MKE CO PARKS: Jacobus Park

Keeley's walk at Lake Park this morning got cut short due to a gas leak in our basement. Now that it's all taken care of, we decided to take a short walk at Jacobus Park in the afternoon.
There's a big playground, a wading pool, and a sandbox. It's empty right now but on the weekends and after 3pm on weekdays, this place is packed with people.

Jacobus Park is located in a nice little neighborhood that is very family oriented. The only bad thing I can say about it is that it's a little too white bread. Other than that though, I think it would be a great place to raise kids especially with the park right here.
There are paths all over the park. You can enter/exit the park from multiple different points in the neighborhood.
Keeley was driving me crazy on this walk because he was in total sniff mode. I hate it when our walk goes so slowly.
Jacobus Park is 26 acres. It was named after Charles C. Jacobus who was an early Milwaukee businessman and also served on the Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors.
Sometimes our walk at Jacobus Park only takes 20 minutes because it's not that big. But today it took us over 30 minutes because Keeley was walking so slow.
Jacobus Park is also a nature preserve. A lot of the paths have markers like this that tell you about the trees, plants, and animals that live there.
The park has an excellent variety of native woodland plants.
And a lot of the oak trees are over 150 years old.
There's also a park pavilion and the neighborhood association holds events there throughout the year. For example, in the fall they have a nighttime trick-or-treat event at the park.
There's a pond too. It's only about 3 feet deep in the middle but it supports some ducks and geese.
Today we saw this goose family. The baby geese are so cute. The only bad thing is Keeley thinks goose poop is delicious and I think eating goose poop is gross.
Across from the park is the Menomonee River. Keeley and I crossed the street to check it out. We've had a lot of rain lately so the river is high and moving pretty fast too.
The park also has 2 picnic areas and a small practice field.

For more information about Jacobus Park, check out the Charles Jacobus Park Neighborhood Association.

MKE CO PARKS: Bradford Beach

(and the bluffs on the south end of Lake Park)Keeley and I were taking our normal morning walk at Lake Park today when we decided we'd go explore Bradford Beach a little.
A lot of the Milwaukee County Parks connect together. And almost the entire lakefront is green space and parks. Here we are at Lake Park looking down from the bluffs. Below is Lincoln Memorial Drive, Bradford Beach, and Lake Michigan.
Lake Park extends almost all the way to the Old North Point Water Tower which you can see in the distance here. It's a victorian gothic style tower that was built in 1871.
To get down to Bradford Beach, there's this nice path that takes us down the bluff.
Keeley really loves this path. Once the leaves grow in on the trees, it will be covered in shade.
Keeley's got a cute butt.
When we get to the bottom of the path, there's a little pedestrian bridge that goes over Lincoln Memorial Drive. We're leaving Lake Park now.
The bridge takes us to the Bradford Beach House. In the summer they have some volleyball events here. There's a snack shop and patio tables and chairs.
Bradford Beach is 29 acres. It's quiet here this morning because it's kinda cold and windy.
Keeley likes exploring. He doesn't mind a little cold.
And he likes wind a lot. Check out his ears blowing in the wind here.
Keeley likes to walk on sand too. It must feel good on his paws.

In the summer we often see people with retriever type dogs playing with them on the beach. Keeley always wants to follow them into the water but I'm reluctant to let him because I don't think it's clean enough.

Five years ago, the beach was really bad. There was a lot of bacteria like e coli in the water. Recently there's been efforts to clean up and revitalize the beach. Companies like Miller Brewing Co donated a lot of money. And the beach is trying to get Blue Wave Certified by the Clean Beaches Council.

I'm still reluctant to let Keeley go in though. Just this past week the city dumped raw sewage in the lake, overflow from all the rain we've been having.
As we were leaving we saw this sign. Keeley made sure he left his mark on it.

MKE CO PARKS: Washington Park

The second park we decided to check out is Washington Park. It is 128.95 acres and was also designed by Frederick Law Olmsted & Co.
We live just a couple of blocks away but Keeley will not walk to it since he's scared of buses, trucks, and motorcycles. So we had to drive and park in the Senior Center parking lot. In the above picture you can see Miller Brewery in the distance.
There are 2 playgrounds like this at Washington Park. Keeley voluntarily went down one of the slides on this playground. It's weird because he usually doesn't like it when I make him do stuff like that.
Here are a couple of interesting facts: In the late 1800's Washington Park was called West Park. Also, there was a zoo at Washington Park during the first half of the 20th century. In the early 1960's the zoo and its animals were relocated to the current home of the Milwaukee County Zoo.
From the 1890's through to the early 1970's, the Washington Park neighborhood was mostly German and very middle class. This statue of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was created in 1908. It is supposed to represent German people's pride in their artistic achievements.
This is The Temple of Music band shell. Its construction was completed in 1938. It has recently been restored by Harley-Davidson.
Keeley climbed onto the stage with his grandma to do some tricks. Here he's demonstrating "Give Paw".
After WWII, middle working class African American families began moving into the Washington Park neighborhood and the white population began moving further west into the suburbs. In 1970, Milwaukee was at its industrial peak with very low unemployment levels. The African American population grew as families migrated here from southern states.
Unfortunately, these good times didn't last. A decade later in the 1980's, manufacturing plants along the industrial corridor, the Milwaukee River, and the Menomonee River started to close, causing great job losses. The Washington Park neighborhood was hit hard by this and the poverty rate soared. During this last quarter of the 20th century, the county neglected Washington Park and let it fall into disrepair, perhaps reflecting the unspoken racism of the time.
Recently though, revitalization efforts have been gaining momentum. For example, behind Keeley in this picture there is a new boat launch being constructed.
In the last 20 years, the Southeast Asian (Hmong and Laotian) population in the Washington Park neighborhood has more than quadrupled. I think this group is fascinating because of how rapidly they've assimilated.
These 2 cement arch bridges go over a huge lagoon. In the early 1900's park visitors could rent row boats. The lagoon was designed to only be 4 feet deep to lessen the chance of drowning if a boat were to overturn.
That's the Urban Ecology Center on the other side of the lagoon. They offer a summer camp in Environmental Education for kids.
It looks like they also take kids out on the lagoon in these canoes. And we saw a flyer for a fishing workshop for kids, so we figure the county must stock the lagoon with fish.
Isn't this cool? All the doors to the Urban Ecology Center are painted with different nature scenes like this one.
Our neighborhood is called The Martin Drive Neighborhood and we border Washington Park on the south. Our neighborhood association is trying to take claim of Washington Park by staging several events here this year. For example, there is a neighborhood rummage sale being held at the Senior Center from 8AM-NOON tomorrow.
Washington Park also has a public pool. It's still empty right now and there seems to be some construction going on too. We hope it'll be ready for operation by summer. We plan on attending the Doggie Dip here this year.
There are also basketball courts, tennis courts, and 2 baseball diamonds. Although these things are in a serious state of neglect, especially compared to other parks within the county park system.

Here's an interesting photo comparison on someone else's blog: Washington Park Vs. McCarty Park

For more info about this park, you can check out our past posts:
August 10, 2008
August 12, 2007

MKE CO PARKS: Lake Park

Since we take our morning walk at Lake Park several times a week, we decided that it would be the first park that we wrote about.Lake Park is 137.76 acres. It was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted & Co.
This, the Lake Park Pavillion was built in 1903. It is currently the home of Bartolotta's Lake Park Bistro, which is an expensive french restaurant. But when I was a kid, there was just a little snack bar inside. After our walks we would beg my mom (Keeley's grandma) to let us stop and get something sweet like a popsicle, a soda, or a licorice rope.
Keeley and I ran into George and Gracie in front of the Pavilion this morning. I'm not sure whether this dog here is George or if it's Gracie, but I sorta think it must be George. They look just alike so it's hard to tell. We know the names of almost all the dogs that have their morning walks at Lake Park. Sadly, we only know the names of a couple of their owners though.
Right across from the Pavilion are 2 lawn bowling rinks and a clubhouse. Keeley's grandma always says that when she gets old, she's going to take up lawn bowling. You can find out more about this sport by going to the Milwaukee Lake Park Lawn Bowls Club website.
This bridge was built in 1905. It goes over Ravine Drive which is my favorite road.
The road exits onto Lincoln Memorial Drive (my second favorite road) which runs along the lakefront. That's Lake Michigan in the distance there.
There are several ravine trails throughout Lake Park.
These trails were Keeley's Unkie Rob's most favorite thing to do at the park when he was a little kid. But we're not going to take the trail today because it's probably a little muddy since it's been raining for the past 2 or 3 days here. By the way, that's the bridge that we just came across in the background there.
Here's Keeley going across another bridge. I think this one was built in 1892, but I could be mistaken.
And another bridge. Both of these bridges go over the Locust Street Ravine Trail. After we get across this one, then I let Keeley off leash for a little while.
He takes off running because there are almost always dogs to play with up ahead. I think it's supposed to be a soccer field but the dogs have taken it over as theirs.
Keeley sometimes goes onto the tennis courts to play too. That is, if there aren't any tennis players there, of course. There are also 2 kid playgrounds and a park building with restrooms nearby.
After a quick romp with the dogs, we continue on with our walk. Here Keeley is checking out what remains of an exercise station. See when I was a kid, there was a fitness trail. Every so many feet there was an exercise station and instructions on how to do a specific exercise and how many reps to do and whatnot. Not much remains of this fitness trail today though.
The Oak Leaf Trail is a 108 mile long multi-use paved recreation trail that goes through all the major parks and parkways in the Milwaukee County Park System. It makes a loop around Lake Park.
In the distance here you can see what some of the huge houses that border the park look like. We often wonder if anyone lives in these houses because we almost never ever see anyone outside them other than a random gardener or landscape worker.
Lake Park also has a nice little golf course.
Keeley likes to lead the way. He says "Hurry up, Erin! I know where to go!"
Continuing on this way, we past the North Point Lighthouse. You can go inside, but they charge admission.
Keeley convinced me to go on one of the ravine trails even though it is a bit muddy today. This trail goes under a bridge which is one of 2 that were built in 1897. The trail exits at Bradford Beach.
These bridges are framed by 8 stone lions. Sometimes in the winter, the lions wear red ribbons around their necks.
The other bridge is currently under construction. It's not expected to be completed until September. I hope it ends up looking pretty like the old one did.
All along the side of the hill there are daffodils beginning to bloom at this time of year. It's really pretty.
This is called the "Grand Stair". Keeley's cousin dog Tully's parents were married here at the middle landing. A pretty setting for a wedding, don't you think?
Keeley and I often end our walks at Lake Park by going up this staircase. It makes us both a little tired. That's the Pavilion at the top so we're back to where we started once we get up there.

There is also a softball diamond, picnic areas, birdwatching, and a statue of Dr. Erastus B. Wolcott that we didn't get around to on this walk. If you want to find out more about this park, you can go to the Lake Park Friends website.

Or check out our previous posts about Lake Park:
February 14, 2009
August 30, 2008
April 6, 2008
January 26, 2008
December 29, 2007