1. Hit the Last Weekend of Summerfest
ARCHER PARQUETTE, MANAGING EDITOR
Not a single summer has gone by in my life that hasn’t felt like it was hurtling at 200 miles per hour. These precious, scarce days of sunshine just fly by. It’s like the first warm day arrives sometime in May, then I blink, and then it’s the Fourth of July. I’ve barely even left the house the entire month of June, except to go to work. Once again, I’m hopelessly, miserably wasting the warm season. This must stop – I am determined to make the most of the last weekend of Summerfest, July 4-6. Beer, bags, music, SkyGlider, fried food, staring at the lake – the whole 9 yards. You should, too. Before you know it, we’ll be snowed in again.
2. See the Fireworks (and Make Pigs in a Blanket)
EVAN MUSIL, ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR
For my partner and I, the Fourth of July is a great midsummer excuse for a firm tradition of ours: making pigs in a blanket. They’re low effort, high reward – the reward being a bowl full of sausages. When the weather’s just right and outdoor events beckon, I know I must pack the lawn chairs, wrap those savory lil’ smokies (filled with cheese, preferably) in buttery croissant dough, and bake them. A lack of lakefront fireworks won’t stop me, mostly because I wouldn’t have gone anyway (sounded like a big crowd). So instead we’ll settle comfortably in one of the dozen of parks offering big booms on Independence Day – more so our vibe. And even if it rains out, which, go figure, I know what my real highlight of the day is.
Tell us who you’d pick to be a Betty this year!
3. Go to the Hubbard Park Beer Garden
CHRIS DROSNER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR
I hate to say it, but the summer is basically a third over. If you have not availed yourself of Milwaukee’s beer gardens yet, it’s go time. I wrote an “indecisive” guide to Milwaukee’s beer gardens for our June issue (a fine time to read about beer gardens, I thought), but I’m going to be state it more strongly here: Hubbard Park Beer Garden (3565 N. Morris Blvd., Shorewood) is Milwaukee’s finest. There’s a ton of gray area at the top of this list, of course – South Shore, Estabrook, Hoyt, War Memorial all bring their own brands of fire – but for midsummer me, it’s Hubbard Park’s shade, the babbling Milwaukee River, good local beer selection, easy bike access to anywhere via the Oak Leaf Trail and the cool/weird tunnel entrance. Game, set, match.
4. Pick Up Some Peaches From Tree Ripe Fruit
ANN CHRISTENSON, DINING EDITOR
One of my favorite times of the year is here and no, it’s not the 4th of July. It’s Georgia peach season. I don’t know where the peaches carried in grocery stores come from, but I have bought enough of them in the past that I won’t buy them again. Georgia peaches are really special – perfectly sweet, so juicy and worth the trip to a one of the stops the Tree Ripe Fruit trucks make this summer. On Wednesday July 3 (10 a.m.-noon), the truck with be at SmallPie in Bay View (2504 E. Oklahoma Ave.) selling peaches, Michigan blueberries, New Mexico pistachios and Georgia pecans. A 4-pound bag of peaches is $12 and trust me, you will eat all of them. I always think I’m going to make a parade of pies and cobblers, and then eat all my peaches out of hand because they are just that good. If you can’t make it for the short Wednesday SmallPie window, they’ll also be at the Oak Creek Farmers Market on Saturday, July 6 (9 a.m.-1 p.m.).
5. Buy a Trout Pillow at Ebb & Flow Design Co.
People won’t stop fishing for this rainbow trout hook pillow at Ebb & Flow Design Co. in Riverwest. It sells out often, but store owner Claire Osterman restocks as fast as she can. “Folks are searching for a return to nature, even in their decor,” she says.
– Evan Musil, from the July Issue
