List 34

Love: Landmark, the Best Bar in America. Built 80 years ago, it has three bars, pool tables, darts, an arcade room and a bowling alley. Erich and I had our first date here, and anytime we're in Milwaukee visiting the parents, a night at Landmark is required.

Like: The weather flame on the old Wisconsin Gas Company building.

When the flame is red, it's warm weather ahead.

When the flame is gold, watch out for cold.

When the flame is blue, there's no change in view.

When there's a flickering flame, expect snow or rain.

Discovery: The East Side of Milwaukee, on the edge of Lake Michigan, is really lovely - miles upon miles of gorgeous single-family homes on tree-lined streets with wide lawns, snow-covered this time of year, but manicured grass edged with hostas in other seasons.

Obsession: My diorama obsession appeared in List 3, but I feel the need to repeat my deep love for the Milwaukee Public Museum here. In addition to the amazing animal dioramas (like the lion one below), they have The Streets of Old Milwaukee, an India street scene, and an igloo in Alaska, among many other human dioramas. The museum feels a bit like it was encased in amber in the late 1960s.

Complaint: We have great food in the Bay Area, but in the 18 years I've lived there, I haven't found places that scratch the itch for pizza and Mexican in quite the same way that Milwaukee's Zaffiro's, with its perfect cracker-like crust, and Conejito's, with its greasy paper-plate messes, do.