Fourth of July, Escanaba

A sunny morning in Chicago. I have my venti whole milk misto and a belly full of cereal and yogurt. Life is good, isn't it?

A week ago we were packing up the vehicle and about to hit the road back to Chicago. It was a sunny, warm, relaxing weekend in the UP, most of it spent at Karen and Terry's lake property.
In fact, we headed right there on the Friday instead of going into town first. Conrad's Mom was there already, and the three of us set to work on some cleaning in preparation for grilling steaks later.

Not that we spent too long cleaning, really. Conrad's Mom made some very good coffee, and we all wandered the property, sipping and enjoying the lakeshore scenery.







I took many photos of plantlife (see the ladyslipper photos from out by the highway near the property), the interesting grasses and occasional flowers.





A little later in the day, Terry, Conrad, his Mom, and I went out on the property and even into the shallow waters of the lake in 4WDs.






Conrad's Mom and Conrad's nephew Dan even got in some all-American time, playing catch.


I sound like I'm mocking, but you know, it WAS the 4th of July, and all of our relaxation, appreciation of the day gently unfolding, grilling of meat, and late night fireworks were entirely welcome. I think Conrad and I couldn't have asked for a more enjoyable weekend.

The next day? Post-Marquette, a little more of the same, as demonstrated by my bird-seeking man and his empty wine glass...


We'll be back up that way in a month again, and we truly look forward to the peace, comfort, and contentedness of it all. I am sorry I didn't get food photos, and the one shot I took of Karen at the table didn't turn out, unfortunately. And if only I could have recorded the bird song that lulled us through the afternoons. There was much napping in chairs all around, I think.

lunch in Marquette

In for a penny, in for a pound - let me get at least one more blog entry done this morning before I pack Conrad off to swimming.

It was a week ago that Conrad and I lazily got up at about 9:15, had breakfast, showered and dressed, and headed off with his Mom to the north shore of the UP. We didn't have much time allotted for seeing Marquette, alas. What I saw of it left me the impression that it's a city that has cared for its history well, and that it's really a neat college town (it is the home of Northern Michigan University).

We found a pasty shop, made our purchases, and headed to a lakeshore park, Presque Isle (they pronounce "Isle" the English way, BTW). There we sat enjoying the warm noon-hour, deeply content with the meaty pies. We sat side by side at a picnic table so that we could appreciate the view together.


One thing caught our eye on our way back through town to get back to Escanaba - the Superior Dome on the NMU campus. An interesting looking structure. As we subsequently drove through a neighbourhood with businesses geared toward campus, I was left thinking that campus life there might be pretty decent, in fact.

Halsted Tastes Better

We tend to miss a lot of local events, whether by design or accident, it doesn't matter. Pride? I was in Anaheim, Conrad was in Honolulu. Market Days? We have a memorial to be at in Escanaba. Air and Water Show? Oh please let that be the weekend we're in Maui. You get the idea, though, I think.

This year, though, we did make it (after swim practice, so a little late) to Halsted Tastes Better, an annual event featuring bites from the various gaybourhood restaurants, including Yoshi's of course. Ahhh, Yoshi's, we'll finally be back there tomorrow night.

As I said, we were late because of swim practice, so I took only a few photos of us, including Joanna, one of the other regulars. Nice evening, and we ate quite well (in fact, we had unused tickets in our book that we ended up giving to some friends to share). The event has improved year by year, and we're glad that this year we had no deliberate or accidental conflict.

Anaheim dinners with roommates

Early Saturday morning. Earlyish - it's gone 7:00. Conrad is still abed, though he'll soon need to get some breakfast before swim practice at 9:00. It's a grey, very wet morning in the aftermath of some mighty storms through the night. I'm one-hand typing mostly thanks to a mishap on Thursday night while chopping basil.

Time, then, to post a few more photos!

This year at Annual, Martin and I took in another roommate, David (shown dancing in the street at the Disney Village to the smooth sounds of one of those Pan Pipes bands). A fellow swimmer (in Houston), another "family" member. Sweet guy. He and I managed to get to an outdoor, long-course practice in Fullerton on the Saturday morning, then had dinner together at Roy's after breezing through the GLBTRT social on Sunday. How funny that I finally made it to a Roy's after a few aborted attempts in Chicago and a few trips to Hawaii. Tasty, though, and it made me yearn a little for joining Conrad on one of his trips there. I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, though, spring rolls (we thought we had ordered pork, but the bill said duck - tasty enough, but so hot from the fryer that we obviously couldn't tell a difference in what the meat was) and a butterfish that was in an intensely flavourful sauce. A rich meal in the end.


The next night David was back in Houston, and Martin and I dined at Catal in the Disney Village.
Our first stop, actually, was a reception, from the balcony of which we could look down on our own, more-modest hotel. We sat out on the balcony in the warm evening. RAD stopped by to chat at some point. Some vendors crowded around our prime location for viewing the fireworks later on. And while the food was fine if not especially memorable (my rabbit was lukewarm and ok though I rather liked the harissa-flavoured couscous), the bottle of Tempranillo was good and reasonably-priced, and the waitress was utterly sweet and the highlight of the meal.

Next conference, though, I will remember to use red-eye reduction...

back to KC, figuratively speaking

I love relaxed evenings wherein we sit outside on the balcony, lingering over wine. Eventually we come inside, but instead of doing anything more strenuous than a few dishes, I geek out online. I never should have got on Facebook. Darn the peer pressure.

As promised, a last batch of Kansas City photos. In fact, we took many more shots, but I think I need to move on now that several weeks have passed. I really did like the place, and I'd be glad to go back, but I find myself looking ahead to various July and August trips instead.

So then...

Some eye-catching signs from the Powell Gardens, arguably more interesting than the plants themselves.




One of our favourite of the sculptures featured in the Gardens - a family of quail. What is the collective noun for quail? A covey? Like a pride of lions or a bun of librarians?

Back in the city we went to a hilltop downtown to look out over Kansas City, KS.


Then, driving around on a sunny afternoon, we came upon the clever parkade for the public library.


The next day we headed up the monument overlooking the city. Remarkable views, and a great day to enjoy them.




Kansas City, in a sort-of nutshell. It's 9:30ish, and I fear I'll be in bed later than intended....

local delicacies

And... balancing the "older" photos with more recent ones, a couple more from the holiday weekend up in the UP. This was Saturday lunch at a park in Marquette, by Lake Superior.

Never let it be said I'm always and entirely a food snob. I mean, I am a food snob, but I will try a lot and appreciate a lot. Local delicacies factor get bonus points. These pasties did not need them. Still warm, a good pastry, tasty filling. We wolfed them down along with a bag of Old Dutch (it's not Canadian? Who knew?) dill pickle flavoured potato chips. Pasties are found all over the UP, it seems, but I think that we found some of the best last weekend.

Disneyland

Deep down, aren't we all children at heart? Ick, cliche alert there. Sorry.

On the other hand, I really am very childish all too often, so I feel no shame in posting photos from the ALA Scholarship Bash evening at Disneyland a week ago Saturday.

Funny thing is, I knew very few people who were going. I don't know why. I wish they had for their sakes. Martin, at least, sprung for a ticket late in the game, and I hooked up with him and some of the other Colorado librarians.

Rochelle and Keith.

Me with Martin, and Zeth behind us.

Our first stop, Tomorrowland!
Space Mountain, of course. Martin and I made it on that ride 3 times that night (and 9 rides in total). Ah, so much fun. A forty minute line, but we amused ourselves:

Colorado librarians acting like they love each other and everyone and everything.

Colorado librarians acting sober and serious.

Colorado librarians.

Night came on (Martin and I outlasted the other three, staying until midnight), and we pressed on to the Matterhorn, a few rides on the Big Thunder Mountain, and then nostalgia time: the Mad Hatter's Tea Party. Oh, come on, like you wouldn't want to go on it again? I couldn't quite convince them to do the Dumbo ride, but the pretty tea cups brought back fond memories of (gasp!) 30+ years ago for me. Look, Keith liked it, too.

It got too dark for many more photos, and all that I captured after that was the sign at the ever-cheesy Pirates ride. Gussied up with Johnny Depp-bots, of course. Ugh.

If only I could have got shots of the fireworks - Americans really do know how to do them right!