Milwaukee: Brewery tours, bobbleheads and more on 1 tank of gas

MILWAUKEE (WLS) -- It's time for another One Tank Trip, Roz's series of fun getaways on a tank of gas!

Just 90 miles from downtown, a lot of folks have gone to Milwaukee to the Milwaukee Zoo, the art museum or Summerfest.

I wanted to find some lesser known, but just as exciting places to visit in the fifth biggest city in the Midwest!

If you find a trip to Milwaukee intriguing, you're not alone!

"We were just designated one of the top 25 places to visit in the world for 2023 by National Geographic and we are so proud of that designation," Peggy Williams-Smith, president and CEO of Visit Milwaukee.

Being in Brew City, we started with a tour of the Miller Brewery. The campus has 80 buildings, some dating back to the mid 1800's when Fredrick Miller purchased the Plank Road Brewery.

Originally beer was stored in The Cave, hand dug, 62 feet below ground, to keep it cold. Today they produce 279 million gallons of beer annually!

Like any good tour, it ends in a gift shop, and this one is no exception!

The Pabst Mansion was built in 1892 for Captain Frederick Pabst and his wife. This stunning, gilded age museum, with much of the original furniture and art almost didn't make it after the Pabsts died.

"They sold it to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese in 1908 and then they lived here for 67 years," Jocelyn Slocum, Pabst Mansion director of operations and curatorial affairs, said. "There was a hotel next door and the owner was going to raze this building to build a parking lot!...A group of preservationists came together and they were able to get the house on the National Register and raise funds and get a bunch of loans and purchase the house."

A powerful but uplifting stop was at America's Black Holocaust Museum, founded by Civil Rights pioneer Dr. James Cameron.

"Shortly after Dr. Cameron's retirement, he and his wife were on a faith-based trip to Israel and had an opportunity to visit Yad Vashem, the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Israel," Brad Pruitt, America's Black Holocaust Museum executive director, said. "He was so moved...He turned to his wife and said we need a museum like this to tell our story."

We took a quick break at Third Street Market Hall, then on to the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum!

"We started out when we came into this space with about 7,500, but we found space to add some more, we have over 10,500 and counting and we get new bobbleheads all the time!" Phil Sklar, co-founder and CEO of the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame.

You can't visit Milwaukee without a stop at the Harley-Davidson Museum!

"It's a museum for everybody!" David Kreisler, Harley Davidson Museum exhibits curator, said. "We welcome families, we welcome kids, we welcome people who are riders, we welcome people who don't ride!"

If fact, this whole area is set up for people to sit on these bikes and see how it feels - feels pretty good!

"It started in Milwaukee in 1903, two friends, Arthur Davidson and William Harley...started coming up with this idea, ok we've got these bicycles but we don't want to peddle anymore, so how do we do that?" Kreisler said. "So they started working on engines and started working behind the Davidson home."

And the rest, as they say, is history!