Last summer, I was biking around Milwaukee and found myself on the south side in Bayview where I stumbled upon a road leading onto Jones Island. Thinking I could ride all the way to the north side of the Island and get back to civilization, I rode the entire couple-mile length of the Island over flat terrain. Although I discovered the only way out was the way I came in, I found it an interesting ride and vowed to do it again someday. So, a few weeks ago, I went there again. The Hoan Bridge's southern expanse runs right over it and it is the home of the Port of Milwaukee. The island was once the site of a multi-ethic fishing village in the 19th and 20th centuries. All that's left of that community is a small park, Kaszube's Park, a number of industrial complexes, a lot of train tracks coming in and out, some tug boats and the city's winter supply of road salt and coal. Bleak but beautiful in its own way.
