1. Go to the West Allis Farmers Market
EVAN MUSIL, ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR
There are few better ways to spend a Saturday morning than strolling around a farmers market. And after a long winter, those perfect plans are just around the corner. Many farmers markets don’t open until June, but the biggest one in the area, the West Allis Farmers Market, opens this weekend – and not a moment sooner. Treat yourself to some fresh produce and a snack or two.
2. Munch on Bakehouse 23’s May the 4th Goodies
ANN CHRISTENSON, DINING EDITOR
Next Monday is May 4 – May the Fourth. If you’re familiar with the pun “May the Fourth be with you,” it’s a play on the Star Wars movie line, “May the Force be with you.” (Bonus points if you know the pun’s origination and connection to British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.) One of my favorite fandom holiday manifestations is Bakehouse 23’s Star Wars-themed popup in South Milwaukee. Bakery co-owner Sarah Mironczuk isn’t doing her usual festivities on May 4 – instead, she’s celebrating one day early by featuring the most popular themed desserts from her previous years’ popups. On Sunday, May 3, she’ll have some gems – Padwan Pandan Cheesecake, Wookie Cookies, Darkside Cake, and Ube Won Cannoli. Hours: 8 a.m.-2 p.m.
Architects, interior designers, renovators and landscapers: Submit your best work for consideration!
3. Dress Up for MIAD’s Creative Fusion Gala
CAROLE NICKSIN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
I’m excited to attend the MIAD Creative Fusion gala on Saturday. This year, the theme is the Kentucky Derby, so I expect to see a lot of fascinators. It’s always a fun event and for a good cause!
4. Learn to Play Mahjong With the MKE Mahjong Social Group
AMRITA THAKKAR, DIGITAL EDITOR
I can get a tad competitive with multiplayer games, which means learning new games that I’m not instantly good at is a fraught exercise, to put it lightly. Thankfully, my friends put up with multiple rounds of swearing as I learned to play Mahjong this weekend at Aroma Cafe in West Allis, at an event hosted by the Milwaukee Mahjong Social Group.
A 19th-century Chinese strategy game based around tiles, Mahjong was once seen as the domain of older Chinese immigrant women (my last brush with it was when I read The Joy Luck Club a few years ago). However, it’s lately seeing a revival, and the crowd at Aroma was far more diverse than expected, with college students, experienced middle-aged players, and of course, one intrepid editor. A game requires four players, but if you can’t rustle up a group, you’ll be paired with a couple strangers at a table. New players receive helpful cheat sheets, and the group’s facilitators are happy to teach and drop hints during games. Next event: Thursday, May 7, 5-8 p.m., Pilot Project Brewing.
5. Read The Iron King by Maurice Druon
ARCHER PARQUETTE, MANAGING EDITOR
When I was a little kid, I used to dream of being a glorious knight in the Arthurian middle ages – riding forth on grand adventures, protecting the innocent, engaging in epic battle with my enemies. Then I grew up and realized that if it were the middle ages, I would mostly just be stumbling around tripping into stuff because eyeglasses weren’t invented yet. Maybe if I was real nice, some feudal lord would take me in as his court jester. I could prance around in a multi-colored leotard and make funny faces to amuse the nobles.
Well, despite knowing that I could never be a glorious knight myself, I still enjoy a good medieval yarn, and The Iron King, the first novel in the “Accursed Kings” series, is very much that. I discovered the series – written by French author Maurice Druon in the mid-20th century – through George R. R. Martin, the author of Game of Thrones. He cites this historical fiction as a major inspiration, and you can definitely see the influence. The Iron King kicks off at around the turn of the 14th century, as the era of chivalry is fading and the Renaissance is on the horizon (and glasses were being invented!). Phillip the Fair rules France at a time of discontent and upheaval, his court full of scheming relatives, duplicitous nobles and corrupt clergy. It’s a phenomenally engaging tale pulled directly from history, and I’m incredibly excited to read the next installment.
6. Take a Stroll or Drive Through Forest Home Cemetery
CHRIS DROSNER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Spring is finally starting to look like it, and there may be no finer place for a Milwaukee history appreciator to enjoy it than in Forest Home Cemetery & Arboretum. The trees are budding and blooming, so the usually leafy landscape is popping with white and pink. And if you’ve never been, the sprawling grounds are loaded with the graves of families whose names adorn buildings and streets around the city. I, of course, enjoyed the Beer Barons corner in sections 36 and 37, with graves that read like the cooler door of a bottle shop: Blatz, Schlitz, Miller, Pabst. I ended my first visit last weekend resolving to come back soon; it’s a decidedly unspooky place to enjoy a sunny spring afternoon. 2405 W. Forest Home Ave.; grounds open 7:30 a.m.-7 p.m. daily
