Road Trip - Dallas ... Good Morning

It's 5:30 and the coffee is is perking. Neal and I are both stirring and have less than 30 minutes before departure. While we haven't hit the road, the Dallas adventure has begun.

This is our fifth road trip. For those who don't know us ... we're SHSU grads, college roommates, Eagle Scouts, O/A, Alpha Phi Omega brothers, Mac users, Canon camera users (first with the Ftb and A-1, now each on our second digital Rebel). We were also in each other's wedding and share a bazillion secrets ... none of which have a national security clearance. We each visited the other's children the day they were born and we remind them of that as well.

Road trip one occurred in college - February 1978. That was a week from Huntsville to Kansas City. In the snow!!! It never got over 30 degrees in KC.

Details to come.

Road trip two was eerie. It began the Friday after 9/11. It was also to Dallas. We went to the very first Apple store in Texas (in Plano), toured Dallas and Ft Worth.  And on the day Alan Jackson sang of, when a record number of American's were in church, the two of us were driving around the Metroplex amazed at the quiet that had befallen. The auto race had been cancelled. No planes were landing at DFW. Just ... very ... quiet.

More details later.

Road three two was November 2007 when we went to Baltimore and Washington for the Dynamo Championship game ... also know as Mike and Neal eat their way through our nation's capitol.

Add some details here.

Last Summer's trip was a full day from here to San Antonio, up to Austin and back. We did so much we should have stayed the night. The rational for the trip was the Grand Opening of the Apple Store in the North Park Mall in San Antonio. You know, the one with the HUGE cowboy boots.

http://picasaweb.google.com/mikerine56/AppleStoreSATGrandOpening#

more d'tails here.

Which brings us to this trip. Two guys, two cameras, two MacBook Pros, two soccer games, one Miata. 

Zoom. Zoom!!!!!

Going to Seattle?

How long are you there??? Do you have a car or transportation??? Where are you staying??? What do you want to see???? I've done Seattle with and without a vehicle.

 

Pike Place Market is THE place for me ... I try to do it every other day when I'm there if I'm not staying near there ... actually START my day there ... get the good stuff ... then come back at closing and pick up bargains. You can negotiate for bread at the end of the day. Also, got 3 lobsters for less than two - my favorite deal everrrrrrrr!!!

 

Ohh ... Rainier Cherries!!! They're my faves ... could eat them until I was sick (again - I have ... love them). And I find a way to cook my own seafood and buy it fresh at the market - then go get some herbs and veggies and bread ... wines and beer ... local berries ... and I'm a happy camper.

 

There’s several good places to eat around the market. And there’s two originals. The very first Starbuck’s is in the market. I don’t drink coffee, but I do enjoy the place and the aromas. The other is Sur la Table. It’s full of all kinds of stuff you don’t have in your kitchen but could find a way to use, if your kitchen was twice as large! Just walk around the place and have fun.

 

Eats ... any place you feel comfortable in Chinatown ... grilled fish along the waterfront from any of the guys grilling on barrels ... Pyramid Brewing Alehouse across from Safeco Field. It's more than beer ... but if you LIKE craft beers, it's awesome.

 

If you have time and want to really see things, I recommend a Seattle City Pass. Besides going up in the Space Needle (it now gives you two trips - one in the day, one at night), it offers admittance to the Aquarium, Science Center, Woodland Park Zoo (incredible place to take animal pix). It’s also good for a cruise in the Harbor. PLUS, you get a choice of the Museum of Flight or the Music Project or the Science Fiction Museum (I took the Museum of Flight – spent the whole day there ... it has one of two Concordes in the US, the Air Force One 707 Lyndon Johnson was sworn in on, an SR-71 Blackbird, 747 number 1, and 727 number 1,000 .. among other great planes). When you’re at the Space Needle, ride the monorail, the first one in the USA.

 

The City Pass will save you half of what you’d pay to see these individually. But if you do the Space Needle, Harbor Tour and Museum of Flight, then the rest would be free.

 

http://www.citypass.com/city/seattle.html

 

also around town … If you didn’t do the Harbor Tour, then jump on a short Ferry trip ... probably cheaper … and ride across and back. If you liked "Frasier" head into the north side to see the views allegedly seen from his home (pretty homes and great views). Kubota Park is also cute. Take the Underground Tour – they raised Seattle 20 feet and you can see the old Seattle.

 

Into music? Seattle is the birthplace of grunge music but a wide variety of musicians are from the Emerald City. It’s the home of Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam, Jimi Hendrix, Kenny G, Alice in Chains, Qunicy Jones, Chris Cornell, Queensryche, and Heart. You can go listen to music in the places where they started. You can  visit the Hendrix Memorial at the Greenwood Memorial Cemetery just outside the city. Check local publications for live music at places like The Crocodile, The Paramount, Moore Theater, OK Hotel and The Vera Project.

 

 

 

Getting away from the city …

 

Microsoft is headquartered just across the bay in Redmond. Take one of the floating bridges to get there.

 

Head for Snoqualmie for scenery (the falls are higher than Niagara but not nearly the water amount) and wineries.

 

The best oysters are at the mouth of Hood River on Puget Sound on the Olympic Peninsula. Take a Ferry to Bremerton and drive from there. If you have a rental car ... ??? I’ve had Dungeness crabs on Dungeness Spit – and all other kinds of seafood there as well.

 

There are two great lighthouses on the Pacific just north of the mouth of the Columbia River … North Head Light House is my favorite. Volunteers take turns staffing the lighthouse to give tours. You can rent the keeper houses by the day, week, or weekend. It’s at Ilwaco on the coast, it’s picturesque and awesome – great seafood just off the boats in town. Pretty views.

 

Other Ideas ... head for Mt Rainier - there's horseback riding at the base of the mountain that's fun ... the Boeing Plant in Everett ... orca's off San Juan Islands ... Mount St Helen's ... Columbia River (go down to Portland!) ... Tacoma Wildlife Park ...

 

Sports wise, there’s Mariner baseball and Sounders soccer. This November, the MLS championship game will be played at Qwest Field. Hope the Dynamo will be there!

 

Let me know if you need any additional (or more specific) suggestions.

 

 

 

here's a Seattle credit ... from my 2003 trip ...

 

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20030720&slug=watch200

 

 

This time to the top of the Space Needle in 2003 was special for several reasons (besides the newspaper interview). It was part of our 25^th anniversary celebration. We could see all three mountains at the same time (Rainier,  Baker and Olympus – only happens about 20 days each year). It was the last time I took film pix with my Canon A-1 SLR (Mount Rainier at sunset).

Sorry I haven’t written much

Wow … to actually POST a blog, you have to write. Sorry this won’t just hook up to my brain and take down my thoughts. I think of some really good stuff that should be on here. Really! While I’m driving, in the shower, when I’m about to doze off. You’d think me being connected to a Macintosh that it’d somehow connect to my brain and voila? But no.

 

Things I’ve thought about for the blog…

 

Food in St Louis

 

Travel Notes

 

Friends

 

BBQ

 

Road Trips

 

Shaving accident

 

Plane Trips

 

Grilling Tips

 

Taking Pix

 

Environmental thoughts

 

 

So, I’ll work on getting some of my thoughts on line before I sleep, shower, or hit the road again.

 

Thanks for reading.

 

As always, pix are at ..

http://picasaweb.google.com/mikerine56/

I Love the Baseball Fans in St Louis - part 1

These comments are from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper announcing that All-Star first baseman Albert Pujols will catch the ceremonial first pitch at the Al Star game from President Obama. Pujols will be surrounded, not by Secret Service, but by the six living Cardinals Hall-of-Famers - Stan Musial, Red Schoendiest, Bob Gibson, Lou Brock, Bruce Sutter, and Ozzie Smith. Again, they show the incredible insight of Cardinals fans ... well, all except the first one.

Albert Pujols has done so much for Down Syndrome children and he is a shining example of Christian virtues so I can only wonder is he really knows what sort of individual Barack Husein Obama really is. Obama’s Tonight Show insult to special needs children, his advocacy of partial-birth abortion and his declaration that America is no longer a Christian nation should be enough to keep Albert in the dugout in protest. On a larger note, after 43 years of waiting St. Louis finally is hosting the All-Star Game and now it will be ruined by having the man who is committed to destroying everything that made our nation great throw out the first pitch. Resist NOW, say NO to Obama!

— Phil

Stay classy, Phil. I know The President of the United States probably isn’t as good of Christian as say, Mark Sanford, John Ensign, Newt Gingrich, David Vitter and Larry Craig, Dick Cheney or George Bush. But use you overflowing Christian charity to pray for President Obama, rather than condemn him. P.S. I think you’ll be safe in your bunker in Lincoln County.

— Poor Republicans

 

I hope and pray that Stan has a wonderful night and that the whole world honors a great man and great Cardinal, better late than never. And to any idiot that would boo the President, you are not a patriot. The man has the worst job in the world, he was given an impossible situation with which to deal and is making an honest effort to try to right the ship, I don’t agree with everything he does but he is my President and I’m glad he’ll be in St. Louis. I’m a conservative, but you far right wing, intolerant, hate mongers do not and never will speak for me.

— cardsandcats@aol.com 

The President of The United States will be in our town to celebrate something we all love, BASEBALL. Get over your petty politics and savor the moment. Unless of course you are a traitor to the U.S. and the constitution. In which case, please stay at home and do not embarrass the rest of us civilized patriots and REAL baseball fans. Go National League!

— JD of StL

 

“Show that you care about America! Boo Obama!”

Yeah, that’s the ticket. Show the world that St. Louis is full of angry wingnuts who can’t show respect for the President of the United States at a non-political event.

That’s exactly the right way to play this … NOT!

—   Charlie Duke

  

I can’t wait to have the honor of our president, and first black president that is, throwing the first pitch at the All-Star game here in St. Louis. To the first three commenters…why can’t we go one article without someone insulting Obama. To go along with cardsandcats, he was put into a situation that no president would like to deal with, and was the result of a horrible administration before him. Don’t ruin this great moment for our city with your far right wing ignorant comments. GO CARDS!

— CardsFanForLife

Sorry I haven't updated recently

Greetings from St Louis.

Life is hectic here. I'm really not on a vacation as much as I'm just having fun.

My sister, Donnagail, and I are volunteering for the MLB Fan Fest. We went to orientation on Wednesday evening, then worked 6-11pm on Thursday evening and were back at America's Center on Friday morning for an 8am-1pm shift. We will work again Tuesday from 8-1, then watch the red carpet all-star parade at 2pm as the players go to Busch Stadium. Monday is our day to be fans at Fan Fest. 

A great place to see what's happening here is ... http://www.stltoday.com/allstar

We've also been playing restaurant critics. We've been to Triumph Grill, The Royale Cafe, Wapango, Courtesy Diner, and Pi.  Each has a history as well as great food and a wonderful atmosphere. STL is a GREAT food town and the wait service has been exceptional. More on the eateries later. Still to come ... Mosaic, Ventana, Al Hrabosky's, Imo's Pizza, Adriana's, Chevy's, and The Venitian ... not to mention another trip or two to Ted Drewes' and maybe I'll sneak off to Steak 'n Shake. Gastric bypass in August. LOL

Today we went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens to take senior pix for my oldest niece, Liz. As I always tell my students, it's not a good photo shoot unless you get fussed at or suffer bodily injury. We were fussed at for not having a professional photo permit. "But ma'am, I'm NOT a professional, just a very fussy amateur ... with a photo reflector, bounce flash, telephoto lens ... and a family with very high expectations!

I have been getting a LOT of walking ... also chasing a puppy that's part shepherd and part chow ... and parking at the $4 lots in downtown (because they have security and are run by - and benefit - the St Louis Women's Shelter) and then walking to our events. Walking. I wanna Vespa! But walking is good for me ...

We're on our way out the door to meet up with friends for the MLB Concert, Missouri native Sheryl is performing under the Gateway Arch, along with Elvis Costello. My other choice is to be in Joliet, IL for the race at Chicagoland Speedway ... but I'm having fun here.

Hey, thanks for reading. Send emails to mikerine56@gmail.com, or leave a comment below.

On the Town

Sorry for the delay in posting ... yesterday was busy with LOTS of stuff.

The best way to check things out is to look at the pix ...

http://picasaweb.google.com/mikerine56/STL02#

I've tried to put a caption with each.

My sister has lived here for 29 years, the same as I have lived in Richmond. I have been here many times through the years and really don't need a map to get around. Okay, a map is helpful, but if you just tell me some road, I can get there.

Wednesday evening, we went to the orientation meeting for Fan Fest. I saw some familiar faces working the event. It's being held in America's center, the STL convention center. It's not as close to the ball park as Houston's ... more like Detroit's event. We had a walk through of the set-up ... still in progress and the opening is 22 hours away. There's lots of familiar stuff but some new things as well.

Donnagail got our packet and sat through the meeting. Even though we requested shifts together, we have NOTHING alike. Not to worry, they said. Just show up at the first event and let you work. We're flexible. Our first assignment is the Thursday night VIP Party hosted by Bank of America. It's also the first time the event will be open ... kind of a "soft opening."

Cool personal moment ... they recognized all the returning volunteers. There were about 25 of us in a room of 500 and we stood, waved, and received a round of applause. This is my third event to work and fourth I've attended of the 15 Fan Fest's (it started in 1994 to bring people back to the game after the lock-out/strike). I'll double check those numbers.

Peruse the pix and I'll add to this post and try to keep you up to date.

Rain Delay

Who would have thought the first rain in years (okay – 6 weeks … but c’mon, you KNOW it seemed like YEARS since we’ve had rain) in the Houston area would delay my flight. It did.

The weather on the north side of Houston was severe enough to cause the FAA to hold aircraft on the ground, then re-route our trip to St. Louis around the New Orleans air space. The Southwest folks wanted to run behind the storm, meaning head west, then turn north. The FAA won (what the captain described as a pushing match) and so they added more fuel to the plane and we took off 30 minutes late across the Gulf of Mexico. We didn’t have to go all the way to New Orleans, and I could tell by the sunshine in my window we had made the turn northward.

I wish I’d had my camera in my lap when I sat down. My bags were the first ones on and I was sitting right over the baggage door. How many times have you wondered if your bags made the plane and you never see them? I saw mine! Also being loaded was 10 boxes of fresh seafood. It said so right on the side, along with a 409 phone number. I was thinking about calling and letting them know their seafood was safely on the plane for St. Louis.

I got some great cloud shots and a few shots of the twists and turns in the Mississippi River. It’s up and muddy.

I was sitting on the wrong side of the plane to get a picture of downtown and the Arch and stadium, but I snapped a shot of Gateway International Raceway  in Madison, IL, where I’ll be on July 18 for the NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

We landed in St. Louis about 40 minutes late. I was the last person off the plane (sitting in the back I had a whole row to myself) but my luggage was the first off! There were several "Welcome to St. Louis and the 2009 All-Star Game" signs ... as well as several shops selling All Star gear.

St. Louis is first and foremost a baseball town. This was once the western port of Major League Baseball, as well as the Southern most city, with the Cardinals of the National League and the Browns (moving to Baltimore in 1954 to become the Orioles) of the American League. 

You wear RED to baseball games. Unlike other towns (Houston comes quickly to mind) whose color schemes have changed, this town has always been red. I asked my sister why there wasn't a Stan Musial baseball in a silent auction. "Everyone in this town probably has one," she said about the Hall-of-Famer who still lives and is very much a part of the town's sports scene.

Baseball - it's St. Louis!

My sister met me at the airport. We dropped stuff off at her house, changed into comfortable clothes, picked up her dog (a shepherd/chow mix), and took off to Creve Couer Lake. We all hiked and worked up an appetite. Lunch was great!!!

Now on to other things!

Photos can be found here:

http://picasaweb.google.com/mikerine56/STL01#