SHIP’S LOG July 19 – 23, 2005

The Voyage Begins.

We left Michigan City on the 18th of July at about 8am. Mom and Dad wished us Bon Voyage from the dock. The conditions were perfect and all systems were GO. We sailed all day and through the night under a full moon. We sailed on a beam reach with all sails flying. It could not have been a more perfect start to our journey. Twenty hours later we arrived off Milwaukee. We hove to off the coast and waited for dawn to enter McKinley Marina.

We had roughly followed a four hour on/off watch schedule, but we were both very tired and slept much of the morning. Then we went to one of our favorite places - the Alterra coffeehouse. It is located near the marina, housed in the historic Milwaukee River Pump Station. When constructed in 1888, it was the largest such pump in the world. It is very interesting that they purchase all of their power from alternative energy sources (wind, hydro and waste recycling) and they collect rainwater from their downspouts. To learn more see

www.we-energyfortomorrow.com.

They roast their own free market coffee beans and serve the best coffee in town. Whenever we have sailed to Milwaukee, we have had a great time unfolding our bicycles and venturing out and this visit was especially nice. From the Fredrick Olmstead designed park system to the Downer street district, the atmosphere of northern Milwaukee is terrific. For the past three years, we have attended the Downer Avenue bike race , a leg of the International Super Pro Tour. It is a huge party with a small town atmosphere.

This year just before the race, we saw Penguins on Parade at the great independent movie house, the Downer Theater. This district is also home of the Swartz bookstore and Gil's Restaurant, both well worth your time. After the race, we attended a concert by the Wisconsin Baroque Ensemble in the Charles Allis Art Museum. They performed a program of 17th Century French Baroque music on period instruments. It was an evening to be remembered. Later we met the musicians at the Bruher German bar for a brew. The next evening, we had dinner at our favorite restaurant, the Lake Park Bistro. It was perfect, and made all the more so by our waitstaff Kendra and Greg. They celebrated our voyage by presenting us with a festive Crème Brule. Later we watched Italian Fest fireworks over the stunning Milwaukee Art Museum designed by Santiago Calatrava.