Milwaukee, WI
The Best Things to Do in Milwaukee the Week of May 13
EVAN MUSIL, ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR
In May, keep your eyes glued to the trees. It’s peak warbler season! These tiny, cute, colorful birds migrate north over thousands of miles each year, and right now, they’re cropping up all over Milwaukee. My partner and I took to Lake Park early Saturday morning to scout them out. We stood on the Ravine Road pedestrian bridge, which overlooks a canopy of trees perfect for these branch-traversing birds. It’s worth noting that warblers can be tough to spot and tougher to identify. About 35 species of warbler can be found in Wisconsin, and they love hiding between the leaves. Luckily, we had some experienced birders on hand recognizing calls, pinpointing locations and naming the species. Highlight of the day? It was between finding a Blackburnian warbler – showing off its signature fiery-orange throat at the edge of a branch – or seeing a raccoon pee in a tree. Ah, nature.
BRIANNA SCHUBERT, ASSOCIATE DIGITAL EDITOR
If you’ve read my story about milking a cow in the May issue yet (which will go online later this month), you might be surprised to learn that I went to goat yoga this past weekend. But it turns out that while cows slightly terrify me, I love baby goats. MKE Yoga Social hosts goat yoga all summer long, and though I’ve gone to their yoga studio for a little over a year, I had not yet gone to goat yoga. So I decided to finally try it, and my oh my what a joyous experience! We did about 30 minutes of yoga – though to be honest it was mostly just stretching and breathing because the goats were quite distracting – and then there were 30 minutes to just pet and play with the goats. I loved when they’d climb on my back. It was so cute! And yes, one did poop on me … it was disgusting but for some reason the power of their cuteness made me not care at all. Register here, and don’t wait – the classes sell out quickly.
Submit your projects for our annual Home & Design Awards!
ARCHER PARQUETTE, MANAGING EDITOR
The reason I get sad is because every nice day feels wasted – I feel like I should be out in a park, frolicking with the homies, not hunching over a laptop in the darkness. To avoid this sadness, I often seek out locations where I can hunch over my laptop while at least feeling slightly summerish, and recently that spot has been Vendetta Coffee’s location in Walker’s Point. The cafe is super quaint and the windows let in enough sun to warm my bitter soul. They don’t serve drip coffee, which sucks for someone like me who doesn’t drink fancy coffee drinks, but they do serve cold brew, and might I say that it’s quite good and refreshing on a sunny day.
CHRIS DROSNER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR
OK, OK, so first things first: Rates and Barrels is ostensibly a fantasy baseball podcast. But the show, particularly with its regular guests, far transcends the roto world and indulges those fans interested in the geekier side of baseball that has quietly been taking over the game. Most of the week, co-hosts Derek Van Riper (a Wisconsin native and Brewers fan) and Eno Sarris are breaking down promising waiver additions or juicy pitcher matchups. But the Friday pods are a showcase for Sarris, who’s become one of baseball media’s best experts at pitching, talking shop about the modern pitching landscape with recent former big league hurler Trevor May. Tuesdays, Athletic writer Britt Ghiroli stops in for another broad look at the week that was in MLB. Both days touch on fantasy relevance but are primarily about two fresh and engaging perspectives on the game in general.
ANN CHRISTENSON, DINING EDITOR
The other day, the thought hit me: You know, what I haven’t watched lately is Netflix. I don’t watch much of anything in general – though I am, for obvious reasons, chained to my TV on Wednesday nights when “Top Chef” airs on Bravo. So yeah, Netflix. I had no idea what to watch so I basically picked the first thing I saw when I logged in and that’s “Baby Reindeer.” I know now there’s a buzz around it, but I have avoided reading any publicity – not until I finish. In a nutshell, this seven-episode drama is about a Scottish bartender stalked by a woman who comes the London pub where he’s employed and pursues him in super-creepy ways. But maybe the creepiest thing is the bartender’s odd tolerance, like a passive encouragement. It’s almost as if he needs her. At the very least, he has compassion for her. Richard Gadd – the Scotsman who wrote the story, created a one-man show and stars in the Netflix drama as bartender/fledgling comedian Donny Dunn – also apparently lived it in real life. Gadd based the story on his own experience of being stalked and harassed. I am four episodes in – well, I’m still on the fourth episode, and I shut it off because I felt like something disturbing is about to happen, something that will shed more light on why Donny is the way he is. But I’m still making this show my editor pick. It’s uncomfortably compelling and I’ll come back to it – probably tonight.
