Plenty of photo-ops in Milwaukee for architecture and landscapes. But all the major festivals have wrapped up for the year. And I can't really think of any planned civic protests that are coming up, not that I really keep track of them anyway.
However, the leaves are in full color right now. Days are still warm and people are still strolling the lakefront. Most boat owners have pulled their sailboats out of the water, though. I'm not sure when exactly, but the public ice rink downtown should go up when it gets cold enough. It's always a great place for people watching. The Riverwest neighborhood in Milwaukee almost always has something going on. It's a very vibrant and colorful neighborhood on the east side. I just missed an outdoor art sale that was there two weeks ago. And there's a few spots of major construction projects around the city going on if you find photo-ops in that sort of thing.
The lakefront at Kenosha is a great place for a day trip as well. The city has done an excellent job of revitalizing their lakefront, complete with trolly cars. A friend of mine nearly bought a condo for very little there when they first started going up. They've since increased in value substantially and he's been kicking himself ever since.
Regarding camera shops, there's really only two that I visit,
Colony Camera and
Art's Camera. Colony is not far from my house. I recently had my Minolta XD-5 repaired at there and they did a fabulous job. The place is a little archaic, but the best part is the owner's "museum" for lack of a better word. He collects cameras and has quite the display of plate glass, TLR, rangefinder, and otherwise unusual cameras in the store, many of which still work I was told once. Most of them are Minoltas. Art's is where I usually go for film and processing. They have a very high-tech shop and sell everything, including a wide selection of film. They recently added a B&W processing machine at their Waukesha location, so you can get 1 hour B&W (I think) if you go there. Knowledgeable staff and usually friendly. It's the shop where I saw my first rangefinder, an M6; I'd never actually seen a Leica before. They let me handle it, and I promptly gave it back after I saw the price tag (I was a poor college student at the time and didn't want to drop it). The local swap meet at
7 Mile Fair can sometimes have some camera finds, but like any flea market, it's mostly junk.
So plenty of goings on in Brew Town. I haven't even mentioned all the brewery tours.
😉
