Summer Days, Summer Nights

Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin

>>“Summer days, driftin’ away, to uh-oh those summer nights. Tell me more, tell me more…”

Summer days and nights in Milwaukee can be a dogged 90 degrees of heat and humidity. But out on the Pier, the promenade that leads to Discovery World, each and every summer day can be perfect.

Not only is it cooler by lake, but Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin begins their 101 Days of Summer, a special set of programming designed to make the shores of Lake Michigan more accessible to the entire Milwaukee area. Fifty percent of central city children have never been to the lakefront, but Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin aims to change that by giving the community opportunities to enjoy the “blue water and blue sky,” embrace our Great Lakes heritage and understand the importance and beauty of Lake Michigan.

As a complement to the Calatrava-designed Quadracci Pavilion at the Milwaukee Art Museum, Pier Wisconsin creates another reason to spend time on Milwaukee’s shoreline. The Promenade and Rotary Amphitheater are free to roam, easily accessible for an evening stroll or to catch a cup of coffee or glass of chardonnay at the Café. Glass walls slide open to expose breathtaking sunsets or starry nights over the Hoan Bridge, Posner Park and the floating docks. Slips for canoes, kayaks and sails of every kind, including the 137 foot Denis Sullivan, are on view, too.

“Summer sun, something’s begun, to uh-oh those summer nights. Tell me more, tell more…”

101 Days of Summer’s camps and classes – both evenings and days – make perfect summer opportunities for children ages eight through sixteen to exercise their imaginations and relate innovation to technology. Some of July’s offerings are Radio Theater and Print Making (8-10), Backyard Archeology and Baseball Bosses (11-13) and Improv and Board Designer, where you build your own skateboard or snowboard (14 -16). All classes require registration and a fee, with information at: http://www.discoveryworld.org

Another option for afternoon outings is Discovery World itself. Amazing adventures for young and old abound in the 120,000 square feet of interactive space, an aquatarium, two digital theaters, a moving double helix sculpture within a staircase and a 90-foot replica of another schooner, the Challenge. This is where ingenuity and innovation are introduced through science and technology.

“But uh-oh those summer nights, tell me more, tell me more. Was it love at first sight?”

Adults are sure to enjoy participating in 101 Days of Summer, too. Special evening programming encourages learning and fun with the “Love Science Lecture Series,” which runs July 14 through August 4. Discussing the science of love and whether love at first sight is possible, these lectures address aphrodisiacs, pheromones, love potions and the food and drink of passion. A “Hard-Wired Love” class aims to answer the age-old question of why we are attracted to whom we love. Perhaps this series will inspire couples to spend a night of summer romance at a lecture first, with moonlight glasses of wine on the promenade or lawn afterwards. For the less romantically inclined, classes on design, wealth and the environment are offered as well.

“We went strollin’, drank lemonade. We stayed up until ten o’clock. But uh-oh those summer nights.”

101 Days of Summer is exciting, day or night, as Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin becomes a popular gathering place for all – children, families and couples both young and old. The shoreline structure will draw visitors, lecturers and corporations to the waters of our Great Lake, encouraging and enriching our city. VS

101 Days of Summer programming information, including all schedules and fees, is available by contacting www.discoveryworld.org or 414.765.8624. The grand opening for Discovery World: The Year of Discovery is September 9 & 10. Special thanks to memories of “Grease: Summer Nights.”