If I have to spend a night near the Milwaukee airport is there anything to do during the afternoon/evening? Is a car a necessity? It looks like the city is a good 20+ minutes away.

Shops? Movie theaters? Nice restaurants?

Thanks
Rich

nothing near the airport.

For $7.50 each way you can take Amtrak from MKE (stops at the airport) into downtown Milwaukee.

Nothing to do near the airport.

The Art Museum is a wonderful space on the lake.

Consider going to a German restaurant, Milwaukee being one of the only cities with them. Perhaps a brewery tour.

If there during the summer, I'd check into the various fests that go on, such as Summerfest, Milwaukee has a great area set up right on the lakefront for these fests.

You might even post in Community Buzz when you'll be in MKE an FT'er may be able to give you a lift.

The Visitors' Bureau has a very good website, which has lots of very good info:

http://www.visitmilwaukee.org/

I would definitely come downtown, via taxi or Amtrak, for wonderful restaurants, Milwaukee Art Museum, Harley Davidson Museum, and concerts.

You will not lack for activities to fill your time.

http://www.facebook.com/visitmilwauk...app_2344061033

If the Brewers are in town, you can take in a game at Miller Park, which is just west of downtown.

Enjoy your brief visit!

We thought downtown was lots of fun, we were unexpectedly there for a day last summer, there is a long wooden boardwalk with restaurants and pubs and cafes along the river. Very friendly, outgoing city.

We also went to the Museum of Marketing (or advertising?) right in the downtown area on a street parallel to the boardwalk and it had an absolutely excellent exhibit, really world class, about the psychological components of advertising.

The downtown area is a formerly gritty warehouse and factory area that has been gentrified in a very non-elitist way. This is not a place to find a Gucci store, but it is vibrant and full of locals and didn't seem particularly touristy. Fun on a nice day. We'd go back if we were in the area.

The "boardwalk" is actually the Milwaukee RiverWalk.
http://www.mkedcd.org/DowntownMilwau...alk/index.html

The museum you visited. the Eisner Museum of American Advertising and Design, is closed, unfortunately. It was located in Milwaukee's Historic Third Ward district, which also includes the RiverWalk. The Third Ward is just south of Wisconsin Avenue, which is the main east-west downtown thoroughfare.

http://www.historicthirdward.org/doc...dGuide2009.pdf
The Third Ward's Public Market features Wisconsin products and is a good place at which to graze.

Newly-opened in the Third Ward is Ryan Braun's Waterfront Grill (Braun is the Brewers' All-Star slugger); the restaurant affords outdoor seating, overlooking the river.
http://www.rbwaterfront.com/

If you want to rent a car, rates are reasonable in Milwaukee and parking is usually not a problem. There is valet parking in the Third Ward in the evening ($5.00), but street parking usually not a problem during the week.

Kalkat - as a Milwaukeean, I thank you for your comments. I agree that Milwaukee is very friendly and outgoing, and we always welcome visitors.

Again, enjoy your brief visit, richinaz.

Thanks for the corrections.

I'm really sorry about the Eisner Museum closing. It was a gem. That show we saw should have toured other museums.

If you are interested in the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, youj could drive down to Racine and tour the SC Johnson Wax Co. headquarters building:

Don't rent a car. Just take a cab or train downtown. The lakefront and the river are both very nice.