travel

We got up at the crack of dawn this morning. Literally…3 AM.  It was not pleasant.  Normally on Saturday evenings I’m just going to bed at 3AM, not waking up.  Especially when I went to bed at midnight.  I woke Jose up at 3:45 and we were out the door around 4:15.  Now, most of you know that Jose and I had some trouble acclimating to each others’ morning routine in the early years of our marriage. You see,  I’m a morning person.  He is….not.  Definitely, not.  I like doing shocking things in the morning, like smiling, and waving at people and *gasp* using words, actual human words, instead of grunts.  For years, we got off to bad starts in the morning until I came to one simple conclusion. Morning Silence.  Seriously, we learned that the less we spoke to each other (i.e.  the less I spoke to him –see human words vs. grunts above)  the better.  Once we passed this learning curve, things were golden. 

We got in the car this morning and I told him he could sleep on the way to the airport, because he doesn’t normally sleep on the plane. In the end, he decided to stay awake and talk to me on the way to the airport.  We were discussing the clothes we chose to bring, because lately whenever we travel, we always have the opposite weather than what’s predicted (refencing our Italy trip last spring when it was 32 degrees and we had no winter clothes)  We’ve also mastered the art of packing lightly and I mentioned that I may have to do laundry one evening. So the next thing I hear is Jose asking “Why do they call it underwear?”  So I launched into this long conversation about the history of undergarments. Five minutes later, I realize he’s not talking and is just looking at me with a strange expression (not really that unusual).  Then he says “WHAAAT?  What are you talking about??” 
I said, “Well, you asked me about why they call it underwear and I was telling you.” 
He says, “No…I asked you why they call it WonderBread!!”
“Oh” – I must have been really tired this morning if I’m mishearing Wonderbread for underwear, even though we were talking about laundry and the topic of bread was never mentioned. 

On to more relevant things.  We boarded the plane in record time and were taxing before our departure time.  I’ve flown a lot in my life, from the time I was 4 years old.  Maybe I just don’t pay attention much, but I swear I’ve never seen this before.  Watch this short clip and look carefully at the ceiling.  Leaky air, gas, whatever you call it, is not a good way to start a flight!  No one else seemed to be concerned, so I just took a quick video and prepared for take off.

We arrived at SFO this morning around 10am.  Our flight was perfect, once we got in the air.  When we took off, the plane wobbled a bit and felt like it was going to roll.  Seriously.  When we got here, I called my mom and she said it was really windy in Chicago this morning.  Anyway, once we got in the air, the flight was darn near perfect.  I continued my tradtion of falling asleep as soon as the plane was in the air and I slept for the first 3 hours.  I woke up every hour or so to look around and then went back to sleep.  I read part of my book for the last hour (finally getting around to reading the first Sookie Stackhouse novel – Dead Until Dark, which is the basis for True Blood) and then we were arriving at SFO.

We purchased Muni-passes, which gives us unlimited rides on the cable cars and busses for a set amount of days.  We bought the $24 pass which is a bargain considering one ride on a cable car is $5!!!   We took the BART from the airport after spending a few minutes trying to figure out how to purchase a BART ticket.  Thanks to the friendly New Yorker who helped us out!  It was less than $11 for us to take the train vs. a taxi fare that would be at least $30 and the train is so easy, however, the BART has the worst public transit slogan I’ve ever heard:  ”BART, and you’re there!” Really, San Francisco, is that the best you can do?

One thing that shocked me:  The BART train we were on had carpet!! and fabric seats.  Yuck!!  I was completely grossed out by the fact that the seats weren’t cleanable, wipeable sanitzable plastic!!  I’m not being a germophobe here, but that’s just unsanitary!  People throw up on public transit, or have unfortuante bathroom accidents and being able to clean up these mishaps is crucial.  Not that I know anything about throwing up on public transit.  Really, I don’t.

After a short half hour we arrived at our BART stop (specifics involving the details of our trip, hotel, restaurants, etc will come when we get home.) and we emerged from underground into a huge mass of people.  There was noise and music and lots of yelling. Yep.  We managed to end up right in the middle of the Gay Pride parade today.  It was crazy and a little more difficult to navigate through the crowds, but we made it.  We walked uphill a few blocks to our hotel.  It wasn’t so bad, but the big hills came after our hotel.  When we arrived at our hotel our room wasn’t ready, so we dropped off our bags and decided to go down to Fisherman’s Wharf for some food. 

We got on a cable car, after missing the first 3 because they were so full.  People literally hang off them.  I didn’t think that actually was allowed, but it is.  Finally we manage to get a seat inside one of the cable cars and it was packed with people. They are literally sitting in your lap.  I was surprised at how old the cable car system is.  Our car felt like it was falling apart with every stop, start and turn.  There was lots of metal grinding, squealing and the sounds of wood being ripped apart.  That’s not very reassuring at all.  I wasn’t fond of the ride inside the cable car, and made sure on our return trip that I was outside where the oxygen was located  .

We walked around Fisherman’s Wharf and had some yummy fried calamari as a snack since neither of us had eaten more than peanut M and Ms.  The calamari was delicious.  It had a nice mix of tentacles and non-tentacle part (what’s that called?…the body?). 

I have a number of friends who don’t eat seafood (crazy, I know).  One of my friends actually says “I don’t eat things that swim”, so when I saw this sign, I had to take a picture of it for her. 

Then we stopped at a restaurant and had some amazing Dungeness crab in garlic butter.  Sorry, no photos…we were too hungry and ate it before we even thought about taking a picture!  After this, we were so full that we decided to go back to the hotel to unpack and chill out a bit (ie take a nap!!).  We walked to Ghiradelli Square and stopped at a small ice cream shop for a massive sundae.  This concoction was a peanut butter hot fudge situation that was beyond yummy, however, it was too much! and we didn’t eat very much of it. 

We waited about 25 minutes for a cable car and managed to get a seat on the bench oustide.  There was a very knowledable man taking some friends on a tour standing on the rail right in front of us, so we got a little geography lesson on the trip home.  The guy was crazy tho, besides being waaay too happy, he kept dangling off the cable car, leaning back and holding on with one hand only.  I managed to get a shot of him and Jose. 
  
This is a really big hill that we walked down.  While it’s much better to walk down the hill than up, down is still dangerous.  The hill was so steep that I felt like I’d fall over and roll down ala Humpty Dumpty or a WeebleWobble if I leaned forward too much!

To end our evening, we passed a store selling items made from Jose’s favorite animal (besides his birds, Nina, Billy, the squirrel that lives in our backyard and our pal, Paparazzi Racoon) the ALPACA!!
  
Stay tuned for more tomorrow!  I am leaving you with a demonstration of how the cable cars turn around at the end of the route.

 

We’re heading out west to San Francisco this weekend for vacation.  I’m counting on the weather being nicer than it is here in Chicago.  You know, where it’s been hotter than Hell the past few days.  I hear SF has my kind of weather, mid 60s during the day and cool at night.  Love that.  As usual, we don’t have too much planned for our trip, other than a night tour of Alcatraz, which I’m really looking forward to.  I just hope it’s not scary.  I can handle spooky, but not scary. We may also take a walking tour of Chinatown, but that’s not set in stone yet.

I can’t wait to eat delicious seafood, and of course try some cioppino.  I borrowed a guide book from my Aunt Kathy a few years ago, so we are armed with at least one resource, and Jose will be getting a blackberry from work, so he can be reached in case of emergency, which will come in handy for navigating.

So many people have suggested we rent a car and drive to Carmel or go to Napa, but I don’t know what we’re doing yet.  I’d like to drive down the coast so we might do that one day. Check often for updates about what we’re doing and eating! (of course)!

ciao,
Chris

Here’s the lowdown on part 2 of the Great Springfield Experience…

We also visited the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum again.  I think this museum is amazing.  It’s small, but filled with a lot of great exhibits including two short, well done movies.  I was lucky enough to run into the Lincolns while I was there!

After the museum we walked to the “new” state capitol building.  It’s lovely.  I like the old one too, but we visited that one on the last trip to Springfield.

These are just a few photos from inside the Capitol building.

After that, we walked to the old Lincoln neighborhood and took a tour of the Lincoln’s home.  I LOVE this kind of stuff.  Just the idea of being in a house where people lived over a hundred years ago gives me the chills.  In a good way. (assuming it’s not haunted. I would not like that experience)  The house, and neighborhood in general, is in amazing condition as you can tell from this street photo.

A few shots of the indoor toilet, if you can call it that, and the short bed for a very tall man.  How uncomfortable does that look? (see the bed pan down there??)

I had to take a photo of the crazy carpet and wall combo.  Apparently this was all the rage in Springfield during this era.  Check out the wallpaper in the photos above.  How did people not have seizures in their own homes?

I touched that doorknob…also touched by Lincoln.  (And about a million and a half tourists)

Ahh, the kitchen.  Much bigger than my own.  I love the layout of the items on the table.  This scene reminds me of a painting I’ve seen somewhere, possibly the Art Institute, but I can’t recall.  Either way, I’d like to frame this one.

Freshly popped caramel corn with pecans and a drizzle of coconut oil. Sampled while it was HOT!  It was delicious!

And so this brings me to the end of my trip to Springfield, IL. We had a great time.  It’s a good place to visit if you have 2-3 days.  It’s quaint, and comfortable and a great walking city.  You can get everywhere you need to go by walking or driving a short distance.  Lots of things to see, and eat.  Highly recommended.

I bid you adieu, Springfield…a city with a sense of humor.

I’m back from Springfield and it was a good trip.  There’s a surprising amount of things to do and see there.  The downtown area is very small, completely walkable and filled with random Lincoln trivia.

Our first stop was Charlie Parker’s to try the Giant Pancake!  We got there shortly before 1pm and ordered our food.  Just after I said the words “I want the Giant Pancake” the waitress said, “oh, I think they just stopped making them for the day.”   “Nooo!!!”  I said, “Please! we drove all the way here from Chicago just for the pancake!!”  She said, “Let me check.”  She came back in a few minutes and said they would make it.  Thank goodness!! This would have started our trip on the wrong foot, for sure!

Here I am with our pancake:

This was shortly after we started eating (there were two of us)

….and we’re done.

The pancake was very good.  The dough was not very sweet and extremely light.  We weren’t stuffed after eating it and there was no heavy feeling you sometimes get in your stomach after eating pancakes.  Well worth it.

After we checked into the hotel, we went to visit Lincoln’s Tomb and the surrounding cemetery, which is the largest in Illinois.

If you’re wondering why Lincoln’s nose looks so strange, it’s because people rub it for good luck.

Lincoln’s casket used to be stored in a sarcophagus above ground.   After a few attempts to steal his body, Lincoln’s son got tired of people opening the casket to make sure he was still there.  So he had him placed ten feet down, covered in steel and buried under 10 feet of concrete.  (note the edge of the window just behind the marble tomb marker)

This is the window that you can barely see in the above picture.  This is how people used to have to view Lincoln’s tomb.  Once they moved him underground, the window was replaced wtih stained glass and a protective gate.

This a a lovely dogwood tree.

These pictures are of a stone bench outside the temporary tomb that housed Lincoln and one of his sons while the permanent tomb was being built.

We went for a walk around the cemetery looking for the oldest, most interesting headstones.  (side note:  I just read Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book  [Newbery Winner 2009] which is about a boy living in a cemetery who has been raised by ghosts.  Every time you meet a character, they are named and then their epitaph is given.  It made me curious about seeing some really old epitaphs.)

These are the creepy, scary steep stairs that we climbed to get to the cemetery proper.  They were crumbling as we walked up them.  I wouldn’t be in a hurry to do this at night!

The first grave I saw was this gigantic thing that had it’s own stone pew.  This guy was “as friendly as a wayside well”  whatever that means.  Is that the 1800s equivlent of  “friendly and nice”?

Very classic looking, old headstones.  These are right at the entrance near the top of those scary stairs.  They look very regal and beautiful, but they are losing the important part of the inscriptions…the dates.

Oh no! Someone little has escaped.  Watch out for zombies loose in the cemetery.

What exactly is this?  And, do I really want to know?  More zombie evidence?

This is the most creative headstone I’ve ever seen.  That’s saying a lot, you know, since I spend so much time in cemetaries and all.

It’s Log! It’s Log! Is it wrong to reference Ren and Stimpy in a post about cemeteries?

This outside tomb belongs to a governor of Illinois.  Not sure why he gets to have this huge thing.

It’s also a little creepy.

Ok, that’s enough for tonight.  I have some more pictures to post, but I’ll do that tomorrow or Sunday.  I must enjoy my last weekend of Spring Break, even though I hear we’re supposed to get 6 inches of SNOW!! this weekend.  Darn Chicago weather!!