Bradford Beach – My Favorite Place

Bradford Beach was my favorite place to be when I was a child. It is a beach in the city of Milwaukee WI, which can be accessed by a short downhill drive or walk from the inner city of Milwaukee. I often visited the beach with my family during the summer, which had limited time we only had about three months of Summer. It used to be a place that everyone wanted to visit, but now it isn’t that same attraction it used to be due to flights that break out, trash not being picked up and dead alewives washing up onshore. However, the beach will always be my favorite place to go whenever I visit home. It’s an enormous property, with a beach bath house, a playground, myriad trails along the concrete hillsides, picnic areas, a place where people can take an outdoor rinse-shower after a swim, and benches for the breathtaking view.

Red Baneberry bushes, chirping birds, lady bugs, wind, various seashells, a footbridge along the beach for fishing and sightseeing, and a beautiful view of the North Point Lighthouse. Being there brings you into another state of mind, in which you want to introspect, be calm, and be positive.

I would walk to various places on the beach like for example a secret trail to the left of the park that led to train tracks. The passing trains always attracted me they were painted with beautiful street graffiti. Walking the tracks, I would often run into the most interesting people, and learn to know when trains were coming through the vibration and screeching of the rails. The train tracks lead all the way from the beach to Downtown Milwaukee.

I love to draw, and this place has been continually inspiring for me just gazing at the atmosphere. In fact, most of have my drawings has developed largely at Bradford Beach. Nowhere else have I been able to be so inspired except perhaps on public transportation. For the past few years, I have been creating imagery inspired almost exclusively about the beach. A lot of my art inspired by the nature of Bradford Beach is how I relate to it spiritually, and as I feel a special connection to such a beautiful place.

At that time in my life Bradford Beach was one of those places that no matter how bad you felt, you will leave feeling relaxed and renewed. It was like therapy just to walk around, smell the seaweed and moisture, hear the variety of birds singing, listen to the small waves crashing, witness the sailboats and other boats on the water, seeing people enjoying themselves on the beach, the whistle and sound of a distant train, and the feeling of white sand on your feet.

I will never forget Bradford Beach no matter how far away I am. The mass of red baneberry plant where the sound of insects made for a serene scene, and of course the beach itself, which was scattered with shells, seaweed, birds, driftwood, remnants of parties, and more. It is now intertwined in me, my childhood, spiritual life, and family life. So, whenever I visit Bradford Beach, all these elements rest in my mind and soul. There are other places that I love deeply whom also inspire me and my imagination and supply me with sentimental rushes, but Bradford Beach is at the top of my list.