City of History: Kenosha, Wisconsin

Yesterday, despite the fact that we've officially entered winter and the coldest part of the year, I ventured an hour south of Milwaukee to the lakefront city of Kenosha.  Kenosha is best known for its production of automobiles for Nash, Rambler, Hudson and AMC between 1902 and 1988, and has remained a city rooted to its past.  It even has historic, fully-operational streetcars that run throughout the city.

I have only been to Kenosha a few times, most memorably to visit the Bristol Renaissance Fair a few summers ago, but had never been to the downtown area.  I knew they had a lot of interesting museums, and I took the time to visit two of them, the Public Museum and the Civil War Museum.  But first I had to see the lakefront.

I knew from seeing other photos online and video on TV, that Kenosha has a very nice red lighthouse that jets out into Lake Michigan.  And I knew I wanted to add to my photographic collection of lighthouses with this one.  What I didn't know was that this part of the lakefront has 3 lighthouses including matching red and green striped ones, the green one close to its rocky coast and the red one further out into the lake.  I tried to get a good photo of pairs of these lighthouses, and a couple of them turned out better than I expected.  I had used my telephoto lens when I was in Port Washington because the lighthouse there was so far away from land, but since the red lighthouse was so close, I was able to use my wide-angle lens (and my polarizing filter) to get the lighthouse pairs.

The lakefront also has some cute sculptures in its Harborpark.  My favorite was this pig with a tuba:

After getting as many photos as I could at the lakefront before the sun rose too high, I headed over to the Public Museum and the Civil War Museum which, conveniently, sit side-by-side down the street. 

The Public Museum was small, but free (donations encouraged), and their main exhibit was a history of the Kenosha area which went back all the way to before the ice age, and included indigenous animals, the life of Native Americans in the area, and the bones of a mammoth that was discovered there.  They also have a second floor of rotating exhibits. 

The Civil War museum (which costs $9 in admission) was fascinating.  Every hour on the hour, they have a 15-minute 360 degree film where they show the lives of Union soldiers which feature professional reenactors and was filmed at Old World Wisconsin.  They also present a complete history of the war with makeshift buildings including stocked general stores, a train depot, and boarding houses, each with newspaper clippings of the war plastered to their walls, so you get a year-by-year account.  Like the Public Museum, they also have a second floor of rotating exhibits.

There was one more museum I wanted to visit, but I ran out of energy.  That was the Dinosaur Museum.  That will be something for another day in Kenosha. 

 

On the Waterfront: Port Washington, Wisconsin

It has been gorgeous here in Southeastern Wisconsin lately.  Like, insanely gorgeous!  Normally by December 1, we have at least half a foot of snow on the ground and everyone is either digging out their snowshoes and gassing up their snowmobiles or stocking up for a long hibernation (sometimes until May).  But last Friday it was sunny and 50 degrees outside, so I decided to head up to Port Washington, a charming city 30 minutes north of Milwaukee right on Lake Michigan.  It was my first time there, and it was even better than I expected.

Port Washington is the closest I've seen to a New England town that I've been able to find in Wisconsin.  I love the rocky shoreline and the long piers jetting into the water.  When I got there, I headed right to the lakeshore and had a quick lunch of a very tasty fish sandwich at Smith Bros. Coffee Shop, located in the Duluth Trading Co. building, which used to be Smith Bros. Fish Shanty (you can see their original sign above).

One of the reasons I've been wanting to visit Port Washington is because of its new Port Exploreum, a maritime museum.  For many decades, starting in the 1840's, the port was used to export wood, wheat & rye flour, bricks and fish, and was a well-known place for commercial fishing.  However, both shipping and commercial fishing have seen a rapid decline in recent years.  The museum's current exhibit highlights these industries and, subsequently, some of Lake Michigan's most notable shipwrecks.

The lower level of the museum has a lot of interactive games for families, and a video where you can experience what it looks like to take a boat ride on the lake.

The most famous landmark in Port Washington is the Pierhead Light (also known as the Breakwater Light), which gets photographed often, including earlier this fall when hurricane-like winds pounded Lake Michigan and caused waves as high as the lighthouse itself.  I spent most of my time down at the lakefront taking photos of the lighthouse from all different angles as well as the city itself from a long pier over the water.

 

 

The lake shore has a lot of interesting statues including this one that pays tribute to fishermen lost in one of the lake's shipwrecks.

 

The day was so beautiful, I saw a lot of people out walking, biking and, of course, fishing:

Port Washington is a city I would love to go back to again and again.  Not only does the city celebrate its shipping and fishing history, it also has a great shopping district of unique shops & restaurants, fun summer festivals (all revolving around fish) and the largest number of surviving Pre-Civil War buildings in Wisconsin.  I would go back just to see those.  And now that I know how easy it is to drive up there, it may become one of my go-to road trip destinations!

New & Improved: Milwaukee Art Museum's Expansion

 

Yesterday, I finally got to see the Milwaukee Art Museum's expansion & remodel which opened to the public on November 24.  This expansion has added a lot of space as well as an entrance on the east side of the museum, which can be seen from Lake Michigan:

 



Work was started on the expansion earlier this year, and then the rest of the museum was closed for a couple of months to connect the old with the new and put back all of the art, most in new and unique ways, into new and existing galleries.

To promote the re-opening, the museum placed crates at locations all over Milwaukee county.  The "uncrated" art included many pieces that visitors haven't seen in years as well as new acquisitions.

There was even one in front of my favorite restaurant in Wauwatosa:

The museum dates back to 1888, when local businessman Frederick Layton opened his own gallery.  The museum itself was designed by Eero Saarinen and built in the 1950's.  The Layton exhibit at the museum re-creates how his collection looked in the original gallery.

My favorite part of the museum has always been its contemporary art section which included sculptures:

 

Pop art, including a few of Andy Warhol's:

And mid-century furniture and accessories:

 

I love seeing some of my old favorite pieces of art, including their wonderful gallery of folk art, Haitian art (which I don't think is common in a lot of other art museums), impressionist paintings and historical furniture and pottery.  One new permanent collection I'm excited about features a history of photography, which features a lot of the greats like Ansel Adams, Alfred Stieglitz, Diane Arbus and Walker Evans.

In addition to the new galleries and exhibits, there is a new "wine bar" where you can rest and refresh yourself with small plate items, and three interactive art spaces where children and families can create art of their own, sponsored by Kohl's.

The Milwaukee Art Museum has always been known as a must-visit spot in the Midwest.  I think with this new expansion, it may soon be known as one of the premiere art museums in the country.  On a side note, I read online this week that Milwaukee may crack Hotwire.com's list of the Top 50 cities to visit in the U.S. due to increased tourism.  It's about time!

Summer Recap: The Pewaukee Antique Boat & Classic Car Show

Normally in most areas, there will be a boat show or a car show.  But, as I found out this summer in Pewaukee Wisconsin, they have an annual classic boat AND car show.  Apparently, this show has been around for 11 years, and I just found out about it this year (oh, if only I'd known).  But I have to say, it was one of the most impressive events I've come across in southeastern Wisconsin in many years.

I actually found out about this event thanks to Art's Camera, which sponsors monthly "Focus Group" events where local photographers can get together and meet at various places and events.  I saw a lot of photographers at the event, as well as members of the Plein Air Painters of America.

First, let me talk about the boats.  There were a lot of custom-crafted boats from all over Wisconsin for people to see on Pewaukee Lake.  I was thrilled to see that each boat had its own theme as well as the creativity & pride these boat-owners had for their watercrafts.

They did have some classic boats on display as well.

The highlight for me was all of the classic cars they had on display.  I got to the event early (it started at 9:00 am) and enjoyed watching as the car owners maneuvered their way along the lakefront to get their prime spot to be viewed.

I have photographed classic cars before.  In fact, their one of my favorite subjects.  At this event, I tried using the same shallow depth-of-field I use when photographing flowers to isolate the most interesting part of the cars, especially the hood ornaments.  But three of the photos from that day became some of my most favorite photos I've ever taken.  They are shown below:

I will definitely make it a point to attend this event next summer.  It's not only a great way to spend a summer day but it's located on one of the most beautiful lakes in Wisconsin.

My Summer in Pictures

I feel bad that I've gone two months without posting to this blog.  I would like to say that my summer has been so jam-packed, I haven't had time to write anything - but that would be false.  Truth is, I haven't done too much in Milwaukee this summer.  I missed all but one of the festivals, didn't go to any outdoor concerts, or take any trips besides the one to Savannah.  This is mostly due to not having the money to do any of these things.  I also had a volunteer job taking performance photos for a local community theatre, but it turned out to not be as much fun as I thought it would, and I just resigned.  Also, last summer, I made my big purchase of a Canon DSLR camera, and spent the entire summer going places and taking photos.  So, I feel like everything I wanted to do, I did last summer.

I did get out a few times this summer to take photos, though.  I went down to Milwaukee's South Shore (aka Bay View), and got some shots of the boats there:

I even found a cool "history of Bay View" mural:

At the end of June, I volunteered at the Lakefront Festival of Art, and took some photos of the great sculptures before my shift:

And then a couple of weeks ago, when it was overcast but not rainy, I practiced my macro flower photography at a local park's garden:

I'm hoping to stay more up-to-date on the blog.  I just took some photos this morning before brunch with a local Meetup group.  If those photos turned out as I hope, I will post them this week.