Summer Holiday '10, with Postscript: Chicago with Eli

 

Originally published as a Facebook Note July 16, 2010.

(photo by Robbie)

July is Travel Month in the Nesmith household, this year featuring a swing to the Mid-Atlantic states followed by a quick trip to Chicago. Details follow, but in order that the detail not become numbing I have limited the information to some essentials--(1) Where did we go, and how far did we travel? (2) Did I get coffee? (3) What was for dinner?--as well as one highlight for each day. The coffee theme winds up less than perky, if you'll pardon the pun (which I don't mind if you don't, as the phrase is there only to ensure you'll notice). Maybe in some future trip we can be sure to save an hour in the day to spend at a wonderful coffeehouse, instead of grabbing some for the road as turned out to be the case except for Corning.

Without further ado, the short of it, without the long:

Monday, July 5.

To: Cleveland Heights OH (582 miles)

Staying With: Bill and Kim Claspy

Coffee: (1) BP, De Witt IA; (2) Gloria Jean's, Portage IN

Dinner: Sbarro's Pizza at a rest area near Sandusky OH

Highlight: Meeting my nephew Sam, 6 weeks old. He was sleeping by the time we arrived Monday night, but was a cute and delightful if not terribly witty companion Tuesday and Wednesday. His doting sisters Anna and Maggie are watching out for him.

Tuesday, July 6.

Cleveland Heights, OH (78 miles around town=660 for the trip)

Staying With: Bill and Kim Claspy

Dinner: Burgers with Bill and Kim

Highlight: Ice cream at Malley's in Lakewood [http://www.malleys.com/Location.aspx]. A Cleveland tradition, and a must stop whenever we visit. I opted for the peanut butter cup sundae; Jane always orders the lemon lime chiffon soda in summer.

 Wednesday, July 7.

To: Rochester NY (302=962)

Staying at: Quality Inn

Coffee: Lavazza, Angola NY

Dinner: Sandwich at Subway, Rochester

Highlight: Niagara Falls [http://www.niagara-usa.com/]. Our second visit (first was 2001), an audible called by Jane after car trouble delayed our departure from Cleveland such that we arrived too late to visit the Eastman Museum. Good call. Lots of water.

Thursday, July 8.

To: Watkins Glen NY (147=1109)

Staying at: Anchor Inn

Coffee: Old World Cafe, Corning NY ("chocolate/vanilla/caramel")

Dinner: Fried chicken at Classic Chef's, Watkins Glen

Highlight: Eastman House and Museum, Rochester [http://www.eastmanhouse.org/]. Eli's interested in old cameras, which led us to the house of George Eastman (1854-1932), who founded the Kodak company. The house is huge and beautiful; Eastman was a bit eccentric, with a huge fortune with which to indulge those eccentricities, and no family to make him reconsider. Eastman had an elephant head from a safari in Africa; for preservation he sent it to the country's leading taxidermists of the era, who I was amused to note were the Jonas Brothers.

Friday, July 9.

To: West Orange NJ (246=1355)

Staying at: Marriott/Courtyard

Coffee: Mobil, Conklin NY ("Rainforest")

Dinner: one piece of pizza from Papa John's in our hotel room + salad from Shop Rite

Highlight: Hiking at Watkins Glen State Park [http://nyfalls.com/watkinsglensp.html]. We did the Gorge Trail. Good hiking and scenery, with plenty of company on the trails, including a friendly battalion from a Salvation Army camp.

 

The family at Watkins Glen Park

Saturday, July 10.

West Orange, NJ w/ train into New York City (12=1367)

Staying at: Marriott/Courtyard

Coffee: Starbucks, Battery Park, New York City

Dinner: Veggie wrap at Village Place, South Orange NJ

Highlight: Nintendo Museum and Store, Rockefeller Center, New York City [http://www.nintendoworldstore.com/]. I'm nobody's gamer, and we were here mainly for Robbie, but Nintendo was rolling out a new game this day, and it felt like an event. Jane and I waited in line for free t-shirts while Robbie and Eli browsed the store. Jane liked the blue blob which is apparently a character in the game. She and I had to sign releases saying we could be photographed, which seemed unlikely. The hostess wrote a description of each of us for the camera man; mine said, "t-shirt, cargo shorts, cap, older gentleman." Older gentleman? Ouch.

 Sunday, July 11.

To: Wilmington DE (170=1537)

Staying with: David and Nadine Burdash

Dinner: Cold cuts and salads at Burdashes

Highlight: You meet a lot of people on the road. There was an adorable young family staying at our hotel: mom, dad, two preschool boys, and a baby girl. One of the boys caught dad at the breakfast buffet.

BOY: Daddy, do you want some Froot Loops?

DAD (with weary sarcasm): Why, don't you want yours? Gee, what a surprise.

BOY: No, Daddy, I want my Froot Loops. I love Froot Loops. I want to know if you're having Froot Loops, too.

DAD: No, I'm just having coffee.

BOY (now worried): But what are you having for breakfast, Daddy?

More adorableness in the pool before we all left, by which time I'm glad to report dad had been revived by coffee and was playing vigorously with the boys.

Monday, July 12.

Wilmington DE w/ jaunt to Philadelphia (63=1600)

Staying with: David and Nadine Burdash

Coffee: Cafe Independence, Philadelphia + 1/2 cup at Burdashes

Dinner: Sloppy joes at Burdashes

Highlight: Wilmington Blue Rocks [http://www.bluerocks.com]. The Blue Rocks are the Carolina League (high A) affiliate of the Kansas City Royals, and we saw them drop a game to the Myrtle Beach Pelicans, 3-1 (after losing a make-up game, 4-2, earlier in the evening). The game was languid, with the Blue Rocks, who are averaging less than 2 runs a game this season, at their languidest. There was, of course, the usual minor league foolishness. The Rocks boast no less than three mascots: Mr. Celery, who dances after every run (we saw him once); Rocky Bullwinkle, who is depicted on the cap I bought; and Rubble, a blue rock, with whom Jane posed. It was a great night for baseball, following a storm early in the evening. The stadium is named for Judy Johnson, the Negro Leagues star and Hall of Famer, who came from Wilmington. So did Victor G. Willis!

 

Jane and Rubble, Judy Johnson Field, Wilmington DE

Tuesday, July 13.

To: Wheeling WV (384=1984)

Staying at:McLure Hotel. Don't stay here unless there are violent storms and all other hotels in town are full.

Coffee: Exxon, Roxbury PA

Dinner: KFC Chicken, New Stanton PA (childhood home of Jane's grandparents, Clarence and Blanche Fox Claspy)

Highlight: Andy Heaton, Gettysburg PA. Andy's been my friend for over 35 years, now living in Pennsylvania and working as an attorney in DC. His wife and their blended family of five children were on vacation on Chincoteague Island, except for David who's at a forensics camp. It was great seeing their historic house, and Andy took us out to lunch at the Dobbin Tavern as well as accompanying us on a brief tour of the Gettysburg battlefield site.

Wednesday, July 14.

To: Galesburg IL (591=2675)

Staying at: Country Inn and Suites

Coffee: (1) Sheetz, Wheeling WV; (2) BP, Danville IL

Dinner: Veggie crepe, Landmark Restaurant, Galesburg

Highlight: Seminary Street, Galesburg [http://www.seminarystreet.com]. This upscale, funky commercial district is a "sentimental street" for Jane and me, who met in nearby Macomb and came here for getaways. We invited the boys to join us for our nostalgia trip, but they declined, so we left them at the hotel with pizza and Discovery Channel and portable devices, and had a romantic dinner and walk around downtown. I'm glad Jane remembers our courting days so warmly.

Thursday, July 15.

To: Cedar Rapids IA (134=2809)

Staying at: Home!

Coffee: Country Inn breakfast buffet

Dinner: Pork chops and grilled vegetables

Highlight: Getting home. Be it ever so humble, &c., &c. A good if strenuous trip, all in all; congratulations to Jane for excellent planning, and many thanks to the Claspys and Burdashes for their generous hospitality!

Tuesday, July 20.

To: Chicago IL (about 225 mi)

Staying at: Best Western Grant Park

Coffee: (1) Fast Stop, Morrison IL; (2) Lavazza, John Hancock Center, Chicago

Dinner: "Divine" chicken salad at Pauly's Pizza, Chicago

Highlight: John Hancock Center observatory. Easy up and down on the world's fastest elevator, and not at all crowded. For $4 extra, you can come back at night, so we took them up on that and got to see all the views again with lights. I could make out Wrigley Field, where the Cubs were playing Houston, better at night than by day. My afternoon coffee was my first at 94 stories up. As it turns out, we missed Kathy(Santucci) Guttosch and her daughter by one day.

Wednesday, July 21.

Chicago IL

Staying at: Best Western Grant Park

Coffee: Starbucks, Hyde Park

Dinner: Spaghetti and meatballs at the Dudeks', Willow Springs

Highlight: Cubs' game at Wrigley Field. I've been to Wrigley many times over the years, as I follow the Cubs more closely than is healthy. This was my 3rd time with Eli. We had seats off the left field foul line, so our best view was of the outfield though the sight line to home wasn't too bad. Wrigley, built in 1914, is the oldest park in the National League and soon to be the oldest in the majors... an aesthetically pleasing place to take in a game. We left after 9 innings with the score tied at 1. Houston won in 12, 4-3.

Thursday, July 22.

To: Cedar Rapids IA (about 235=461)

Staying at: home!

Coffee: Starbucks, Downers Grove IL

Dinner: Chicken at KFC, Cedar Rapids (extending the trip...)

Highlight: "Agora," Grant Park. This art installation is, of course, way past me, but it was enjoyable to walk among it. It is a series of metal legs, about 10 feet tall, so you have the feeling of walking in a group of very tall people, except that having seen them from a distance you know they have no torsos, arms or heads (and they're immobile so there's no danger of being stepped on).

"Agora," Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois