The days of quick trips to Paris and Milan are behind us. But we have been pleasantly surprised in our re-exploration of our neighboring state, Wisconsin.

Over these last couple months, we have ventured to both Milwaukee and Lake Geneva. I am not going to sit here and try to pretend that these cities replace the likes of Paris and Milan, but they have their own charming assets that I adore.

Starting with Milwaukee, we decided to make the best of a last minute mileage run. For those that are unaware of that term, I was one flight away from reaching the next tier in elite status on United Airlines. A cheap, quick one-way flight to Milwaukee is all I needed to earn free checked luggage and economy plus seating for all of 2024. Worth it!

Tony and Tilly drove up and met me at our hotel on a Friday evening. We are dinner at a very yummy pizza restaurant across from our hotel, San Giorgio. We each ordered a “chef’s special” pizza, which meant the chef ended up making whatever he felt like! Tony’s pizza had prosciutto and broccoli; mine had sun-dried tomatoes, Italian sausage and fresh mozzarella. Both were delicious!

We slept well and decided to do a brew tour before we headed back to Chicago. Sprecher Brewing Company started as just a beer brewer, but morphed into making sodas as well. They use honey in their soda recipe as well, making it even more delicious! After the tour of the brewery, we were able to enjoy endless soda and 4 heavy pours of beer to get a proper sampling. We walked away with some hefeweizen, ginger beer, and plenty of root beer!

The pretzel quickly reminded me how Wisconsin loves its cheese.

Fast forward a few weeks and we were back in this great state, this time in Lake Geneva. We spent the Midwest’s first very snowy weekend cozied up in the Grand Geneva hotel with our friends. It was freezing outside but the lovely space felt very much like a ski lodge in the Alps. The white snow outside and roaring fireplaces throughout the public spaces made for a very relaxing weekend.

Tony and Tilly even went sledding! She had a blast going up and down the hill but they were quite frozen by the time they came back inside.

And of course, when in Wisconsin, we need to eat cheese. That included my salad.

Whoa.

Thanks, Wisconsin, for being such a fun, quick, and cheesy escape for us!