The Corona Diaries Vol. 71: The Best Little Saloon in Milwaukee

(mid-October 2022)

While I haven’t spent much time in front of the television lately, I did watch a show of note called The Rope (La Corde). It’s a French program based on the novel La Corde by German author Stefan aus dem Siepen.

The tale concerns a group of astronomers and other scientists who are working at an observatory/radio telescope out in some remote area of Norway. They are attempting to find vestigial evidence of the Big Bang by tuning their telescope into a certain part of the sky. As the day of the Big Listen approaches, one of the scientists, Agnès Mueller, takes a walk in the forest which surrounds the observatory where she happens upon a rope snaking along the ground. She follows this enigmatic discovery for a little while but is unable to find its end.

After announcing what she's found, her fellow researchers become insatiably curious and a band of them head out to determine just how long this mysterious rope is and where its end lies.

Each member of this fellowship has their own quirks and problems and they find their relationships being put to the test as they venture further into the forest yet can only be amazed that the rope simply goes on.

I found the conceit of a rope of interminable length suddenly appearing to be interesting. But, at a paltry 3 episodes and featuring a large ensemble cast, things seemed rushed. Most characters were undeveloped so their fates felt cliched and contrived. The show did, however, have a rather weird ending which I really enjoyed.

I had hoped to read the novel that the show was based on but, alas, it does not appear to have been translated into English.

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Meanwhile back in Milwaukee…

The Frau and I checked into our hotel. She decided to lie down for a spell before dinner so I went out for a walk. Despite being a dreary, cool afternoon, I headed over to the Riverwalk. The Riverwalk is a pedestrian walkway along the shores of the Milwaukee River that begins at Lake Michigan and continues north through downtown.

Along the way you can see some neat buildings, old and new.

Many businesses along the Riverwalk have open patios but the time to drink and dine alfresco was long over, for most people, anyway. But, during the warmer months you can dine and drink in style on the shore of the river.

There were boat landings dotting the river with spaces for private boats and tourist ones as well. Benches and even some statuary make for a fun and interesting stroll along the shore. This piece is called Acqua Grylli.

We had agreed to meet a friend of mine and her family for dinner. With the dining hour approaching, I made my way back to the hotel.

My friend had initially suggested we meet at the Public Market. However, her husband warned against this as it would be extremely crowded. Instead he suggested O’Lydia’s which was about 6 blocks south of our hotel in the Walkers Point neighborhood near the confluence of the Milwaukee and Menomonee Rivers. It was a pleasant walk that took us past some decaying industrial sites as well as older buildings that had found new life as restaurants and cafes.

We found O’Lydia’s on a corner and, upon walking inside, immediately took to it. A lovely wooden bar that had seen many a patron welcomed us. We grabbed a couple brews and waited for my friend and her family to show up. I ordered a Riverwest Stein from Lakefront, the Milwaukee area’s second oldest craft brewery, having opened in 1987. I think it’s their flagship beer and the one places carry if they only have one Lakefront beer available.

Before long my friend and her entourage arrived and we got a table. I’ve known her since college but only recently got back in touch after an absence of many years. I met her husband several years back so it was a pleasure to make his acquaintance once again. I’d never met their two children, a daughter and son, previously so it was nice to meet them after having heard various tales.

It being a Friday meant fish fry!

I got the bluegill which was a little over breaded but tasty nonetheless. Bonus points from me for the marbled rye instead of bland white bread. Plus they had potato pancakes.

We ate, drank, and were merry. My friend and my Frau work in the same general field and so had a lot to talk about. Curiously enough, my friend’s husband works in IT as I do. We chatted about sundry topics such as their kids and the gentrification of their neighborhood as well as the perennial Wisconsin pastime, commiserating about property taxes.

All too soon they had to head home. Needs must when the devil drives. Or you have young children. The Frau and I, however, went in search of a nightcap. We approached one place but she passed on it as it appeared too trendy, filled with the well-heeled. The kind of place you go to in order to be seen as much as to have a meal.

A couple blocks later we found ourselves in front of Just Art’s Saloon. (I returned the next day for these photos.)

Derelict buildings were behind it and to the north and Just Art’s had a classic dive bar appearance being a bit rough around the edges.

That aesthetic carried over to the interior which was dimly lit. It was slightly brighter than Jocko’s Rocket Ship, which some older Madison readers may remember. Not exactly dingy, but it was entirely possible that the interior had not had much work done on it since the bar opened in 1980 and it was all the better for it. This place oozed character and was a million miles away from the cookie cutter places meant to appeal to Richard Florida’s Creative Class.

An older gentleman with a head of white hair and a similarly colored bushy beard was busy playing dice with a patron from behind the bar while a dog scrambled over to give us a sniff.

As we took our seats, we were greeted with “Was willst du?”

How thoroughly appropriate to hear German in a bar in Milwaukee.

“Ein bier, bitte,” I replied.

He struck a slightly quizzical face and asked, “Sprechen sie Deutsch?”, switching to the formal pronoun.

“Ja, ein bischen,” I noted with some trepidation lest I find myself out of my depth in a lengthy conversation where my role would be to constantly ask, "Was bedeutet <insert word I don't know> auf Englisch?".

The old duffer turned out to be the proprietor, Art Guenther. As we sipped our drinks, we discovered he was prone to brief bursts of orneriness. For instance, he caught us looking at our phones and grumpily remarked, “Damn Millennials can’t look away from those stupid phones!” Well, these grouchy old man moments turned out to all be for show because he was really a very affable fellow. Armed with a dry sense of humor, he always had a droll comment at the ready and was happy to chat about any and everything. The 3 other patrons were regulars and a fourth entered a little while later. She had her usual – gin on the rocks. That dog was wandering about looking for pets and it took me 10 minutes before I noticed that it was missing a leg.

Utterly without pretension and wholly welcoming to a couple of folks from out of town, Art’s saloon is now my favorite Milwaukee watering hole.

The next morning we broke our fasts at Uncle Wolfie’s Breakfast Tavern. It is located in the Brewers Hill neighborhood, apparently so called for being home to countless people who worked at the city’s breweries way back in the day. Brewers Hill is just north of downtown and sits atop a bluff that overlooks the Milwaukee River.

The food was very tasty as was the view from our window seats. When we were done, it was off to the south side and the South Shore Farmers' Market which my friend had recommended to us. The market is at South Shore Park just a small hill away from Lake Michigan. The park was beautiful with all of the colorful trees. It reminded me of Madison’s Orton Park only larger.

No doubt there were more vendors during the summer but there were still quite a few that day, the penultimate market of the season. The vegetables looked marvelous.

A woman was selling frozen custard that had been infused with booze.

Look at these chilies!

With coffee in hand, we wandered over the hill and were treated to lovely views. To the north lay a marina and, in the distance, downtown.

To the south and east was a breakwater beyond which was the great Lake Michigan.

I spied a couple cargo ships off in the distance.

The Frau bought some kombucha and a smattering of baked goods before we headed back to the hotel. It was late morning and our only plan was to meet another friend of mine, whom I’ve known since high school, and her family for dinner. My Frau opted to relax and take a wee nap while I decided to go out for a walk. This time I would go south.

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Bonus photo. Here are some colorful cookies from the Public Market that I neglected to include in an earlier entry.