King's Island

Hey from Cincy!

Yesterday we spent the day at King's Island.  It is a very pretty amusement park, which the kids and I rated second only to the Disney Parks. Lou agreed that it was prettier than the non-Disney parks also.  The kids and I rode plenty of rides.  As a matter of fact, I have really started questioning my "love" of roller coasters.  But, duty calls, and i must support the kids by riding with them.  

The first ride we went on was called the "Backlot Stunt Coaster."  This was totally a cross between a Disney and a Universal Studios ride.  It was a smaller ride with a LIM launch, and it combined elements such as gunfire, explosions, and props very close to the track.  It was great, and a nice combination of fun and exciting (a far cry from Cedar Point).  The kids rated this ride a five out of five. 

Then we went on the "The Beast."  This ride has the distinction of being the world's longest wooden roller coaster.  It was a fun ride, and fairly smooth until the 540 degree helix at the end.  That was also the fastest portion of the ride.  I had been hearing of this ride for over 20 years from friends.  I'm glad we went on it.  The kids rated it a 4 1/2 out of five.

After The Beast, we ventured into the "Vortex."  This coaster is very similar to Magic Mountain's Viper, except this one goes upside down six times instead of seven.  It was good, but a bit rough.  The kids rated it a three (joe wanted to give it a 1).

Next we went on "Flight of Fear."  This was another ride that was a "Disney- light" experience.  The premise was that a UFO had been discovered, and we were trying out the smaller flight vehicles from the space ship.  The whole ride was indoors in the dark (think Rock-N-Roller Coaster).   With the 4 inversions, we were all giggly when we same Lou at the exit.  the kids rated it a 4 1/2.

The Sponge Bob 3D movie was the next ride on the docket.  We wanted to do something with Lou.  What made this movie different was that everyone in the audience sat in motion simulator seats.  I believe these seat were designed by the Iwerks corp.  Sponge Bob was hilarious.  The 3D effects were okay, and the motion effects were very good.  Everyone enjoyed this ride.

Lou and I sat out the next ride, "The Racer."  The kids HATED this ride.  They said it was waaaaaayyyyyyy to bumpy.

An All-You-Can-Stomach buffet was next on the menu.  It was a special (only $40 for all of us) so we jumped at the chance.  The food was okay.  Some better than others.  No one got sick from it, so I would rate it, "A Okay."

After lunch, the chilluns rode Danny Phantom, then Avatar.  They loved both.  This section of the park was the best kids area I had even seen.  

"Invertigo" had been calling the kids' names all day.  This was an inverted face=to-face coaster which went upside down three times, then did it all again in reverse.  TREMENDOUS!!!  One of the best rides I had ever been on.  It rated a five plus from the kids.

Of course, everyone except Lou had been eyeing "Son of Beast" all day.  This is the world's tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster in the world.  It used to have loop (that's right) until there was some accident involving the loop last year.  The Loop was the only reason I wanted to experience it, but the kids still wanted to do it, so I had to, also.

Man, this ride was SHAKY!!!!!!  I rode next to Joe (and had to hold onto him) and behind Alison (she made me hold onto her for the first drop).  I'm sure this would have ben rough enough had I bed able to hold on for myself.  However, I had to hold both of the kids and wasn't able to brace myself.  IT WAS ROUGH!

The Water Park was up next.  Lou stayed in the car and the kids and I went for some water fun.  I sat out everything.  The water park offered the standard fare, except for a pipeline simulator.  When the kids found this, they parked themselves on it.   Joe did really well on it.  Alison, not so much, but she kept trying.  It was a blast to watch them on it.

finally we went back into the regular park and rode on a river rafting ride.  Blah.  We got wet. Blah.

For dinner, we ate at Steak'nShake.  It was okay (the shakes were tasty).  The portions were smaller than Lou had anticipated.  But hey, this was some local fare, so we had to try it.

-Dave 

Most of the links weren't working, so I'll fix them tomorrow.

How 'bout some more RAIN???

Good day to you all...

I fell behind a couple of days, so I am going to update this twice today.

We have had a great trip so far.  The kids are getting along great.  Lou and I are having a lot of fun.  We are getting to see so much of this great country first-hand and close-up.  There are so many priceless experiences that our country offers.  It is kind of a bummer that even though we are doing so many things and traveling so many places, we are really only scratching the surface of the Nifty 50 (or Nifty lower 48).

BTW, I just saw Obama speaking from Independence, Mo this morning (Monday).  He is awesome!  I think I like him so much because he says so many of the same things Lou and I have been saying for so long.  Ideas regarding religion and political parties.  Ideas about patriotism and political parties.  The whole, "If you don't wear a flag pin, you are not a patriot" debacle.  Also, there is a lot more visible support for Obama on bumper stickers and t-shirts in Michigan, Ohio, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania than McCain.  To be fair, We haven't gone through the deep south (yet).  That's tomorrow...

Okay.

Saturday we left Pittsburgh.  This was actually a sad situation because we really loved our less-than-24 hours there.  We got up Saturday morning a little later than expected and checked out of the hotel.  We went back to the "flea market" area to revisit the Lebanese store.  Lou had a great time talking to the owner while we waited for our lamb kabobs and lamb gyros.  It was an eye-opening cultural experience for the kids and me.

After leaving that store, we went to one of the two incline railways in town called the "Mon (short for Monongahela) Incline."   This railway is one of the steepest railways in the country and travels up the side of the hill from Downtown Pittsburgh to the Washington Heights neighborhood of Pittsburgh.  The experience was neat but steamy (80 degrees/90% humidity). The experience was worth is once we got to the top.  The views of the Pittsburgh area, it's three rivers, and the hills surrounding it were tremendous.  Apparently, this is THE spot to visit in the city if you want a paradigm-changing experience.  We also went to a neat little ice cream shop up there and got some much needed cool relief.

After riding down the Mon Incline, we drove around the University of Pittsburgh.  We didn't get out of the car because we were running waaayyyy behind schedule.  That was okay.  U of Pitt was pretty and received Lou's approval of possible schools for the kids to attend for college.

The trip to Monroe, Ohio (which will from now on be referred to as Mayberry, NC), was a stunning visual treat.  Wow, that sounds really lame.  At any rate, the hills and valleys in southwest PA are gorgeous.  Our few minutes driving through West Virginia were also beautiful.  However, I think Lou held her breath the entire time we were in WV.  She has a little bit of a bias against all things WV.  But against her better judgement, she acquiesced, and agreed that this part of WV was beautiful.  On a side note about suggestibility and our son...he had to watch "We are Marshall" while in WV.

We were now headed to The Ohio State University.  The drive through Ohio was uneventful until we got around 20 minutes from the college.  At that point, the rain started pouring down on us.  I mean pouring!  It was blinding and was accompanied by plenty of thunder and lightning.  Of course, this put the kibosh on our plans to walk around OSU.  However, we drove around the campus.  It was what I expected Michigan to be like.  Really, really, beautiful.  This is now in my favorite three Big Ten schools (Minnesota, Wisconsin, and OSU- no order). 

After leaving Columbus, we drove to Monroe, er, Mayberry and checked into our Hampton Inn. Ooh, I almost forgot,  about three miles from here is a HUGE prison.  It must stretch over square mile.  Lovely.

For dinner on Saturday night, we went to Bob Evans, "The Home of Homestyle."  We first went to Bob Evans last year outside of St Louis.  This place is a great example of what people from California think the midwest is all about.  The food is fresh.  The service is friendly.  The portions are large with plenty of extras.  Lou had meatloaf (the same as last year), Joe had a "Slow cooked turkey and bacon melt," and Alison had a "deep dish Chicken noodle soup," which was thick chicken noodle soup poured over a heaping helping of mashed potatoes.  The best part? They have a salad called the "Wildfire  BBQ chicken  Salad."  Last year, our waitress told us this was the best salad in the world, so I ordered it.  Coming from California, I was in for a bit of a shock.  The requisite lettuce and tomatoes were there, but then things got a bit "southern."  They put in chicken, but it was fried, along with a LOT of cheese, corn, and, wait for it, chips!  Oh yes,  BBQ sauce was poured over it, and a side of BBQ dressing was given to me in case I wanted it more saucy.  Naturally, I ordered it again this year.  It came with a side of delicious banana nut bread.  Our waitress gave us an entire loaf of it when we left for free.  I LOVE Bob Evans.  

-Dave

Pittsburgh

Good Saturday Night, Everyone (Linda and Mom)!

Yesterday we left Cleveland and motored on over to Pittsburgh.  This was officially the shortest leg that we had taken in our last four summers of vacation.  It is only about two hours between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, so it was kind of weird not having to go hard to get from our starting point to our ending point.  In fact, we were going to see the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but Lou and I decided to let the kids sleep in and kind of  just cruise to Pitt. 

After the kids and I ate our FREE, Cooked-to-Order breakfast, the kids went swimming.  We all left the hotel by noon, and began our short jaunt to Pittsburgh.

Now, none of us had ever been there, so I did not know what to expect.  However, that didn't stop me from formulating an opinion already.  I figured it would be a rough-hewn city, with a ton of minimally-educated white people eating white bread and generally being boring.  After all, as we were driving into the region, I was following a truck with a confederate flag bumper sticker on one side of his tailgate, and a "Nuke Berkley" bumper sticker on the other side.  Man, was I ever wrong.  In fact, Pittsburgh is the highlight of the trip for me so far (and Lou, too).

We stayed in a really cool Hampton Inn in "The Strip" district near downtown.  In fact, we were right next to the Heinz headquarters, some Heinz cultural museum, and the Allegheny River.  We could also see the Pirates' ballpark from our hotel.  When we got there, the room wasn't ready, so we took in some of the local culture a few blocks away and went to the original "Primanti Brother's" restaurant.

  If you haven't heard of this place, it is a Pittsburgh icon.  Something like 77 years ago, the Primanti Brothers decided to open a sandwich shop.  They needed to make a meal that could be eaten with one hand while the coal and steel workers worked, or walked to work, or home, or whatever...  In order to meet this task, they piled on a super large scoop of cole slaw (the good stuff this time) and an order of fries onto each sandwich they sold.  Then they would put the other slice of bread on top, wrap the sandwich, and cut it. 

 Everyone loved the sandwiches, although Joe thought there was too much cole slaw on his (he has an ongoing battle against fruits and veggies).

After the Primanti Bros, we walked around the shopping district that surrounded the restaurant.  This was like a permanent flea market, with many "ethnic (I hate that description)" shops and restaurants.  We found a Lebanese market, which made Lou very happy, and spent about ten minutes n the store talking to the owner.  Afterwards, we found a place called, "Fudgie Wudgie," that claimed to be voted "America's #1 Fudge" for many years in a row.  The fudge was very good, and the chocolate covered pretzels were even better, but joe was not swayed that this truly was the best fudge in the USA.  In fact, he was not even satisfied ranking it as the top fudge he had ever tasted, and he let us know that continually for the next 24 hours.

After the fudge, we went back to the hotel and got ready for the game.

We walked to PNC Park for the Pirates game-about 1 1/2 miles away.  The walk was a path right alongside the Allegheny River.  It was a pretty little trek.  

The stadium was pretty and the seats were a good value.  We were so full from the sandwiches earlier, that we did not have hotdogs at the game (the FIRST time EVER).  

The game was exciting, if you were a fan of the Rays (they won 10 to 5).  The fans were loud and knowledgeable.  The funniest thing, though, was that the scoreboard guy ran the "More Cowbell" skit from Saturday Night Live while a pitching change was being made.  This is a skit starring Christopher Walken, Will Farrell, and Jim Fallon.  It is hilarious.  The skit had to be broken up into three different segments, and each time the skit was turned off to restart the game, the crowd groaned!

We left in the bottom of the 8th, because I was a little freaked out by the previous night's walk back to our hotel in Cleveland.  However, this walk back to the hotel was beautiful and stress-free.  Pittsburgh was surprisingly clean and friendly.  The ladies running the front desk of our hotel were wonderfully helpful and friendly (not always the case).  At this point, Lou and I regretted that we were only staying behind the steel curtain for only one night.

-Dave

Cedar Point, pt deux, Cleveland, and more RAIN!!!

Hey everyone (and you know who you are),

This is a bonus posting!  Yep!  Two posts in one day.  I gotta catch up.  Yesterday we revisited Cedar Point to catch the rides we couldn't hit the day before.  The humidity level was 89%!  That, combined with the 80-85 degree temps caused us to wilt on the vine!  It was gross and sticky.  Blech.  At any rate, we were able to hit a lot of the other rides.

We went on the "Raptor (Joe, Alison, and I)," a hanging roller coaster (Joe's first).  Fantastic ride, I have no idea how many inversions.  It put "Batman" at Magic Mountain to shame.  Alison and I then went on "Mantis," a standing roller coaster that had 4 inversions.  After that, the kids and I went on "Maverick."  This ride was voted the best new ride of 2007.  It was tremendous. This ride had a 95 degree drop.  REALLY.  There were also five inversions I think.  Really great ride.  While all of the riding was occurring, Lou was supposed to be in the car.  However, she never made it there. She got sidetracked in the gift shops, when she found a heavy duty air conditioner!

Afterwards, all four of us went on the "Disaster Transport."  It was weak, but we got to all ride it together.  The ride was an extremely poor man's "La Vibora" from Six Flags Over Texas.

It was a bobsled-type ride.  The building was steaming-hot and dark.  After the ride, Lou and Alison went to the car, and Joe and I rode the "Demon Drop."  This was an elevator-type ride that went up 13 stories, waited for about three seconds, then dropped you.  I believe this was the last ride of this kind still in operation in the USA.

We left the park after this ride.  All of us were parched beyond belief!  The answer? Lemonade from Arby's!  Whatever, we were craving some Arby's for the road.  Then we headed to Cleveland.

Cleveland was underwhelming, at best.  Our room in the Embassy Suites was great, but the hotel was weird.  There was a ball game on the agenda for the night, so we walked over to Progressive Field (about 5 blocks). 

 

We got our tickets, then took some photos and video of the stadium and surroundings.  No sooner had we walked to our section, than it started to rain.  It rained, and rained, and rained.  The game did start at 8:45, though.  So Cleveland was unique because we had never experienced a rain delay before.  

The game was a good one.  Cleveland won, but what was more interesting were the people.  The workers and crowd were EXTREMELY nice and friendly.  We had a great time talking to the vendors during the rain delay.

We did have a semi-scary near encounter on the way home, though. We were walking down the street, and about 60 yards ahead of us three teenagers dressed in all black came bounding out of an alley.  I was watching to see if they were older men (which would not have bothered me), but Lou said, "We need to cross the street now."

So we did.  they went back into the alley, and we made it safely back to the hotel.

Cleveland the city is stinky.  Cleveland the baseball team is great.  IF we ever come back to watch a game, we will stay outside of the city and drive in.

Thanks to God and Jesus for keeping us safe in the city.

-Dave

Cedar Point and RAIN!!!

Good Morning!

Two days ago we pilled into the van, went to Tim Horton's  for some coffee, donuts, and Timbits, and left Michigan for the greener pastures of Ohio.  We headed to Cedar Point, commonly known as "Americans Best Amusement Park."  It is an interesting place with 17 roller coasters.  What makes the park unique, IMHO, is that is located on a sand bar in the middle of Lake Erie.  The views were very calm and peaceful, and it made me imagine vacations taken a century ago, when people would journey to the "shore" for a few days.

As soon as we got into the park, it started raining.  All of the roller coasters closed, which left only the "carnival rides (as Joe calls them)" to ride.  So, the kids went on a few of the old timey rides while Lou and I waited.  I felt like how Walt Disney described his experiences with his daughters in Griffith Park when they were little.  On odd thins happened the more I waited.  I began to freak out a little and got really nervous about going on the roller coasters with the kids.  You see, Lou won't ride them, so I have to choose who to rids next to.  If the rides aren't gigantic, it's no problem, but many of these rides were just that...world record holders in some form or another.

Thankfully, the rain let up after a while and we were able to ride the "Mean Streak," a giant wooden roller coaster that shook us all like crazy, and the "Gemini," a wooden "racing" coaster (FUN!).  We also stood in line for the "Maverick" for over an hour and it broke down.

Lou joined us for two rides.  One was the "Cedar Creek Mine Ride," a runaway mine train.  The other one was the "Iron Dragon," a hanging, free-swinging roller coaster.  Before we were able to ride any other rides, the rain started coming down again. This time, it was accompanied by lightning.  We decided to leave (it was 8 pm anyway).  By the time we got to our car, the rain was coming down in buckets.  It was awesome considering we never get to e that.  We went to a local dairy on the way back to our hotel and loaded up on ice cream treats.

Oh, we have no photos of the day due to the rain.

-Dave

Happy Birthday Lou!

Feliz Cumpleanos a todos!  (Kindly put the tilde where it belongs.  I don't know how to put it above the n.)

Buenas Noches a todos!

Yesterday was a great day!  It was Lou's birthday, so we had to do it up right.  We got to a late start, because the kids were sleepy.  That was okay, because Lou had been doing laundry late into the night the previous night while I was blogging.  

When we finally got going, we went to an authentic Lebanese restaurant called, "Beruit," that was just around the corner from our hotel.  The food was delicious!  Lou actually started crying because it reminded her of her grandparents.  We had stuffed grape leaves, hummus, tabouleh, lamb, chicken kabobs, rice, some form of middle eastern flat bread (Lou's grandpa called "the original tortilla"), salad, and two different kinds of baklava for only $48!  

A funny side note to me...about five minutes after we first sat down, there were four big, room- rattling, booms that occured about 30 seconds apart from each other.  I made the following comment, "Man.  I thought this was authentic enough.  I didn't think they were going to make it this authentic!"  Needless to say, Lou gave me a "look" and punched me in the arm.

After leaving the restaurant, we headed for Ann Arbor.  Now, I had always loved the University of Michigan.  Their football field and stadium were tremendous.  thier colors were strong and manly. Their helmets???  Cool.  Their fight song?  Are you kidding me?  Next to Notre Dame's, it is The.  Best.  EVER.  So I was excited to get on campus, check out their bookstore, and buy some great stuff.

Their campus was horrid.  Is "disgusting" too strong of a word here?  I know I made no transition from the previous paragraph, but I couldn't wait to formulate a transition sentence.  The campus was that bad.  There were a few buildings in one location,  then there were a couple of residential streets.  Then a few more campus buildings, then more houses.  A building, some retail stores, a warehouse, some more campus buildings.  When we finally found the student services and activities building, we parked and went in (assuming the bookstore would be in there, or at least nearby).  As we got out of the car, we were overpowered by the stench of  fetid water or limburger cheese, one or the other.  Of course, the bookstore was nowhere to be found.  There was not even an information desk.  We got back in the van and drove around the dump, er, town for about 30 more minutes and ended up leaving in frustration.  Not only am I no longer a fan (although I still love their fight song), I am actually happier than ever that they lost to Appalachian State last year.

One more thing about Ann Arbor...the town sounds beautiful, but it was overgrown, crowded, and had more than it's share of run down houses (obviously used by students).  We were not impressed, and I was bummed out.

We left Ann Arbor, and headed to East Lansing, a place that I had always figured was ugly.  (I know you can see what is coming next.)  The town was beautiful.  It looked like the nice suburbs from Dallas.  We made it to Michigan State University.  The campus was easy to navigate, the buildings were clearly labeled, and the people were super nice.  Lest you think I am going overboard, let me tell you that the buildings were ugly.  They looked like they were built in the 60's.  And when we went into the student union, I felt like I was going into some building in LA Unified.  It even smelled the same!

We left MSU and headed for Potterville.  Potterville?  Of course! The home of "Joe's Gizzard City!"  They bill themselves as the only gizzard city in the world.  We saw this gem on the show, Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.  Knowing Lou's birthday wouldn't be complete without a heaping helping of fried gizzards, were went in and ordered. 

  This place was not a diner nor a drive-in.  It was also a bar (really, mainly a bar).  Interestingly enough, the kids, especially Alison, had some trouble breathing in there because of all of the cigarette smoke.  Since smoking in restaurants in CA is a thing of the past, the kids kind of freaked out.  Alison had to wait outside, so we got some outside shots of the Gizzard City. Breathtaking!  We took the food and jammed into Detroit to catch a Tigers game. 

   Oops, I forgot to let you know about the food...

If you are in Potterville and have a hankerin' for some gizzards, order the "small."  We ordered a large order of fried gizzards (original recipe), a large order of onion rings (always), and the "Triple D Burger."  The onion rings were good but too bready.  The gizzards were actually very good, but as Jim Gaffigan says, "A rubber hose would taste good if you deep fry it."  We were all surprised at the good taste.  The kids scarfed them down (and felt gross later).  The Triple D Burger was beyond belief.  The menu read that it was "a 1/3 pound beef patty, tomatoes, pickles, and cheese."  The menu also said that the burger was fried.  

  Now, I thought that meant that the patty was fried.  When we opened the to go container about three miles down the road, we all started laughing uncontrollably.  The entire burger, bun and all, was fried!!!  It looked like a giant fried...(I can't even describe it) blonde hockey puck?  Lou says it looked like a deep fried tall stack of pancakes.  Well, it was delicious!  We all had stomach aches later on in the evening.

That night we went to the Tigers game.  They got beaten by the St. Louis Cardinals (Lou and Alison were happy).  The stadium was pretty, and the location offered a nice view of downtown Detroit, but the affect of the game and crowd was flat soda.  There was not a whole lot of excitement.  We'll take the rally monkey and the "Big A" any day over Comerica Park (Tiger stadium).

Good night everybody.

-Dave

Heading East towards Michigan!

Hey everyone!

Just want to say thanks to all of you who are checking the blog.  I guess if you aren't checking it, you aren't seeing this, but whatever...

A little housekeeping.  

I am trying to update the blog once a night, but it is getting a little hard, because it takes about 2-3 hours to get it all done, and that leaves me sleepy.  Wah, wah, wah...I'm too tired because of my vacation...(disgusting, I know).

Enough about me,  let's talk more about...me!

We left Chicago Monday almost exactly at noon.  Lou's conference was over, and our family's vacation could resume.  We were all happy that Mommy was back with us full time.  I mean, I'm fun and all, but it is more fun with Lou around.  We discovered that  staying in the River North district of Chicago (a real swingin' area by Billy goat Tavern, Trump Tower, and the Magnificent Mile) is waaaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy better than being near O'Hare, which is 45 minutes (at best) from all of the cool stuff.

Anyway, we left Illinois and headed into Indiana.  It cost us over three dollars in tolls to leave the state!  Then it cost us $2.75 in tolls just to get to South Bend!!!  By the time we left Indiana  and got into Michigan, we had paid over $8 in tolls!  To drive on INTERSTATES, no less!!!  UGH!!!!!  

Backing up a bit...

We went to South Bend to visit the University of Notre Dame.  None of us had ever been there before, although we passed right by it two years ago while on our cross country trek that summer(my stupid choice so we could keep on our "schedule"), and I had regretted it ever since.  Lou was born Catholic, and changed as a teenager, but she still holds some fond feelings towards the more "beautiful traditions" of the Catholic Church.  Obviously, there are many things about the Catholic Church that she disagrees with, also.  I always grew up despising Notre Dame (no real reason).  Then, about 15 years ago, there was a little movie I like to call, Rudy.  Every time I have watched this movie I have cried.  I'm serious!  If I watch it all of the way through, tears flow.  If I watch it from about half of the way through, I still cry!  I can even watch only the last twenty minutes or so, and the waterworks just flow.  To add to the pitiful-ness, I have seen Rudy at least 20 times (completely or partially).  Now, because of that movie, I really do like Notre Dame.

So we walked around Notre Dame.  We saw the Philbin theatre (yes, that Philbin).  We saw the football field.  We looked through the gate at the end zone and could actually see the field.  We saw "Touchdown Jesus."  

      

The "Dome" was gorgeous.

  

The Grotto (where Rudy lit all those candles) was really special.  It was very moving for Joe.  

Even the "Eck" visitor's center was beautiful!

Most beautiful and moving was the basilica.  Now, we've been to a bunch of missions in California, and none of them moved me at all.  We have also been to St. someone's in New York City and the National Cathedral in D.C.  Neither of those places moved me.  I gotta tell you, when we walked into the basilica at Notre Dame, I literally overflowed with a huge love for God and Jesus.  So much so, that a prayer actually jumped out of my heart.  This was a very odd experience for me.  That's all.

After leaving South Bend, we headed into Michigan and more specifically, Ann Arbor.  We were on a quest to find "Krazy Jim's Bimpy Burger" (as seen on TV's Diners, Drive-Ins,, and Dives).  It is on the campus of the University of Michigan (more about that horrible campus tomorrow).  Anyway, the food was really, really, really tasty.  If you find yourself in the vicinity of Ann Arbor, you gotta visit this place.  I recommend the quad burger.  

After leaving Blimpy Burger, we made it to our Hampton Inn in Belleville.  This hotel is great!  Clean, nice, comfy, personal service, FREE breakfast, FREE internet!  (Did I mention that this blog is brought to you by Hampton Inn?  Hampton Inn, leave your house and sleep there tonight.)

All is good.  We are happy.

-Dave

Our last day in Chicago

                                                                                                                      

Hey Everyone! 

Yesterday was our last full day in Chicago.  My desire was to go to church out here somewhere, but the kids slept until 10:30 because we were out last night on the train until 11:15, so the church plans didn’t materialize.  However, the kids did finally awaken, and we did get out of the room.

The kids felt like we needed to go to the Billy Goat Tavern or else the trip would not be complete, so that was part of our task for today.  The Billy Goat Tavern is the inspiration for the early Saturday Night Live sketch where Bill Murray, Dan Akroyd, and John Belushi worked in a diner where they would keep saying, “Cheezborger, cheezborger, cheezborger...”  and “Pepsi, no Coke.”  It is located below theWrigley  building right next to the Chicago River.  Apparently, the owner of the Billy Goat Tavern was the guy that put the curse on Chicago Cubs.  The story goes that he wanted to get into a Cubs game, but he had his goat with him, so they would not let him in.  When his admission was refused, he put a curse on the team.  As we all know, the Cubs haven’t won the World Championship since then.  Another interesting note...a few years ago when the Cubs were in the National League Championship Series, they were leading the Florida Marlins late in the game.  A Marlin hit a foul ball that was playable.  When the Cubs’ left fielder reached into the stands to catch the ball, the infamous Steve Bartman reached out and caught it first.  Everyone went nuts, and Bartman had to be escorted from the “Friendly Confines.”  Later, Keith Olbermann had the ball destroyed (blown up)  on his show, Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

How did I get here???  Anyway, we rode the train into the city.  

Here are a couple of photos that show how close the "El" runs to people's houses.           

We found out that the CTA has not dropped two lines at the same time (as they did this weekend) in over 47 years.  So normally, the train would take 30-45 minutes to get to the city instead of 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours.  The trip only took an hour, which was great.  However, it was raining when we got off of the train.  Fortunately, the rain stopped within 10 minutes. 

The kids and I all had triple cheezborgers at the Billy Goat, no fries-chips, and three pink lemonades.  The food was good, but he attitude was better.  

After eating, we walked back up to the street level and looked at the Chicago Tribune building.  It has bits of famous building from around the world placed around the front and sides of the edifice.  It was a unique tribute to historical places.                                           

After photographing the bits of rock from around the world, we went back to the train.  However, we went to Garrett’s Popcorn (I can't get the link to work, but it's www.garrettpopcorn.com) first.  Garrett’s is a Chicago mainstay (it is one of Oprah’s “favorite things”).  We got a commemorative tin for Lou, a popcorn ball for Joe, and a giant bag of buttered popcorn for all of us to share.  Now you might think that popcorn is just popcorn, but this stuff is different.  The buttered popcorn leaked through the wax bag, the first paper bag, and the second paper bag.  That’s some good popcorn!  

When we got back to the hotel, Lou the principal, and assistant principal were ready to go out to Lou Malnati’s for authentic Chicago-style deep dish pizza.  It was terrific!  The food was great, and the company was great, too.  

That was a great way to cap off the stay in Chicago.  Tomorrow, we will be heading out for points east.

-Dave

Chicago, Day 2

Okay...

In the interest of complete disclosure, I have been lying the ENTIRE trip.  I have been a day or two behind on my travelogues.  Okay, whew, now that I have that off of my chest, I feel no differently than before...Oh well.

Yesterday (the real yesterday) the kids and I spent most of the day in the hotel room.  We played Scrabble, a card game called "Loot," and watched "Horton Hears a Who."  Lou was at an IBNA conference all day.

When Lou's day ended, we went into Chicago on the Blue Line with the principal and assistant principal to get some dinner.  Our trip started at the Rosemont station on the blue line.  We needed to go to the "Loop."  This would have been a long trip, but our necessary detour for maintenance added a full 30 minutes.  SO it took 1 1/2 hours to get into the city!  GROSS!

However, it was worth it, because we went to Ed Debevic's and had a totally fun dinner.  If you have never been there (it used to be a chain), it is a place where the insults fly from the first moment you walk in.  It's great (the first thing the waitress did was call me a dork-pretty accurate).

We walked around for a while after dinner, and rode the train back home (two hours this direction!).

-Dave 

Greetings from Chicago

Friday we left Minneapolis by 8 am en route to Chicago, via Madison, WI.  This was a travel day that included travel bingo (yep dad, I played while driving), visiting another university, and a lot of sleep (I was hopped up on G2's and beef jerky to save off sleepiness).

                                            

About 4 hours into the trip, we made it to our first destination, the University of Wisconsin.  

I had always wanted to visit this college because they play football in the early game on ESPN or ABC almost every Saturday, and I love watching college football.  Oh, yeah, and they also are one of the most liberal campuses in the nation, and it showed.  First of all, while there were people out and about at U of Minn, they were all fully clothed.  At U of W, almost half of the people outside, really, were in various states of undress.  There were many people sunbathing on any patch of grass they could find, including the main grass "walk" in the main part of campus, while others were studying or playing frisbee and catching some rays.  The campus was very crowded and lively, which left Lou and me not really wanting to see how crowded it would be during a regular session.  Anyway, the campus had some really pretty buildings, and some really ugly ones as well.  Finally, the campus is on the shores of Lake Mendota--beautiful.

After leaving Madison, we jammed as quickly as possible to Chicago.  We arrived at 4 in the pm.  The hotel is nice, but the coolest thing here is the national junior bodybuidling championships is going on right now.  There are some wildly gigantic men and women here.  Some look great, and some look unreal.  BTW, most of them have an orangey-dark tint. In fact, I missed my turn when we were driving into the parking lot because I was watching one of the women posing on the side of the road for a photo shoot.  Lou is wonderfully understanding, and for that I am forever grateful...

For dinner, we ate Gino's East.  We had the Meaty Legend Chicago-style pizza.  TREMENDOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  The BEST part of Chicago, no doubt. 

-Dave

Twins, Golden Gophers, and a laundry fiasco

Greetings to you all from the road!

Today we went to the Minnesota Twins game.    The Twins beat- no smoked- the Nationals, 9-3.  We got to see two triples!  Oh, and we saw EVERY elementary-aged child in the twin cities area.

The highlight of the game was getting to see our first baseball game indoors.  The roof at the Metrodome is held up only by air pressure.  Very cool...

Afterwards, we went to the University of Minnesota.  BEAUTIFUL!!!  It's campus spans the Mississippi river.  Most of its buildings are connected by either underground tunnels or by second story skywalks (many of the buildings in downtown Minneapolis are connected by skywalks, too).

That night we needed to do laundry, so we bought some detergent and stuff from Target.  When we got back to the hotel, we found out that this Hampton Inn had NO coin laundry.  After Lou made about thirty minutes of phone calls, she was granted permission to do the laundry at a close Embassy Suites.  More on this in the future...

-Dave