VACATION Part I. Today we left for Ohio. Its gonna be wild.

8/15 Tue

Drove to Bloomsburg, PA. Left TJ’s hat for the cleaning people.

8/16 Wed

Drove to Cleveland and stayed in a Red Roof Inn. It was the nicest RRI in the entire world. I didn’t know they had nice hotels. Price was great too. Even took a dip in the indoor pool. Completely stuffed our faces at Red Lobster. Probably not a good plan the day before going to Cedar Point.

We spent a few hours at a small amusement park called SWINGS AND THINGS. Go karts and batting cages. Not bad. We got absolutely soaked on the bumper boats which led to a very soggy day. We were so hungry by the time we left, we didn’t even stop to change before headin out to dinner.

8/17 Thu

CEDAR POINT. The new TOP THRILL DRAGSTER is pretty awesome. 120 MPH in 4 seconds is definitely a rush. However, the MILLENNIUM FORCE is still the biggest, baddest roller coaster in the world. Its out of this world. Not a single line was more than an hour so we were able to hit all the rides we wanted. The RAPTOR is still a good ride.

We also like to see a few shows there when possible which also provides a much needed break between major rides. We saw Snoopy on Ice (not bad) and a rock musical at the Red Garter Saloon. It was crowded and there was only one seat left right at the base of the stage so we said ‘what the hell.’ Little did we know we would be practically in the show. Both of us were targets of the singers at some point which was cool.

8/18 Fri

LONGABERGER. Is that spelled right? Today was Stacie’s day. A small reward for putting up with the boys at Cedar Point. We visited the Longaberger Homestead. Store is huge and the factory tour was ok. We even saw the biggest basket in the world and hopefully the only basket shaped office building in the world. Not much to say about this trip to Dresden, OH except if you are a dude and could care less about baskets, bring a book or golf clubs.

8/18-8/20 Fri thru Sun

Once the tour was over and the baskets were bought, we finally headed to Kenton, OH for the family reunion; the real purpose of coming to Ohio in the first place. The annual reunion is great for catching up with relatives and just relaxing in a lawn chair with a beer and a sloppy joe. Health and fitness is not on the agenda here.

8/20 Sun night

CHICAGO. We arrive in Chicago at 9:30 PM and there is still significant traffic and construction in progress. Crazy. We get to my sister’s bachelorette pad around 10:30 and stay up late playing Euchre. Candy has so much energy, I don’t know how she does it.

8/21 Mon

We roll out of bed at a spritely 9:30 AM and grab some much needed showers. I never feel clean after the reunion. Anyway, we head further into downtown Chicago for some good ole fashioned sightseeing. We visit Navy Pier first and it was a good pick. Very interesting place and centrally located. The stained glass exhibit there is amazing and we loved the fountains in the arboretum. I can’t really describe the fountains but they were really cool. Like little slugs of water shooting from one fountain to the next. There is a similar fountain at the Water Tower on Michigan Ave which is worth a quick visit.

Chicago style Deep Dish pizza at Gino’s East Pizzeria is a must for any visiting Chicago for the first time. It’s a long bake, as we found out the hard way, but well worth the wait. After the gorging, we strolled along Michigan Ave for a while shopping. Too many shops. How many department stores do you really need?

We freshened up back at Candy’s and then went to Dave and Buster’s for some kid friendly entertainment. The boys hit the arcade while we played some eight ball. Here we met Seth, Candy’s bo, for the first time. Cool guy and decent pool player. I had a little too much to drink and couldn’t tell if he was missing shots on purpose or nervous. Either way he seemed better than he was and I think I won every game. That’s always suspicious. I am good but not that good.

We dropped the boys off at the apartment so we could sample some of the adult nightlife. First place was ROCK IT. Good mix of eighties to current rock. Crowd was mostly late twentysomethings to mid thirtysomethings trying a little too hard to be cool. It was fun to watch.

The second place was BUZZ. A more trendy place with a true nightclub feel. Music was good and drinks were fat. They even kept a couple of professional (?) dancers up on the blocks to give the wallflowers something to look at. This crowd was definitely not as desperate as the crowd at ROCK IT but there were some that still just looked like they needed help.

3:30 AM is way too late for us these days. Especially after drinking Jagr Bombs and Lemon Drops all night. Kids. They love to torture us old people. Futon was very comfortable this night.

8/22 Tue

Today we saw THE BEAN. A very large, very cool, very chrome, kidney bean sitting smack dab in the middle of Millennium Park in the heart of downtown Chi-town. If you don’t know what this is, then you have to see it for yourself. Honestly its well worth a visit despite the $13 parking.

We did some shopping in some trendy part of town near Wrigley. Funny thing happened as we headed for our car. We were parked right at the ballfield...Wrigley...and there is a game later in the day. Sold out but we are leaving town today anyway. So we see a small yet motley crowd near the entrance...45 feet from the car. We stroll along aimlessly and then suddenly...the crowd starts to move excitedly. We cant figure out why. Another guy in front of us also notices the crowd...has the same bewildered look as us...except he has a 3 carat diamond in his ear. Oh and he is dressed up a little for the afternoon sun and he built like a Mack truck. Suddenly the guy is surrounded by the motley crowd...apparently he is a Cub player walking to the game! Cool. We still have no idea who it was but it was exciting nonetheless.

Undaunted, we visit another trendy part of town and eat dinner on the sidewalk at a nice bar and grill, Moonshine. Excellent food and a nice finish to a whirlwind tour of Chicago.

Next stop, Motown.

VACATION part II.

8/24 Wed 12:15 AM

We arrive in Detroit to a tired Mom but comfortable beds. You can tell I am was a bad kid...I still come home way too late, even at 35 years old. We spend a couple of very relaxing days in Troy, MI before heading to upstate NY.

8/26 Fri

We arrive in the Thousand Island region of NY for some R&R at my friend John's camp. They call it a camp but its really a small house (cabin) just 50 feet off the St Lawrence River. Lot of summer homes and RVs but a great place to chill nonetheless. Two days, lot of food and beer before we call it quits. We did manage to tour Boldt Castly which is well worth half a day. Absolutely gorgeous area. Jeff Gordon finished 2nd in the Bristol night race so all is well.

8/28 Sun

We make the trek home for some much needed rest. Told you it was gonna be great.

SPEEDBOWL. Some people might call it a day after being in an airplane by yourself without a license and without a parachute. But not us. We put on our Saturday best and head to the Waterford Sppedbowl for some down and dirty racing.

We meet up with 3 other couples to watch hics battle it out at the local racetrack. The Speedbowl always offers some good old fashioned entertainment. Even at $4 a beer, I arm myself with a large cup of, well what else, Budweiser, and some nachos to join the rest of the hics in the grandstand. It was a beautiful night for racing. There were several exciting finishes and a few wrecks as well. Nobody was hurt which is a bonus. Even though Stacie cut me off after just 3 beers, it was still fun. Apparently there is some rule that you should not drink more than 3x the amount of the people you are with. Not my rule but oh well.

FLYING AGAIN. Today is now Saturday and its time to solo again. The weather is much more cooperative today. Stacie did two good touch and gos and then dropped off Gail, her awesome flight instructor. All systems go.

Stacie takes off in the Piper while Gail and I are on the tarmac watching. I've got the video camera going to document this historic moment. The handheld radio that Gail has with her to listen to Stacie's radio calls will not turn on. Oh well, Stacie won't know and she will do just fine.

As she makes her ascent off the runway, we are expecting her to break left and remain in the pattern she just did on her practice runs. She breaks right! What the heck? As she circle to the right, we spot another plane coming in from the South which explains the pattern change. Two more touch and gos and a safe landing, and Stacie is back on the ground. Great job!

Finally made it out to a Connecticut Defenders game. They are the local minor league baseball club. Its a great little stadium. Oddly enough, we got to the game 20 minutes late and still got great seats just 5 rows behind home plate. Crowd was pretty good size but most preferred the cheap seats I guess.

Game was good. The Defenders beat Erie 5 to 4 in a nail biter. The Defender closer had some skillz. Beer was a bit steep but I guess they gotta cash in somewhere.

FLYING. Friday morning we went to Groton Airport for Stacie's flying lesson. Today she was supposed to solo for the first time in a very long time. Unfortunately the weather was not supporting. It was a gorgeous morning but a little gusty since a night storm had just passed through. After a couple bumpy touch and gos, we called it a morning. She will try again in the morning :(

POKER. Not a lot of adventure today. Played a lot of Internet poker today much to my chagrin. It was my first big losing day in a while so that wasn't cool. I did hit another Royal Flush today during a tournament but even that didn't help much. I always seemed to hit a Royal when its least advantageous but hell, its cool anyway.

Since this is all that happened today, you get treated to the play-by-play. Its still early in the tournament and I am only half paying attention to my play since I am getting killed in side games. I have 1450 in chips and catch AcQc in the big blind. Two people call for 80 and the small blind raises to 120. I make it 370 to go and only the small blind calls. Flop comes...

2s 10c Jc

After my opponent checks, I have the nut flush draw and gut shot straight so I bet 200 which is called.

2s 10c Jc turn Kc

BAM! Royal Flush!

Apparently my opponent hits nothing and checks again. I put out a small continuation bet of 200 and he folds :(

POKER NIGHT. So after the hike, headed out to a friendly poker game. It was a short handed game of no limit Hold'em with 4 players. Two of the guys were not very familiar with the game but its easy to learn. Once I figured out their method of play, it was just a matter of catchin cards in the right situation. A couple of well timed straights didn't hurt either. Two hours later, I took the pot. The host had an awesome saltwater fishtank.

HIKING. This was not our first adventure but its the first on our blog. It was a nice short hike through the Ninigret Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Rhode Island. It was a perfect day for hiking and we saw most of it.

We hadn't planned to explore Ninigret. We originally set out to find a hiking trail near Wyassup Lake in SE CT. We tried like hell to find the trail head but it just wasn't to be. I feigned like we were heading to Misquamicut Beach but I really wanted to hike something. We just kinda stimbled onto the Ninigret Wildlige Refuge which Stacie had been to before. It was a good find. Its a fairly new area but it is developing nicely. I recommend it to anyone looking for a few hour casual hike. It has several different areas to explore so there is something for just about everyone.

Welcome to our new blog. Its a little light but bear with us. Its about to get very exciting!