While we were staying in California with Dave and Jan, we took a weekend trip to the Wine Country and down the California coast to Half Moon Bay. I'll cover that in another post, but I felt that dinner needed its very own post.
It was Dave's mom's birthday, so the four of us met with her, Dave's aunt and uncle, his brother and cousin and all nine of us went to eat at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Now, I have never been to one before and when we got there it was pretty cool. It had an old British phone booth and velvet upholstered chairs in five different colors, a Catholic shrine screen... basically nothing matched and I loved it.
We were told we couldn't make a reservation (apparently, too many large parties had already reserved?) so we waited for a full hour before being seated. This wasn't really a problem because we sat in the cozily dark bar area and nursed some drinks, but by the time the buzzer went off, we were hungry and ready to go.
When the hostess brought us up to our table, though, it was set up in a hallway. No kidding! For some reason, they had put a bunch of tables together in the upstairs hallway, by the stairs. The room on the other end of the hallway was empty through our entire meal, but for some reason, they crammed us into a space barely wide enough for the tables themselves. The waitress couldn't even get to us, we had to hand drinks and food and the like down the table.
Well, Dave's uncle was having none of that. I thought it was very strange and a bit of an inconvenience, but when it comes to customer service issues, I am perhaps a bit too deferential. Uncle Vic is no shrinking violet, though and he complained to the waitress (and made sure to assure the poor girl that it wasn't her fault). She went to get her manager and Uncle Vic told him exactly what he thought of us being stuffed into a hallway.
The manager apologized and then comped the ENTIRE meal. The whole thing! I never would have had the gumption to speak up, but hey. Gets results, man.
Anywhooser,we got a free meal. So, I learned something. Eat with a disgruntled Sicilian and you get your meal free!
Thanks Uncle Vic!
(Also, thanks for letting us stay in your fifth wheel for the night, it was lovely.)
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Friday, July 15, 2011
A Day of Gods and Men
Last night we arrived in Colorado Springs around midnight and gratefully collapsed into the soft and comfortable guest bed at Tom's cousin Amy's house. Hurray for mooching across America! This morning we woke up and enjoyed breakfast with Amy and Cafall (Cay-fall), their adorable Corgi puppy before heading over to the Garden of the Gods. The original plan was to bike our way around, since the small loop is between 3-4 miles and we thought that was probably do-able, even with the lower levels of oxygen.
Yeah....no. It was 95 degrees out, and just biking up the entrance road was enough to wipe us out. Plus, Tom's bike handles were a bit loose and they flipped upside down on him. We took this as a sign that it was just not to be, and coasted back down the hill, then walked our bikes back to our car in the parking lot. Beaten, but not vanquished, we decided to drive in and do the short little hikes inside the park.
It was a nice drive, and an even nicer walk. The heat was bad, but not bad enough to kill my enjoyment of the place, especially after I spotted a brush jay. Going to these places kind of makes me feel closer to my dad in a way and I wanted to get a picture of the bird, but some boy scouts chased it away. Le sigh.
I love the story of where the name came from, so I am going to share it with you- Back in 1859, two surveyors were scouting the area and, upon finding the rock formations, one of them suggested that it would be a good place to open a beer garden. The other responded, "A beer garden?! Why, this is a place fit to be a garden for the gods!"
The name stuck. =)
The formations really are beautiful, and it is fascinating to see them jutting up out of the ground, completely different from the other rock in the area.
For lunch, Amy made us home-made enchiladas (yummy!) and then when Casey came home from work, we headed to the movie theatre to wait in line to see the end. Yes, I went and waited in line for two hours to ensure that I got a good seat for the last movie of Harry Potter.
I wore my favorite Potter-themed t-shirt from Sam and Fuzzy and got a bunch of compliments.
I was highly anticipating the awesome-ness of Neville and Mrs. Weasley and was not disappointed!
As if that wasn't nerdy enough, on the way to the theatre we stopped so I could pick up the latest George R.R. Martin novel. Squee!
Tomorrow Tom and I are heading 14,000 feet up to the top of Pike's Peak on the Cog Railway.
Yeah....no. It was 95 degrees out, and just biking up the entrance road was enough to wipe us out. Plus, Tom's bike handles were a bit loose and they flipped upside down on him. We took this as a sign that it was just not to be, and coasted back down the hill, then walked our bikes back to our car in the parking lot. Beaten, but not vanquished, we decided to drive in and do the short little hikes inside the park.
I love the story of where the name came from, so I am going to share it with you- Back in 1859, two surveyors were scouting the area and, upon finding the rock formations, one of them suggested that it would be a good place to open a beer garden. The other responded, "A beer garden?! Why, this is a place fit to be a garden for the gods!"
The name stuck. =)
The formations really are beautiful, and it is fascinating to see them jutting up out of the ground, completely different from the other rock in the area.
For lunch, Amy made us home-made enchiladas (yummy!) and then when Casey came home from work, we headed to the movie theatre to wait in line to see the end. Yes, I went and waited in line for two hours to ensure that I got a good seat for the last movie of Harry Potter.
I wore my favorite Potter-themed t-shirt from Sam and Fuzzy and got a bunch of compliments.
As if that wasn't nerdy enough, on the way to the theatre we stopped so I could pick up the latest George R.R. Martin novel. Squee!
Tomorrow Tom and I are heading 14,000 feet up to the top of Pike's Peak on the Cog Railway.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
How the West was.... (Everything I ever wanted from the West!)
Wow, I can't believe we've only been on the road for a week. It feels longer than that, only because we have seen SO MUCH in the past week. America is chock-a-block full of amazing sights.
Today, the morning was dedicated to State Parks and National Memorials. We packed our tent up and headed out to take a scenic drive through Custer State Park's Wildlife Loop. At first, it didn't seem very populated. Lots of beautiful views and amazing scenery, but no Wildlife. We drove past a prairie dog warren, which was cute but we had already fed those little guys up close and personal, so it was kind of eh.
But then. Oh man. We met up with a herd of burros coming the other direction on the road.
The burros were expecting to get fed, so they were super friendly.
No, seriously. Super friendly.
After we ran into the first herd of burros, it became an animal extravaganza! More burros on the road, including some super-friendly types that decided they wanted to come for a ride with us in the car; pronghorn herds that meandered across the road, waiting on the word from the alpha male to move along so that we could continue our drive; and of course last (and abso-positively not least) the bison!
We were about to leave the park without having encountered a single American buffalo, when we decided to stop at the Visitor's Center to get some postcards. Inside, a very friendly and genteel employee was informing folks that the entire herd was just over the hill and if we took the dirt trail across the way, we could see them lounging and grazing in the sun.
He was completely right. It was a breath-taking sight to come over the rise and see the massive herd of bison spread out beneath us. It was evocative of when herds of these giant animals roamed the American prairie, and I had a little pang that those days are gone, and this is the closest I will ever come to seeing something like that.
But this was everything I had hoped my first up-close view of the American buffalo would be. The majority of the parks 1300 buffalo seemed to be gathered on the big sunny field below us and little family groups were ambling back and forth across the road we were driving on.
We got some truly amazing shots, both of the herd and up close. Take a gander!
I love South Dakota. I kind of wish we had stayed longer and explored the parks more, but we had set kind of a time schedule for ourselves. Next time, though. Next time.
After the park, we swung back north to take in Mount Rushmore, which was just as large and presidential as I had hoped it would be. Not much to say about the monument, honestly. It was just as it is always pictured, and I get the feeling that it would be far more impressive if I could have seen it up close in order to truly appreciate the magnitude.
But, we got our obligatory tourist shot, bought some nifty souvenirs and then headed out again because we had a seven hour drive through Wyoming and Colorado to look forward to. We did have a little time to kill, so we decided to go a little bit farther north to Rapid City.
Rapid City is known as the city of presidents. Not only is it about a half hour from Rushmore, but they have almost life-size statues of 42 Presidents on their street corners. They are missing Barack Obama and someone else, but since they have George W, Bill, Bush Senior and the other more recent ones that I know, it must be someone farther back in the annals of history that I can't remember because he didn't do anything noteworthy enough to receive a highlight in 8th grade Social Studies.
It's going to bother me until I puzzle it out, though, so once I have done my homework, I'll let you know.
After meeting with (almost) all the Presidents, we started the drive south toward Colorado Springs and Tom's cousin Amy's house. I wanted one more stop, though, at the Cosmos Mystery Area. It is one of those silly Roadside America attractions where the gravity of the Earth is supposedly skewed and the physics that govern our universe are all a-tangle.
Tom cynically proclaimed it all an optical illusion built upon a ferrite hill that is just slightly more gravitationally significant than the surrounding landscape, thus creating some oddities in the vegetation, but to that I say PFAH! I believe in magic, and weird gravity wells and I refuse to let his craaaaazy science talk convince me otherwise!
Either way, it is a diverting and amusing little attraction.
After I had dragged Tom through another one of my silly side-trips, we began the long trek through Wyoming.
There is nothing there. No, seriously. Wyoming is empty. It is fields and sky for as far as the eye can see, broken by the occasional herd of cows. Moo.
At one point we drove into the leading edge of a prairie storm and we raced to try and get ahead of it. Scary, but also fodder for some really amazing photos.
We decided that we would stop in Cheyenne, the capital, in order to bathroom break, eat, and trade drivers since Tom had been going through all of Wyoming and needed a break. Folks, Cheyenne is not a city. Do not let its status as a "capital city" fool you. It is a very large town. The population of Cheyenne is lower than its altitude. It is barely 4 miles across. But it had a Subway that was open and a gas station and so I thank you Cheyenne, for... you know... existing.
I drove the rest of the way through Colorado to Amy's house, through wet, dark highways, trying not to be killed by the people doing 90 because the speed limit is 75.
Wyoming: Despite the fact that there is nothing in you, I love you. You are beautiful and I promise that I will come and visit again someday for something more than a long-ass drive down a back highway somewhere.
But for now, there is Colorado. I can't wait to see what you have in store for us!
(George Dubya approves this message)
Today, the morning was dedicated to State Parks and National Memorials. We packed our tent up and headed out to take a scenic drive through Custer State Park's Wildlife Loop. At first, it didn't seem very populated. Lots of beautiful views and amazing scenery, but no Wildlife. We drove past a prairie dog warren, which was cute but we had already fed those little guys up close and personal, so it was kind of eh.
But then. Oh man. We met up with a herd of burros coming the other direction on the road.
After we ran into the first herd of burros, it became an animal extravaganza! More burros on the road, including some super-friendly types that decided they wanted to come for a ride with us in the car; pronghorn herds that meandered across the road, waiting on the word from the alpha male to move along so that we could continue our drive; and of course last (and abso-positively not least) the bison!
We were about to leave the park without having encountered a single American buffalo, when we decided to stop at the Visitor's Center to get some postcards. Inside, a very friendly and genteel employee was informing folks that the entire herd was just over the hill and if we took the dirt trail across the way, we could see them lounging and grazing in the sun.
He was completely right. It was a breath-taking sight to come over the rise and see the massive herd of bison spread out beneath us. It was evocative of when herds of these giant animals roamed the American prairie, and I had a little pang that those days are gone, and this is the closest I will ever come to seeing something like that.
But this was everything I had hoped my first up-close view of the American buffalo would be. The majority of the parks 1300 buffalo seemed to be gathered on the big sunny field below us and little family groups were ambling back and forth across the road we were driving on.
We got some truly amazing shots, both of the herd and up close. Take a gander!
I love South Dakota. I kind of wish we had stayed longer and explored the parks more, but we had set kind of a time schedule for ourselves. Next time, though. Next time.
But, we got our obligatory tourist shot, bought some nifty souvenirs and then headed out again because we had a seven hour drive through Wyoming and Colorado to look forward to. We did have a little time to kill, so we decided to go a little bit farther north to Rapid City.
It's going to bother me until I puzzle it out, though, so once I have done my homework, I'll let you know.
After meeting with (almost) all the Presidents, we started the drive south toward Colorado Springs and Tom's cousin Amy's house. I wanted one more stop, though, at the Cosmos Mystery Area. It is one of those silly Roadside America attractions where the gravity of the Earth is supposedly skewed and the physics that govern our universe are all a-tangle.
Tom cynically proclaimed it all an optical illusion built upon a ferrite hill that is just slightly more gravitationally significant than the surrounding landscape, thus creating some oddities in the vegetation, but to that I say PFAH! I believe in magic, and weird gravity wells and I refuse to let his craaaaazy science talk convince me otherwise!
Either way, it is a diverting and amusing little attraction.
After I had dragged Tom through another one of my silly side-trips, we began the long trek through Wyoming.
There is nothing there. No, seriously. Wyoming is empty. It is fields and sky for as far as the eye can see, broken by the occasional herd of cows. Moo.
At one point we drove into the leading edge of a prairie storm and we raced to try and get ahead of it. Scary, but also fodder for some really amazing photos.
We decided that we would stop in Cheyenne, the capital, in order to bathroom break, eat, and trade drivers since Tom had been going through all of Wyoming and needed a break. Folks, Cheyenne is not a city. Do not let its status as a "capital city" fool you. It is a very large town. The population of Cheyenne is lower than its altitude. It is barely 4 miles across. But it had a Subway that was open and a gas station and so I thank you Cheyenne, for... you know... existing.
I drove the rest of the way through Colorado to Amy's house, through wet, dark highways, trying not to be killed by the people doing 90 because the speed limit is 75.
Wyoming: Despite the fact that there is nothing in you, I love you. You are beautiful and I promise that I will come and visit again someday for something more than a long-ass drive down a back highway somewhere.
But for now, there is Colorado. I can't wait to see what you have in store for us!
(George Dubya approves this message)
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Gangsters, Rivers, Prairie Dogs and Photo Shoots: South Dakota!
South Dakota is awesome you guys. Like, so awesome and there is so much here! We didn't get to do nearly the amount of things we could have done or that I wanted to do! I will need to come back here someday for sure.
We woke up early and re-stoked our campfire so that we could cook breakfast before our first stop of the day at Devil's Gulch. One needs a hearty breakfast if one is going to be following the footsteps (or hoofprints) of the one of the country's most famous gangsters!
The legend goes that Jesse James urged his horse to leap the 20 feet from one side to the other of Devil's Gulch to escape the lawman's posse that was after him. Twenty feet doesn't sound like a lot, but when you are standing on the creaky, rusty bridge they have going over the spot where he jumped, you truly appreciate the magnitude of that jump.
Also, according to the literature in the little photo-copied brochure the nice old man at the tiny visitor's center gave us, the spot beneath the jump is known as the Bottomless Pit. One time, a 600-foot plumb line was dropped into and never hit bottom!
Of course, in reality, Jesse and his horse probably just raced around the Gulch, but the story is better the other way, and I am all about the story.
Fresh from our gangster adventure, we headed to Sioux Falls to see the river that gives the town its name. It was beautiful and rather refreshing to stand in the spray from the falls on a hot day. Once we left the Falls, I convinced Tom to stop at the Mitchell Corn Palace and it was everything I hoped it would be.
Corn and corny jokes and corn-themed souvenirs, oh my! But, honestly, that there, that is America, and it is what I love about America. They proudly proclaim that it is the only Corn Palace in the World! Know why it is the only Corn Palace in the world? Because it is lame! So lame! But that right there is what is so wonderful about it! They're like "Heck yeah, our corn palace is lame, but we love it and we embrace it and we invite you to come and join us in our wonderful quirky lame-ness." And I'm like, "Yes, absolutely, I will join you in your wonderful quirky lame-ness." And I do. And it is excellent.
Moving right along, we made our way to Chamberlain, SD, which is right on the Missouri River. The rest stop had a gorgeous panorama, and some interesting stuff about Lewis and Clark, but we didn't stay long because we wanted to get to our next big destination: The Badlands.
Oh. My. God. The Badlands are simply breathtaking. Each new amazing sight on this trip makes me imagine that I will never see anything so amazing or beautiful again in my life, and then each time I am proved wrong. And I am so very very glad for that.
America the Beautiful indeed.
I can't do the Badlands justice in words, so here are some pictures.
On the way into the Badlands we stopped at a Prairie Dog ranch where we got to feed the prairie dogs and got some of the most adorable pictures and video ever taken, I think. No seriously, look.
Anyway, we ended the day in Custer State Park where we set our tent up in the dark and crashed out.
We woke up early and re-stoked our campfire so that we could cook breakfast before our first stop of the day at Devil's Gulch. One needs a hearty breakfast if one is going to be following the footsteps (or hoofprints) of the one of the country's most famous gangsters!
The legend goes that Jesse James urged his horse to leap the 20 feet from one side to the other of Devil's Gulch to escape the lawman's posse that was after him. Twenty feet doesn't sound like a lot, but when you are standing on the creaky, rusty bridge they have going over the spot where he jumped, you truly appreciate the magnitude of that jump.
Also, according to the literature in the little photo-copied brochure the nice old man at the tiny visitor's center gave us, the spot beneath the jump is known as the Bottomless Pit. One time, a 600-foot plumb line was dropped into and never hit bottom!
Fresh from our gangster adventure, we headed to Sioux Falls to see the river that gives the town its name. It was beautiful and rather refreshing to stand in the spray from the falls on a hot day. Once we left the Falls, I convinced Tom to stop at the Mitchell Corn Palace and it was everything I hoped it would be.
Corn and corny jokes and corn-themed souvenirs, oh my! But, honestly, that there, that is America, and it is what I love about America. They proudly proclaim that it is the only Corn Palace in the World! Know why it is the only Corn Palace in the world? Because it is lame! So lame! But that right there is what is so wonderful about it! They're like "Heck yeah, our corn palace is lame, but we love it and we embrace it and we invite you to come and join us in our wonderful quirky lame-ness." And I'm like, "Yes, absolutely, I will join you in your wonderful quirky lame-ness." And I do. And it is excellent.
Moving right along, we made our way to Chamberlain, SD, which is right on the Missouri River. The rest stop had a gorgeous panorama, and some interesting stuff about Lewis and Clark, but we didn't stay long because we wanted to get to our next big destination: The Badlands.
Oh. My. God. The Badlands are simply breathtaking. Each new amazing sight on this trip makes me imagine that I will never see anything so amazing or beautiful again in my life, and then each time I am proved wrong. And I am so very very glad for that.
America the Beautiful indeed.
I can't do the Badlands justice in words, so here are some pictures.
On the way into the Badlands we stopped at a Prairie Dog ranch where we got to feed the prairie dogs and got some of the most adorable pictures and video ever taken, I think. No seriously, look.
Anyway, we ended the day in Custer State Park where we set our tent up in the dark and crashed out.
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Minnesota: Closed due to Incompetence
On our way out of Wisconsin, we did indeed find us some cheese curds, and they were DELICIOUS. I wasn't sure what everyone meant when they talked about the squeak. It is an experience that is indescribable! Not indescribable in the way we use it to talk about beautiful sites or whatever. But seriously, biting into a fresh cheese curd is something you really need to experience for yourself.
We left Wisconsin and entered Minnesota and it was beautiful. Indescribable in the way we mean it when talking about something beautiful. We decided to stop at a state park to eat lunch, but discovered that it is closed. In fact, all of the state parks in Minnesota are closed because they couldn't get the state budget together. Which is awful, because not only did we miss out on what I feel is probably completely stunning scenery, but according to the park ranger that checked us in at Palisades State Park in South Dakota, the state of Minnesota is losing a million dollars A DAY due to its state parks being closed. Crazy! But, hey- their loss, South Dakota's gain.
We settled into our cute little camp site, set up our tent and chairs, and then decided to explore a bit. We actually got a chance to ride our bikes again! We biked around the park, climbed some neat rocks, and then we cooked our dinner over the camp fire. Tom got to use his cast iron pans, so he was happy.
Next on our tour is the rest of South Dakota, heading toward Mount Rushmore!
We left Wisconsin and entered Minnesota and it was beautiful. Indescribable in the way we mean it when talking about something beautiful. We decided to stop at a state park to eat lunch, but discovered that it is closed. In fact, all of the state parks in Minnesota are closed because they couldn't get the state budget together. Which is awful, because not only did we miss out on what I feel is probably completely stunning scenery, but according to the park ranger that checked us in at Palisades State Park in South Dakota, the state of Minnesota is losing a million dollars A DAY due to its state parks being closed. Crazy! But, hey- their loss, South Dakota's gain.
We settled into our cute little camp site, set up our tent and chairs, and then decided to explore a bit. We actually got a chance to ride our bikes again! We biked around the park, climbed some neat rocks, and then we cooked our dinner over the camp fire. Tom got to use his cast iron pans, so he was happy.
Next on our tour is the rest of South Dakota, heading toward Mount Rushmore!
Monday, July 11, 2011
On Wisconsin!
This morning we woke up to a fierce storm sweeping through Chicago, so we camped out in our hotel room until the sideways rain stopped, then we loaded up the car again and drove north to visit Aunt Patti and Uncle Les in Wisconsin.
It was a very quick drive and we made it to Wisconsin by lunch. We had fresh veggies from the garden! Om nom nom. Er, well. I had fresh veggies. Tom hissed and dove under the table, crying out in fear and loathing.
The vegetables were delicious.
After lunch, Uncle Les took us on a bike ride along the Glacier-Blenheim trail, which was lovely. It was mostly flat and we rode a total of 9 miles out and back.
By the time we got back, it was just about time for dinner so we had some iced tea and chatted, caught up on family news, and then had spaghetti and tomato sauce. Aunt Patti and Uncle Les had hoped to grill brats for us, but with the weather being so iffy, we went the pasta route. We made up for it though, I had some of Uncle Les's home-brewed beer!
After dinner, we went and got another famous piece of Wisconsin cuisine--custard. Mmmm... yummy.
Tomorrow we are leaving very early in order to get a jump on the drive to Palisades State Park and on the way, we get to stop and purchase another famous Wisconsin delicacy: Cheese curds. I am looking forward to the squeak. =)
It was a very quick drive and we made it to Wisconsin by lunch. We had fresh veggies from the garden! Om nom nom. Er, well. I had fresh veggies. Tom hissed and dove under the table, crying out in fear and loathing.
The vegetables were delicious.
After lunch, Uncle Les took us on a bike ride along the Glacier-Blenheim trail, which was lovely. It was mostly flat and we rode a total of 9 miles out and back.
By the time we got back, it was just about time for dinner so we had some iced tea and chatted, caught up on family news, and then had spaghetti and tomato sauce. Aunt Patti and Uncle Les had hoped to grill brats for us, but with the weather being so iffy, we went the pasta route. We made up for it though, I had some of Uncle Les's home-brewed beer!
After dinner, we went and got another famous piece of Wisconsin cuisine--custard. Mmmm... yummy.
Tomorrow we are leaving very early in order to get a jump on the drive to Palisades State Park and on the way, we get to stop and purchase another famous Wisconsin delicacy: Cheese curds. I am looking forward to the squeak. =)
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Day out in Chicago
This morning we slept in. After the 10 hour drive from Pittsburgh, including the 5 hour drive across Indiana, and the 6 am wake-up time, I feel like we kind of deserved it!
Once we got up and moving, we asked our very nice, and extremely helpful Innkeep whether we could get a train into the city. Turns out, yes! There is a train station about 10 minutes down the road from our Inn, so we drove the car down there. Weirdly enough, there is no all-day parking near the train station (at least, not on Sundays) but we asked an employee, and he confided to us his super-secret free parking spot on a side street a block away.
We got on the Blue Line at Jefferson Park and rode it into the city. We decided to get off at the Park/Lake stop because I had hoped to ride the Loop, but we couldn't quite figure out which train was the elevated one (turns out all of them, but we were unaware at the time) so instead, we wandered out and discovered the theatre district.
At this point, we were getting pretty hungry, so we sought out delicious pizza from Uno's. And it was delicious indeed! Mmm, deep dish cheese pizza from the home of deep dish pizza. Om nom nom. I really liked the sauce they used and thought it was pretty cool that the sauce was spread on top of the cheese instead of underneath. Different and delicious.
After a very satisfying late lunch, we headed down the Magnificent Mile towards Millennium Park in order to see The Bean!
For those not in the know, the Bean is the nickname for a giant metallic sculpture called the Cloud Gate. It is fascinating watching the city and the people being reflected in the surface of the statue.
The park is right near Lake Michigan and the cool breeze coming off the water was an irresistible draw on such a hot day, so we decided to stroll along the wharf towards the Aquarium and the Planetarium. It was a lovely stroll and we got a snow cone and some lemonade along the way. By this time, the sun was starting to set, so we decided to head back, but we needed to find a train stop first.
After a little hiccup where we mistook the Metra for the CTA trains, we found a Red Line stop and rode it to the transfer with the Blue Line. Tom was pretty much done, but he was nice enough to indulge me in one last stop at Logan Park.
What's in Logan Park? The neighborhood of one of my favorite comic artists, Lucy Knisley. She lives in Chicago at the moment, but she is moving back to New York and so she made a comic all about her favorite places in her neighborhood. I guess it makes me a crazy stalker fan, but I was so grabbed by her honest love for the place that I really wanted to see it for myself. So, we went to her favorite local coffee place to give it a try.
Is that weird? Yeah, that's weird. Oh well!
Tomorrow we head to Wisconsin to see Aunt Patti and Uncle Les. Onward to the dairy state!
Once we got up and moving, we asked our very nice, and extremely helpful Innkeep whether we could get a train into the city. Turns out, yes! There is a train station about 10 minutes down the road from our Inn, so we drove the car down there. Weirdly enough, there is no all-day parking near the train station (at least, not on Sundays) but we asked an employee, and he confided to us his super-secret free parking spot on a side street a block away.
We got on the Blue Line at Jefferson Park and rode it into the city. We decided to get off at the Park/Lake stop because I had hoped to ride the Loop, but we couldn't quite figure out which train was the elevated one (turns out all of them, but we were unaware at the time) so instead, we wandered out and discovered the theatre district.
At this point, we were getting pretty hungry, so we sought out delicious pizza from Uno's. And it was delicious indeed! Mmm, deep dish cheese pizza from the home of deep dish pizza. Om nom nom. I really liked the sauce they used and thought it was pretty cool that the sauce was spread on top of the cheese instead of underneath. Different and delicious.
After a very satisfying late lunch, we headed down the Magnificent Mile towards Millennium Park in order to see The Bean!
For those not in the know, the Bean is the nickname for a giant metallic sculpture called the Cloud Gate. It is fascinating watching the city and the people being reflected in the surface of the statue.
The park is right near Lake Michigan and the cool breeze coming off the water was an irresistible draw on such a hot day, so we decided to stroll along the wharf towards the Aquarium and the Planetarium. It was a lovely stroll and we got a snow cone and some lemonade along the way. By this time, the sun was starting to set, so we decided to head back, but we needed to find a train stop first.
After a little hiccup where we mistook the Metra for the CTA trains, we found a Red Line stop and rode it to the transfer with the Blue Line. Tom was pretty much done, but he was nice enough to indulge me in one last stop at Logan Park.
What's in Logan Park? The neighborhood of one of my favorite comic artists, Lucy Knisley. She lives in Chicago at the moment, but she is moving back to New York and so she made a comic all about her favorite places in her neighborhood. I guess it makes me a crazy stalker fan, but I was so grabbed by her honest love for the place that I really wanted to see it for myself. So, we went to her favorite local coffee place to give it a try.
Is that weird? Yeah, that's weird. Oh well!
Tomorrow we head to Wisconsin to see Aunt Patti and Uncle Les. Onward to the dairy state!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Casualty! And why I will refrain from returning to Indiana.
This morning we left Pennsylvania and started along the Lake Erie Coastal Ohio Trail. It was very pretty, winding through small like-side towns and periodically giving us tantalizing glimpses of the HUGE Lake Erie.
But soon after we entered Ohio, tragedy struck! We were driving through a teeny little town called Lakesville. I was driving and Tom was taking pictures as we went. His camera lens was out the window a bit and suddenly I heard him yelp. We had run smack into a bumblebee! The bee had tumbled into the car and landed in the little bay of the power window switch. He then proceeded to cower, traumatized, in the little cave beneath the window switch.
The poor thing had been loaded up with pollen, which went everywhere. We had clumps on the camera, on the window sill and on the switch bay. We were briefly flummoxed as to how to remove the bee from the window switch well, until I tore some paper from my notebook and Tom convinced it to cling to the end. We left the poor guy on the side of the road, but after being clothes-lined by a Nikon lens at 45 miles an hour, I don't know how well he's gonna do. =(
Thankfully, the rest of the drive was lovely, and there were no more animal mishaps.
We drove along the Coastal Trail, sometimes losing it and visited the Marblehead Lighthouse, which was nice. We almost ran out of gas right on the edge of Ohio. The light came on just as we drove past the last rest stop for 30 miles, so we left the highway and coasted down to a Shamrock station in town called Edon.
And then... Then we entered Indiana. Oh, Indiana. Who lives in Indiana, seriously? I mean, yes. We stayed on the highway the whole way through, which is never the best views. But we drove on the highway through a good chunk of PA as well, and I still like that state! At least they've got hills and views and things. Indiana was just... dull. Flat, boring drive through flat, boring country. The trees were nice looking, but there was no change in them at all.
So, we got through Indiana as fast as possible (5 hours or so, ugh) and headed into Chicago.
Hurray for Droids, by the way. I booked us a room at a Traveler's Inn as we were driving, so we headed straight here, dropped our stuff, showered... and then went to see Transformers 3. I know, I know. We're in a brand new city and we go see a movie?
But, hey, it was fun! Lots of explosions and robots fighting. And wow, did this one take a dark turn that the others really didn't have. I mean, the other movie had people dying, but they were mostly soldiers being stabbed or blown up or whatever.
This one had fleeing, screaming civilians being vaporized. And not just nice, suddenly-there-is-dust-not-a-body vaporized, either. Like, the liquid in their body was suddenly flash-boiled kind of vaporized so that their charred bones scatter and their clothing flutters to the ground like a surrender flag.
...
And on that note! Ha. Anyway, hello Chicago! Tomorrow we will be exploring you!
But soon after we entered Ohio, tragedy struck! We were driving through a teeny little town called Lakesville. I was driving and Tom was taking pictures as we went. His camera lens was out the window a bit and suddenly I heard him yelp. We had run smack into a bumblebee! The bee had tumbled into the car and landed in the little bay of the power window switch. He then proceeded to cower, traumatized, in the little cave beneath the window switch.
The poor thing had been loaded up with pollen, which went everywhere. We had clumps on the camera, on the window sill and on the switch bay. We were briefly flummoxed as to how to remove the bee from the window switch well, until I tore some paper from my notebook and Tom convinced it to cling to the end. We left the poor guy on the side of the road, but after being clothes-lined by a Nikon lens at 45 miles an hour, I don't know how well he's gonna do. =(
Thankfully, the rest of the drive was lovely, and there were no more animal mishaps.
We drove along the Coastal Trail, sometimes losing it and visited the Marblehead Lighthouse, which was nice. We almost ran out of gas right on the edge of Ohio. The light came on just as we drove past the last rest stop for 30 miles, so we left the highway and coasted down to a Shamrock station in town called Edon.
And then... Then we entered Indiana. Oh, Indiana. Who lives in Indiana, seriously? I mean, yes. We stayed on the highway the whole way through, which is never the best views. But we drove on the highway through a good chunk of PA as well, and I still like that state! At least they've got hills and views and things. Indiana was just... dull. Flat, boring drive through flat, boring country. The trees were nice looking, but there was no change in them at all.
So, we got through Indiana as fast as possible (5 hours or so, ugh) and headed into Chicago.
Hurray for Droids, by the way. I booked us a room at a Traveler's Inn as we were driving, so we headed straight here, dropped our stuff, showered... and then went to see Transformers 3. I know, I know. We're in a brand new city and we go see a movie?
But, hey, it was fun! Lots of explosions and robots fighting. And wow, did this one take a dark turn that the others really didn't have. I mean, the other movie had people dying, but they were mostly soldiers being stabbed or blown up or whatever.
This one had fleeing, screaming civilians being vaporized. And not just nice, suddenly-there-is-dust-not-a-body vaporized, either. Like, the liquid in their body was suddenly flash-boiled kind of vaporized so that their charred bones scatter and their clothing flutters to the ground like a surrender flag.
...
And on that note! Ha. Anyway, hello Chicago! Tomorrow we will be exploring you!
Friday, July 8, 2011
Pittsburgh, Day 2
This morning, Pierce, his girlfriend Katie, and Chris showed us around Pittsburgh. It's a beautiful city! Which came as a surprise to me, because the only thing I ever really knew as a coal mining and steel town, so I was expecting an ugly industrial city.
What I found was a city full of trees and wide clean streets and cute little shops!
Our first stop was S.W. Randall's, which is a super cute independent toy store that has been in business for 35 years. I found the game Pass the Pigs! But my favorite part was the hour long conversation I had with the shop keep about webcomics. Or, perhaps it was more that I talked at the poor shop keep for an hour about webcomics while he politely listened because he couldn't escape because he was at work... Er... I'm gonna go with the first one!
After the toy store, we walked down the block to a store called Kards Unlimited. We went there originally because I had said I wanted to find postcards from Pittsburgh and Katie had told me I could find some there. Did I find postcards? Yes. But, more importantly, I found a beautiful, beautiful haven.
This store had EVERYTHING I could ever want and every variety of nerdery that I love. It was wonderful; I could have stayed there all day!
All that geeking out got us hungry, so we took the advice of the book that Luke got Tom for his birthday and went to the Primanti Bros Restaurant for their giant, decadent (and totally delicious) sandwiches.
Afterwards we headed over to Essie's Famous Hot Dog Shop for their french fries known as the Big O. It's basically a giant sack of fries! So simple, yet so brilliant.
After lunch we rode the Monongehela Incline, which is this little railway that runs you up the mountain side to the Grandview City view road. Like I said before, Pittsburgh is a surprisingly beautiful city and we enjoyed a little stroll along the city skyline.
Dinner came from Lulu's Noodles- I got Bubble Tea! We took it to go and brought it back to Chris's apartment, where we rounded out the night by writing up the outline for the 48-hour film that Chris and Pierce are currently working on. They got their genre, character and line at 7:30 and in 2 hours we had a concept, and a working outline. Damn, we're good.
So, thanks for the good time, Pittsburgh! I might just come back and visit you again, someday. For now, I will say farewell. On to the next adventure!
What I found was a city full of trees and wide clean streets and cute little shops!
Our first stop was S.W. Randall's, which is a super cute independent toy store that has been in business for 35 years. I found the game Pass the Pigs! But my favorite part was the hour long conversation I had with the shop keep about webcomics. Or, perhaps it was more that I talked at the poor shop keep for an hour about webcomics while he politely listened because he couldn't escape because he was at work... Er... I'm gonna go with the first one!
After the toy store, we walked down the block to a store called Kards Unlimited. We went there originally because I had said I wanted to find postcards from Pittsburgh and Katie had told me I could find some there. Did I find postcards? Yes. But, more importantly, I found a beautiful, beautiful haven.
This store had EVERYTHING I could ever want and every variety of nerdery that I love. It was wonderful; I could have stayed there all day!
All that geeking out got us hungry, so we took the advice of the book that Luke got Tom for his birthday and went to the Primanti Bros Restaurant for their giant, decadent (and totally delicious) sandwiches.
Afterwards we headed over to Essie's Famous Hot Dog Shop for their french fries known as the Big O. It's basically a giant sack of fries! So simple, yet so brilliant.
After lunch we rode the Monongehela Incline, which is this little railway that runs you up the mountain side to the Grandview City view road. Like I said before, Pittsburgh is a surprisingly beautiful city and we enjoyed a little stroll along the city skyline.
Dinner came from Lulu's Noodles- I got Bubble Tea! We took it to go and brought it back to Chris's apartment, where we rounded out the night by writing up the outline for the 48-hour film that Chris and Pierce are currently working on. They got their genre, character and line at 7:30 and in 2 hours we had a concept, and a working outline. Damn, we're good.
So, thanks for the good time, Pittsburgh! I might just come back and visit you again, someday. For now, I will say farewell. On to the next adventure!
First stop: Pittsburgh!
Yesterday we left New Jersey and headed west bound on Route 80 through Pennsylvania, headed toward Pittsburgh and our friends Pierce and Chris.
The drive out was quite lovely, actually. We hit traffic early on, but that gave me a chance to hop out of the car and pick some of the thistles that were growing along the side of the highway.
What was surprising about the drive was how how well growing up in West Milford prepared me for driving through rural PA. Once we got off of 80 to head down to Pittsburgh, the roads were astoundingly windy and the hills were steep and continuous. Tom did get some really beautiful photos, though.
Once we arrived, we met up with Pierce and Chris, and they took us out to dinner and games at Dave and Buster's. Now, I know what you're thinking. Why on earth would you go to a Dave and Buster's? Why not sample local cuisine? I was thinking the same thing. But when they found out I hadn't been to a Dave and Buster's before, it was pretty much decided. That said, it was awfully fun! I felt like such a grownup playing skeeball, winning tickets and then trading them in for Fun Dip. Good times.
But! Today the plan is to see the sites of Pittsburgh and eat some of that local cuisine, so I feel like I will do the city justice.
The drive out was quite lovely, actually. We hit traffic early on, but that gave me a chance to hop out of the car and pick some of the thistles that were growing along the side of the highway.
What was surprising about the drive was how how well growing up in West Milford prepared me for driving through rural PA. Once we got off of 80 to head down to Pittsburgh, the roads were astoundingly windy and the hills were steep and continuous. Tom did get some really beautiful photos, though.
Once we arrived, we met up with Pierce and Chris, and they took us out to dinner and games at Dave and Buster's. Now, I know what you're thinking. Why on earth would you go to a Dave and Buster's? Why not sample local cuisine? I was thinking the same thing. But when they found out I hadn't been to a Dave and Buster's before, it was pretty much decided. That said, it was awfully fun! I felt like such a grownup playing skeeball, winning tickets and then trading them in for Fun Dip. Good times.
But! Today the plan is to see the sites of Pittsburgh and eat some of that local cuisine, so I feel like I will do the city justice.
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