This year for Spring Break we decided to stay home and take day-trips with the kids. One trip we were looking forward to was the Harley-Davidson Museum in downtown Milwaukee. I logged onto their website prior to our visit. I was impressed by the quantity of information and the things to do at the museum and on the website. I printed the directions and we were on our way!
It was a very easy ride to the museum. Traffic wasn't bad and there was plenty of signage along the road leading us to our destination. I really didn't even need to bring directions or a map. Parking was great - plenty of open spaces and it didn't cost a penny, a very pleasant surprise in the city. The museum from the outside has a very cool, hip, industrial design. We went inside. The lobby is pretty cool, almost like walking into a huge warehouse or garage, lots of steel and industrial like design. The people working were very friendly. We picked up our tickets and were instructed to go to the desk on the other side of the lobby for a kids pack. A very pleasant man gave me two backpacks, one for each of my children, and showed me what was inside. Included were some word games, clipboard, colored pencils and a scavenger hunt game. We had to read the clues and find the corresponding motorcycles throughout the museum. It was a lot of fun, the kids had a blast trying to find the right cycle to fit the clues. At the bottom of the paper was a hidden message, can't answer unless you find all the clues! At the end of our visit we turned in the scavenger hunt paper and the kids each received a special prize - can't give it away, but it was pretty neat.
We walked up a flight of stairs and were greeted when we arrived. Did I mention how very friendly and helpful the staff is? I like that, we felt very welcomed. We started our tour on the second floor and worked our way to the first floor.
The museum itself was very clean and well organized. I was so impressed by the condition of the bikes, especially the very first motorcycle Harley-Davidson made - it looked mint! It is about 105 years old and looked like it was made yesterday. That made me curious, how did they do that? How could a 105 year old "barn" quality bike be restored to such great condition? A visit to the third floor satisfied my curiosity. On the third floor is a storage room (with 100 bikes just waiting to be restored) and some of the equipment they use to restore the cycles. You could actually hang out and watch the masters at work - how cool is that?
My favorite room was the 'engine room'. Honestly, before my visit, I knew very little about combustion engines, valves or even motorcycles for that matter. I learned all about it here. The first thing I noticed was the holographic image on the wall of two engines rotating. It was hypnotic. There is a great hands-on display for the combustion engine and how it works. My kids had a blast watching it. On the opposite wall are pictures of all the engines Harley-Davidson has and does now use on its cycles. That was very well done - I didn't even know what a twin-engine was before, I do now! You can even press a picture of the engine and it will make the start up sound for you - the kids had fun with that!
On the first floor are displays of bikes from 1960s until today. The choppers from Easy Rider were on display as was a video screen playing motorcycle clips from movies. The cycles from the 60's and 70's were more custom and some pretty flashy! My daughter just loved the rhinestone cycle! There was also a pit area with a large screen showing motorcycle stunts and some of Evil Knievel's stunt bikes overhead. That was a lot of fun to watch, I think I watched it about four times? Also, we had a great time designing our own motorcycles. There was a wall with video screens and key pads where you can design your own cycle and e-mail the photo of it anywhere you want! We sent ours home and printed them. My son has them hanging on his wall in his room, he loved it! There is a similar program on their website too.
We then made our way to the area where they show prototypes of cycles, how they are created and how they test cycle parts for durability. The final part of our tour is just past this area. On display are about a dozen motorcycles you can actually hop onto and pretend you are riding. There is a huge video screen showing a beautiful countryside. you can just imagine the wind in your hair and riding your Harley through the country - very cool! Next to that is an Indiana Jones photo area. They have leather jackets, hats and accessories for you to wear for your photo-op!
We had come to the end of our visit. The museum is well worth the ride to Milwaukee and it is a must-see. Even if you're not a motorcycle buff, it is still a very cool way to spend the afternoon. I would highly recommend a visit - great staff, fantastic displays, very clean and well organized. You won't be disappointed!
Next, the gift shop and dinner was our destination! There are many very nice items to take home. We bought a puzzle for my son and a stuffed Harley dog and pet carrier for my daughter - very cute! Now we were hungry and wanted some dinner. There are two places to eat, one is a cafe style and the other a sit down restaurant called Motor. We decided to eat at Motor. It was very nice inside. I could see myself sitting at the bar area one night having a few drinks with friends.
There were nice leather club chairs for a more intimate conversation and a nice size bar for a group or meeting new friends. The bar was full of people laughing and having a good time. We were seated by the windows overlooking the river. The menu wasn't huge but it had a good selection. I liked the kids menu, my son had two 'sliders', small hamburgers that were handmade. My daughter had the mac-n-cheese, this wasn't your out-of-the-box-Kraft variety. It was wide elbow noodles and in delicious creamy cheese sauce - it was good. She also had a drink from the Indiana Jones menu called Swamp Water - it looked like swamp water, kind of brownish green with gummy worms, the drink was good. My husband is a big fan of fried chicken and loved the Chicken Schnitzel.
By this time we were exhausted and it was time to head home. I was concerned, downtown Milwaukee traffic at 5:30pm on a Thursday...but there were no delays and traffic moved along really well. We made it home with no delays.
Overall, we had a great visit to the Harley-Davidson Museum. We loved it!
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It was a very easy ride to the museum. Traffic wasn't bad and there was plenty of signage along the road leading us to our destination. I really didn't even need to bring directions or a map. Parking was great - plenty of open spaces and it didn't cost a penny, a very pleasant surprise in the city. The museum from the outside has a very cool, hip, industrial design. We went inside. The lobby is pretty cool, almost like walking into a huge warehouse or garage, lots of steel and industrial like design. The people working were very friendly. We picked up our tickets and were instructed to go to the desk on the other side of the lobby for a kids pack. A very pleasant man gave me two backpacks, one for each of my children, and showed me what was inside. Included were some word games, clipboard, colored pencils and a scavenger hunt game. We had to read the clues and find the corresponding motorcycles throughout the museum. It was a lot of fun, the kids had a blast trying to find the right cycle to fit the clues. At the bottom of the paper was a hidden message, can't answer unless you find all the clues! At the end of our visit we turned in the scavenger hunt paper and the kids each received a special prize - can't give it away, but it was pretty neat.We walked up a flight of stairs and were greeted when we arrived. Did I mention how very friendly and helpful the staff is? I like that, we felt very welcomed. We started our tour on the second floor and worked our way to the first floor.
The museum itself was very clean and well organized. I was so impressed by the condition of the bikes, especially the very first motorcycle Harley-Davidson made - it looked mint! It is about 105 years old and looked like it was made yesterday. That made me curious, how did they do that? How could a 105 year old "barn" quality bike be restored to such great condition? A visit to the third floor satisfied my curiosity. On the third floor is a storage room (with 100 bikes just waiting to be restored) and some of the equipment they use to restore the cycles. You could actually hang out and watch the masters at work - how cool is that?My favorite room was the 'engine room'. Honestly, before my visit, I knew very little about combustion engines, valves or even motorcycles for that matter. I learned all about it here. The first thing I noticed was the holographic image on the wall of two engines rotating. It was hypnotic. There is a great hands-on display for the combustion engine and how it works. My kids had a blast watching it. On the opposite wall are pictures of all the engines Harley-Davidson has and does now use on its cycles. That was very well done - I didn't even know what a twin-engine was before, I do now! You can even press a picture of the engine and it will make the start up sound for you - the kids had fun with that!
On the first floor are displays of bikes from 1960s until today. The choppers from Easy Rider were on display as was a video screen playing motorcycle clips from movies. The cycles from the 60's and 70's were more custom and some pretty flashy! My daughter just loved the rhinestone cycle! There was also a pit area with a large screen showing motorcycle stunts and some of Evil Knievel's stunt bikes overhead. That was a lot of fun to watch, I think I watched it about four times? Also, we had a great time designing our own motorcycles. There was a wall with video screens and key pads where you can design your own cycle and e-mail the photo of it anywhere you want! We sent ours home and printed them. My son has them hanging on his wall in his room, he loved it! There is a similar program on their website too.We then made our way to the area where they show prototypes of cycles, how they are created and how they test cycle parts for durability. The final part of our tour is just past this area. On display are about a dozen motorcycles you can actually hop onto and pretend you are riding. There is a huge video screen showing a beautiful countryside. you can just imagine the wind in your hair and riding your Harley through the country - very cool! Next to that is an Indiana Jones photo area. They have leather jackets, hats and accessories for you to wear for your photo-op!
We had come to the end of our visit. The museum is well worth the ride to Milwaukee and it is a must-see. Even if you're not a motorcycle buff, it is still a very cool way to spend the afternoon. I would highly recommend a visit - great staff, fantastic displays, very clean and well organized. You won't be disappointed!
Next, the gift shop and dinner was our destination! There are many very nice items to take home. We bought a puzzle for my son and a stuffed Harley dog and pet carrier for my daughter - very cute! Now we were hungry and wanted some dinner. There are two places to eat, one is a cafe style and the other a sit down restaurant called Motor. We decided to eat at Motor. It was very nice inside. I could see myself sitting at the bar area one night having a few drinks with friends.
There were nice leather club chairs for a more intimate conversation and a nice size bar for a group or meeting new friends. The bar was full of people laughing and having a good time. We were seated by the windows overlooking the river. The menu wasn't huge but it had a good selection. I liked the kids menu, my son had two 'sliders', small hamburgers that were handmade. My daughter had the mac-n-cheese, this wasn't your out-of-the-box-Kraft variety. It was wide elbow noodles and in delicious creamy cheese sauce - it was good. She also had a drink from the Indiana Jones menu called Swamp Water - it looked like swamp water, kind of brownish green with gummy worms, the drink was good. My husband is a big fan of fried chicken and loved the Chicken Schnitzel.
By this time we were exhausted and it was time to head home. I was concerned, downtown Milwaukee traffic at 5:30pm on a Thursday...but there were no delays and traffic moved along really well. We made it home with no delays.Overall, we had a great visit to the Harley-Davidson Museum. We loved it!
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