Our last trip to Wisconsin, in June, we visited the Milwaukee Art Museum, the first time I had been there in 50 years. This time around, it was Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory, which it’s been probably 20 years. I think my wife & I had one of our first dates there. 💑
The Conservatory is also known as the Mitchell Park Domes, or simply The Domes. The Domes are located south of the Menomonee Valley, on Layton Boulevard, near downtown Milwaukee. Built over the course of several years in the mid-1960s, The Domes are a Milwaukee institution.
Part of the Milwaukee County Parks system, admission to The Domes is only $8 for adults, $6 for concessions. (County residents get a buck off.)
There are three domes: a Jungle Dome, Desert Dome and Show Dome, where displays rotate by season. All three domes contain plants & flowers from around the world. Major #flowerporn! My favorite flowers were the Silver Vase Plant (Brazil), Blue Ginger (also Brazil), Golden Shrimp Plant (Peru) and Desert Rose (Africa), and whatever that stunning blue number is in the upper left corner of the flower collage, below. The Golden Shrimp Plant reminded me of grapefruit wedges.
Desert Dome (middle): Tongaland Cycad, Desert Rose and Tuberose-Flowered Agave.
Show Dome (bottom): Unknown, Unknown and Tree Mallow.
After visiting The Domes, I decided “what the hell!”, and drove north through most of Milwaukee on 27th St. That area was bad 30 years ago, and has not improved any. You wouldn’t want to drive through it at night. (Unless you are looking for a good crack deal.)
We left 27th St. at Silver Spring Dr. in Glendale. I never thought of Glendale as fancy, but it was an immediate improvement from Milwaukee. As we drove east on Silver Spring through Whitefish Bay, I bored my wife with my memories of how small Bayshore Mall used to be; the Starbucks that used to be my childhood shoe store; the tiny movie theater (still there) where I remembered seeing “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” on the marquee; where the store was I got in trouble with my Mom for buying Mad Magazine, the corner where there used to be a old fashioned candy store next to the still extent Winkie’s five & dime (where I remember buying a yo-yo and the Lance Alworth NFL board game). 🏈
We turned north on Lake Dr., driving past Klode Park where I once ice skated. (My usual ice skating spot was Stormonth Park or Indian Creek Park, the latter of which I also shot off poorly constructed Estes model rockets.) Just before passing my childhood home on Lake Dr., between Spooner Rd. and Dean Rd., I pointed out the still red old house where I once picked up a dog poo and threw it at an annoying girl. 😇
Turning west on Brown Deer Rd., we passed the Bayside Garden Center, where a small tornado took out a few begonias in the 60s, before arriving at the corner of Port Washington Rd. The PDQ I used to get my comic books at is now a combination gas station / Sendik’s Market (the Milwaukee equivalent of AJ’s Fine Foods in Phoenix). Two stores over from Sendik’s is a Baskin-Robbins 31 Flavors that has been there at least 50 years. That’s rare in retail. No one had to twist my arm to stop for a couple of scoops! 🍦
That was our Wednesday, back home in Wisconsin.
On Thursday (8/1), we headed out to Fond du Lac, so I could hike the portion of the Wild Goose State Trail that runs down to Oakfield. (The Wild Goose State Trail is a 34.8 rail trail that passes by Horicon Marsh, before ending just south of Juneau in Clyman Junction.) The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is finally expanding WI-23 to four lanes. More important, the project includes a pedestrian tunnel so Ice Age Trail hikers don’t have to play Frogger. 🐸
Wild Goose State Trail was flat as a board, but it was exercise and there were plenty of flowers.
The Weekend (8/2-4): Friday, Saturday and Sunday, it was off to Road America, for the IMSA Road Race Showcase. 🏎
Friday was mostly practice, with one qualifying session, so for me it was all about karting at the Motorplex, adjacent between the Hurry Downs and The Kink. The concession karts’ quality wildly varies: For instance, the #41 was tight, #43 a lot needed more braking than you would expect, and #25 was at least six seconds slower per lap. (Luckily, I did not get stuck with that one.) Karts #30, #31, #32 and #33 appeared to be the pick of the crop.
Saturday was another sunny day, though there was a threat of an early afternoon thunderstorm. The Porsche GT3 Cup was scheduled for 45-minutes, but only got in maybe 15 minutes of action due to three cautions. (A dubious feat they would repeat the next day in race #2.) Despite moving around the track, I never managed to be where the action crashes were occurin. After the Lamborghini Super Trofeo there was an hour long break so, with threatening clouds, we bailed before the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race started at 4:05 p.m.. We just made it back to The Inn on Hillwind, before the skies opened up. ⛈
Thankfully, Sunday’s main event, the IMSA Weathertech SportsCar Championship, was earlier, at 1:35 p.m. After breaking the Road America’s LMP2 record on Saturday with a 1:51.4 in qualifying, my nephew Matt McMurry co-drove the #52 to victory in PR1/Mathiasen’s Oreca 07. Can’t wait for next year!
The Domes: Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory
Mitchell Park Domes: Flower-palooza! from Preston McMurry on Vimeo.
