The map says it’s located on the southwestern shores of Lake Michigan, but everyone who lives there knows it is really located in our hearts and minds.

Oh sure there’s Summerfest; a party on the Lakefront recognized as the world’s largest music festival. The Milwaukee Art Museum’s Quadracci Pavilion (the “Calatrava”), has wings that open to welcome the morning as the sun rises on the lake’s horizon, then folds to embrace it once again in the evening.

Discovery World, Riverwalk and the Harley Davidson Museum all make it “cooler on the lake”, but the real buried treasure in this port is the network of friends you would normally find in a small Midwestern town. Smalwaukee is the best of both worlds.