Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The Shops of Grand Avenue are the focal point of downtown shopping.
The bookstores-per-capita quotient is pretty high in Milwaukee.
Renaissance Book
Shop
(275 W. Wisconsin Ave., 414/224-0706, 10am-7pm Mon.-Fri., 10am-6pm Sat.,
11am-5pm Sun.) is great for book lovers. It even has a second location at the airport (5300
S. Howell Ave., 414/747-4526). How many airports can claim an odd-in-a-good-way used
book shop?
From here, neighborhoods reach out for your wallet. To the immediate north, North Old
World 3rd Street has mostly good restaurants but a few long-standing shops, the highlight
ofwhichhastobe
Usinger's
(1030N.OldWorld3rdSt.,414/276-9100,
www.usinger.com
,
8:30am-5pm Mon.-Sat.). Sausage as a souvenir—is that a Milwaukee gift or what? Other
highlights include
Ambrosia Chocolates
and, of course, the
Wisconsin Cheese Mart
.
The
Historic Third Ward, Jefferson Street,
and
East Brady Street
areas offer the most
compelling strolls for shoppers. All are blocks-long areas of carefully updated Old World-
feeling streets, filled with art and antique galleries, specialty shops, and oodles of places to
grab a cup of java or a quick bite in a chic setting to recharge the purchasing battery.
