Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, just two hours north of Chicago, Milwaukee epitomizes the American industrial and agricultural heartland. It is the headquarters of the original American muscle machine: Harley Davidson. Its drink of choice? Beer, as brewed by local powerhouse Miller Brewing Company. Its main dish? Sausage (particularly brats), as prepared by Johnsonville Sausage company, headquartered just an hour to the north.
And, of course, it is located in Wisconsin, America’s dairy land, famous for cheese and other dairy products (and “cheeseheads”) the world over.
So how can you experience all of this in a single day? Answer: go to a Milwaukee Brewers afternoon baseball game, then mosey down the street to the Harley Davidson Museum. This blog will cover the ballpark. The next blog entry will show what can be found at the museum, especially when you wander in on “bike night.”
We chose a glorious day game. It was seniors day, so our tickets were half price. Not bad for $12.50 seats, huh? 
After the second or third inning our seats were in the shade, and very comfy. Can you spot the baseball half way to home? 
Stands were about half full for this midweek game against a poor Marlins team. Stadium has a fan-shaped retracting roof. Looks neat, but the game was better in the open air. 
Every park has its unique features. The mascot comes down this left field slide every time Milwaukee hits a home run, which happened twice (back to back) in the first inning and twice later. 
Had to have a brat in the ballpark. And in Milwaukee the free topping has to be sauerkraut. 
Hot dogs, baseball; but just the ala mode part without the pie. The one on the right is their specialty, frozen custard. 
In the sixth inning, five figures dressed up as five kinds of Johnsonville sausage do a race around the infield. Quite cute. 
And in the seventh, after “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” they follow with their Milwaukee-specific song, shown above. Of course! 
The line of K’s shows how many Marlins struck out. Just over half their outs were strikeouts, including 8 in a row at one point. A backward K means it was a called third strike. 
The fan behind us, who was there with his 9-year-old daughter, was a great conversationist all day, then offered to take our picture to remember our “cracker jack” day. Told me to come back but wear a Green Bay hat!
Looks like my kind of day! We sure miss you guys! Happy early Father’s Day!