Feeling sane again, I'm back. Granted, moments of sanity for me last only a few minutes at a time...
Here are some notes from the trip:
- The weather
- From being in the 60's to the high 90's it was as if Mother Nature was on crack this week. Only trip in my life where I actually had to buy more jeans because it was so cold earlier on, and more tshirts because it was hot later on - Add in rain, then no rain, the rain etc, the weather was making itself up as it went along
- The cities
- I love Chicago, so obviously that was my favorite place. It's like NY but more accessible almost. The fact it has all the waterfront makes it really great too, and the food is good.
- Cleveland, as you can tell, was not one of favorite places. Very spooky desolate like. It gets points for the rock and roll hall of fame and Jacobs field, but otherwise. I'd skip it.
- Pittsburgh was better, it, for example, had actual people in it, putting it ahead of Cleveland, but it's a small city. It's worth a visit if you can swing it.
- The food
- Chicago - Great Food overall, there are 1000's of great restaurants there, even the touristy restaurants (like Weber Grill, which I went to when I was working) is good. Cleveland's food was good too, but we weren't there long enough for us to make a good judgement. Same with Pittsburgh, but that restaurant we ate at (see previous blogs) was one of the best meals of my life.
- Attractions
- We tend to be speed sightseers, seeing as much as we can in as short of period of time. Chicago obviously has tons to do, and you'll never get bored there. Cleveland, you'll get bored in about 15 minutes. Pittsburgh should hold your attention for 2 days or so. Chicago has some great views along the lake and from buildings like the Hancock building. Pittsburgh has great views because you're surround by high hills around the city. I always find the best way to see a city is walk (or jog) it, so we wind up doing that alot. We walked around all 3 cities we were in and it's a great way to see things you normally wouldn't notice. For example, in Chicago, we found the Architecture Institute by noticing it as we walked by. In Pittsburgh, we found that mall at the base of the incline, in Cleveland, we found the baseball exhibit by passing by the museum.
- Museums
- We did a few of them this trip, the Field Museum and the Art Institute in Chicago, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Science Center in Cleveland. The Art Institute and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame were my two favorites. The Art Institute because, while I'm not the biggest fan of the art world (it's growing though), I liked the museum because of it's layout. Plus, I dig Dali, and there were Dali's there (a print of the Persistence of Memory sits at my left shoulder as I type this in my crammed to the walls with books and computers room). The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame was a museum done right. A mix of exhibits and movies means you can easily spend a bunch of hours there.
- Driving
- Chicago to Cleveland - (300 miles) Flat, green, fairly boring, although it went quicker than I thought it would, but that might have been "new road trip!" adrenaline. A bunch of tolls though, I don't avoid toll roads for a few reasons, one they're usually quicker, two, they are guaranteed to have rest areas, three they're generally better paved.
- Cleveland to Pittsburgh - (100 miles) A quick and relatively easy trip, Pittsburgh literally appears as you round a large hill
- Pittsburgh to NJ (300+ miles) - Purgatory on wheels. The PA Turnpike could compete with the NJ Turnpike for the most annoying road in America. High tolls too, it cost us just under 17 bucks to go from Pittsburgh to the NJ Turnpike. We took this because it was the most direct route and we were beat yesterday. Very dull road, and while we could have stopped off at places, nothing screamed that we should.
- By the way, the best road I've ever driven - I10 between Phoenix and LA. You'll see things on that highway that you won't see anywhere else in the world...
Books bought on this trip (for myself):
- Which Reminds Me - by Tony Randall
- The Fenway Project - (a book about one night at Fenway from 64 different points of view)
- The Head Game (Baseball seen from the pitchers mound) by Roger Kahn
- Hulk - by Peter David
- Minority Report by Philip K Dick (this book is unique is that the binder for this book is at the top of the page instead of the left side)
- The Imagineering Field Guide to Disney's Animal Kingdom
- Nick at Nite's Classic TV Companion
- Four American Chopper Coloring Books (c'mon at this point, would you even question me on odd purchases?)
- We Won Today - My Season with the Mets (written back in the 70's) by Kathryn Parker
- Young Avengers - Sidekicks
- Reynolds Price - The Collected Stories
- The Bobby Gold Stories by Anthony Bourdain
- Chicago Works - A New Collection of Chicago's authors best stories
- Movies and TV - The NY Public Library Book of Answers
- But I Digress - A collection of writings of Peter David
- Star Trek Concordance (from back in the 70's before the movies)
- Postcards from the Boys - by Ringo Starr (a collection of postcards sent to Ringo Starr by the rest of the Beatles)
Albums Purchased:
- The Very Best of Sting and The Police
- Genesis - The Platinum Collection
- U2 - Interview CD (import)
Well, that wraps it up for this trip. Check back regularly if you're bored. :)
Laters!
