Yesterday I posted about the unhappy Megabus customer in the US who was taking a trip from Chicago to Milwaukee. It’s brought back many memories for me of driving up Interstate 94 from Chicago to Milwaukee. I used to fly into O’Hare from London, hire a car, and then drive to Milwaukee. One time there was a big thunderstorm over Chicago and we circled for sometime before landing, all the time I was thinking “please divert to Mitchell Field, Milwaukee. It”ll save me the drive!”. The approach into O’Hare is beautifull on a clear day, over the lake, and then that view of downtown Chicago! On the drive up to Milwaukee there’s a place whose name I can’t remember where there’s a large shopping mall, it’s just inside either Illinois or Wisconsin – either way it’s just inside the State with the lower sales tax and as such attracts custom from the other State. Can anyone remind me of its name? I used to stop there most times and usually bought a few things.
I like Milwaukee very much, downtown has a wonderful mix of old and modern skyscrapers. I recall one modern skyscraper clad totally in blue glass which then reflects an older skyscraper in stone. Truly beautiful. The waterfront is great too. For Europeans it’s just like a very attractive seaside port with marinas, the ‘sea’ has waves but it doesn’t taste salty! And Milwaukee is home to both Harley Davidson and Miller beer, it can’t get better than that.
I miss that place!! Wonder if there’s any chance of tranfering from Megabus in the UK to Megabus US? I know where the Mid-West Convention Center is, if that helps. Do Megabus stop there? I see Megabus are starting service on the West coast in the next few days unfortunately I don’t know that area. But if they consider NYC as a base and run upstate to Syracuse, Albany, Rochester etc then I’m their man! I know that area even better than running up and down Inerstate 94.
I’ve just had another memory … the licence plates all declare ‘Wisconsin the dairy capital of the United States’. But butter, for breakfast toast, is as scarce as hen’s teeth in any hotel in Wisconsin. You only get low fat spread slime … maybe I don’t want a transfer there!
Ah, visited the Miller brewery a couple of years ago, it’s the size of a small town and so corporate that it was disappointing, but Wisconsin Cheese castles are wonderful, is there nothing they won’t mix cheese with.
Stayed with friends in the west of Chicago, took an hour to drive down to the waterfront but well worth the trip, Sears Tower s a must for the view, and the pier for entertainment.
Food good and plentiful and cheap (ish)
I did that trip (flight to ORD, hire/rental car to Milwaukee) about 4 times some 6 years ago, and I seem to remember a shopping mall at Pleasant Prairie, just north of the border. I didn’t stop as I never thought the difference in sales tax would be significant (and I’m assuming the sales tax in WI is less than in IL).
Thinking about it, my assumption is probably correct, as I remember having to pay tolls to use I-94 in Illinois.