BeigeJournal

I spent another Saturday wandering Milwaukee. After a week of rain, we finally got some clear weather. I brought my camera, but you’ll have to wait for photos since I’m still using film.

The sixth street bridge north bascule was open for some sort of work, so I went west on St. Paul, then onto the Hank Aaron trail to the western end of that segment, near 27th street. I was the only one there. It runs past city maintenance truck yards and a Marquette University athletic field. It’s very peaceful, in an industrial sort of way. It’s the kind of thing I like, anyway. After giving a passer-by some advice on getting across the river with the 6th street bascule still up, I dropped off the camera gear in my car and headed downtown, to Downtown Books.

While Voss Books, which I went to last week, is too neat, and far too uncluttered, to look like the usual used bookstore, Downtown Books fits the used book store stereotype. The place is packed with books, zillions of them, stuffed into every available space. While Voss is really nice, Downtown is, as we expect in used book stores, a bit on the wrecked side. It’s a wonderful place. I bought It’s all the Rage, by Wendy Kaminer, for a very reasonable $3.95. I need to stop going to used book stores, and new book stores, until I find time to read everything I’ve bought

Next stop Starbucks. I do like the white chocolate mocha. The pumpkin bread was nice, too. Then north, to where the Park East Freeway used to be. There is a new building going up, for what purpose I don’t know. I always find it a bit odd that in our advertising-saturated world so many construction sites are completely anonymous. The name of the construction company is prominently shown, but the intended purpose of the building is left to the imagination.

Walking south on the river walk, the next stop was the Grand Avenue Mall. I had not been in there in some time, and some changes have been made. Linens ‘n Things has moved in, in a space that includes what used to be the central atrium/hallway space, still open above, so from the upper floor you can look down into the store. I can’t decide if that design is really nice or a bit tacky, but it is a nice store. The store on the other side of the building is similarly configured.

By this time the 6th street bascule was back down, so I walked over and back, with camera. Then it was on to Outpost foods and home.