Wisconsin Maritime Museum (Manitowoc, WI)

My wife and I decided to give each other birthday experiences this year instead of birthday presents. This is why I took her to the Mid-Continent Railway Museum last month and, for my birthday this week, she took me to the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, WI.

This is a museum I've wanted to visit for some time now but never seemed to find a free weekend to do so. Now that I was finally able to do just that, I can say it didn't disappoint.

The museum isn't overly large and only took us about an hour or so to go through it. However, there were quite a few items on display, and we learned a lot about ships and the Manitowoc community, especially during World War II, when dozens of freshwater submarines were constructed there.

Sadly, the USS Cobia submarine is currently in dry dock and wasn't available for us to tour. However, there were quite a few other things in the museum we found entertaining. My personal favorite (and my wife's) was the submarine simulator, which reenacts an actual World War II battle as we pressed buttons to launch torpedoes, watched the various gauges, etc. I had so much fun in that, I insisted on re-visiting it and doing one more time before leaving.

Outside the museum are some nice walkways that take you along the water near and up to Lake Michigan with a great view of the SS Badger ferry and the local draw bridges. We ended up crossing one of the bridges to have lunch at The Wharf, which had decent and reasonably priced food along with outdoor seating.

Overall, it was a great way to spend my birthday, and we plan to go back, maybe with the kids next time.

My Grade: A 

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Here are some reviews of other Wisconsin travel destinations:

Museum of Wisconsin Art (West Bend, WI)

Retzer Nature Center, Waukesha, Wisconsin

The House on the Rock (Spring Green, WI)

EAA Aviation Museum (Oshkosh, WI)