Museums and tours

It's been another busy exciting day, and I really must tell you all about it soon. The weather is so hot now, and I don't seem to have 5 minutes alone to write. Will update soon. Belated update:
The weather has been so hot here, and I've been busy trying to make sure that I don't miss anything important here in Milwaukee, I don't know when I'll be back. 5 years ago I didn't know when I would have an opportunity to return.
So last time I was here I did the tour of the Harley Davidson factory, which is a little out of town, but this time I thought I'd better do the museum tour,(which is actually fairly new, and wasn't here when I was here last), which is right in the downtown area, just on the north side of the river. I found it on a map, and realised that it should be fairly easy to walk to. I've walked almost everywhere on this trip. Anyway, running out of my hotel room I picked up a couple of leaflets for some ideas of things to do with the rest of the afternoon. I headed for the Harley Davidson museum first. It was a big industrial building very square and full of very old motor bikes. And back then they were exactly that, bicycles with motors and engines, a far different sight to a modern Harley. Anyway, I'm not an engineer, and there's only so much machinery a girl can take, so I stopped for lunch in the cafe, and was very pleasantly surprised. In the middle of no where, on a hot sunny day, it doesn't have to be good, and you'd still stop there because I'm always conscious that I don't drink enough water at home, and I should be drinking a lot more in this heat. Anyway, free wifi and a good sandwich later, and I'd decided on my next move. So I carried on down the same road, north 6th street, til I crossed the river, passed a roundabout, something so uncommon in America, they just don't really exist here, and saw what I was looking for. Almost surprised by how easily I'd found this place, the Great Lakes Distillery. The first Distillery in Wisconsin since Prohibition.
I've done a few Distillery tours around the world (Miller, Guinness, Heineken, an Edinburgh whiskey distillery), so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. At first, I couldn't decide if they were open or not, but through the fly net across the shutter I could see a small bar, and a couple of people sitting there, so I tried the handle, and it creaked open. I asked if there was a tour soon, and was told yes, I was just in time for the 4 o clock tour and would I like a drink while I waited. Coming in from the baking hot sunshine this was very welcome. So I perused their extensive menu and settled on my favourite. (Cosmo, if you didn't know) Then a few more people had arrived and the tour started, so glass in hand I followed. The tour guide was very informative, a little bit of American history, and how Prohibition is still affecting U.S. laws today.
The equipment they use is of course fairly similar to the other places I mentioned above, though on a smaller scale than some.
They showed us the equipment used, and the casks,and they run a program for recycling the bottles, it's cheaper and better for the environment. And then on to the next bit, for $5 you can try some of the things they make here. So we sampled Vodka,( plain, citrus and honey) and Gin, with many other things than just juniper, (and very unusual, but interesting,) Whiskey, Rum, named after the Pirate of the Great Lakes, and finally 2 types of Absinthe.
After all of this I didn't dare venture out into the baking hot afternoon, so headed back to the bar for a very much needed glass of iced water.
I stayed a while and chatted, and then left to go in search of somewhere to eat before returning back to my hotel.
Before I got back to the main downtown area, I stumbled across a coffee shop which Missy had recommended. Alterra Coffee, and with my adventurous head on, ordered a Chai Shake, with whipped cream. Delicious! Cooled, refreshed, it was time to be lazy and get the hotel shuttle to pick me up, I was only a couple of blocks from their pickup point, so I called, and was soon on my way back to my hotel for the night.