Our Milwaukee “Staycation” 2025!

Chicago and the surrounding areas are filled with theaters and wonderful opportunities to see the best of the best. Very often, we do lose sight of the closeness of nearby Milwaukee. To be hones, it takes about the same time to drive into the Loop as it does to drive to Milwaukee. The difference is always the return trip. It is constant when coming home from Milwaukee, and of course, much shorter returning tot he “burbs” from downtown.

So- why not make a special night ( or even a week-end) of it?. Jane and I took a mini-vacation to Milwaukee this week. We drove up on Thursday afternoon ( after a canasta tournament/fund raiser) and within 59 minutes were in front of the Saint Kate -The Arts Hotel  in Milwaukee. They valet parked the car as we would not need it again until we left on Friday. The Saint Kate is a little different than most hotels as it is more than a hotel. The building contains an Art Gallery, an “artist in residence” program, The Giggly Champagne & Wine Bar, ARIA dining, Proof Pizza that also can be served inn the lounge cocktail bar where they have live music. This is as I said , more than a hotel. They have a phonograph in every room and LP’s galore to select from, and what is truly amazing is the close proximity to the Milwaukee Theater District.

Our room was almost like a suite. The King Size bed was delightful and very comfy. In our room, there was a record player and a few well placed LP’s, a couch and table, and every room comes with a welcome gift of coloring books and crayons as a way of relaxing and taking one’s mind off the world outside and the craziness that is called “the news”. They also had a bottle of the bubbly on ice and two glasses for us to start our “staycation”. We opted to go to the lobby lounge for a drink before going upstairs to the second floor for our dinner reservation at ARIA ( an artisanal American Cuisine dining room). In the lounge we saw guests and outsider who were having dinner prior to their night at one of the theaters in walking distance of the hotel.

We went up to the second floor, making sure to look at some of the art displays on both the first and second floors. We were brought to our table where we could look out at the Marcus Theatre just across the street. As it turns out, The Saint Kate is part of the Marcus corporation, which kind of explains the nearness to all of the area theaters. Our server, Conner, was quite the host and truly went over the menu with us. We had explained that we are on a healthy eating program ( Seattle Sutton) so we needed to be somewhat careful.

They have a complete sushi menu and while it looked amazing, we know what happens when we start with sushi ( we love it so much), so we opted to do a few special appetizers, Deviled eggs ( bacon landons, tomato powder, sourdough-butter crumble ( dynamite) and Baked Goat Cheese ( tomato jam with grilled sourdough- baked on premise). These were a delight.

For our entrée, we opted on their Aria Trademark Chicken – FYI those of you who love and enjoy Broasted chicken, this is pretty close to it. a nice fried skin with juicy chicken and very crisp fries. Jane and I shared the half chicken with ease. We did add some caramelized Brussel sprouts to give us something healthy and FYI ate very few fries ( just enough to get an idea of the quality.

While we digesting our dinner, and enjoying a cup of coffee prior to leaving for the theater, Conner brought us a few sample of the dessert menu- The chocolate mousse ( Amarna cherry and salted pistachio) was amazing and the warm bread pudding ( (eggnog anglaise, whipped cream) was divine. Sorry Seattle! We were over powered by our server and the amazing desserts!

We then went down stairs, walked from the building into a courtyard ( enclosed) and we were in the theater building where we  would go to the Milwaukee Rep’s Stackner Cabaret and see an amazing musical entitled “The Last Five Years” written by Jason Robert Brown. This is a two person ( and a 3rd musician) 100 minute musical story that is lovely as well as poignant. A full house on a Thursday in Milwaukee- great to see! I will do my review at theater and cabaret!

After the show, we walked back to our hotel ( a short 3 minutes) looked around at some of the art, stopped at the lounge to listed to the singer and watch the crowd having a wonderful experience and then off to our beautiful room for a great night’s sleep. Breakfast the morning back at the Aria ( we shared an amazing omelet, checked out and headed back to the city, but opted to stop at Lake Geneva on the way as there are some stores that Jane truly loves and it was only 20 minutes out of our way, so why not?

I must tell you that the “staycation” was a great day for us. We were far more relaxed than a normal theater night and the ticket prices in Milwaukee are far lower than most Chicago venue’s. Parking at the theaters is lower and the Marcus is attached so you never have to walk outside. If you are looking at a get-away, may i suggest a stay at Saint Kate- the Arts Hotel in Milwaukee. It is an experience that you will cherish. They are located at 139 East Kilbourn Avenue ( in the heart of the Theater area) 414-276-8686 www.saintkatearts.com

ENJOY! I know we did!