him and we hitchhiked from LA to Milwaukee. A guy picked us up outside Denver and we had a great time stopping at pubs along the way. This guy knew that if you lived back there you had to drive all the way to Kansas City to get some Coors beer (Colorado Kool Ade) which was very popular among college students and young drinkers in those days.

He had 15 cases of Coors long neck bottles stacked up in the back of his van. He gave us a ride from just outside Denver right to my friend’s aunts place in Cedarburg. We got there on a Saturday and met the baseball coach and on Monday we were both at a local machine shop drilling holes for $2.18 an hour.

We both had a great time and I met a couple people that are still close friends playing ball and working at that shop. That whole summer was all about working, playing center field and batting second for a pretty good American legion team and DRINKING OUR ASSES OFF.

Wisconsin had an 18 year old legal drinking age for 3.2 beer. After work we would stop off at a place called Shultzes Tavern. Ice cold pitchers of PBR for $0.65. Me and Steve were in hogs heaven. On Wednesday night, we would pile a bunch of guys into a 66 Buick 225 that looked like it had been hit by everything but lightning and go toa town about 60 miles north, Sheboygan for nickel a beer night.

They were grilling all kinds of brats and sausages out front that cost .20 a piece with sauerkraut and hot mustard beer was .40 for a huge pitcher and a nickel a beer. I don’t remember much about how we got back from that place but I do know that we met a few really fun Wisconsin girls over the summer and it was definitely one of the greatest summers of all time for a couple of LA boys in Wisconsin.

When girls found out we were from LA we were treated like rock stars. The Brewers had a guy named Ken Brett who was George Brett’s older brother. We knew hm from El Segundo Ca. where he was legendary. My buddy got a hold of hm through the club and we got free tickets for a few games and got into the clubhouse a few times and met some of the players.

The Brew Crew was a last place team but they were big leaguers and I was very impressed. I remember sitting around with Kenny Brett, George (Boomer) Scott and former AL Batting Champ Harvey Kuenn drinking beers and eating brats. I will never forget those days.

The Bucks had drafted Kareem Abdul Jabbar from UCLA and the town who had always been basketball crazy because of Marquette University and Al McGuire had a championship caliber NBA team. Those were great days in Milwaukee and my friend Steve and I had a great summer. I love Milwaukee, especially the people who were as salt of the earth American as it gets.

 

[Boltlady]

In 1972 I had just graduated from high school and turned 18 in April. A friend of mine who had relatives in a little town called Cedarburg which was 15 miles north of Milwaukee was going to spend the summer out there and work in a machine shop and play some American Legion Baseball.

I decided to go with him and we hitchhiked from LA to Milwaukee. A guy picked us up outside Denver and we had a great time stopping at pubs along the way. This guy knew that if you lived back there you had to drive all the way to Kansas City to get some Coors beer (Colorado Kool Ade) which was very popular among college students and young drinkers in those days.

He had 15 cases of Coors long neck bottles stacked up in the back of his van. He gave us a ride from just outside Denver right to my friend’s aunts place in Cedarburg. We got there on a Saturday and met the baseball coach and on Monday we were both at a local machine shop drilling holes for $2.18 an hour.

We both had a great time and I met a couple people that are still close friends playing ball and working at that shop. That whole summer was all about working, playing center field and batting second for a pretty good American legion team and DRINKING OUR ASSES OFF.

Wisconsin had an 18 year old legal drinking age for 3.2 beer. After work we would stop off at a place called Shultzes Tavern. Ice cold pitchers of PBR for $0.65. Me and Steve were in hogs heaven. On Wednesday night, we would pile a bunch of guys into a 66 Buick 225 that looked like it had been hit by everything but lightning and go toa town about 60 miles north, Sheboygan for nickel a beer night.

They were grilling all kinds of brats and sausages out front that cost .20 a piece with sauerkraut and hot mustard beer was .40 for a huge pitcher and a nickel a beer. I don’t remember much about how we got back from that place but I do know that we met a few really fun Wisconsin girls over the summer and it was definitely one of the greatest summers of all time for a couple of LA boys in Wisconsin.

When girls found out we were from LA we were treated like rock stars. The Brewers had a guy named Ken Brett who was George Brett’s older brother. We knew hm from El Segundo Ca. where he was legendary. My buddy got a hold of hm through the club and we got free tickets for a few games and got into the clubhouse a few times and met some of the players.

The Brew Crew was a last place team but they were big leaguers and I was very impressed. I remember sitting around with Kenny Brett, George (Boomer) Scott and former AL Batting Champ Harvey Kuenn drinking beers and eating brats. I will never forget those days.

The Bucks had drafted Kareem Abdul Jabbar from UCLA and the town who had always been basketball crazy because of Marquette University and Al McGuire had a championship caliber NBA team. Those were great days in Milwaukee and my friend Steve and I had a great summer. I love Milwaukee, especially the people who were as salt of the earth American as it gets.

Growing up there we didn't do drugs, we drank. Everybody was friendly, smiled and waved when you walked down the street. It was a great place back then except for the harsh winters and terrible mosquitos in the summer. Different news reports make it sound all different now.

I'll bt they still have the best ice cream in the country though.

 

[Boltlady]

Growing up there we didn't do drugs, we drank. Everybody was friendly, smiled and waved when you walked down the street. It was a great place back then except for the harsh winters and terrible mosquitos in the summer. Different news reports make it sound all different now.

I'll bt they still have the best ice cream in the country though.

 

[Jack4freedom]

Growing up there we didn't do drugs, we drank. Everybody was friendly, smiled and waved when you walked down the street. It was a great place back then except for the harsh winters and terrible mosquitos in the summer. Different news reports make it sound all different now.

I'll bt they still have the best ice cream in the country though.

I have been back to Milwaukee several times since that summer to watch baseball and show my kids around that beautiful state from Kenosha, to Madison to Green Bay and back down the lake front. We definitely stopped by a bunch of those home made ice cream shops and ate a lot of great food at family owned local restaurants too. I love America and Wisconsin is as American as it gets.

 

[Boltlady]

I have been back to Milwaukee several times since that summer to watch baseball and show my kids around that beautiful state from Kenosha, to Madison to Green Bay and back down the lake front. We definitely stopped by a bunch of those home made ice cream shops and ate a lot of great food at family owned local restaurants too. I love America and Wisconsin is as American as it gets.

BTW I got the bright idea to see if Mader's was still there. Sure enough it still is. It was always considered one of the finest German restaurants in the country. I ate there a few times but it was too expensive to be often.

The cuisine is pure German dishes and the food is absolutely wonderful. My husband was American but of German extraction. He was in the navy and when we were in Newfoundland it was Mader's recipe that I used to make him sauerbraten. If you ever get back to Milwaukee you really should go to Mader's.

 

[Jack4freedom]

Thanks Bot. I really hope I do get back there but I’m starting to get old. If I do I will check out your German Cuisine. I traveled constantly for thirty years but not so much anymore. I went back there one January and got involved in the snow machine, bar hopping and winter music scene outside Green Bay for a week. What a blast that was. Like I said, the people are the greatest. Friendly, down home midwesterners. A lot of pretty crazy guys and girls but crazy in the right way. The people, the different cultures, different cuisine the different scenery and geography is what makes this country so great. I have been fortunate enough to see a whole lot of it over the years in business ventures Baseball summer trips, College Football trips and ski trips. This is really a great country and I am grateful to be a part of it.