Milwaukeeans look for ways to escape miserable cold
MILWAUKEE -- Take a look at some of the faces of people passing by -- if you can even see them behind scarves and hoods -- and you'll see some frustrated folks. But not everyone's letting winter get the best of them.
\"Definitely looking forward to summer, yes,\" UWM student Stephanie Randazzo said.
Randazzo found the closest thing to that season Tuesday.
\"It's not pleasant,\" Randazzo said. \"Walking like six blocks to school in the cold isn't fun.\"
That's why she shakes her winter blues at Ultimate Sun on Downer Avenue. Managers there say temperatures hanging around zero bring in great business.
\"[People] getting ready for vacations coming up in spring and just simply to feel warm, feel better,\" manager Emma Dixon said. \"People always leave here feeling happier.\"
For some, the facade of tan and warmth isn't enough. The phones at East Town Travel have been ringing off the hook.
\"With our december chills, the phone started ringing earlier this year,\" Administrative and Marketing Manager Barbara Schumacher said.
Schumacher says sales will stay busy through Easter, making for a profitable season.
\"It's fun, it's really great to [send people on trips],\" Schumacher said. \"Although we're always jealous, because this time of year we don't get to go anywhere because we're too busy. So, we can only live through those people who get to lay on the beach.\"
From across the globe to just across town, some people look for the spa treatment right here in Milwaukee.
East Town Spa Manager Caroline Jones says her hot stone massage quickly became a best seller this winter.
\"A lot of people have a lot of aches and pains this time of year, so everyone always leaves with a smile,\" Jones said.
A smile and a happier disposition: two things we all could use this time of year.
\"It's definitely a fake getaway for me,\" Randazzo said as she got ready to head into the tanning booth. \"Get to get tan and pretend I'm going on vacation.\"