#5 WISCONSIN: Schlemeel, schlemazel, hasenfeffer incorporated...

Amtrak’s Hiawatha Line runs regular commuter service between Chicago and Milwaukee offering too good an opportunity to “capture” Wisconsin to pass up. Early Saturday morning John, Crissa & I headed off to Union Station to board the 8:25 train to Milwaukee. The one and a half hour ride took us into the deeper snow and colder temps of Wisconsin, my fifth state to visit. I’m 10% to my goal!

We only had five hours to get a taste of Milwaukee and after consulting my trove of travel articles decided to taxi directly to the recommended Beans and Barley (http://www.beansandbarley.com/) for a meal. Upon arrival we were apprised of a 45 minute wait which we took as a good sign. The time passed quickly as we perused the wares of the attached health food store. Finally seated we were not disappointed. This natural restaurant offered up wholesome, hearty breakfasts. It was all delicious but I could practically taste the heat of the summer sun in the strawberry jam with chunks of strawberries despite the gloomy, chill of February.

After a leisurely meal we donned our winter layers to walk the 2 miles to the Milwaukee Art Museum. It’s amazing how two miles can seem like 20 when you’re negotiating ice and slush and fording waist high snow berms to cross the street. We were giddy to make it to the cleared sidewalk fronting Lake Michigan where Crissa & I sang the Laverne and Shirley theme song much to John’s chagrin. See the Laverne & Shirley Opener at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mVKUpT4g5k

Santiago Calatrava is one of my favorite architects and I was eager to see his Milwaukee Art Museum in person. It did not disappoint. The magnificent structure seems to be poised for flight. We circled and finally entered the grand foyer. Our time was tight so we contented ourselves with touring the public spaces and are saving the collections for another day. From the brochures and signage I was very impressed with the accessibility and user-friendliness of the museum and hope to return to truly visit the museum, not just marvel at the structure.

We had just enough time to walk back to the Amtrak station so despite the plummeting temperature that’s what we did. My frequent wanderings through unknown cities is a piece of cake with the maps feature in my phone. How did I survive before? This time our walk took us through downtown Milwaukee and the edge of the historic area.
I can’t say that we got to know the city but we had a terrific introduction that left us all wanting more plus plenty of very fresh air and exercise.

#4 ILLINOIS, 36 Hours in Chicago

I’m a huge fan of the 36 Hour Travel Articles that appear in the New York Times. I religiously clip and file them appropriately in case I find myself in say, Galena, IL (which I did last Sept.) or Accra, Ghana (you never know, it’s a sister city of Chicago, after all!). In fact I have file cabinet of travel articles awaiting the bizarre and quite possible moment when I unearth a bargain airfare to Timbuktu or someone inquires “Hey Elaine – What do you know about ____, ever been there?” But I digress… I’m writing about Chicago. So there we are albeit 22 hours later than planned and this is my very own 36 Hours in Chicago. I don’t presume to recommend that anyone else should duplicate this itinerary; in fact it’s doubtful I will myself.

3:30 PM: Take CTA Blue Line from O’Hare to Downtown Chicago ($2)

5:00 PM: Check into Palmer House Hilton and enjoy complimentary light repast in Executive Lounge

6:30 PM: Bundle up and walk the snowy, icy mile to Navy Pier, be careful to negotiate “Falling Ice”. Admire Museum of Modern Ice featuring Paintings Below Zero by G. Halloran in Millennium Park and rubberneck at hot shot ice skaters. Get lost, retrace steps and eventually end up at desired location.

7:30 PM: Get some culture with Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s presentation of Othello staring Derrick Lee Weeden, a talented actor known to me from his 20 seasons at Oregon Shakespeare Festival. CST performs in a newly built space designed like London’s Globe Theater and is by far the best part of otherwise schlocky Navy Pier. Remain mesmerized for three hours.

+++++++++

10:00 AM: Visit Chicago Cultural Center to view Chicago’s Landmark photo display, pledging to tour the sites when weather is more hospitable and browse Visitor Center. Just miss free entertainment in the lobby. (A previous visit had the same unfortunate timing or perhaps fortunate depending on who or what is there.)

11:00 AM: Browse the shelves at Prairie Avenue Books, a treasure trove of architecture books. A perfect place to elucidate yourself in this architecture laden city.

12:30 PM: Grab a burger at Bennigan’s on Michigan Avenue directly across from the Art Institute of Chicago. I can’t in good faith recommend this chain restaurant but hey – it was just fine, it was freezing outside, we were hungry and we stumbled into it happily and enjoyed our meal.

1:30 PM: Visit the American Gallery of the Art Institute of Chicago making sure to view the stoic pair with pitchfork: Grant Wood’s American Gothic. Admission is free in February rendering our brief walk through practically guilt free. Resolve to return to fully appreciate the 250,000+ artworks when in a more artistic frame of mind.

3:00 PM: Walk north through Millennium Park marveling at the Frank Gehry designed Jay Pritzker Pavilion, get ejected by parka clad security force. Admire reflections in the Cloud Gate aka Bean and note the Ice Art is morphing into a new design as the temperature flirts with above freezing levels. Window shop and surreptitiously watch other tourists along the Magnificent Mile ending up at the Chicago Water Tower, one of the few remaining structures from pre-Great Fire 1871.

7:00 PM: Cap off your Chicago Experience with a dinner at the Asian Fusion restaurant, Le Lan (http://www.lelanrestaurant.com/) . This one I enthusiastically recommend! The food, décor and service were all remarkable. I especially enjoyed the Soba Noodle Salad and we were amazed at the chocolate bread pudding as proved by our fork duel for the last crumb. Le Lan is definitely on my list for return visit.

#3 WASHINGTON, A Visit to Winter

I’m sitting in zero degree remininsing about a trek to the dark side of winter last week . I was in Spokane, WA visiting my 94 year old grandmother. I get up there a couple of times a year and usually enjoy what the Northwest has to offer along with seeing family members. I like the snow, I hoped for snow, I even said that I’d be happy to shovel snow. Well this was ridiculous! Two days before my arrival the area was hit with significant snowfall. The efforts to dig out and get back to “normal” went well Monday but Tuesday brought another 10 inches. Understandably the city’s efforts to keep the roads clear weren’t enough. They plowed the main arteries but throughout the week snow kept falling and they were unable to keep up. The impact was significant. Schools were closed the entire week because buses couldn’t safely negotiate the streets. Several portions of town remained unplowed rendering the streets four wheel drive accessible only.

My Alaska Airlines flight from SEA to GEG took off with the announcement that we were going to go over and see if we could land (!!???) if it wasn’t advisable then we would return. OK, fine. Luckily there was no problem landing. My first true weather related problem came 20 minutes later when I picked up my rental car. I was literally pushed out of the unplowed lot and waved off with a “good luck”. This was not my usual car rental experience. Being from California I don’t get to experience winter driving as much as the locals. I’m happy to be from Sunny (or more accurately lately – Rainy) CA!

Driving across town was snowy and slushy and snow but definitely doable until I turned into the unplowed streets of Grandma’s neighborhood. As long as I kept moving I was ok but others were not as lucky. (see above)

I parked in front of the house and tromped up the walk. These roll-aboards don’t roll worth a darn in a few inches of snow. I rang the bell, knocked and peered in the windows without any answer. The dread that something may be wrong was sweeping over me. Please let her be ok!! I checked on the side of the house and noted the recently shoveled patio but again had no luck raising anyone inside. Finally behind the 5 foot pile of snow in the back there she was. She was perfectly fine and busy shoveling. 94 years old and shoveling snow!

The next morning we were able to get out and run some errands even though the streets remained unplowed. That night 8 more inches of snow fell. When I tried to get the car out I was only able to spin my wheels. I shoveled and shoveled and tried to clear a path but stayed there for a day until finally I was able to get out with a liberal sprinkling of cat litter for traction under the tires.

My hope to drive through Idaho to Montana for lunch was squelched. Next visit in a few months will give me another opportunity for those two states after the thaw.

My flight home via SEA was overbooked due to the pass having been closed on I 90 from Seattle for the last few days. I was able to change to a Horizon flight through Portland and made it back to snow-free San Francisco where I shelved my snow boots until next year.

All about Chicago next....

#2 TEXAS

In mid-January on my way to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico I deliberately arranged a seven hour layover at DFW in order to allow myself enough time to venture into downtown Dallas for breakfast and a walk and to log state #2. That is exactly what I did. With some luck and the help of many a stranger I hopped a bus and by a freak coincidence found Breadwinners which was recommended by a response to my FlyerTalk query. I enjoyed a minimal breakfast which is definitely not the Texas way and went for a brief exploratory walk on the Katy trail. I was truly impressed and would return again if presented with a lengthy layover – an inevitable prospect as an American Airlines frequent flyer. The only drawback to this visit is that my self portrait taken at the restaurant is a black wall. Ah – the pitfalls of a cell phone camera. I unfortunately did not realize this until I was on my flight to Mexico so have no picture to prove that I actually was in Texas. I’m posting this as a visit and I do have a receipt from breakfast but I suspect I will have an opportunity to revisit Texas for a photo op later in 2008.

Be careful what you wish for!!!!

Fast forward to yesterday… John & I are heading to Chicago for a few days with a side trip to Milwaukee planned. (Check back to see if it happens) I booked our flight with a layover in Dallas. My objective was, as always, to maximize my miles flown for the price. In this case there was no difference in fare and the timing worked so there we go. Or in this case will we go? I’ve been monitoring the weather forecasts and was aware that snow was expected in Chicago but really now do I need to read this? “ …Thus a major winter storm, by far this winter's biggest to date, looks likely to produce serious travel problems well into Wednesday. We'll update as new information becomes available.
-Tom Skilling
Chief Meteorologist, WGN-TV/Chicago Tribune”

OK… well, it will probably be fine, right? We get to SFO and gawk at a string of cancelled flights to Chicago on the monitor. A consult with an agent at the Admirals Club revealed few options for us. Our flight to DFW has no problems and our connection to ORD was showing an on time departure. Rebooking would result in a hefty change fee. Well, you’re probably rolling your eyes and saying “What a dummy – who would go to Chicago the first week of February, OF COURSE IT’S SNOWING, what did she expect???!!!!!” Whatever.

So we boarded our flight to DFW and had a great time in the 767 first class with nifty reclining seats. Once in DFW we note our flight is delayed over an hour but still scheduled to go. Again, a consult at the Admiral’s Club is in order. “You’re going to Chicago?” he raised his eyebrows at us “why?” We had the option of hanging around the airport and waiting for them to cancel the flight with the more daunting possibility of actually getting to snowy, slushy Chicago and not being able to get anywhere once there or rescheduling for a noon flight tomorrow. “Noon’s good” I say enthusiastically. So now I get my official Texas photos, granted much sooner than I ever anticipated but it’s all good.

We shuttled to the Hampton Inn in Grapevine and were amazed to see a gigantic Bass Pro Shop Outdoor World looming on the horizon across the highway. It was a ½ mile walk from the hotel and before you knew it we were marveling at polar bear mounts, live rattle snakes, camo bibles, fishing rods, sleeping bags, boats, bison, live ducks, fry pans, bicycles, Texas chili and fudge. Surely this is more entertaining than the airport lounge?

Our front desk clerk recommended that we try a family owned & operated Mexican restaurant in historic, downtown Grapevine so we did. Our shuttle ride gave a tour of Grapevine’s attractions. I need to remember to shuttle or taxi here when faced with a multiple hour layover at DFW, the mall alone would take an hour to walk around. Esparza’s Restaurante Mexicano was more than we could have hoped for. Happy hour margarita’s came as fast as we could drink them and the platters of tex-mex food were yummy. All in all this has turned into a very fun Texas experience.

But will we get out in the morning? The evening news (curiously a Chicago station) revealed that over 1000 flights were cancelled at ORD, 40% of their daily operations. A spokesperson informed us that an event like this only occurs once a year. How lucky we are to be a part of it!

Travel News on Pancake Day

This morning the San Francisco Chronicle offered up two articles of interest to frequent travelers. The first one that caught my eye expounded on United Airlines decision to charge fees for checked baggage. Apparently the first checked bag is free but if you have a bargain ticket or aren't an elite level traveler you've got to cough up for the second bag. Anything above two results in fees for all. I suppose it's inevitable that the higher fuel prices result in all desperate attempts to bump up revenue but this sounds like a potential nightmare. Carry-on will increase, the boarding process will slow and it's just one more headache to endure. Or maybe it will all work out just fine. People will pack lighter, baggage handling will become more efficient and everyone will be happy. Right...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/05/BUTUURV5M.DTL

Flyertalk has no end of commentary on the subject. I threw my two cents into the fray. It will be intersting to see if / when other airlines follow or if this will stick.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=786707

The second SFChron article is a bit more cheerful and positive. Virgin Atlantic is testing a biofuel blend. It this the wave of future or just a savvy PR stunt on the part of Branson & Co.? Time will tell.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/05/MN6VUQIL9.DTL

It just gives us more to comtemplate today. As if a 24 state primary isn't enough!?

An interesting trivia tidbit is that today, Fat Tuesday is also known as Pancake Day in England. (Thank you GG for the link!)
http://lifeandhealth.guardian.co.uk/food/story/0,,2252147,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront

So go out and VOTE and eat pancakes!

#1 - CALIFORNIA

California is a given for me as my home port. No travel required. Here I am on the Golden Gate Bridge.

The Plan...

In 2008 I will attempt to visit all 50 United States of America. Not a bad New Year's Resolution, huh? As of today I'm falling behind on my 4.16 states per month schedule having only logged California, Texas and Washington. I'll ramp up the travel in February with Illinois, Wisconsin, Georgia, Alabama & Oregon in the plans.

To count as a visit I must actually leave an airport. Crossing a border is sufficient but I've decided that I must actually spend an hour in the state. Pictures will be posted on this site to verify each visit.

Check back for details on my progress...