Cleveland Here We Come!

Joseph, Anthony and I have returned from a fun-filled trip to that vacation mecca, Cleveland!  We wanted to give Glenda some time to scrapbook, and since this was the rare occasion where I actually had the whole weekend off, all the boys took a roadtrip up north.   After a smooth trip up I-71, (and after circling the parking lot like vultures), we finally made it into West Side Market.  About noon. On a Saturday.  Did I mention the parking lot?  Boy, this place was bustling!  Wall to wall people made it tough to navigate with 2 boys in tow, but we made it downstairs to the "Comfort Station" which is a pleasant term for a bathroom.  Back upstairs we made it to "Johnny Hot Dog's"  where the kids got a burger - and a sucker from the nice lady behind the counter.

Next stop - Steve's Gyros.  I set our DVR to record every episode of  "Man Vs. Food" on the Travel Channel.  Every week host Adam Richman visits a different city to take on various food challenges and showcase the city's gastronomic highlights.  The moment I saw his Cleveland episode, I knew I was destined to visit Steve's Gyros.  Apparently, every person in Cuyahoga County was destined to visit Steve's that day as well.  Yes, the line was literally out the door, and yes the wait was worth it!  The kids' hamburger was too messy to eat standing in line, so I doled out emergency goldfish crackers to ward off mutiny while I waited for my gyro (which was roughly the size of Anthony).  We had an impromptu picnic in the parking lot and it was off to the Great Lakes Science Center.

As members of COSI here in Columbus, we have free admission to over 160 museums across the country as part of the ASTC Passport Program.  The Great Lakes Science Center is among the many museums we have visited to take advantage of this great program.  In the picture above, Joey is piloting the Space Shuttle.  The main floor has  a lot of exhibit space devoted to space exploration, while the top floor has a ton of demonstration centers illustrating different scientific principles.  Tony and Joe explore DNA below:

The ground floor leads out to the Lake Erie shore with a nice view of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Goodtime III boat.  Also moored there is the Steamship Wiilliam G. Mather, which we took a self-guided tour of.  Joseph saw a big sign bearing his name inside the steamship and both kids posed by the safe onboard as well:

At 2:15 we got to experience a live science demonstration outside by the lake.  The first part showed the wonders of dropping Mentos into Diet Coke - it was kind of like being at a Gallagher show when he gets out the watermelons - you don't want to be in the front row!  After that, we got to see a liquid nitrogen-hot water cloud.  Our mad scientist spilled some liquid nitrogen on his shoes and got freeze-dried footwear.  Luckily his feet were not harmed in the process.

Before we left, we had to check out the photobooth.  We all took turns wearing Anthony's hat and it was  then that I realized Joe didn't have his hat with him.  Lost and Found didn't have it so we re-traced our steps and found it upstairs.  It was a hat that his Granny made for him, so we weren't going to leave without finding it.

The kids both fell asleep for a few minutes in the car on the way to the Super 8 in Beachwood.  After a quick nap, we got some Chinese food and the kids each got another sucker (I guess that's one of the perks of Halloween weekend - suckers at every turn).  Back at the hotel, it was pajama time and the kids got to watch the first quarter of the Buckeyes game before it was lights out.

Sunday, October 31, 2010

After raisin bran at the hotel, we went to Preston's Hope playground.  We got there before 10:00, and it was still pretty cold, so we bundled up.  Preston's Hope is a great interactive playground designed for kids of all different physical and developmental abilities, with wheelchair access and Braille signs throughout the park.  We were there for the better part of an hour and the kids loved every minute of it.

After the park, we headed over to Rascal House Pizza for lunch - it was very close to our next destination, the Cleveland Museum of Natural History

The Natural History Museum is another great attraction on the ASTC Passport Program list that offers free admission to COSI members.  The last time we were here we just ducked into the bathrooms during the "Parade the Circle" event with our friends Carly and Cliff and their daughter Emma.  Today we were ready to see everything, starting with the huge stegosaurus outside.

In Sears Hall,  Tony met a girl named Mamie that he wanted to pal around with, and we got to see a red-tailed hawk named "Meep", a(n) opossum named "Dora" and a snake named "Nero" - Tony got to pet the snake.  We also got to see "Disease Detectives", a traveling exhibit that we had actually seen in Muncie, IN several months back.  Here Joe posed with E. coli and got to take a giant nasal swab:

We also got to see all manner of fossil and skeletal remains of various species - Tony's favorite part was getting a squashed penny with a skeleton on it.  After checking out the planetarium, we went outside to see more live animals including Turkey vultures, white-tailed deer, American crows, various owls and the like.  Following a trip to Costco to develop our pictures and Smokey Bones for dinner, we rolled back into Westerville about 7:00 PM.  We were all tired, but glad to see Glenda/Mom.  Another Great Adventure!

Cincinnati

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

• Glenda and I had a whirlwind trip to Cincy yesterday.  We got in about 11:45AM only to find there was a Reds game downtown.  After passing 6 full parking garages, we finally got a spot on the top floor of a garage on Garfield.   We got lunch at Boi Na Braza, a Brazilian Steakhouse on the first floor of the Carew Tower.  At Brazilian steakhouses or "churrascarias", you get a coaster/card with a red side and a green side.  If you put your green side up on the table, gauchos come to your table and offer you all manner of grilled meats.  Different cuts of steak, lamb, sausage, chicken - you name it.  If you put the red side of the coaster up, it means "I am about to burst, sir, please quit bringing me food".  The food was delicious,  the atmosphere was great, and the gauchos wore MC Hammer pants.

• After lunch, it was up to the observation deck of Carew Tower.  You walk through a little retail area to get to the elevator.  This takes you up to the 45th floor.  When you get off at that floor,  you get on a rickety old elevator that seems like a phone booth / Port-a-Potty hybrid that takes you up to the 48th floor.  From there, you climb one set of stairs and you're up to the observation deck.  Once there, it seems you can see all of Cincinnati, and a good portion of the tri-state area.

• After taking some photos from the observation deck, it was off to the Cincinnati Art Museum.  They had some terrific temporary exhibions that inspired this whole trip in the first place.   One of the best was "Thomas Schiff: Vegas 360".  This exhibit featured panoramic views of the crazy world that is Las Vegas.  My favorite image pictured the Strip on New Year's Eve with fireworks galore.  Two other highlights were "The American Road" which featured huge neon advertising signs, and "Walker Evans: Decade by Decade", which included many of the photographer's works from the Great Depression and beyond.

• Then came Glenda's favorite part of the trip: IKEA!  We got new chairs for our kitchen table, a clock, a couple of small shelves, etc.  Glenda could've spent a lot more time there, but we did plenty of damage in an hour and a half.

• Our thanks go out to Joey's grandparents MawMaw and Zedu for entertaining Joey this week and to Miss Holly and Uncle Pete and Aunt Tammie for taking care of Tony for the day.  Thanks again!!

Chicago

I just found out one of my photos is being included in an interactive guide to the great city of Chicago.  The guide is called "Schmap Chicago".  They've included one of my pictures of Navy Pier, taken with the Vivitar Ultra Wide and Slim camera.  This Vivitar model is a cheap plastic point and shoot camera with a fixed wide angle lens.  There is no adjustment of aperture, shutter, focus, etc.  I got a working model at the Volunteers of America thrift store for $1.90.  They have garnered quite a cult following and command top dollar on eBay - I've seen auctions as high as $60.  The wide angle lens imparts a unique look with nice vignetting or darkening around the corners - it's very much a lo-fi anti-digital aesthetic.  Some people refer to the Vivitar as the "poor man's Lomo" as it gives similar results to the much more expensive Lomo LC-A camera (a model costing upwards of $200).

Below is a link for the online Schmap Chicago guide:

www.schmap.com/chicago/tours_tour5/p=10712/i=10712_186.jpg

They also offer a downloadable version for iPhone and iPod Touch:

www.schmap.com/?m=iphone#uid=chicago&sid=tours_tour5&p=10712&i=10712_186

Road Food

Indiana saga continued...

Glenda remarked that this is the first trip we've taken that hasn't been planned around food.  Usually, I've downloaded menus from various restaurants that we planned to visit, but for this trip, we decided to take a more "seat of our pants" approach and just find restaurants along the way that sounded good. There was only one stipulation - any restaurant had to offer what my mom always called "food of the region".  Loosely translated, this means "mom and pop" restaurants, local favorites featuring regional specialties when at all possible, and absolutely, positively no chain restaurants that you can find around home.  Therefore, no McDonald's, Subway, KFC, etc.  A regional chain, i.e. Stuckey's or Jack in the Box, while less than ideal, would be perfectly acceptable.  (That's the ground rules set by Mom, that I follow to this very day).

So, we kept our eyes open for any kind of restaurant that looked good.  On the way to the hotel, we saw 4 or 5 places that advertised "fish and chicken" and also half a dozen Mexican restaurants and Hispanic markets.

When we checked into the LaQuinta, I asked "Big Jim" at the front desk for a restaurant recommendation and he offered 2:  Yen Ching which he claimed was one of the top 100 Chinese restaurants in the country, and El Meson Mexican Restaurant.

Mexican sounded good to Glenda, so we headed to El Meson, right around the corner from the hotel.  To my delight, they offered horchata, a milky rice water drink, spiced with cinnamon.  (It tastes a lot better than it sounds).  Tony played it safe with chicken nuggets, but Joey embraced the "food of the region" credo - he tried a beef enchilada and decided it was really good.  My "El Meson Especial" fajita plate was excellent - with beef, chicken, shrimp and chorizo, what's not to like?  Glenda also enjoyed her chicken taco and guacamole plate.  After a full day and full bellies, it was time for bed.

Indiana Journey

Just got back from our Indiana trip - had a great time, but it sure feels good to be home.  I think I need a vacation from our vacation!

Highlights from our first day:

Wed. July 28, 2010

Got the kids out the door around 8:45 AM, headed toward Iindianapolis.  We made a pit stop at Valley thrift in Kettering, just outside of Dayton.  Valley Thrift is the Mother of All Thrift Stores, racks and racks, rows and rows, all neatly organized.  Best of all, clean bathrooms with the strongest air dryer you'll ever hear - like a wind tunnel.  Glenda scored a couple pairs of pants and a shirt - I got an old Polaroid camera and we were on our way.

Westward Ho...

We arrived at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis at 1:00 PM, and the excitement started even before we entered the building - it looked like there were dinosaurs bursting out of the building - cool.  The museum bills itself as the largest children's museum in the world and I believe it - 4 floors of fun.

After lunch in the food court, it was off to the top floor - Joe rode an old carousel all by himself and seemed to have a grand old time.  I took Tony to explore little "Tony-sized" buildings (treehouse, ice cream parlor, etc.).

They had cool displays of toys and games arranged by decade - Joey got to play "Pong".  Rock'em Sock'em Robots and Super Mario Brothers were a couple more highlights.  My favorite display featured Welcome Back Kotter's Sweathogs action figures.

Another highlight was a massive Dale Chihuly sculpture that spanned a few stories, in the middle of the grand staircase - we got to watch a worker clean the glass sculpture while suspended from the ceiling.

There was also a 50th anniversary celebration of Etch a Sketch with some amazing artwork.  Glenda's favorite Etch a Sketch masterpiece was a portrait of Stephen Hawking, while I admired an Elvis homage. One of the artists featured hailed from Columbus and we've seen his work at the Upper Arlington Arts Festival held each Labor Day.

There was an exhibit titled "The Power of Children: Making a Difference" that featured the stories of Anne Frank, Ruby Bridges and Ryan White.  We didn't really spend time there, because the subject matter was a little mature for the kids.  We stopped briefly at the Barbie exhibit for a photo op.  Glenda is the one on the left:

Another exhibit featured rock stars and costumes - the kids dressed up in all kinds of crazy outfits and "played" inflatable keyboards and guitars.  We called Anthony "Eltony John" because of his flamboyant attire:

We all liked the exhibit "Story Avenue: African-American Voices That Teach Us All".  Highlights included an old barbershop and church.  The kids each took their turn at the pulpit.  Joe delivers his sermon below.

Downstairs we met "Rex" the dinosaur - the bottom floor also featured cool model trains and a Star Wars display.  At the gift shop, Joe picked out a "Pop Star" headset that lights up, while Tony got a mini Etch a Sketch.  After all this fun, it was off to the hotel next...