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Where good times are brewing
By
Jeff Balk
Milwaukee is a city where a variety of
cultures come together; from quaint
neighborhoods rich with ethnic heritage, to
restaurants that tantalize the taste buds, to
diverse
lake-front attractions. Wisconsin's l
argest city is the meeting place of three
rivers: the Milwaukee, the Kinnickinnic, and
the Juneau. There are things to do all day
long as well as through the
night. Spend a day on the beaches of Lake
Michigan or a night on the town.
Milwaukee celebrates its cultural
diversity throughout the year with a
procession of festivals. International Arts
Festival, Asian Moon Festival, Cajun Fest,
Polish Fest, Bastille Days,
Festa Italiana, Mexican Fest, Indian
Summer, and Oktoberfest are just a few of
these tributes.
When is comes to arts and
entertainment, Milwaukee offers up many
options. The Marcus Center for Performing
Arts, Riverside Theater, Milwaukee
Repertory Theater and the
historic Pabst Theater offer symphony,
ballet, opera, Broadway shows, and theater.
The city has a number of art museums,
including the Milwaukee Art Museum, The
Charles Allis Museum and
the Patrick and Beatrice Haggerty Museum.
And don't forget America's Black Holocaust
Museum and the Milwaukee Public
Museum.
With 22 gay clubs, most of them in the
Walker's Point and Third Ward area,
Milwaukee has more gay bars, per capita,
than San Francisco. Most of the clubs are
mixed right in with
the city's
finer straight clubs. Pride flags fly hi
gh on lampposts in the club district as wel
l as in downtown Milwaukee, making this
city very friendly and comfortable to visit.
Accommodations
In the heart of downtown and one
block from the Midwest Express Center is
the Best
Western Inn Towne Hotel (710 N.
Old World Third Street;
414-224-8400). Home to many gay
organizations, this 667,000 square-foot
hotel has two meeting rooms, and will soon
have Jacuzzi suites. Among the former
guests
displayed on autographed photos are drag
queen Michelle Dupree. With gay flags
flying on the lampposts at the corner, you'll
be right at home at this Best Western.
Parking is available and you
can tour downtown through the skywalk
located across the street from the hotel. I
was fortunate to be there for the opening of
the Chesterfield Grill & Lounge. The
Chesterfield offers
breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as
room service, with a happy hour from 4-7pm
daily. In late November, the Pabst Theater
presents a theater and room package.
Overnight accommodations,
dinner for two, VIP passes to the Leonardo
da Vinci show at the Milwaukee Art
Museum, and preferred orchestra seating for
"A Christmas Carol," can be part of the
package. Call the hotel at
877-484-6835 and ask for Steven. He's a
doll and will go out of his way to help you.
Located just blocks from the bars, the
Layton Guest
House (2146 South Layton
Boulevard; 414-389-0900) is open Friday,
Saturday, and
Sunday, and is a genuinely gorgeous bed-
and-breakfast. Closed right now while an
addition is being constructed for an outside
hot tub, Layton Guest House is decorated in
custom
hand-carved furnishings from India, which
rest on richly-loomed English wool
carpeting, with everything illuminated by
Austrian crystal chandeliers. These boys
have come up with a guesthouse to die
for. All rooms are private with private baths,
some with multiple shower heads, private
phones with data ports, Direct TV, and
Select Comfort Mattress systems. A weight
room and tanning
bed are also available to Layton guests.
Weekend packages start at $200.
Restaurants
The
Glass Menagerie (124 N. Water
Street) is located inside of Club M&M. With
delightful lunch and dinner specials, seven
days a week, this is where I ate most of my
meals.
The food was wonderfully prepared and the
presentation was exquisite. Dinners include
a plate of warm rolls and bread sticks. My
favorite was the prime rib special and salad
with their
homemade blue cheese and French
dressing combo.
Out N About
(1407 S. First Street) is a new
Walker’s Point bar and restaurant serving
dinner from 5pm daily except Saturday.
Sunday brunch is from 11am until 3pm. The
facility is comfortably modern and here’s wi-
fi here for those with a lap top too. A mixed
men/women crowd comes dancing nightly
with a big weekend finale.
The Chesterfield Grill & Lounge
, inside the Best Western, is open daily
from 7am-10pm. In addition to regular
meals, their lounge features drink specials
and appetizers
from 4-7pm daily.
The Boulevard Inn (925 E.
Wells) offers fine dining for both lunch and
dinner.
Pasta Tree (1503 North Farwell)
has been serving Milwaukee for over 20
years.
Health clubs and bathhouse
Milwaukee's Midtowne
Spa (315 S. Water Street) is
Milwaukee's premiere gay men's health and
recreational facility. "Tempting Tuesdays"
brings
half-price lockers. Rent a room during the
weekend and receive a free room pass for
the following Tuesday. With half-price rooms
from noon to 2pm on Wednesdays, they
offer lockers, private
rooms, a sauna and whirlpool, steam room
patio, exercise and weight equipment, a
tanning deck, and hot music (as well as hot
men). "Crazy Eight Thursdays" mean $8
locker and room
special. There are $6 lockers available
anytime with a valid college ID. They are
open 24 hours a day and offer a very nice
atmosphere and friendly staff.
Bars
With most of the clubs in the same
area, you can just park your car and walk.
Fluid
(819 S. 2nd Street) is known for the
largest selection of martinis in the area.
Mondays from 8pm to close are Absolut
nights, where all Absolut mixers are only
$2.50, and
on Wednesdays, from 8pm to close, shots of
Cuervo and bottles of Corona are only $2.
This is a bar to where people go to see and
be seen. The crowds start to fill Fluid early,
so get
there sooner rather than later so you don't
have to squeeze in.
La Cage (801 S. 2nd) offers a
multi-bar
atmosphere with a dance floor and drag
cabaret.
Switch
(124 W. National) features a cocktail lounge,
outdoor patio, DJ, dancing, and videos.
Club Boom
(625 S. 2nd Street) has regular
underwear parties. Wearing your underwear
gets you $1 off of drinks that night.
M&M
Club (124 N. Water) houses the
Glass Menagerie Restaurant, one of my
favorites in town. The bar and restaurant
have a very friendly atmosphere and some
staff that have
been there for 20 years. M&M features
karaoke and "Singsational" nights. Green
Bay Packers Sundays are packed at M&M.
Be sure to go on Fridays for the all-you-can
eat fish fry and
Saturdays for their prime rib special.
The
Harbor Room (117 E. Greenfield),
is Milwaukee's premiere leather club. With
one of the city's largest outdoor patios they
claim to be the friendliest bar in the
Midwest. Weekend nights are wall-to-wall
men and their drink prices are some of the
cheapest around-- and shirtless men always
drink for half-price on rail and domestic
drinks. On Tuesdays, wear
a nipple ring and let the bartender give it a
gentle tug for a second drink on the house.
Other clubs include Ballgame
(196 S 2nd Street),
C'est La Vie (231 S. 2nd),
Club 219
(219 S. 2nd), and
Woody's
(1579 2nd).
This is
It! (418 East Wells) is located in
downtown Milwaukee, just minutes from
Lake Michigan. They are Milwaukee's oldest
existing gay bar and still offer an entrance in
the
back as they did years ago, when people
were afraid to be seen walking into a gay
bar. This is It! is a great place to stop by for
happy hour as many locals will be there
after work.
There are three publications covering
all of Wisconsin.
Quest,
based in Green Bay, features ads from most
of the bars and is published every three
weeks.
IN Step
, based in Milwaukee, is a biweekly
publication that's loaded with news and ads.
Upcoming events
Fond of motorcycling? One of
Milwaukee's newest attractions is the
Harley-Davidson Experience Center, a $30
million project that will be the center for
Harley-Davidson
100th Anniversary events in Wisconsin,
August 28-31, 2003, with activities taking
place also in Oshkosh and surrounding
areas of southeastern Wisconsin.
| Author Profile: Jeff Balk |
|
Jeff Balk is publisher of EXP, a gay/les/bi/trans bar and
entertainment magazine serving
Missouri, Illinois, and Kansas. Jeff
hails from St. Louis, Missouri, where
he lives when not travelling for The
Guide.
|
| Email: |
expmag@aol.com |
| Website: |
www.expmagazine.com |
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