A really nice Friday!

Friday, August 31, 2012

Hello!

Another warm and sunny August day!  Up around 6, and out about 7:30 a.m.  I was definitely in need of a walk, and Robert thought that the lakefront would be a good place to go.  It took almost an hour for us to get down to Lake Michigan, but there was plenty of – FREE – parking once we got there!  Where Robert and Dick used to fish as youngsters has now been cleaned up and paved into a very neat layered concrete lakefront path.  We walked for several miles and very much enjoyed the breezes that were swirling around.  Chicago in the summer is such a neat place – literally miles and miles of lakefront, with piers, beaches, marinas, ball diamonds and even a golf course, all beautifully kept up.  Great walking country!

From there we stopped at Denny’s for breakfast (even though it was getting on for 10:30!).  We had our Frank Lloyd Wright field guide with us, and decided to hit a few of the Chicago locations.  That was when we discovered Oak Park – an eastern Chicago suburb – and location of the first home that Wright built for his own family.  Wow!  And once we found one Wright house, there were several others, all in the general vicinity.  We are definitely going to have to come back and do some specific touring – there are plenty of places to see!

Decided that it was now nap time, so headed back to the hotel for a lie down, as we were heading out to Roselle to Tiffany and Dan’s new house for dinner tonight with Dick.

Picked Dick up at 4:30, as we were due in Rosell at 5:15 p.m.  So glad that we left a bit early, as the traffic heading out (being get-away day for the three day weekend!) was awful!  Robert (and Emmy) worked our way north, and we were right on time.  Dan and Tiff’s new house is really, truly lovely!  It is a traditional colonial style with a great deck and a huge back yard.  It was SO good to see them and see how much Zory and Addie have grown since last year.

Pilot Pete’s, our restaurant, is located at the Schaumberg airport, and is one of the most interesting eating places we have seen!  It overlooks the airport’s runway, so the kids were fascinated by what was going in and coming out.  The restaurant itself is decorated in a travel/airplane mode – if you have to wait for a table, you may sit in real airplane seats that have been set up at the entry way! – complete with folding tray tables!  It was, of course, fairly chaotic inside, being big and rather barn (hangar) like, but everyone had a good time, and the food was excellent!  

Zory

We went back to Tiff and Dan’s for dessert, which we had on the outside deck.  Got Dick back to the Heritage about 9, and we are now getting ready to turn in ourselves.

Danny & Addie

Tiffany & Mycroft

  

We leave tomorrow morning for Michigan!  Hopefully it will cool down a bit!

Lots of love,

m

xxx

$23.00 to PARK??

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Hello!  I’m back!!

I think Robert did a great job filling in for me last night – and he certainly has mastered the art of putting in photos!

Genie

Eunuchs

Lion - Glazed Brick

So…woke this morning to another clear and warm day.  We left the hotel about 8:30 a.m. with Robert working his way through the city on surface streets, eventually making our way to the Outer Drive, and  shooting down to the south side of town.  The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago is a wonderful museum that features exhibits from the countries excavated over the past 100+ years by the University.  Fortunately for us, they have worked primarily in the Anatolia/Syrian/Iraqi parts of the Middle East.  We opted to rent their audio-tour, which turned out to be fairly difficult to work (this is not a job for iPods!).  They now have everything – words and pictures – on iPods – with the premise being that if you can work an iPod, you can do anything…suffice to say that somehow I managed to get my iPod into Spanish…hmmm…At any rate, we got to see some old friends (glazed brick lions from Khorsabad) as well as new friends (some wonderful pottery from Anatolia) and very much enjoyed our experience.  

Robie House - University of Chicago

Robie House

Across the street and down a block or so is Robie House, a wonderful Frank Lloyd Wright building now open to the public.  Robie House, built for the Robie family, was designed and constructed in the early 1900’s; completed in 1910.  We had seen the outside every time we went to the Oriental Institute, but this is the first time we’ve been there where it has been open to the public.  Walked in and were able to get on a tour immediately, which was great.  Very, very good tour of the house, which is still really under renovation.   The house had been used for various purposes -- including as dormitories – since the mid-1920’s, and was definitely in need of restoration.  The first phase, already completed, stabilized the outside and inside brick work, and shored up the original steel beams.  The second phase – money being collected now – will complete the restoration with emphasis on lighting, carpets, windows and interior walls.  Unfortunately, we weren’t able to take photographs indoors, but R got some wonderful exterior shots.  Additionally, we bought a “field guide” to Wright’s work – all over the world, with photographs, addresses and maps; will look forward to seeing what we can between here and our return to Tucson!

By this time, it was past 2 p.m. and definitely time for lunch!  We were trying to figure out where to go, when we remembered our last visit to Chicago, and a very nice Asian restaurant on the north side of town.  Robert found the area, and there was the restaurant, the “Big Bowl.”  Parked in an underground garage a block or so away, and headed in.  We ate off the appetizer menu and had delicious summer rolls, chicken satay and beef lettuce wraps – all great – but when we got back to the parking garage, found that the bill for parking for less than one HOUR was $23.00!  Talk about sticker shock!!!  

It took a REALLY long time to get back to the hotel, as the surface streets were moving VERY slowly, but eventually we made it – almost 5 p.m.!  I managed to get a short nap, and we were out to pick up Dick by 6:30 p.m.  Dick wanted to go to Red Lobster, and with Emmy’s help, we were able to find one fairly close to Des Plaines.  Good meal for everybody, and a really good visit with Dick!  Tomorrow night we’re going to go to see Tiffany (Dick’s daughter) and Danny’s new house in the suburbs; very much looking forward to it!

And so ends a really lovely day!  It did manage to get up past 94 degrees today…hope it’ll be cooler tomorrow!

Lots of love!

m

xxx

Sioux Fall SD to Des Plaines IL

Wednesday August 29, 2012

Hi –

(Note:  This is R’s first time of writing the blog, which he is doing for me as I managed to get a migraine this morning, and that added to doing laundry downstairs…) This won’t be much of a blog, since not a whole lot happened except for driving.  We did listen to a “Book on CD” (used to be “Books on Tape” but technology marches on) – Agatha Christie’s “Destination Unknown” – a great way to pass the time while driving.

Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls

As usual, we got up early, organized our things, had breakfast and hit the road at about 7:00.  Since we were in Sioux Falls, we thought it would be a good idea to see the falls on the Sioux River, so headed to the park on our way out of town.  More a cascade than a waterfall, it was nevertheless very pretty.

Then on to the freeway across the southern edge of Minnesota, over the Mississippi into Wisconsin (at La Crosse),  through Wisconsin via Madison to Beloit and into Illinois.  We arrived in Des Plaines (Margaret insists on pronouncing the town name in the French style, which means no one here will have the slightest idea of what she is talking about!) and had dinner with R’s brother, Dick.  We are staying about a mile away, at the Hilton Garden Inn at O’Hare; very convenient and very comfortable.

The top item on tomorrow’s agenda is a visit to the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago to see artifacts from ancient Turkey.  We visited many sites earlier this year that had been excavated years ago, with the finds hauled off to museums like the Oriental Institute, the British Museum, the Louvre, Berlin, etc.  Having been to the sites, we now want to see what was found; the University of Chicago is our first stop.

This is M now, checking in to say I think R’s blog above is just fine!  It’s certainly not my breezy style, but everyone has his or her own way of saying things!  I will be back full-time tomorrow!

Lots of love,

m (& R)

xxx

Hot Springs to Sioux Falls, SD

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Hello!

Up this morning in Hot Springs, SD to celebrate my 61^st birthday!  Wow!  Where have all the years gone?? 

Mount Rushmore

We had a quick breakfast at the hotel, then packed up and on the road about 7:30 a.m.  Instead of heading directly to Sioux Falls, we decided to detour past Mt. Rushmore just to make sure that the four presidents were still there…and yes, they are!  Took some pictures, then pointed the car downhill into Rapid City, and on to Sioux Falls.  In an attempt to avoid at least some of the freeway, we did get off and take side roads to the South Dakota capital of Pierre.   The less said, the better!

The Corn Palace, Mitchell SD

From there we headed back to the freeway, just so that we could make a stop in Mitchell, SD at the Corn Palace.  We had been by the Corn Palace several years ago, but wanted to see it again as each year the Palace changes.  In case anyone is unfamiliar with the Corn Palace (not sure if that is possible, but there is always a chance…) this is a very large building (think 2 – 3 stories, and the size of an old-fashioned movie theatre from the days before multi-plexes).  Each year, the citizens of Mitchell decorate three sides of the building with corn cobs forming different pictures, designs, etc.  Hence, “corn” palace!  The good news is that the cobs are removed each year and new ones put up in new pictures … not sure I’d want to be the person delegated to take a picture down … So, once around the Corn Palace, then back on the freeway for the last push into Sioux Falls.

Arrived at the hotel – Hampton Inn, Room 235, a little after 5 and got everything into the room.  Robert noticed that one of the fluorescent lights in the bathroom was flickering, and called the front desk.  One of the gals brought up a new light, and R, ever the gentleman, replaced the bulb.  However, in attempting to put the ceiling grating back in place, it slipped out of his hand and landed square on his head – whew…at least three really good gouges, and lots of blood…took quite a while to get under control, but scalp wounds do tend to bleed quite a bit… (Note from Robert – So, it seems that I have been scalped in the Dakota Territory!)

When we were finally ready to go out for dinner, we selected Foley’s, the #1 rated restaurant in Sioux Falls.  Fortunately, it was literally within walking distance (although at 100+ degrees, we decided to drive…).  To say that there was a HUGE difference between dinner tonight and dinner last night is really a mild understatement…R called it a parallel universe!!  Foley’s is quite lovely; a large place with linen tablecloths, silver and china.  We had lettuce wraps to start, followed by salads.  My salad was a wedge of iceberg lettuce with blue cheese, bacon bits and scallions.  R’s salad was a mixture of cucumber and tomato with red onion and some mozzarella cheese.  Both were great!  We both also ordered filets, which came absolutely perfectly cooked!  Mine came with asparagus and R’s came with mushrooms.  He had delicious garlic mashed potatoes; I had baked.   Everything was perfectly presented and cooked, and I was really sorry that we had accidentally left the camera at the hotel!  For once, we had something worth photographing!  Sorry about that; will try to do better!

Back to the hotel about 8:30 p.m. and early to bed…hopefully!

Tomorrow will be Sioux Falls to the suburbs of Chicago; a long driving day, but then we’ll have a few days in Des Plaines, IL to visit R’s brother.

More later!

m

xxx