Our Big Trip Week 17- October 5 to October 11

A Big Thanks

I would like to thank Beth for doing such a great job on the last update. She worked long and hard on it and saved your humble narrator a few brain cells. And I need 'em.

Sunday, October 5:

We woke up and got some churchin' up at Gail and Jim's church, St. Rose of Lima, right in their neighborhood. Oscar had a funny moment. When the kids were dismissed for the children's liturgy, Oscar shouted "Bye bye!" loud enough for all to hear. We then went to the Coffee Bean in Buffalo for brunch. They had one of those motion-activated ghosts that makes ghostly sounds when you get near it, which Oscar loved. This drew his attention away from the piano, which he banged on for a moment. This wouldn't have been an issue except for the fact that the pianist didn't appreciate Oscar's accompaniment. I would have tipped him a buck or two, as I usually do, but he was such a creep that I didn't. Oscar's not even my kid and I wanted to close the piano lid on the guy's fingers. I can't imagine what kind of a brute I'll be if I ever have any offspring. The food was a New Orleans- style brunch, and it was hot n' spicy n' flavorful. Jim then took us on a Buffalo tour. The most impressive part for me was the former New York State Psychiatric Hospital. The building is in disrepair and has been vacant for many years, but it is HUGE and awe-inspiring. It has that kind of stately but a little creepy style (I wouldn't know what to call it exactly) and (as Jim pointed out) would be a great place to film a movie, except that parts of it would fall on the actors. We also enjoyed our tour of the city's sprawling park system, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, who later designed Central Park in NYC. We then headed home and I made one of my signature dishes, as Beth has already noted, Chicken with 40 garlic cloves. It's quite easy , and tasty as can be. In fact, in our quest to not only entertain, but serve as well, we proudly present it here (keep in mind that I come from the "that looks about right" school of cooking):

INGREDIENTS:

bone-in chicken parts (I like breasts, but any parts will do- figure 1 for most, 2 for hungry folk)

olive oil

chicken bouillon (1ish cup per 4 pieces of chicken)

a loaf of italian bread, french bread or whatever you like

salt, pepper and chopped parsley (I like fresh better, but dried is ok)

garlic (about 1 bulb per 2 pieces of chicken)

HOW TO:

First, de-bulb and skin garlic (I don't know the proper cooking tem for this, but you know what I mean-make it so the cloves are whole and naked). Wash chicken parts. Season well with salt, pepper and parsley on 1 side. Meanwhile, heat some olive oil in a deep frying pan (you'll have to cover it later). When oil is warmish, put chicken in seasoned side down and season other side while side 1 is browning. Flip and brown side 2. Then, turn down a little and add the garlic and chicken bouillon. Then add enough water so the chicken is roughly 1/3 submerged. The garlic should mostly be submerged as well. Cover and simmer for an hour. You should check it after 30 mins to make sure the water hasn't evaporated. If it has, add more. Meanwhile, cut and toast the bread. When done, take the chicken out of the pan and scoop the garlic (which will be mushy by now) into a bowl. Add some of the juice from the pan, and maybe a touch more olive oil. Then, eat the chicken and use the mushy garlic as a spread for the bread. A side of veggies and you have an easy gourmet feast!

Monday, October 6:

Today your humble narrator took another one of his days off. I can only do so much whiz-bang socializing kind of activity before I keel over. So Beth and Gail went to Niagara-On-The-Lake (in Ontario) and I got a whole bucketload of music stuff done. I had a good day, and it was nice to be comfortable enough with our hosts that I could ask for a time-out without worrying about offending anyone. It was still chilly in the house, so I was grateful for the hat Gail had made for me. Beth really enjoyed Niagara-on-the-Lake. It is an upscale town where the streets are lined with boutiques, similar to Carmel, California. There is a hat shop there, Beauchapeau, that was the main impetus for their trip. Not surprisingly, Beth did not leave the store empty handed. After all, she rationalized, they did drive over an hour to get there. Lucky for us, the currency exchange was favorable towards the U.S. dollar.

Later that night, we watched the Tampa Bay Buccaneers crush the Indianapolis Colts during the first half of Monday Night Football. Deciding that the game was over, and hungry for cookies, Beth and I made a run to the supermarket at around 11. We grabbed our cookies and headed for the exit. On the way out I spied a piano in the store. It was a digital player piano, obviously used to calm shoppers so they spend more time (and money) in the store. It was inactive at the moment, however, so I sat down and serenaded Beth with an ode to chocolate chip cookies. It may sound strange, but that was one of my favorite times on our trip. Being in a supermarket singing a silly song to my giggling wife at 11:30 Monday night in Buffalo. That's what the trip was all about. No cares or responsibilities, and just time to enjoy one another. Anyway, we got back and were snarfing cookies when, just for kicks, I turned on the game. The Bucs had just picked off Peyton Manning and were winning 35-14 with about 4 minutes to play. Yawn. So I switched to ESPN to catch up on the day's sports news. I then saw the ticker at the bottom of the screen say that the score was 35-20. Somewhat interested, I switched back to the game, and witnessed a football event of epic proportions. Indianapolis became the first team in NFL history to win a game after trailing by more than 21 points with less than 4 minutes to go. It was very exciting for me for several reasons:

1. I like all the Indy players- they haven't (yet, perhaps) been involved in any embarrassing problems.

2. I like Tony Dungee, the Colts' coach, who was unjustifiably run out of his last job (ironically, at Tampa Bay).

3. Tampa Bay won the Super Bowl last year and it's someone else's turn, and some of their players are poopieheads.

So I have my own standards for rooting for/against certain teams, and in addition to being quite a miraculous game, the good guys won.

Tuesday, October 7:

After waking (late), we went to Roycroft, which is a Buffalo institution. Roycroft is an arts and crafts community that was founded in 1895 by writer-philosopher Elbert Hubbard. It became a mecca for artists who journeyed there by the thousands. The most famous Roycroft "alumni" is Frank Lloyd Wright. Today the campus, of various workshops and an Inn, is a national historic landmark. These days, Roycroft is probably most known for their pottery, since that is the only working studio which remains. Beth, a true pottery lover, was very excited to see all the pots and pot-related crafts. We descended the stairs to the basement, where the pottery section is located, and found that it was, you may have already guessed, closed.

Now, a brief digression about one of the reasons I love Beth so much. She really is the kind of person who can make the best of any situation. She, while not ALWAYS smiling, is more likely than anyone else I know to have a grin on her face. She was disappointed about the pottery gallery being closed for about 1 minute, then she shrugged her shoulders and enjoyed the rest of her day. I really think of Beth as a person who really enjoys life, and I find that so incredibly attractive. Anyway, she's the greatest, and that's just one reason why.

While currently famous for pottery, at one time the campus had what was then the most modern print shop in the area, as well as a blacksmith/copper shop, a furniture shop, and a leather bookbinding operation. It was an interesting place to wander through. On our way home, we stopped at a Buffalo establishment, Romeo & Juliet's, to pick up some pizza for Oscar (and maybe a slice or two for the grownups too).

Wednesday, October 8:

Your humble narrator was Jim's grateful guest tonight at O, a destination restaurant in Buffalo off of Niagara Falls Blvd. The atmosphere was very relaxed, with blue lighting and a modern, warehouse-esque decor. The food was Pacific Rim, and for me that means sushi. There was also a soup that I loved. It was called a chicken caesar soup, and it was a creamy chicken soup with heavy pepper, garnished with a large crouton and romaine lettuce. Fine, fine soup indeed. Jim and I were having a guys' night out, because Gail, Beth and Oscar had taken a day trip to Ellicottville, NY, which is a ski town approximately 60 miles south of Buffalo. Beth reported that the town was quaint and delightful. She especially enjoyed a store called Kazoo II, which had an endless array of pottery, jewelry, and other unique crafts, books, etc. After lingering in stores for hours, they ate at Dina's restaurant, and then journeyed back to Buffalo.

Thursday, October 9:

We managed to leave Buffalo. We thought we might have to tie Gail up in order to leave, but we managed to distract her with some cookies long enough to make our escape. In the time we were there, and I swear I am not making this up, Oscar moved from using single words to speaking in short, but complete, sentences. Yet another mark on the chalkboard for us in our quest to make the world a better place. We went over The Peace Bridge into Canada and rode along the shore of Lake Erie west to Windsor, Ontario. We then took the Ambassador Bridge back into the USA in Detroit. I would have liked to see the studio in Detroit where the Stax Records artists (Booker T & The MG's, Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, etc.) recorded, but we didn't get in until too late, and we recently realized that we have been tarrying a bit and need to prioritize. We continued through Michigan on Rte 94 to Rte 31, which we took south to South Bend, Indiana, the home of the University of Notre Dame and The Five Degree Guarantee on Fox Channel 28 News. The weatherman gives you his prediction for the high temperature of the next day, and if he was not within 5 degrees, a randomly selected winner (who has registered online) wins the pot. If no one wins the pot, the high temperature of the day is added to the pot. Today, he predicted 74 degrees as a high and the actual high was 77. So no one won the pot, and 77 bucks were added to it. It now totals almost $1,100.

I would like to get kind of "big picture," or perhaps "boring, wordy and hackneyed" for a moment. It really strikes me, how small our world is. We have driven a long way and been to a lot of places, but all of those places seem so far apart, almost mythical, when looking at a map. The thing is, they really aren't so far apart, and they all exist, and people are pretty much the same in all of them (whether that's good or bad I will leave for another soliloquy). Interestingly, it took sports to help me to realize this. I lived in New Jersey for a while, and all you read or heard about during football season was the Giants and Eagles. Then I moved to northern California, and was lambasted with 49ers and Raiders news. This morning, I woke up in Bills territory and I'm going to sleep in Coltsville. Tomorrow, I'll be in Bearland. I guess I'm just realizing that our country (which is HUGE compared to most), really isn't that big. In a couple of days, I could be in any city in the country (yes, yes, not including cities in Alaska and Hawaii). So I just realized today that we are all on such a tiny planet marching along through space, and if we all just sat down and thought about it on a universal scale, we would all get a much better perspective on how unimportant life's little annoyances really are. I mean, we could be in the crosshairs of a Kill-O-Zap death ray from some reckless teenage aliens who are simply going to be put to bed without any dinner for destroying our planet during a joyride. Who knows? So maybe we should all let someone merge in front of us on the highway or not yell at our spouse when he/she squeezes the toothpaste tube from the middle. Anyway, that's it. I know I'll get caught up in the rat race again many times, but it is nice to get some perspective now and then. Plus, it's 2am and I'm a little punchy.

Friday, October 10:

We headed through South Bend to Notre Dame. South Bend is a rather interesting town. It costs $36,000 per year to attend the school, which makes it one of the more expensive schools in the country. Unlike some other expensive schools I've seen, however, Notre Dame resides in what would probably be described as a lower-class town. South Bend, outside the campus, is a collection of thrift stores, laudromats, check-cashing places and fast-food joints. Meanwhile, the campus has millions and millions of dollars in artifacts, etc. A very interesting phenomenon. Anyway, the campus itself may be the most beautiful I've ever seen. The only turnoff was that all of the buildings looked very new, and we thought that we would see old gothic-style architecture. However, we got used to it. We strolled down the main drag toward the main building, which was quite picturesque. I should point out that all of the leaves were turning beautiful colors and it was 70 degrees and sunny, which may have helped with the whole beautiful campus thing. We toured the main building and headed for the Basilica. It is a beautiful church, and I had a great time touring and taking pictures until a gruff security guard told me I wasn't allowed to take pictures or tour in a certain area. His unwelcoming manner, however, was made up for by Stephen Gorbitz, the director of the Basilica museum. The museum is located in a side hall off of the sanctuary, and it is filled with catholic relics from all ages. It has tiaras worn by historic popes, various garments worn by many members of the clergy, gifts from Napoleon III, etc. The most impressive pieces in the collection were the chalices. Each priest receives a chalice when he is ordained. The chalices in the musuem, all belonging to now-deceased clergy, ranged from exquisite glasses ornately carved in ivory to huge goblets of solid gold adorned with diamonds and other precious gems. There was even a robe made out of spun gold, which weighed 40 lbs. The history was fascinating, and Stephen was obviously excited about the historical signifigance of the pieces. Beth told him that she thought it was fantastic that they had the stuff on display for anyone to see. I told him that the stuff must be worth a fortune and I couldn't believe it was out in the open. He agreed with me that there were some invaluable pieces there, but assured me that, though not obvious, the security system was sufficient. He then said that he sometimes felt guilty when the local schoolkids came to visit the museum, because, as I mentioned, South Bend is not at all a wealthy town, and here he was showing them priceless treasures of the church. He seemed like a good guy. I was glad to have met him. He went on to tell us that many of the buildings at Notre Dame were not, in fact, new, but were constructed out of bricks that were made from the minerals right there in South Bend. The mineral composition of the bricks, not their age, is what gives the campus its distinctive look. We then stopped by The Grotto, which is a 1/7 scale recreation of Lourdes, a sacred shrine in France. After that, we took Rte 80/90 west to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. It lies on the south bank of Lake Michigan. There is a normal-looking seashore, but the best part is a sand dune of epic proportions known as Mount Baldy. This thing is BIG. It really looks as big as a small mountain, and since the sand keeps shifting under you the whole way up, it feels like climbing a mountain too. The top of the dune lies 20 to 30 feet above the forest behind it . After I took a running jump off the steep side of the dune and did a face plant into it , we took off. By the way, if you look closely at this picture you can see how curved my nose is. I thought I had nose surgery to straighten it, not give it a U-turn. Anyway, we got back on Rte 90 and made for Chi-town (pronounced "shytown"), via the Chicago Skyway. We crashed in a hotel just north of the city after being stuck in traffic for roughly three hours. We were gonna stay in the city proper at first, and I decided where we would turn off the highway. The heavy iron gates over all of the windows and doors made it look like a very secure place indeed, and the packs of young men hanging out on every corner made it seem vibrant and a real party mecca. In addition, the area was replete with liquor stores just in case we got thirsty in the middle of the night, as well as a number of conveniently located pawn shops, in case we found ourselves a little short to buy a fifth of whiskey. We couldn't find an RV park nearby, however, so we sadly went elsewhere.

Saturday, October 11:

We got up and took a train into the downtown section of the city. Fortunately, the sanitation engineers had ended their strike the day before, so they cleaned up for us. They did not, however, get everywhere, despite what the paper said . After we got into the city, we wandered around The Loop, which is a loop. Okay, it's a rectangular section of the city where much of the financial business that keeps Chicago afloat occurs. We then walked up The Magnificent Mile, which is a bunch of really upscale retail stores along Michigan Street between The Chicago River and Oak Street. I didn't buy anything. We then headed west and went to Gino's, which is a legendary pizzeria, some say the best in the world. Being the curious type, we decided to find out for ourselves. We got there at around 6, and, surprisingly, had no trouble getting a table right away. After we had given the waiter our order, however, we were told it would be about 45 minutes until we got our pizza. Hmm. That was okay, though, because it gave me time to write our name on the wall, as is the custom. The pizza finally came after 55 minutes. Beth made a remark about how good it had better be. And it was. After thinking about it, I realized that I had never had deep-dish pizza before. I mean, real deep-dish, not Pizza Hut. It was tasty. As for "best pizza ever, I can't say. As I have aforestated on this very web site, there are so many categories of pizza, it is impossible to choose an outright winner. After our gorgefest, we walked back south and visited Daley Plaza and City Hall where Richard Daley holds court (literally). I'm not sure, but I think he has been mayor since roughly the Jurassic. I remember reading Mike Royko columns about him from, I think, the '70's. His name is everywhere. It's almost as if he's afraid Chicagoans are going to suffer from mass amnesia and they need to be reminded when they walk around every street corner who the mayor is. Actually, and I just realized this, I think the real reason is that his name has been carved, soldered, drilled, engraved, painted and embossed so many places all over the city is that the cost to clean his name up from everywhere if they got a new mayor prohibits them electing anyone else. Now THAT is planning ahead. Gotta give credit where credit's due. (Note: I have since found out that the current mayor is Richard M. Daley, the son of former mayor Richard J. Daley, but I still think my other theories are worth putting in print). We took the train back to our hotel and found out that the Cubs (who haven't been to the World Series since approximately 1324, had won, and were only one game away from getting there this year. Judging by the hoopla thus far, if they got there, this city would explode.

ADDENDUM: They lost, and the entire city is mad at a poor Cubs fan who mistakenly got in the way of a foul ball that could have been caught and all but wrapped the 6th game up. He had police protection around the clock the night after the game, and skipped work the next day and is spending some time in an undisclosed location. I really wanted the Cubs to win, just to get this poor guy off the hook.

BONUS PHOTO: Here is another of our famous self-portraits, taken upon The Maid of the Mist, the boat that would take us into Niagara Falls .

LAST WEEK'S TRIVIA WINNER: No one. The original capital of New York is not New York City or Buffalo, both proffered as the answer. This question is still wide open for the picking.

THIS WEEK'S TRIVIA QUESTION: Why is Chicago called The Windy City?

COMING NEXT WEEK: Some more Chicago and then a visit to some friends in Ohio. Of course, as with all of our "COMING NEXT WEEK" plans, that is subject to change without further announcement.