So, in trying to find my mother an apartment that she can afford, and that isn’t a shoebox, and that is in a building that’s not just full of old people on oxygen, we wound up going to look at some buildings in Milwaukee. I hadn’t been to Milwaukee since my 6th grade field trip to the Stroh’s Brewery, and I remembered it as a grey colorless place, an industrial city full of tanneries and breweries and factories.

Well, Milwaukee has certainly come up in the world. We looked at a number of very cool industrial buildings that had been renovated into big loft-style apartments. The one my mom liked best was right downtown, on the river walk (which I was delighted to see was full of people actually walking on a lovely fall day) and about six blocks from the Public Market.

The Public Market was delightful — it’s not huge — not like Ferry Plaza or Pikes Place, but nonetheless, there, in the middle of what used to be a midwestern food desert — was a building full of fresh produce with a beautiful butcher counter and a bunch of different lunch options. I had a terrific BLT made with Neuske’s bacon (although the Hawaiian plate lunch was also intriguing). And there was a gorgeous fish counter with oysters too. My little mom was very cute — I was teasing her that she was like someone who’d been let out of jail — she loved being in the thick of things and with all those people around. I loved seeing all the renovation and how the downtown had come back to life in such a vibrant way. It was a terrific surprise …