 The city might have been built on brewing, tanning, and heavy manufacturing (and to a degree that world still exists), but exuberant arts, music, and theater scenes have turned the once gritty industrial city of Milwaukee into a cultural haven. Luxurious riverfront condos are energizing the downtown area, and in the summer, the gorgeous four-mile lakefront explodes with life and an amazing array of festivals. — Julie Mautner
See
Santiago Calatrava’s addition to the Milwaukee Art Museum (414-224-3200, www.mam.org) put the city on the world’s architecture map. Its striking winged sun screen is an engineering marvel, soaring open and closed each day at noon. Discovery World (414-765-9966, www.discoveryworld.org) is home to a technology museum, an aquarium, and, in the summer, a 137-foot triple-masted schooner.
Do
Bike, stroll, or blade the lakefront, and then grab a latte at Alterra (414-223-4551, www.alterracoffee.com), a local coffee bar and café. The Wisconsin State Fair (800-884-3247, www.wistatefair.com), August 2 to 12, boasts blue-ribbon livestock and 42 different kinds of food on a stick. Miller (414-931-2000, www.millerbrewing.com) is the last of the city’s big brewers (tours include samples in the historic beer garden), and you can visit three microbreweries on a Milwaukee River pontoon boat (414-283-9999, www.riverwalkboats.com). Don’t miss out on the state’s number one tourist destination: Potawatomi Bingo Casino (800-729-7244, www.paysbig.com).
Eat
Sanford (414-276-9608, www.sanfordrestaurant.com) and Bacchus (414-765-1166, www.bacchusmke.com) are considered the city’s top spots, serving highly refined modern American fare. The folks behind Bacchus also run the elegant French bistro Bartolotta’s Lake Park Bistro (414-962-6300, www.lakeparkbistro.com). Botana’s (414-672-3755, www.botanasrestaurant.com) dishes up authentic Mexican cuisine with addictive margaritas; Moceans (414-272-7470, www.moceans.com) offers impeccably fresh seafood and draws local VIPs and athletes. A great way to kick off the weekend is to head to the Lakefront Brewery (414-372-8800, www.lakefrontbrewery.com), a microbrewery that throws a fish fry with 16 types of handcrafted beer and a live polka band every Friday night. At the Milwaukee Public Market (414-336-1111, www.milwaukeepublicmarket.org), you’ll find fresh and prepared foods, cheeses, and chocolates — everything’s local, and much of it’s organic.
Sleep
With 307 guest rooms, the historic Pfister (414-273-8222, www.pfisterhotel.com) boasts Victorian decor, an indoor pool, and a smashing restaurant called Mason Street Grill. The all-suite boutique Hotel Metro (877-638-7620, www.hotelmetro.com) has great amenities, a rooftop spa, and a laid-back European vibe. County Clare (888-942-5273, www.countyclare-inn.com) is a boutique B&B with an Irish pub that serves some of the best burgers in town. Families love the Hilton Milwaukee City Center (414-271-7250, www.hiltonmilwaukee.com) for its indoor water park.
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 Late-Night Bites
Omelets with a side of hash browns, soup of the day, and bottomless cups of coffee are de rigueur at most 24-hour restaurants. But let’s face it: That’s not fine dining when you’re a stranger in a new town. Nor is it anything to write home about. Check out these 24/7 eateries whose menus don’t shutter. — Kristine Hansen
San Antonio
Mi Tierra Café y Panaderia has several dining rooms and a seemingly endless pastry case. Tex-Mex breakfast dishes (served all the time) and dinner entrees are plated on Fiestaware and brought out by waitresses in ruffled skirts that match the Mexican flag. A band plays live music beneath a mural of Hispanic heroes (from a local muralist to Frida Kahlo) until 4 a.m. every day. In the adjacent Mariachi Bar, you’ll find framed mariachi suits, glass chandeliers, and red velvet drapes. 218 Produce Row, (210) 225-1262, www.miterracafe.com
New York
Restaurant Florent opened in 1985, bringing gourmand to night owls. In the city that never sleeps, ordering duck mousse pate after midnight is almost as romantic as an evening in Paris. Or maybe you’d rather flirt with the boudin noir — French blood sausage with apples and onions. An extensive wine list (40 choices) along with a delectable selection of dessert options, including cheesecake topped with Kahlúa, are also on offer. 69 Gansevoort Street, (212) 989-5779, www.restaurantflorent.com
Miami
Three years ago, Cafeteria in New York expanded to Miami Beach, opening in a former Cadillac showroom complete with hip furnishings (egg-shaped cushions and lotsa black leather), and Astroturf and white leather seating outdoors. The menu contains a lot of build-your-own items — from the breakfast sandwich to the burgers and the pizzas — and the dessert menu offers a warm brownie sundae with dulce de leche ice cream. If you long for cafeteria-style food, by all means dig into the meatloaf. 546 Lincoln Road, (305) 672-3663, www.cafeteria247.com
Nashville
This past March, a local nightclub owner took over an old furniture store and began churning out Southern cuisine around the clock — thus giving Nashville the Paradise Park Trailer Resort. Enjoy the tacky trailer-park decor (black-velvet paintings and a Camaro) as you eat mac and cheese, chili, and corn dogs; for breakfast, there’s the breakfast bowl scrambler: eggs, meat, and cheese on a floor of grits. The bar is open from 11 a.m. to three a.m. 411 Broadway, (615) 251-1515
Las Vegas
Of course the United States has food cred. But rarely does a menu showcase it. America, inside the New York–New York casino, serves Texas Onion Blossoms, a New York–style bagel sandwich, potato skins (a nod to Boise, Idaho), a Cobb Salad based on the Brown Derby original (in Hollywood), and more. 3790 Las Vegas Boulevard South, (702) 740-6451, www.nynyhotelcasino.com
Portland, Oregon
What’s not to like about gourmet doughnuts — especially when they’re named Arnold Palmer (lemon and tea powder) or Triple-Chocolate Penetration (chocolate doughnut, chocolate glaze, and Cocoa Puffs)? Voodoo Doughnut has such a following that weddings have been performed here (it has its own wedding chapel), and the shop has even launched its own underwear line. And on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, from 10:30 to 11:30 p.m., there’s live music or theater. 22 SW Third Avenue, (503) 241-4704, www.voodoodoughnut.com
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 Feeling Just Beachy
Tote one of these brightly hued towels with you to the beach or pool, and you’re sure to catch more than just a few rays.
Spotted towel, $340; blue towel with white stripe, $320; rolled towel in carrier, $320; carrier, $110; and coral beach bag, $150; from Pratesi,
www.pratesi.com
Towels and bag, $39 each, at Restoration Hardware, (800)
910-9836, www.restorationhardware.com
Towels, $10 each, and flip-flops, $3, at Target, (800) 591-3869, www.target.com
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Take It Like a Man … Your Vacation, That Is
It’s time you men started making a little time for some R&R. So gather a pack of pals and plan a man-size adventure for yourselves. Need some ideas? Look no further. — Becca Hensley
The Trip: Speed Racing
The Place: St. Moritz
Fly to: Zurich
The Price: From $278 per night for hotel, $246 for the car for a day drive
Feel a need for speed? Indulge it in the Swiss Alps. It’s you against the road, baby. The fitness-oriented, mountainside Kempinski Grand Hotel des Bains supplies the machine (a sleek BMW Z4) and maps to guide your demonic drive through the Engadine Valley. A manly picnic of mountain meat and cheese fuels your surge. www.kempinski-stmoritz.com, 011-41-81-838-38-38
The Trip: Cowdudes on the Range
The Place: Calgary, Canada
Fly to: Calgary
The Price: $1,482 per guy for a six-night stay
No bull! Ride with the cowboys (and your gang of city slickers) at Homeplace Ranch, a working dude ranch near Calgary. Test your mettle as you clean corrals, mend fences, shoe horses, and more. Request Horseman’s Lodge, which sleeps 10 to 14 tired vaqueros. Rate includes all meals, activities, and gratuities. (403) 931-3245, www.homeplaceranch.com
 The Trip: Fish & Chips
The Place: Peter Island
Fly to: Tortola’s Beef Island
The Price: $45,020 covers five guys for five nights
Bond with your best buds at this private island resort’s Crow’s Nest, a 6,500-square-foot villa equipped with a chef and a valet. The package includes meals, resort activities, heli-golf or deep-sea fishing from a fully crewed luxury liner, and a high-stakes Texas Hold’Em poker tournament. (800) 346-4451, www.peterislandresort.com
The Trip: Do-It-Yourself
The Place: Anywhere
Fly to: Anywhere American Airlines flies
The Price: $200 to $300,000 per house, per week
Visit HomeAway.com to peruse more than 85,000 domiciles in 100 countries, and pick the one that’s best for your needs. Choose, for example, the Sunset Ranch Oasis, a home in Palm Springs (property #308793, $6,500 weekly), which sleeps 20 and boasts a private water-skiing lake, a boxing ring, a fireplace, a pool table, a putting green, a swimming pool, and beaucoup stereo equipment. (512) 493-0382, www.homeaway.com
The Trip: A Night of Urban Spirit
The Place: Chicago
Fly to: Chicago
The Price: From $580 per guy for package
Metro gents short on time can indulge in a package that partners wine and spirits producer Brown-Forman with the Fairmont Chicago. The package includes overnight accommodations, a Woodford reserve whiskey tasting, a three-course steak dinner, a post-dinner cocktail seminar — and, of course, late checkout. (312) 565-8000, www.fairmont.com/chicago
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 Flattery Will Get You Everywhere
In a recent issue of Strategy+Business magazine, author and leadership trainer Marshall Goldsmith exposed a dirty little secret of the workplace: Flattery — i.e., sucking up — works. We asked Goldsmith to share his thoughts with our brilliant, discerning readers (no sucking up intended). — Chris Tucker
How’d you get interested in the flattery phenomenon? I’ve looked at hundreds of feedback reports where people evaluate their bosses. The bosses always say they don’t play favorites, but their employees say they do. Bosses respond to sucking up.
Flattery is everywhere in business, but seldom is it discussed openly. Right. Employee evaluations always say, “reaches out across the company” or “builds synergy.” Nobody ever says, “effectively fawns over higher management.” Every leader says they hate suck-ups, but many of them create an environment where people learn to suck up.
What’s the real-world effect of sucking up? It’s bad for the company. If you’re a stockholder or a customer, do you want people to devote all their energy and time to playing games like this? And employees who don’t suck up will get disgruntled if they see suck-ups getting ahead.
You say hollow praise makes hollow leaders. How so? If we’re not careful, we end up with shallow, superficial game playing, rather than the reality we need.
How can managers avoid this trap? The best way to get out of the trap is to realize you can fall into it.
Do lots of people suck up to you? No, but I’m not powerful. Why would you suck up to me? I don’t control your life. The sucking up starts when you control lots of lives and money and status.
Boss Buttering 101
Office flattery may not get you everywhere, but it’s a start. Some how-to tips:
1. Master the art of deep, mesmerized eye contact. Why? Because the boss is fascinating: She deserves your undivided attention.
2. Parrot up. Repeat the big guy’s key slogans and sayings in meetings, reports, and memos.
3. Know her interests. Ask about the kids, the weekend at the lake, the latest episode of her favorite TV show.
Wrong: “24 is so unrealistic. When do they go to the bathroom?”
Right: “Isn’t Jack Bauer amazing? Nobody tortures like he does!”
4. Spread the butter. Don’t limit your fawning to just one manager. What if he gets shipped to Toledo?
Source: Business 2.0
It Figures
In a survey of more than 1,000 senior managers and CEOs at major companies, University of Michigan strategy professor James Westphal and University of Texas at Austin doctoral student Ithai Stern found definitive proof that sucking up works.
Over a 12-month period, they found that managers who challenged the CEO fewer times, complimented him/her more times, and did the boss at least one personal favor were 64 percent more likely to be appointed to a board of directors where the CEO was already a director.
Source: Fast Company
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