Michigan – Wisconsin Trip — Sep 2025

Late in September, Trace and I decided to take our final vacation for 2025. Part of this trip was like a “do-over” and part of this trip was a new destination. We started out by flying into Grand Rapids, Michigan. My sister and her husband drove out to Grand Rapids, about a 3-hour drive from their suburban Detroit home. We spent three days with them sightseeing in and around Grand Rapids, or as most Michiganders refer to as GR. I spent the first 23 years of my life in Michigan and have been all over that state, but I had never been to GR, other than to drive through it. Grand Rapids is the second largest city in Michigan, behind only Detroit. It is also the only city in Michigan that was home to a US president. Gerald R. Ford, president of the U.S. from August 9, 1974 through January 20, 1977, was born and raised in Grand Rapids. His presidential library/museum, as well as his burial site, are in Grand Rapids. It was also home to Frederik Meijer, the founder of the Meijer Thrifty Acres store chain that most midwesterners are familiar with. But most importantly, Grand Rapids is home to the Grand Rapids Griffins, which is the AHL farm club hockey team for the Detroit Red Wings.

After our stay in Grand Rapids, my sister and her husband headed home, and Trace and I headed for Milwaukee. You may recall that Trace and I made a trip to Milwaukee a number of years ago, but had to cut our trip short. Then, my sister and I went on a girls trip to Milwaukee a couple of years ago. On that trip I got to see all the stuff Trace and I had missed from our previous trip. Well when I went back home and shared all the fun places we went to there, Trace wanted to go back. So we made this leg of our vacation the “do-over” from our previous trip there.

Needless to say we had a blast on both legs of this trip. And once again, I relied on my trusty iPhone for my photo shooting. I do have to admit that it is a lot easier to lug around an iPhone than my camera. But I fear my camera may be getting lonely and feeling neglected, so we may have to think about future trips for me and my camera.

But here is the part of the post you all have been waiting for. Without further adieu, her are a sampling of my photos from this trip:

This is a statue of Gerald R. Ford outside his presidential library / museum. On the tour here we learned that Gerald Ford never really wanted to be president. When the presidency was thrust upon him at Nixon’s resignation, he accepted the presidency and was determined to serve with honor.

This is another display outside of the Ford Presidential Library. Ford was a huge supporter of NASA and the space program.

This is a hunk of the Berlin Wall, graffiti and all. Not sure why this is included in the Ford Library as the Berlin Wall didn’t come down until 1989, which was way after his presidency was over. But it is a cool display and close to my heart as I was stationed in Berlin while that wall was still standing.

This is an exact replica of the Oval Office as it looked while President Ford was in office.

This is an exact replica of the room where Ford held Cabinet meetings. Each person in the Cabinet had his assigned seat, as you can see by the labels on the table. Certain top level Press were allowed a seat at the table as well.

And this is the final resting place for President Gerald R. Ford and First Lady Betty Ford. It’s on the grounds of the Presidential Library.

Well, you know me and churches!! I just had to shoot a picture of the inside of this Catholic basilica, the Basilica of St. Adalbert. I am continually impressed with the beauty and detail of these places of worship.

Just a view of downtown Grand Rapids. The river is the Grand River that flows through downtown.

The following pictures were taken at the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park. Frederik Meijer, as I mentioned before, is the founder of the Meijer Thrifty Acres store chain. For all you non-midwesterners, Meijer’s stores are like a Target Superstore or a Walmart Supercenter. Anyway, Frederik Meijer loved sculptures and his wife, Lena loved flowers. So, they combined their loves together and created this 158-acre park where they house some of the most beautiful gardens and sculptures integrated into these gardens. We spent a boatload of hours there and still could not see it all. It would take several days to get through it all. The following are some of the many photos I took of the flowers as well as the sculptures. Enjoy them…

No idea what flowers these are. Just pretty ones!!

That’s it for my pictures from Grand Rapids. As you can see, we had some beautiful weather. I guess Grand Rapids is one of those places no one ever thinks of visiting. I certainly did not during the 23 years I lived in Michigan. But I am certainly glad I finally did visit there. This place really has a lot to offer and they are just a short drive from the Lake Michigan shoreline.

Ok, next we drove from Grand Rapids to Milwaukee, via the Lake Michigan shoreline. We figured making this drive on a Sunday, that the traffic would be less congested. It was a beautiful drive until we got into Chicago, and did not realize that the Chicago Bears were playing a home game there! Traffic was abysmal! But we got through it, and continued on to our destination in Milwaukee. The following pictures are from our time in Milwaukee and our side trip to Madison.

This lighthouse just north of Milwaukee on Lake Michigan is no longer in use and was turned into a museum. There are still plenty of lighthouses along the Great Lakes shorelines. Most people think of the states along the east and west U.S. coasts as having the most lighthouses, but here is a fun fact. The State of Michigan has the most lighthouses of any state in the US!

The above pictures were taken in the original Pabst Brewery in Milwaukee. Pabst is no longer brewed there. Headquarters for Pabst Brewing was moved to San Antonio, Texas a number of years ago. When this brewery was in operation, the workers were given several “beer breaks” during their workday. (I should have worked there!) They were actually going to tear down this old brewery until a Milwaukee businessman decided he did not want that to happen. He got some investors together and they are restoring the building to its original state, and turning it into an event center. They will also continue to offer tours there as this place offers so much of a window into the past when Milwaukee was the Beer Capital of the World.

No, this is not my kitty Bruno, although it does bear a striking resemblance. This is one of the many kitties at the Cat Cafe in Milwaukee. I couldn’t go to Milwaukee without a stop there to visit with my furry friends!

Another kitty from the Cat Cafe. It’s amazing. These cats LOVE all the attention they get from visitors. Admission to the Cat Cafe provides the funds necessary to care for these animals. And, all of the kitties are adoptable. Think of this place as a safe place for these cats to hang out until they can find their forever home.

This is a view of downtown Milwaukee taken from a tour boat we took in the Lake Michigan harbor. That crazy looking building that looks like it is about to take off is their art museum. It’s supposed to be designed to look like a boat with sails. The next picture below is of that same building with the sides pulled in. Those sails (or wings if you ask me) can be moved in or out depending on the weather or for a special event. In the above picture, they were spread out. In the picture below, they were pulled in.

This is a picture of the breakwater that protects the small boats docked in the number of marinas along the Lake Michigan shore in Milwaukee. Lake Michigan, like the rest of the Great Lakes, can produce waves of 20 feet or higher in inclement weather. On that particular day when we were out on the water, the wind wasn’t all that bad and still the waves from Lake Michigan were crashing over the breakwater. If that breakwater was not in place, small boats such as the ones shown in the photo below would get damaged.

This is a photo of the inside of the Basilica of St. Josephat in Milwaukee. If you followed my blog in the past years, you know that my sister and I visited this church when we came to Milwaukee. I shared pictures of this church with Trace and he decided that he wanted to tour the basilica. As I mentioned before, this church was built by Polish immigrants from 1896 to 1901. They would work their normal jobs during the day and then work at night on the church. They donated their jewelry, even their wedding rings, to be melted down for the church. They recycled materials from a Chicago post office that was being torn down. In my humble opinion, they did a mighty fine job! Every detail in this church is simply magnificent. I stated this before and I will state it again, that this is the most beautiful church I have ever stepped into. And I have been to some of the great cathedrals of Europe, including St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City!

The choir loft of the Basilica which includes a huge pipe organ.

The pulpit from where the priest delivers his sermon during the Mass.

One of the side altars of the Basilica. Check out the detail in this altar!

This is an interesting plaque in the Basilica. It honors one of the workers, Anton Kasprzyk, who was killed while working on the Basilica. He was unloading a horse-drawn cart carrying stone for work on the structure. Something happened that spooked the horses and they bolted, overturning the cart and crushing Mr. Kasprzyk to death. He left behind a wife and seven children.

While we were in Wisconsin, we decided to take a short side trip to Madison, their state capital. The town of Madison is unique in that it is on an isthmus between two lakes, Lake Mendota and Lake Monona. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin. We spent our time there touring their capitol building. The capitol building that exists today was built from 1906 until 1917 and cost 7.25 million dollars. It is Wisconsin’s third capitol building in Madison. The first one was torn down in 1863. The second was gutted by fire in 1904. Well, this one may have cost a lot to build but it is a real showpiece. Here are some of the photos I took there.

This is photo of the capitol building. Here is a fun fact: Wisconsin has the highest dome of any state capitol in the nation. It is even 16 feet and 2 inches taller than the U.S. capitol in Washington D.C. I think the statue on top gives them that extra height!!

The two photos above show two of the four glass tile mosaics located on the four arches surrounding the dome.

There’s Trace mugging for the camera alongside a copy of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. This bell was one of 55 made in France and given to each of the Unites States, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. territories in 1950. These bells are identical in size, weight and color to the original Liberty Bell, minus the crack.

The Senate Chamber of the capitol building. There are 33 senators in the Wisconsin Senate. The majority party sits at the outer circle of desks while the minority party sits at the inner circle. The Senate president presides from the large desk at the front of the room.

This is a view of the Assembly Chamber where the 99 representatives conduct their business. The Speaker of the Assembly sits at the desk in the front of the room and is shown in this photo.

So there it is, our Michigan / Wisconsin trip in a nutshell. Hope you guys enjoy the photos and don’t get too bored with my ramblings. Until our next adventure, signing off for now!!