Takin' the Blog for a Walk
Join Waukesha resident Brien Lee and his blog, Sir Fido, as they explore the city and report on the interesting things they find.
Email Brien at howlinblog@yahoo.com.
day III
Saturday's weather was absolutely gorgeous after two days of cold and rain. I started by travelling to Prairie Home and the Les Paul memorial to talk to and hear from Rusty Paul, but he was called back East for some unknown reason. Sue Baker was there and I collected a first day of issue Les Paul card from her for which I'm appreciative.
After that I just wanted to try the walking tour, so I parked in front of the Waukesha County Museum and headed west. Before I went far I noticed people carrying guitar pick shaped maps of the tour and picked one up for myself at Martha Merrell's. As I continued I ran into friends who were also just starting and heading in the same direction so we went together. Many more people asked where we picked up our maps so we picked up a spare at one of the galleries, giving it away shortly after.
Noticed that not all standard guitars are visible from the sidewalk and a few wouldn't be found at all if the business is closed. I noticed one even took it out of the front window when they're not open.
Not all ten-footers had plaques yet, and I was a little surprised there wasn't anything more substantial securing and protecting them from theft than just the standard pipe they came with and a padlock.
It was mentioned during our tour that someone could've been leading tours, or maybe have a trolley making stops. I didn't think a trolley should be used for a "walking" tour, but maybe using banners or flags outside locations with guitars would help a little. The maps are pretty good though, and it helped that multiple locations had them available.
The tour seemed like it took at least two hours, with one stop for refreshments at House of Guiness. We did miss a couple spots at Mia's and Cafe de Arts and couldn't see the one at Little Swiss Clock Shop. Certainly one of the benefits of having these guitars in businesses is they give you an excuse to visit places you may never have visited before. It's also a good reason to set a spell and maybe contribute to the local economy.
Now that all the locations are finally known, I'm a little sad that none of the ten-footers are placed near North Street or St. Paul to attract out-of-towners. Since the State Bank has two of them I thought for sure they'd use that great corner they have at Madison and St. Paul, but alas it is not to be. "Steampunk" is inside and "Carlos y la rana Azteca" is in the parking lot not far from the springhouse.
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