Milwaukee WI

About Milwaukee WI

Milwaukee is a Great Lakes cruise port for the small number of small-ship and expedition lines (Viking, Pearl Seas, Ponant) that sail Lake Michigan. Ships dock at the Port of Milwaukee near the Summerfest grounds, a short shuttle from the Historic Third Ward, the Milwaukee Public Market, and the Calatrava-designed Milwaukee Art Museum. The Harley-Davidson Museum is a classic excursion. Seasons run June through September.

• Milwaukee earned the nickname 'Brew City' or 'Beer Capital of the World' in the late 19th and 20th centuries, when the Miller, Pabst, and Schlitz breweries made it the dominant beer-producing city in the United States.
• The city sits at the confluence of three rivers — the Milwaukee, Menomonee, and Kinnickinnic — where they flow into Lake Michigan, a location that made it a natural trading post and eventually a major Great Lakes port.
• Milwaukee has the distinction of having elected three Socialist Party mayors between 1910 and 1960, known as the 'Sewer Socialists' because of their focus on practical public works and clean government.
• The Harley-Davidson Motor Company was founded in Milwaukee in 1903 in a small wooden shed; the company still maintains its global headquarters and a popular museum in the city.
• Summerfest, held annually on Milwaukee's lakefront, holds the Guinness World Record as the world's largest music festival, hosting hundreds of acts across 11 stages over 11 days each summer.