Monthly Archives: August 2014

Onwards and upwards

On Sunday afternoon, we began our trip north towards the Upper Peninsula (hence the onwards and upwards). On our way north, we stopped in at Mars Cheese Castle, just outside of Milwaukee, on Dave Drabs’ suggestion (and he was very specific-take exit 340, etc.). There was a 45 minute wait. Neither one of us has that kind of patience. 10 minutes okay, maybe even 20, but 45, nope. That, coupled with the fact that someone threw up in the doorway, and as Gary said, “you can’t make this shit up!.” It was time to move on. So, we loaded up on cheese curds, and sausage and some cheddar/blue blend, that I cannot wait to tear into. We drove on up toward Green Bay munching on curds and sausage. Bad idea. That’s all I’m gonna say about that.

We got a room at the Hyatt in Green Bay for $68 a night! When we checked in, they said we don’t have the room that you reserved, so we’ll upgrade you to a suite. I’m liking this. Then we decided to go have some Wisconsin beer at  local pub, because, well, we’re in Wisconsin. What else are you gonna do on a Sunday afternoon?  The walk was kind of eerie. No cars driving around, no people walking around-we were both a little creeped out. We got to the first pub, and there were a couple of people there, but by the time we left, it was packed. With one bartender handling the whole bar. Very impressive! The bartender at the pub said it’s Double Bubble time. We had no idea what the heck she was talking about. You buy a beer, and the next one is free. This town is just one little surprise after another. Yay, Wisconsin! All this, and one of our best friends, Gary, is from Wisconsin.

On our walk to the next pub for dinner, we saw a marquis saying there was a concert that evening and one of the performers was St. Paul and the Broken Bones, which was a band we saw on our cruise in February. How cool is that? Anyway, the pub had live music on the patio overlooking the bay. After a bite we headed back to the hotel in the rain. This one time, the carry an umbrella in my purse and it won’t rain theory was blown. I got to use it.

It’s funny how little things mark the passing of time, for me, my 4 oz tube of Crest ProHealth is almost empty as is my 9 oz can of Vavoom hair mousse and quite honestly I should have brought an extra couple of toothbrushes-mine is looking pretty ratty and I will not buy one on the road with a ridiculous amount of them at home. For Rick, it was time for our second oil change since leaving (plus the little warning light was bugging him. a lot), and also tire rotation is in our future for the second time as well. The hysterical thing is we stopped at a little Mobil Lube & Oil change place in some obscure little Wisconsin town, and the three geniuses working there could not get the little “oil maintenance required” light to go away-to top it off the manager was a wealth of misinformation as far as trip tips go…. So for the next 22 miles that little light made my husband crazy and he could not focus on anything without complaining about the little light. He called the dealership in Tucson for help, got a recording and had to leave a message. I googled it, watched a video, we stopped and I re-set it. Yeah, I’m feeling cocky.

Chicago!

We arrived in Chicago after a harrowing drive. Following a gas tanker truck on the interstate, and literally could barely see his taillights. Why does this keep happening? I hate it. And the traffic getting in to the city-yikes! We could not begin to understand why Chicago was SO much more expensive than New York, and everyone knows I LOVE NEW YORK CITY! Well it turns out there was a big Lollapalooza concert in Grant Park. Oops.

We checked in to our hotel in the North River section and loved the area. It is so strange that there are so many short buildings in Chicago. I kept thinking this was not the highest and best utility for the property (real estate background talking). But, it was strangely comfortable, in that you felt a sense of openness, that you only get downtown in NYC. There aren’t the constraints of land here. Not an island. It just spreads out this way and that.

We checked in with Elliot Drabs (who we love), and let him know we were in for the weekend and that we wanted to meet him and his wife for dinner if at all possible. He was amazing. He sent us a list of must do’s and we made plans to have dinner on Saturday night.

For Friday night, we checked Yelp for some dinner suggestions in the area and decided on either Gallery Bar or J Rocco. Everyone talked on Yelp about how great the Ahi Tuna nachos were so we thought, okay, sounds delicious and healthy….kind of. And of course, they changed the menu, without changing anything on their site and what they did have sounded not so good. So we decided to go with Italian which we were really in the mood for too, and were so glad we did! The food was delicious, but, the service was spectacular. We absolutely fell in love with our server, Chase, and his general manager, Jodi, as well. Chase told us what we must do in Chicago, and it was exactly what Elliot already told us, so he immediately cemented his credibility. I wish every restaurant would understand the fact that you must have a great team of servers, or your food alone, will not bring people back. Be good to these people. They are essential to your success.

On Saturday morning we took a taxi to the Field Museum for the exhibit on the 1893 World’s Fair. Rick and I read a book called “Devil in the White City”, which was all about the 1893 World’s Fair, so we really wanted to see this. We really enjoyed it and wandered around for hours, and fit in a Chicago dog at Kim and Carlo’s. We decided to head over to the Architectural Boat Tour next, again on Elliot’s (and Chase’s) suggestion. We were so disappointed to see that they were sold out for the day, which was surprising, since it seemed that everyone was at Grant Park for the concert. Again, on to plan B. The top of the Hancock Building for a cocktail and a view of the city from the 96th floor. Check.

At 8:00 p.m. we met Elliot and Nara at the rooftop bar at the Godfrey, which was a great place, but, umm, I could have given birth to 98% of the people there. The people downstairs gave Elliot and Nara a hard time on the way up, do you have reservations, etc. He told them we are meeting an older couple (ouch. Accurate, but ouch. Thank god we always feel younger than we are…), a tall guy, and the guy said “oh yeah, go on up.” We moved on to The Kerryman, a little Irish Pub, for a quick drink before heading off to Topolobampo for dinner. This is an amazing Mexican (not taco/chimichanga-more Poca Cosa-but fancier) restaurant, it is one of the Obama’s favorites. It was incredible. You choose 3, 5 or 7 dishes. We all went for 3, and I couldn’t even finish 3, so was quite pleased that I didn’t choose more. Heck, it was difficult enough. What a menu. And don’t even get me started on the Margarita’s…… Sat next to a nice couple of guys, that we really enjoyed talking to also. We finally got back to the hotel after 1:00 a.m.

We considered getting up early and trying to get on the Architectural Boat Tour, but didn’t. Now we have a reason to go back. We stopped in at Elliot and Nara’s to say goodbye and headed to points north. Stay tuned. In the meanwhile, some photos…

 

Ramblin’ towards Chicago

We declared Thursday to be laundry day. God, I hate laundry day on the road. Not every hotel has a coin laundry, and the ones that do can be dicey. Found a good combination in Toledo, Ohio, though. I’ve heard of Toledo, but can’t say that I’ve ever wanted to go there. And can’t say we saw anything. This was our last stop before Chicago, which is where we decided to spend the weekend, and there was no way we could go there before laundry. Seriously thinking about burning my clothes at the end of this trip. Rick’s too.

Just thought of something. Isn’t it weird that the really nice, more expensive hotels, charge for wireless, have no complimentary coffee or breakfasts and often charge for parking? It doesn’t seem right. Or logical.

The highlight of this weird little leg of the trip was our lunch stop in Erie, PA. After so many weeks of wonderful, fresh seafood we entered an area that was short on seafood and big on meat. My body is just no longer accustomed to it, and doesn’t seem to like it a lot. Anywho, back to the stop-The Casablanca Grill. This is a little family owned Syrian restaurant and it was so healthy and delicious! Hummus, baba ghanooj, tabbouleh, dolma, fatayer, falafel, kibbi and subbusik. Not sure which was which on some of this stuff, but loved every bite. Oh and gyro with a sauce made of potato, garlic and olive oil, but 80% of this meal was vegetarian, and it was the best part. The lady who owned the place was so sweet! Really cooked with her heart and soul-I love that kind of place! I’m getting hungry all over again thinking about it.

Tomorrow-Chicago!

Back to the States!

We left Nova Scotia bright and early Sunday morning and made the long drive out (or oat, in Canada). 12 1/2 hours including multiple, but brief stops and a whole lot of rain and slow driving. We probably could have saved time by going on the Interstates, but we decided to take Highway 2 after Bangor Maine, which meandered through some amazing little areas and some adorable little towns that we had never heard of. Gorham and Lancaster, New Hampshire were two we really liked, and we landed in Stowe, Vermont. It is a big ski resort in the winter. Nothing like the kind of skiing we are accustomed to in the Rockies! These are some small mountains, but the town is beautiful! Lots of great restaurants and some nice looking shops.

We decided to stay for two nights so we could do some hiking on the many trails in the area. The Stowehof Inn is an old Inn, built in the 1940’s. It has great character, and it’s a lovely setting. Our room had a four poster bed with a dressing room and balcony. It is a quaint, comfortable, rambling old place with lots of antiques, hardwood floors and fireplaces. There is a big moose head mounted on the landing on the wall in the  stairway leading to our room. It was given to the Inn by Alan Alda after he finished filming the 1980 movie “Four Seasons.” There was a violent scene involving the moose….I will need to watch that movie again sometime.

Monday morning, greeted us with non-stop rain, so we had to alter our plans completely. Instead of exercise and the great outdoors, we got a big lunch and the great indoors. Oh well, stuff happens. We considered driving to the Ben & Jerry’s factory which is in Waterbury, but the Yelp reviews of the place were bad-you basically stand in line (for up to an hour) to pay $2 to watch an infomercial about the company then get a miniscule sample of the flavor of the day. Umm, no thank you. Sorry Tyler! We went in to the village for lunch instead and drove around the area, followed by a little nap and some serious reading in the lodge looking out over the manicured grounds and the forest.

On Tuesday morning we headed toward Niagara Falls for a couple of nights. We decided to stay in Rochester since we have a friend who lives there. Found another wonderful deal at the Hyatt Regency through Priceline. God, I love that site! We had a wonderful dinner and turned in early so we could get an early start on the Falls. It began to rain like crazy about an hour after we arrived. We went to the Cave of the Wind where you walk through a cave and get right next to the falls. The water came at us from everywhere, the sky, the falls, the spray when it hits the rocks. Luckily they issue you a pair of rubber sandals and a yellow rain poncho and set you loose to wander at will. I was soaked anyway. Have to admit, at first glance from above our first thought was-thought they’d be bigger. But from below they are pretty amazing and once you get on the Maid of the Mist (the boat-wearing a newly issued  blue poncho), and you get right up to the falls, wow! Combine that with the storm raging around us and it was terrifying. There was a clap of thunder and a bolt of lightening while we were on the top deck and I nearly jumped out of my skin. This is an experience that reminds me of the Grand Canyon….. You see it, you are awed by it and you are kind of done. So we headed up to Lewiston, which is a great little town to the north and had a little lunch at The Silo, a Man vs. Food place.

We met our friend Amit, and his fiancee’ Dishy, at a great place called Dinosaur Barbeque for a late dinner, some cocktails, live music and a lot of talking. We have known Amit for many years through the dental biz, but this was our first time meeting Dishy. They are a beautiful couple and we wish them well and thank them both for the lovely evening! Hopefully we can reciprocate the hospitality in Tucson sometime……