Milwaukee genealogy trip
saki
been there, but my family and I will be making a brief overnight foray
there this Thursday so I can visit my great-grandfather Hans Petersen and
his daughter Maggie. Both are buried at Pilgrim's Rest Cemetery.
Are there beter/worse areas to avoid? I'll be looking for a Super-8 type
motel (free wireless access is hard to beat) in a decent area. Is the
airport region reasonably safe? Any recommended cheap but colorful places
to eat?
----
sa...@ucla.edu
http://www.sakionline.net/familypage/surnames.html
Dave Hinz
> I know some of you folks are familiar with Milwaukee. I'm not, have never
> been there, but my family and I will be making a brief overnight foray
> there this Thursday so I can visit my great-grandfather Hans Petersen and
> his daughter Maggie. Both are buried at Pilgrim's Rest Cemetery.
If you are willing, I'd love to host you and yours dinner, at my place
an hour west of Milwaukee just off I-94.
> Are there beter/worse areas to avoid? I'll be looking for a Super-8 type
> motel (free wireless access is hard to beat) in a decent area. Is the
> airport region reasonably safe? Any recommended cheap but colorful places
> to eat?
Yes, the airport area is just fine. At the risk of sounding racist,
which I am not, Pilgrim's Rest is in an iffy area but just fine during
the day.
A hotel in Brookfield, Wauwatosa, or Menomenee Falls would be convenient
for you if you don't choose one right near the airport. All are on or
near freeways which would be good for your destination.
When are you coming?
Dave Hinz
Allan9
Al
"Dave Hinz" <Dave...@spamcop.net> wrote in message
news:4frq8oF...@individual.net...
Dave Hinz
> Bratnbeer or something like that still by the airport (Layton Rd IIRC)?
Not sure, I don't get down that end of the city often.
Sir Creep
For a quick and FANTASTIC burger and fries, or other on the go food,
Whales on Wells (if it still exists) right across from Marquette
University is, well, as I described it. No fancy BS, but grab food for
one on the go to cemeteries and county document rooms. I haven't been
to Mi-li-a-wau-kee for about 10 years, so I don't even know if Whales
on Wells (named cuz it is on Wells Street) still exists. It would be
sad if it didn't. Best fries in the land.
PB
T Flynn
Hey, welcome to Milwaukee! I wish I could be as generous as Dave, but
right now my whole family has been non-stop running and it's just not
gonna happen :^)
There are hotels near the airport (on howell, South 13th Street, and
Layton) and most of them are somewhere between adequate and nice. They're
convenient as far as airport travelling goes, but right now Milwaukee's
major freeway interchange is undergoing construction, so freeway access
isn't all it's cracked up to be. Check out mchange.org for current
closures. Pilgrim's Rest is actually not in a "bad" area -- just like
with any new place, just stay alert to your surroundings. Also, this
cemetery is pretty easy to get to via surface streets from the airport or
from points west.
Some suggestions for food, etc. -- Let's see... Some of the area around
Pilgrim's Rest is becoming more hispanic to the east, so you can find some
great Mexican/South American restaurants east on Lincoln. There are also
some strong vestiges of earlier residents of the neighborhoods - the
local paper offers a variety of restaurant reviews
http://www.onwisconsin.com/dining/ including a couple Polish, German and
other European cuisines. (unfortunately, I don't get out much :^))
You might also want to consider extending your stay a little while because
this weekend is POLISH FEST. Whee! http://www.polishfest.org/ -- it's
down on our lakefront, just south east of downtown. And it's easy to get
there from Pilgrim's Rest -- Go straight east down Lincoln, follow the
signs for 794 north/west bound, and get off at downtown. Follow the
smileyface signs. (Germanfest is NEXT month!)
T Flynn
but the airport area does offer a couple local chains -- Culvers and
Oakland Gyros -- which are pretty affordable and fast and tasty.
One other possible landmark to check out is the local Family History
Center, which is straight out west from the airport on Grange, at 9600
West Grange. They're closed Friday, but Tues-thurs they're open during
the day and evening, and Saturday they're open 10-1. The Milwaukee Public
Library's main branch also has microfilms and indexes of various
newspapers, censuses and local directories; it's downtown at 7th and
Wisconsin.
Dave Hinz
>
> For a quick and FANTASTIC burger and fries, or other on the go food,
> Whales on Wells (if it still exists) right across from Marquette
> University is, well, as I described it. No fancy BS, but grab food for
> one on the go to cemeteries and county document rooms. I haven't been
> to Mi-li-a-wau-kee for about 10 years, so I don't even know if Whales
> on Wells (named cuz it is on Wells Street) still exists. It would be
> sad if it didn't. Best fries in the land.
Not sure, never noticed it in the 5 years I worked down there. Lots of
things on Wells have been torn down and replaced. But, the Safe House
is always good for fun and awesome burgurs, and the best fries you've
ever had. Right in the downtown area, but that's not near where Saki
will be other than passing through. The cemetary is on 35th and Silver
Spring or so (from memory). Straight north through the Marquette which
is torn up badly right now, off on Silver Spring and you're there.
Saki, what time of day will you be going through Milwaukee? When does
your flight arrive? The route you take will have to depend on time of
day.
Dave Hinz
> There are hotels near the airport (on howell, South 13th Street, and
> Layton) and most of them are somewhere between adequate and nice. They're
> convenient as far as airport travelling goes, but right now Milwaukee's
> major freeway interchange is undergoing construction, so freeway access
> isn't all it's cracked up to be. Check out mchange.org for current
> closures.
Isn't that a wonderful example of how not to design an informative
website? Unless it's improved greatly since I stopped working downtown,
that is.
> Pilgrim's Rest is actually not in a "bad" area -- just like
> with any new place, just stay alert to your surroundings. Also, this
> cemetery is pretty easy to get to via surface streets from the airport or
> from points west.
Right. I hope you've got a map to where you're going there, because
it's a HUGE cemetary.
> Some suggestions for food, etc. -- Let's see... Some of the area around
> Pilgrim's Rest is becoming more hispanic to the east, so you can find some
> great Mexican/South American restaurants east on Lincoln.
Hangon. Where did I get the idea the destination was on Silver Spring?
Entirely different end of town.
> There are also
> some strong vestiges of earlier residents of the neighborhoods - the
> local paper offers a variety of restaurant reviews
> http://www.onwisconsin.com/dining/ including a couple Polish, German and
> other European cuisines. (unfortunately, I don't get out much :^))
There's a great Serbian restaurant (two actually); if you've never had
that kind of food it's a real treat. Wait. It's a real treat
regardless, but if you've never had it, you should try if you like
interesting foods.
> You might also want to consider extending your stay a little while because
> this weekend is POLISH FEST. Whee! http://www.polishfest.org/ -- it's
> down on our lakefront, just south east of downtown. And it's easy to get
> there from Pilgrim's Rest -- Go straight east down Lincoln, follow the
> signs for 794 north/west bound, and get off at downtown. Follow the
> smileyface signs. (Germanfest is NEXT month!)
Quite a party, yes.
I see your name has become longer these days, T!
Dave Hinz
T Flynn
> Hangon. Where did I get the idea the destination was on Silver Spring?
> Entirely different end of town.
Yeah, when you were referring to the north side I was thinking of a few of
the north side cemeteries, but there's like Union Cemetery which is really
small, or there are the huge womping big ones like Holy Cross and Lincoln
Memorial but they're on Burleigh. Valhalla is on 91st and Silver Spring.
Pilgrims Rest is in that funky little south side "cemetery district" --
it's within a couple blocks of Forest Home and Greenwood Cemeteries, and
they're all near Mt Olivet, Arlington Park and St Adalbert's. You can
really tell Milwaukee's development, where the building ended and they'd
create a cemetery on the outskirts. Now they're practically "inner city!"
BTW -- Forest Home was a very popular trolley for picnickers and
daytrippers. I did some lookups for someone related to a hotelier located
at Lincoln and Forest Home -- apparently, that was a big
trolley/regional transit transfer point at some time.
> I see your name has become longer these days, T!
Oh, but it's okay, because now that I'm married, I could claim a whole
'nother last name! :^) I'm learning about entirely different parts of the
country with D's family, except how we've got two different points where
our families lived within a couple miles of each other, once in the
mid-1800s in New York and once around 1900 in Ottumwa, Iowa.
Allan9
saki
> If you are willing, I'd love to host you and yours dinner, at my place
> an hour west of Milwaukee just off I-94.
Well, it looks as though our plans to make it to Milwaukee will have to be
postponed. Can I take a rain check on the invitation? It'd be great to meet
up with you next tile we make it out.
Our flight arrives at Chicago Midway later than I thought, after 8pm. Looks
like it'll be too tight a squeeze to drive up from there to Milwaukee on
Thursday night (and with two hungry kids in the car).
And after checking with Pilgrim's Rest, it looks like we'd need more than
an hour to find the graves Friday morning. They're not marked, and the
fellow from Good Hope who offered to help us negotiate the environs won't
be in the office on Friday. If we had more time.... So sorry!
I appreciate all the good advice; will note it down for the next trip.
----
sa...@ucla.edu
http://www.sakionline.net/familypage/surnames.html
saki
news:Pine.OSF.3.96.106062...@alpha2.csd.uwm.edu:
> You might also want to consider extending your stay a little while
> because this weekend is POLISH FEST. Whee! http://www.polishfest.org/
> -- it's down on our lakefront, just south east of downtown. And it's
> easy to get there from Pilgrim's Rest -- Go straight east down
> Lincoln, follow the signs for 794 north/west bound, and get off at
> downtown. Follow the smileyface signs. (Germanfest is NEXT month!
Clearly I need more time than I'd budgeted! There's too much interesting
stuff in the area. Not to mention seeing some of the libraries and other
resources in the Milwaukee area.
Next time I'll plan the trip with a little more wiggle room in it.
Thanks for the tips!
----
sa...@ucla.edu
saki
> On Wed, 21 Jun 2006 09:36:27 -0500, T Flynn <te...@uwm.edu> wrote:
>> Pilgrim's Rest is actually not in a "bad" area -- just like
>> with any new place, just stay alert to your surroundings. Also, this
>> cemetery is pretty easy to get to via surface streets from the
>> airport or from points west.
>
> Right. I hope you've got a map to where you're going there, because
> it's a HUGE cemetary.
I talked to the volunteer at Good Hope, the cemetery that now manages
Pilgrim's Rest, and he laughed when I said there were no headstones for
my two Petersens. "Oh, you'll never find them!" he said cheerily.
I need to reschedule a trip when he's at the office. He says he can lead
me exactly where I'll need to go.
Dang. I was looking forward to seeing a bit of Wisconsin, too.
As for the neighborhood, he characterized it as "just a little
different". I told him I come from Los Angeles and we have plenty of
"different" neighborhoods out here....
----
sa...@ucla.edu
Dave Hinz
> Dave Hinz <Dave...@spamcop.net> wrote in
> news:4frq8oF...@individual.net:
>
>> If you are willing, I'd love to host you and yours dinner, at my place
>> an hour west of Milwaukee just off I-94.
>
> Well, it looks as though our plans to make it to Milwaukee will have to be
> postponed. Can I take a rain check on the invitation? It'd be great to meet
> up with you next tile we make it out.
You bet, standing offer. Use davehinz@ g mail dot com though because
I'm not sure if I'm keeping the spamcop address.
> And after checking with Pilgrim's Rest, it looks like we'd need more than
> an hour to find the graves Friday morning. They're not marked, and the
> fellow from Good Hope who offered to help us negotiate the environs won't
> be in the office on Friday. If we had more time.... So sorry!
Not a problem at all, I had the location wrong entirely.
> I appreciate all the good advice; will note it down for the next trip.
Let me know when you're coming.
T Flynn
> Dang. I was looking forward to seeing a bit of Wisconsin, too.
Hey, there's plenty for your kids to do. Depending on your ability to
share cars, we've got (at least for now) awesome parks and very cool stuff
for kids to do. Depending on their ages, there's the Betty Brinn museum
www.bbcmkids.org, Discovery World Museum www.discoveryworld.org , AND
there's a Chuck E Cheese just a couple miles from the cemetery. :^). If
you want to see more of Wisconsin, there's Old World Wisconsin about 40 or
so minutes out of town www.wisconsinhistory.org/oww and just a couple
blocks from the family history center is Trimborn Farm
http://www.milwaukeecountyhistsoc.org/trimborn.htm
And of course there's the history known as "Brewery Tours."
:^)
But that's for the parents. At the Sprecher tour I think they offer root
beer, though!
> As for the neighborhood, he characterized it as "just a little
> different". I told him I come from Los Angeles and we have plenty of
> "different" neighborhoods out here....
D'oh, with the ucla.edu address, of course. But here we've also still got
some Polish and Serbian restaurants tossed right into the mix :^)
Dave Hinz
> If you want to see more of Wisconsin, there's Old World Wisconsin about 40 or
> so minutes out of town www.wisconsinhistory.org/oww
...which is on the way to my place, maybe 2/3 there and directly
in-route.
> But that's for the parents. At the Sprecher tour I think they offer root
> beer, though!
They used to but I haven't been to their new location.
>> As for the neighborhood, he characterized it as "just a little
>> different". I told him I come from Los Angeles and we have plenty of
>> "different" neighborhoods out here....
> D'oh, with the ucla.edu address, of course. But here we've also still got
> some Polish and Serbian restaurants tossed right into the mix :^)
Yes, Serbian food would be a great treat.