July 25, 2015
I got up early to meet my sister for breakfast at the Original Pancake House in Brookfield at 8 AM. We talked and talked and finally ordered breakfast when the restaurant started to get busy. After a delicious breakfast, we went outside to talk some more.
The 2 1/2 hours flew by and it was time to part. We said our goobyes amid lots of hugs and I drove back to Anne’s to pick up Kaya and Bob. Around 11:00, the three of us drove downtown to the Milwaukee lakefront where the Milwaukee Water and Air Show was taking place. It was such a gorgeous day to be down at the lakefront–blue skies, fluffy white clouds, and no humidity. As we headed downtown, we passed Miller Park where the Milwaukee Brewers play ball. The dome at Miller Park was open, even though there was no game this afternoon.
Once we got downtown, we traveled on Wells St. to the lakefront. We had to stop and wait while the bridge opened to let a boat go down the Milwaukee River. This “lift” bridge raises straight up and takes the road with it. For all the years I lived in Milwaukee (34), I had never seen this bridge go up on the river.
The city had changed and grown up a bit since I’d been here last.
We cruised the streets looking for a place to park and found an open space in a two hour zone. I guess we will have to move it after two hours. We walked with our chairs to a park at the top of the bluff overlooking the lake where we had a good vantage point to view the Air Show. It seemed a little hazy on the lake, but the haze came and went all day long.
From high on the bluff, I could see the lighthouse that marks the entrance to the Milwaukee harbor. There were people standing on the top of the War Memorial/Art Center building. They had quite the view!
We sat there in the shade and enjoyed our view from on high.
From above, we could see lots of boats anchored out in the “safe zone”, watching the Air Show from the water.
The show started at noon and we had a pretty good view from where we were, but it wasn’t the same as having the planes flying close by or overhead. After awhile, we decided to move down to the lakefront right by the water. We had to ease our way down the bluff on a dirt path. It was a little precarious at times, but we made it down the bluff without any problems. We walked through Veterans Park near the War Memorial and found a nice spot in the shade under the tree.
From where we were sitting, we could see the Museum of Art with the “Calatrava Wings” which open and close at designated times.
We could also see the new Discovery World building and Aquarium that sit right on the waterfront.
It was a calm day on Lake Michigan, a rare occasion, and many boats took advantage of that. Some boats remained inside the breakwater. Others could be seen farther out.
This interesting tour boat came into view. I bet they had a great view of the Air Show.
In the distance, I could see the historic North Point Water Tower, built in 1873, standing 175 ft. tall. It is quite the landmark!
From the park, the Milwaukee skyline is beautiful!
Our spot in the park gave us an unobstructed view of the sky and the Air Show. We saw some acrobatic flying and skywriting acts. The colored stunt planes from the Aerostars Formation Acrobatic Team flew in formation and did many amazing tricks.
This Tornado F-14 jet screamed by us and flew overhead. It was able to move its wings, outward or inward, to make sharp turns and manuever easily.
The Breitling Jet Team from Dijon, France did some precision formation flying. They are an aerobatic display team that can fly at 565 mph. When they flew over our heads the sound was deafening.
The Breitling Team did an amazing stunt which began by flying in formation. Then the planes separated in each direction, flying in a starburst pattern. Fireworks went off from the streams of smoke trails they left behind them. I had never seen anything like that before! Two of the stunt pilots flew in such a way to make a picture of a heart! Very cool!
Bob and Kaya took a walk to find something to eat and take a bathroom break. In between the flying acts, there was time to “people and boat watch”.
Around 3:15, the highlight of the show and what everyone was waiting for were the Air Force Thunderbirds. Those 6 pilots are phenominal. They flew with such precision and did some very difficult moves. It was hard to get a picture because they were flying so fast.
At times they came screaming across the sky from behind us and roared right over our heads! Kaya covered his ears, but the roar of the jet engines was awesome!! We could see the flames from the after-burners as they flew by. They rocketed toward the sun until they couldn’t climb any higher, then fell back towards Earth. They entertained us for 45 minutes with their amazing flying skills, soaring off in every direction. We enjoyed the free show very much, except for the parking ticket. (It was just too far to walk back to move the car and try and find another parking place. We decided to just take our chances. We lost!) We climbed back up the bluff on the dirt path to get back to the car and were out of the city in no time. From the top of the bluff, we looked back to see just how many boats had come out on the water to view the show.
On the way home, we had to stop at the grocery store to pick up a few items for dinner tonight. Bob was grilling pork tenderloin and serving it with wild rice and corn on the cob. It would be a taste treat! Back at the trailer, Auggie and I sat outside playing with Izzy, while Bob grilled dinner. Izzy wanted me to wear her hat!
The dinner turned out great and everyone had their fill. Bob helped clean up while Auggie and I took our evening walk around the block. Bob and I came back to the trailer to watch some TV before turning in. Kaya was tired after all the fresh air and so were we. It was a great day all around!
