Beating the winter blues: How to enjoy Milwaukee when it’s cold outside

By Aimee Beluch. Published Sunday, January 31st, 2010

The frigid winter air has arrived on campus, proving to the Milwaukee community that staying indoors is a safe bet. There are many places where students can warm up from the cold temperatures, but Milwaukee has a lot of options – indoors or outdoors – to keep students entertained throughout the winter.

Top 5 Milwaukee winter activities:

  1. Bring Marquette Spirit to all Sporting Events
  2. Explore the Milwaukee Indoor Public Market
  3. Go sledding at Pulaski Park (Milwaukee) or St. Mary’s Hill on Lake Michigan
  4. Go ice skating at Red Arrow Park or Pettit National Ice Center
  5. G tobogganing at Whitnall Park’s Winter Sports Area

1. Bringing spirit to all Marquette sporting events by painting your face or dressing in all yellow not only makes the games more exciting, but shows that the student body is proud to be a part of the Marquette community.  The men’s basketball team has their next home games on Wednesday, Feb, 3 at 6 p.m. against DePaul, Saturday, Feb. 13th at 7:30 p.m. against the University of South Florida, and Thursday, Feb. 18 at 8 p.m. against Pittsburgh. The women’s basketball team has their next home games on Tuesday, Feb. 9 at 8 p.m. against USF in the Al McGuire Center, Saturday, Feb. 13 at 2 p.m. against Providence, and Saturday, Feb. 20 at 1 p.m. against DePaul. For the rest of Marquette athletics schedules, visit www.gomarquette.com.

2. The Milwaukee Public Market, 400 N. Water St., is a great place to explore and warm up from the bitter cold. The market has many vendors selling cheese and dairy, coffee, confections, ethnic and specialty foods, meat, poultry and seafood, bread and baked goods. The market also includes an upper level which contains tables and chairs, perfect for studying while snacking or drinking a hot cup of coffee.

3. Skating at Red Arrow Park is an annual winter activity in downtown Milwaukee.  Schools and students of all ages skate weekly. Near Water Street, the park is within walking distance from the Marquette campus. The ice rink is outdoors with side rails and contains a warming house. The warming house has $6 skate rentals, lockers and a Starbucks. Jake Klingsorth, a manager at Slice of Ice, said, “The weekends are still busy with all ages of students,”   so take advantage of what is left of the winter season because this outdoor ice rink closes by March, weather permitting.

4. Pettit National Ice Center, 500 S. 84th St. off of HWY 94, is a U.S. Olympic Training site and accommodates the practices for the Marquette track team.  The public skating times range during the week from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m., 1 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, and 1 to 5:30 p.m. and 7:10 to 9 p.m. on Sunday with $7 for an adult and $3 for skate rentals.

5. Whitnall Park’s Winter Sports Center, 5879 S. 92nd St., is open for tobogganing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  The cost is $7 per toboggan per hour for unlimited rides. A toboggan is a flat-bottomed sled made from a thin wood board curved upward at the front.  It is used in the sport of coasting over snow or ice.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 31st, 2010 at 10:00 pm and is filed under January 2010. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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