Oak Park and home

Posted June 3, 2008 Comments Off

Jumping ahead how is it that I didn’t need a jacket in Chicago but am freezing my #@*& at home?

Today J had golf lessons so I got to spend the day with N. She lives in the Andersonville part of town. N’s house is an old Victorian. Like J she has done extensive remodeling. A really nice place with squirrels living in the attic. We did a few chores to get ready for a BBQ later today then went for a walk around the hood and the lake. Let me say that Lake Michigan looks like an ocean, you cant see to the other side. It’s a strange thing to see. At over 100 miles wide and 307 miles long its the sixth widest fresh water lake in the world.
~

A nice BBQ at N’s house with J, N, J2 and friend. Note to asparagus fans. Balsamic vinegar and soy sauce.
We went thru J2’s photos from SEA. She is a good scrap booker. The photos were great as were the albums.
~
We’re hoping for a trip to Peru this year. N and I would like to hike the Inca Trail. Need to make a plan.

Mayfest

Posted June 2, 2008

Comments(0)

J and I started our day by taking Chicago’s Architecture Foundation’s Tour. This tour took us down/up the Chicago river from which you can see over 50 architecturally important buildings. Its also great way to see the city.
~
After the river cruise we walked down Michigan Avenue to Millennium Park. We went by the Cloud Gate and the Frank Gehry Pavilion. It was another perfect day. Later on we took the train across town for the annual Mayfest. This is where it gets a little fuzzy. Did I mention how much beer there is in Chicago? There was a rock band and an Oompah band. Variety or what? There was also food but why waste time eating. Later on we went to a bar to finish the evening off. I drank mostly water at this point! Another great day had by all.

Chicago Cubs

Posted May 31, 2008

Comments(0)

Friday morning was a little slow. Breakfast, the paper for me and a run along the lake for J.Off to the game! We took the train and met some of J’s friends at Bar Louie across from Wrigley Field for lunch and of course a few beers. The weather was on and off again rain so the games start was delayed. Oh’ no, time for another beer! The weather turned and game started only twenty minutes late.

Wrigley Field looks as it did in 1937 when the last major stadium changes were made. A real gem. M met up with us at the stadium so now there are three. Our seats were to the left of home base up in the stands about half way. Couldn’t have been better! As I mentioned before Wrigley Field is beautiful. The score board is from the 30’s and still has the stats changed by hand. One second there would be a score then the space would go black while someone changed out the plywood numbers. The start of the game went as most ball games go, slowly! Colorado got a run here and there and ended up with score of 9 to 1 at the end of the sixth. At the bottom of the seventh the Cubs hit a two run homer, then four more runs to finish the inning. Lots of excitement now! The Cubs ended up wining 10 to 9 in the ninth! The fans went wild! A very exciting end to the game. The Cubs have very enthusiastic fans!! Local rule: If the ball gets hit into the ivy (outfield wall) its an automatic double. It didn’t look like they recovered any of those balls but the fans kept looking at the ivy like a cat looks at a bush knowing there’s a mouse hiding in it. Ahhhhhh!

We HAD to celebrate so off to another bar! More beer! Here we met up with the last of our group, J2. It was great to see the Chicago 4 again after not seeing them since we left Southeast Asia in 2006. After a few bevies and some catching up we went on to ANOTHER bar, this one had live music. We drank some more beer, surprise, and danced some. Then it was time for dinner!

The Italian meal finished, we parted with our ball park friends and walked home. A movie about John Dillinger staring Johnny Depp was being filmed near J’s home so we walked towards it first. Not much to see but the actors in 30’s costume walking around and lots of old cars. The street scene was already from the 30’s. Home and to bed. After aspirin and tons of water!

Getting there

Posted May 30, 2008

Comments(0)

Who knew the Airporter had wireless internet? Commuter traffic has slowed us down but I should make my flight to Chicago. It was either get to the airport two and a half hours early or forty five minutes early. I chose the later. I hope I didn’t chose poorly! There is a woman on the bus going home to Kansas. She says her farm was wiped out by the latest tornado’s. Oh’my! Oh’my! She doesn’t seem that broke up it. Apparently the farm gets smashed by a tornado every few years or so. And people are afraid of earthquakes in California! Hah! We arrived at the airport on time and my flight left as scheduled. Lucked out again.

Chicago.

Let me start by saying, there is a lot of beer in Chicago.
~
I arrived at O’Hare on time about 3pm. I took the train into the city and arrived right on time to meet J at her office as she was getting off of work. We caught up as we walked to the bus for the ride to her 3 flat. For the west coast people this is a third floor condo. She lives in a great, old part of the city called Lincoln Park. J’s great looking building is over a hundred years old. We sat and talked for a while then drove to Andersonville (across town) to meet N for sushi.
~
This is a place you can BYOB. Mike the sushi chef appreciates a good beer so one was brought for him too. We sat at the bar and had whatever Mike gave us. We first ate then asked what it was later. All we told him was spicy is good. We started with some sort of fish and chips then had something with strawberry’s in it and finished with an octopus roll. All this with a few beers made for a great meal. We left the sushi bar for a wine bar down the street. We got home to J’s place somewhat late!

Another day in Kenai

Posted June 22, 2007

Comments(1)

This is it, the longest day of the year. Not that we can tell. The fire down near Homer has the sky all smoky and its going to rain making it overcast. Good for the fire fighters. The fire has already burned 1200 acres! On my walk back from the market this afternoon I saw a cow (mom moose) and twin calves. Always cool.

Alaska

Posted June 20, 2007

Comments(0)

Arrived in Kenai at 9:30 pm, and its still daylight. You have to love Alaska in the summer. My grandmother and I stayed up until about 1am catching up and it was still light out. Of course it was 2am for me and I had to go to bed!

5am and the sun is shining brightly into my room. I lounge in bed for another hour but the sun is forcing me up and out. This is to be the daily routine. Another clear day. The air up here is fresh and clean in a way thats hard to describe. Its a crisp 55 in the mornings but heats up to the 70s in the afternoons.

I went to start my grandmothers Jaguar and nothing. The starter is out! Drats! This old beauty is my usual transportation when I’m here. Do you think the local NAPA parts store carries a starter for a 1967 420G Jaguar? When my grandparents moved here in 1968 they had the only Jaguar in 3000 miles. It’s still rare to see a classic Jaguar in Alaska. It looks like I’ll be doing more walking than I originally planned! You’d think I could use granny’s car but nooo! She has meetings, lunches and such almost every day. It’s a good thing she is slowing down now that she’s 87! I’ll try to get a photo of the Jag today.

New York

Posted May 4, 2007

Comments(0)

I think the City of New York makes the airlines fly over the city just to entice the passangers to stay rather than go on to their next destination. What a view I had comming in at sunset on Friday nite. The aircraft came in from the south moving up Manhattan Island finally making a left hand turn over Yankee Stadium, with all lights on for a game, then down to land at LaGuardia Airport. What a start to my visit!
Marge and Steven met me in the terminal and off we went for a night time tour of Lower Manhattan. Broadway, Times Square, 5th Avenue and so on then back to their home in the Bronx. Steven and Marge live in the oldest contunally operated co-op in the US. Their unit was built in 1928. The total co-op has 1700 units covering many blocks. Lots of character with brick on the outside and hardwood floors inside. This unit has 9 foot ceilings and 8 foot doors. How cool is that! The bathrooms have subway tiles on the walls and the little octogon tiles on the floors. I guess you have to be into architecture! Anyway its a great place.

Final comments on SEA

Posted January 18, 2007

Comments(1)

It‘s about time I close this blog. Although this trip is not for everyone, the heat, traffic, food and less than ideal cleanliness, I would recommend that any adventurous traveler visit Southeast Asia. There was so much to see and experience. Just being in that part of the world will be an adventure to many.

My tour was arranged thru Gate 1 Travel. All the hotels were either good or very good. I had a room with French doors leading to the pool in Saigon and a suite with views of the Perfume River in Hue. The provided meals were OK. Breakfast was always American and Asian. I signed up for all the tours except the dinner show ones. The time between tours was enough to do anything you could want. We had whole days free. Don’t hesitate to ask your guide for a private tour in the off hours to see something not covered in the group tour. If you don’t sign up for something in advance you could do so on the tour day but you pay cash. It was easy to get money from ATM’s in Vietnam. I had cash for Thailand and Cambodia so I don’t know about the ATM’s there. My credit union didn’t charge me a fee but there was a $1 fee from the ATM’s bank. Not bad!

As I didn’t really do anything in Thailand but visit the Palace and take a boat ride I look forward to another visit.

Visually Cambodia was the best part of the trip. Angkor Wat was spectacular! If your thinking of going, go soon. There are currently 85 hotels up and running and another 85 under construction. It’s going to get crowded!!! According to reports the hotels are taking so much ground water out of wells that the water table is getting lower. This has already caused some ruins to start sinking. Report.

Vietnam was great for its cities and people. I would go back on my own and stay in Hanoi while going on overnight trips in the country.

That’s it. Thanks for checking in.

Alan

Oak Park and home

Can we talk about asparagus?

Sunday

Mayfest

Chicago Cubs

Getting there

Another day in Kenai

Alaska

New York

Final comments on SEA

Links

Monthly Archives