The Beach

[argentgem]

Looking at the postings, there are no new postings since 2008; however my husband and I have relocated with the company he works for to the Germantown area. We are accustomed to the gulf beaches in Alabama and Florida, with having said that where are the good beaches on the lakes here in Wisconsin. Our children are visiting in August and we want to go to the beach at least one day, plus my husband and I are missing the beaches. We need to know the best places to go. Thanks for any info anyone can give us.

sp

[karfar]

Originally Posted by argentgem

Looking at the postings, there are no new postings since 2008; however my husband and I have relocated with the company he works for to the Germantown area. We are accustomed to the gulf beaches in Alabama and Florida, with having said that where are the good beaches on the lakes here in Wisconsin. Our children are visiting in August and we want to go to the beach at least one day, plus my husband and I are missing the beaches. We need to know the best places to go. Thanks for any info anyone can give us.

sp

You'll have to take some trips. Go to Harrington Beach, Terre-Andre (or Kohler-Andre) & Washington Island. You can also try Kettle Moraine, like Long Lake or Mauthe Lake. Or Devils Lake.

[Geechie North]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee Ronnie

The Milwaukee/Chicago side of Lake Michigan is full of cold water, even in the summer months. The water can be chilly even when it's hot and humid outside. That's why here in Milwaukee we have the "cooler near the lake" phenomenon in the summer months. It can be 90 degrees and humid on the west side, and 80 degrees and fresh Downtown.

Milwaukee's lakeshore also has a bad PR problem. The invasive zebra mussels have thrown the entire Great Lakes ecosystem off kilter, and as a result, there is an overpopulation of algae. Milwaukee's position on the Lake makes it one of the prime locations for algae plumes washing up on the shore. These algae plumes, when they wash up, die off and rot in the sunlight, creating a stench on certain summer days.

Milwaukee, like every other city built on water (which is nearly every city) has an engineering challenge of storm runoff and sewerage. Many cities simply allow their junk to flow freely into the waterways when it rains more than a few inches. New York City does this. That's one reason why the Hudson and East Rivers can be so disgusting. Chicago reversed the flow of the Chicago River so that when it rains a lot Chicago's junk, rather than run into Lake Michigan, downtream into downstate Illinois and eventually to the Mississippi River. It keeps the Lake cleaner, but it's no picnic for the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers.

No modern city has figured out how to keep bad stuff from flowing into the waterways when heavy rainfall overwhelms their sewage systems. All they can do is mitigate its effects or redirect the junk to different places.

Here in Milwaukee, we spent billions on a system of massive underground storage tanks that essentially store the junk for a few days until it can be treated. This system, known as the Deep Tunnel, has reduced sewage overflows from about 60 per year to about 3 per year. Unfortunately, since the system was so expensive to build, and since certain folks "oversold" it originally as being capable of totally eliminating overflows, in the public mind the system has been a debacle.

Undoubtedly there will be some posts on this thread from Milwaukee residents, and non-residents, blasting the Deep Tunnel as a failure and trying to tell you that the Lake is full of Milwaukee's ****. There will be those that will respond to my post on the topic claiming that I'm twisting the facts or somehow "wrong."

Quite frankly, I am tired of presenting the facts in as clear and concise manner as possible, only to have them refuted by people who do not know what they are talking about. The Lake smells sometimes because of the algae. This is all I'm posting on the matter.

One of the real "hide-in-plain-sight" problems for the Lake is the growth of lawns of non-native grasses (in other words, typical suburban lawns) on lands bordering the shore.


These little phosporus pigs- in combination with the zebra and quagga mussels- are responsible for the cladophora growths that have turned the lakeshore into a smelly, compost pile over the past decade.

Note, that only applies to Michigan. Superior is too deep and cold for the invasives mentioned, hence the problem is not 1/100th as bad along her shores.

[Geechie North]

Originally Posted by argentgem

Looking at the postings, there are no new postings since 2008; however my husband and I have relocated with the company he works for to the Germantown area. We are accustomed to the gulf beaches in Alabama and Florida, with having said that where are the good beaches on the lakes here in Wisconsin. Our children are visiting in August and we want to go to the beach at least one day, plus my husband and I are missing the beaches. We need to know the best places to go. Thanks for any info anyone can give us.

sp

Define "good".

[Milwaukee City]

North Point Beach in Racine

[Milwaukee, WI]

Ive never seen Bradford as packed as its been this year. People definitely arent scared to swim there anymore. Its a boom time for those little beach resturants. The county actually has a tractor that rakes the beach every morning around 7 am and they even have lifeguards again all thanks to Zilber. I think its pretty much the beach to be at in Milwaukee. Lots of families and college kids. If you think Im exaggerating drive by around 3-5pm if the suns out.

[Iburytheliving]

Originally Posted by Milwaukee, WI

Ive never seen Bradford as packed as its been this year. People definitely arent scared to swim there anymore. Its a boom time for those little beach resturants. The county actually has a tractor that rakes the beach every morning around 7 am and they even have lifeguards again all thanks to Zilber. I think its pretty much the beach to be at in Milwaukee. Lots of families and college kids. If you think Im exaggerating drive by around 3-5pm if the suns out.

Truth. I've lived in Milwaukee for five years now and every year Bradford has gotten better. This and last year are tons better than even a few years ago.

[Nuclear_Art]

The Lake (and when I capitalize I mean Lake Michigan) is good for swimming although the best times for swimming are after July when the water starts to get warmer. I highly recommend Kohler Andrae State Park. The beach is huge and beautiful and the water is clean. Bradford beach is steadily being improved and is worth getting in the water but probably not the best for actual swimming. When I swim, I like to really swim and head out hundreds of feet from shore and with all the idiots in boats and jetskis, it is dangerous.

[susancruzs]

Water looks good up here, too! Last year it was on the "green" side, with yellow (caution) signs frequently and red a few times, too. Haven't seen any warnings posted this year.