Kitschy Kool: Volume 6: Milwaukee...not just cold, but kool!

This past Saturday as part of my birthday present, Dave took me to Milwaukee. True, it's no Vegas as we originally had hoped, but the real point was just to get away for a night, so we did and it was great.

First, we drove up and stopped at Kopp's Frozen Custard for some of their legendary jumbo burgers and frozen custard (yes, I eat frozen custard and really all ice cream no matter how cold it is outside!)

After that, we made our way to the Eisner Museum of Advertising and Design . This place was a little gem! At least to me since I'm an advertising dork.

There were 3 exhibits there, one featuring the brand, Fossil's "Vintageology":

Another exhibit showed the course of Coca-Cola advertising over the years (sorry no photos) and the last exhibit showed the work of Cramer-Krasselt ad agency. Funny that I went to a museum to see CK when I walk buy their building everyday at work, but it was still a nice display:

And then Dave posed with Mr. Clean, and gave him a run for his money:

Then we checked into one of the most kitschy kool hotels I have ever seen: The Iron Horse Hotel . We booked it through my favorite hotel website, Tablet Hotels, where you can find unique, boutique hotels around the world... even in Milwaukee ;-)

When we first checked into the Iron Horse Hotel, we found a brick and timber loft that I can best describe as a mix of biker-chic/shabby-chic, think Harley Davidson meets Anthropologie catalog.

Our Room:

Our bathroom, complete with "rain" shower and see-thru frosted shower.

Let's just say that you might not want to share a room with just anyone with this semi-private shower/bedroom view ;-)

The bed was also great:

And the accent wall was papered with vintage images of Milwaukee women, the same women that adorned the room keys...so cool:

And the hallways had funky zebra carpet:

And they had a library where they served brunch:

And the lobby was just my style, full on trinkets!:

After exploring the awesome hotel, Dave's brother and our sister-in-law met us for drinks at Water Buffalo and then dinner at Swig, both in the 3rd Ward district downtown, just a 1/2 mile from the hotel.

Scott & Beth

Me & Dave

After a lot of good food, even more good drinks, and a good night's sleep, we checked out and made one last stop at Mars Cheese Castle.

We couldn't leave The Dairyland without picking up some delicious cheese curds!

All in all my birthday rendezvous in Milwaukee was everything I hoped for and more. The downtown area and hotel was full of charm and kitsch, and just what the doctor ordered.