On June 20th we made the trip back across the midwest to Ohio, taking roughly the same route as we had come except for one major detour to Philadelphia! And also accidentally as far south as Delaware (the first state) before I woke up to discover the GPS had not told Jon to take the turn off that would have led straight to Pennsylvania/Philly.
There we admired the beautiful, old buildings in the town centre, walked briskly to the Liberty Bell (photo op) and ate a Famous Philly Cheesesteak at the diner in the corner of the Reading Terminal Market (thanks to the Mancunian from Detroit who once lived in Philadelphia for pointing us in that direction!)
On our way out we stopped at a park out front of the huge art gallery with an impressive statue and ate the sweet treats we'd gotten from another stall at the market - tiramisu cheesecake and chocolate covered banana-with-strawberry-and-custard-on-biscuit-base! Philadelphia was surprisingly beautiful, the small bit we saw anyway. Even the industrial area we came in through had its charm. I really just wanted to see the slums Bill Bryson talked about.
The following day was Kings Island Day! Finally! The weather was threatening scattered thunderstorms in the Mason, OH area but we were not put off (weren't able to be really as this was our only chance to go). It was a blast! The thunderstorms never eventuated and Jon rode almost all of the big roller coasters with me (after dosing himself up on 2 kinds of motion sickness meds). We rode pretty much everything the park had to offer (except the kiddie ones, and the log ride which I will have to go back for one day!) including The Beast - the longest wooden roller coaster in the world! The attached Boomerang Bay had some great water slides too, good variety, as long as you could bear the bad, probably fake, aussie accents on the recordings while you waited in line for the Sydney Sidewinder or the Tazmanian Typhoon (yes, with a Z). The best ride of the day had to be Flight Of Fear, mostly for the surprise factor as you couldn't see the ride at all until you were hurtling along it!
Thursday we were leaving Beavercreek again, but not before a quick trip to Yellow Springs for a slice of Ha Ha Pizza and a look around town (great arty and eco shops, even a shop devoted to everything tie-dye!), back to Xenia (still no postcards, or railway bridge. Did see a great sign for a tornado shelter though, but didn't get a photo sadly) and a photo by the Beavercreek sign.
Finished packing, said goodbye to 2452 North Knoll Drive, and the three of us hit the rode again.
Monday, 2 August 2010
Monday, 26 July 2010
Raccoons in Central Park test positive for RABIES
New York In A Nutshell (albeit a shell for a really big nut)
The plan was to wake up awfully early on monday morning to start our 11 or so hour drive from Ohio to New York. The waking up early part went to plan but there was a thunderstorm raging outside with warnings of flash floods etc so we went back to sleep for a bit. Got on the road at about 9am when things had dried out.
Drove and drove and drove through, and stopped briefly in, several states - West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey - watching the landscape (and weather and traffic) change before we crossed the quite beautiful Verrazano-Narrows bridge and made it at last to New York aka The Concrete Jungle bka The Big Apple. Or more specifically one of the five boroughs - Brooklyn. There we were met by Kuem's sister-in-law and a veritable feast of korean food before we crashed.
Tuesday
It was looking like rain so where best to go but the beach! Top of Kuem's NY to-do list was Coney Island so the four of us caught the train down there, got wet, took a couple of photos and got back on the train. Was a shame really as it would've been lovely in less inclement weather and to see the fairground there going. Was kinda cool seeing it completely empty and ghostly though.
Stayed on the train/subway all the way to Manhattan, getting off right opposite the giant Macy's store. Raced across the road in the now full-on downpour and into the biggest shop in the world (or so Macy's says). Shopped for a bit, Kuem bought me a gorgeous dress lucky me, then walked the half a dozen blocks to her sister's shop/laundromat (thankfully the rain had all but stopped by then). She took us for lunch at a Chipotle round the corner, a chain that does good burritos, then Jon and I headed off on our own and spent the rest of the afternoon making our way up 5th avenue as far as Central Park.
Stopped in at various places as we felt the need for some AC mainly, including the Trump Tower lobby, Saks Fifth Avenue and the Apple store which was quite an experience. I'm sure it was actually less chaotic than it seemed. Got a street food snack (a hotdog, a knish and a snapple) then caught the subway back to Brooklyn.
Wednesday
During the day we mostly hung out around the southern end of Manhattan. Walked around the Wall St area then over to where the twin towers once were. Currently it's a huge building site, the first memorial tower (tower one i think is the very original name for it) is making progress. There were some banners with artistic renderings of what it might look like in the future.
Found some bagels with plenty of cream cheese to devour sitting on the waterfront with a view of Lady Liberty and New Jersey. Not long after that it started to rain so we headed indoors to Century 21 - a giant, outlet style store that sells designer goods for really, unbelievably cheap prices. You may have heard about it on Queer Eye! Mostly it was mayhem. But we scored a couple of good bargains (more about that in tomorrow's edition) and headed back to brooklyn for a feed of Israeli falafel heros (basically a sub, not quite what we expected).
Drove over to Hoboken, NJ to see Electric Six (!!!) play in the back room of Maxwell's bar & grill. The entrance stamps used invisible ink that glowed under UV light. It was awesome (the whole thing, not just the stamps). Gay Bar was an obvious highlight. The lead guy was a star, actually they all were. The set list was divided into trilogies - the KILL trilogy, the gay trilogy, the dance trilogy etc. Yep.
On our way home we decided to stop by Times Square and I'm so glad we did. To see it for the first time lit up in all its glory was the best. Daylight just doesn't do the place justice at all.
Thursday
We headed to Battery Park at the very south of Manhattan for a better view of Liberty Island. Had briefly considered getting the ferry over there but heard someone say to the people already waiting that they were looking at about a 2 hour wait, hour and 3/4 at best, in the scorching heat no less, which didn't quite seem worth it. So we watched some street performers for a bit and made a rough count of the suckers waiting (about 1000) then had to head back to Century 21 as for some strange reason they only have womens fitting rooms so Jon had some things to return once he'd tried them on at home.
Went and ate a late lunch sitting in Central Park, watching community league softball and a very cute squirrel. Walked around in Central Park a little bit, eating ice-cream as we went.
In the evening we drove over to Queens to visit Jon's cousin Scott's Dad's fruit and vege shop before going for dinner at his sister's korean restaurant, where the food just kept coming. Stopped by the two grocery stores in Brooklyn as well on the way back.
Friday
We'd arranged at dinner to meet up with Scott's sister Hyun Hee (aka Hunny) but that got postponed an hour or so, so we used that time to go to the outskirts of Little Italy where Rainbow Sandals can be found and both got some, yay! (although the impending blisters were not so yay). Then we went back to Union Square, found Hunny and she took us to a thai place nearby for a delicious lunch accompanied by a pitcher of black cherry caipirinha. The place was big but was still packed for the lunch rush. The artwork tried to make noodles look sexy, and sort of succeeded.
After lunch it was way too hot to try to do anything so we hung out in a shady spot in Union Square for a fair chunk of the afternoon before we had to go our separate ways. Our way was to go line up for over an hour for the ferry to Governer's Island and the free concert there with Caribou! They were fantastic (and had gorgeous visuals to accompany the music), as were the band before them, Phantagram. It was held at "The (man-made) Beach" complete with sand, lined with colourful plastic palm trees and the best view of downtown Manhattan which just got better as night fell after a fiery sunset. I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.
Saturday
Did possibly the most touristy thing yet and went up the Empire State Building for a view of the concrete jungle. We even looked at a couple of things through the big binoculars (super zoom!). Heard some Finnish being spoken for the first time - must have heard just about every other language besides that on the subway, and everywhere you go in New York for that matter. Overheard a guy the night before saying that something like 800 languages are spoken in the five boroughs, which is easy to believe.
For lunch we went to Little Italy proper (and Chinatown as it seems to be swallowing Little Italy up from every side) where there are a couple of blocks lined with restaurants that are pedestrian only. Got pizza by the slice from a couple of different places as we wandered around.
Had planned to catch the subway straight to Central Park but as we were going past Grand Central we decided to get off there to check it out. Incredible. It is so vast and the ceiling with representations of the different signs of the zodiac racing across it makes it seem almost as big as the sky. Something was being filmed at the time too, no idea what though.
From Grand Central Station we did a little walking tour first to the Library and Bryant Park (even the rubbish bins look fashionable) then on to Rockefeller Center with Radio City, the GE building and the place that would be an ice rink in winter. Caught the subway onto Central Park, getting off further towards the north end of the park where we met a friendly policeman come tour guide with a true New Yorker accent (love it!). Walked around the reservoir (jogger central, just like in Dunedin) and enjoyed sunset lying on the Great Lawn (Grandad wishes he could ever get his grass in that perfect a condition). Saw the Belvedere Castle, with a backstage view into the Delacorte Theatre below where someone was dying very loudly in a shakespearean manner, the Bethesda Fountain, where beautiful music was emanating from beneath the terrace, and Strawberry Fields on our way out. Caught a yellow NYC Taxi back to Columbus Circle and were about to head home but I was craving a giant pretzel. Couldn't find any street vendors that late at night but instead wound up at the Brooklyn Diner where we sat in seats that the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Susan Sarandon and Bill Paxton had once occupied (along with many others whose names we didn't recognise) and dined on gourmet onion rings and potato chips with melted gorgonzola, an ice cream float and a Vanilla 16 oz Brooklyn Egg Creme before making our way back to Brooklyn.
Sunday
We had planned on going to see the Yankees play at Yankee Stadium this afternoon, but when we tried to get tickets the cheapest seats left were $300 a pop! So instead we met up with Kuem's sister again and her daughter Lydia and had lunch in Koreatown then Jon, Lydia and I headed to Times Square and decided on impulse to visit Madame Tussaud's which was a lot of fun, especially the 4D Wizard of Oz movie (very much abbreviated). Emerged some time and many many photo op's later (so many the batteries nearly died) and returned Lydia to her mum's shop.
Went to check out the kind of sparse Hell's Kitchen flea market just before they packed up (lots of cool antique and vintage stuff as well as the more run of the mill stalls) then explored a bit of Chelsea, walking along the High Line - an old elevated freight train track that is being turned into a park, around the Chelsea Piers which are where the Titanic would have docked, had it ever made it that far, and is now a recreation area with a driving range on one pier and parks on others that provided a perfect sunset spot. Then through the lovely neighbourhoods of Greenwich village with their leafy, narrow, cobblestone streets and out at Washington Park and the Washington Arch.
Monday
Was supposed to be the day we drove back to Ohio but our trip got extended a day so we could go to a museum finally. Too many to choose from but decided on the Guggenheim. Kuem came too and we spent several hours making our way up the ramp. The main exhibition on was Haunted, which began with Andy Warhol's Orange Disaster and finished up the top of the spiral with a whole "floor" devoted to life size projections of a performance of John Cage's 4'33".
Kuem got us lunch (including a tuna melt - had to be done) which we ate in Central Park near the Metropolitan then she headed off exploring and we went and lay on the lawn again until it cooled off a little. Made a quick visit to the foyer of the Natural History Museum just before they closed (big dinosaur skeletons, but not a T-Rex) before walking out through the south of Central Park (tried to find Jimmy Choo on 5th Avenue but it wasn't at the address google said to go to) and getting the subway to Bryant Park to find a spot for the outdoor movie that was showing at sunset, The China Syndrome. It was pretty packed already when we got there, a good hour or so before it was even due to begin, but there was room enough for two more and we had a great view of Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas fighting to expose nuclear power for the menace it is! It started pouring part way through which cleared a lot of the crowd out, but we huddled under our umbrella (which actually started leaking!) and waited it out, for all the 5 minutes that it lasted, to finish the film. Stopped to get a giant pretzel, which turned out to be too salty to eat sadly, before our last New York Subway Ride.
Misc:
Subway love
Taxis everywhere (new style though, not reminiscent of the movies at all)
Languags all around, changing every moment, spanish, yiddish, chinese, portuguese... even Kuem and her sister-in-law chatting away like school girls in Korean
Hot hot heat - though thankfully not as hot as the week before
Sooo much walking
Top toilets: Bryant Park, by far and away. Install some A/C and they'd be hard to beat anywhere
(Not-even-fit-for-a-)Bottom toilets: next to Delacorte Theater in Central Park, although the building from the outside gets an A.
The plan was to wake up awfully early on monday morning to start our 11 or so hour drive from Ohio to New York. The waking up early part went to plan but there was a thunderstorm raging outside with warnings of flash floods etc so we went back to sleep for a bit. Got on the road at about 9am when things had dried out.
Drove and drove and drove through, and stopped briefly in, several states - West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey - watching the landscape (and weather and traffic) change before we crossed the quite beautiful Verrazano-Narrows bridge and made it at last to New York aka The Concrete Jungle bka The Big Apple. Or more specifically one of the five boroughs - Brooklyn. There we were met by Kuem's sister-in-law and a veritable feast of korean food before we crashed.
Tuesday
It was looking like rain so where best to go but the beach! Top of Kuem's NY to-do list was Coney Island so the four of us caught the train down there, got wet, took a couple of photos and got back on the train. Was a shame really as it would've been lovely in less inclement weather and to see the fairground there going. Was kinda cool seeing it completely empty and ghostly though.
Stayed on the train/subway all the way to Manhattan, getting off right opposite the giant Macy's store. Raced across the road in the now full-on downpour and into the biggest shop in the world (or so Macy's says). Shopped for a bit, Kuem bought me a gorgeous dress lucky me, then walked the half a dozen blocks to her sister's shop/laundromat (thankfully the rain had all but stopped by then). She took us for lunch at a Chipotle round the corner, a chain that does good burritos, then Jon and I headed off on our own and spent the rest of the afternoon making our way up 5th avenue as far as Central Park.
Stopped in at various places as we felt the need for some AC mainly, including the Trump Tower lobby, Saks Fifth Avenue and the Apple store which was quite an experience. I'm sure it was actually less chaotic than it seemed. Got a street food snack (a hotdog, a knish and a snapple) then caught the subway back to Brooklyn.
Wednesday
During the day we mostly hung out around the southern end of Manhattan. Walked around the Wall St area then over to where the twin towers once were. Currently it's a huge building site, the first memorial tower (tower one i think is the very original name for it) is making progress. There were some banners with artistic renderings of what it might look like in the future.
Found some bagels with plenty of cream cheese to devour sitting on the waterfront with a view of Lady Liberty and New Jersey. Not long after that it started to rain so we headed indoors to Century 21 - a giant, outlet style store that sells designer goods for really, unbelievably cheap prices. You may have heard about it on Queer Eye! Mostly it was mayhem. But we scored a couple of good bargains (more about that in tomorrow's edition) and headed back to brooklyn for a feed of Israeli falafel heros (basically a sub, not quite what we expected).
Drove over to Hoboken, NJ to see Electric Six (!!!) play in the back room of Maxwell's bar & grill. The entrance stamps used invisible ink that glowed under UV light. It was awesome (the whole thing, not just the stamps). Gay Bar was an obvious highlight. The lead guy was a star, actually they all were. The set list was divided into trilogies - the KILL trilogy, the gay trilogy, the dance trilogy etc. Yep.
On our way home we decided to stop by Times Square and I'm so glad we did. To see it for the first time lit up in all its glory was the best. Daylight just doesn't do the place justice at all.
Thursday
We headed to Battery Park at the very south of Manhattan for a better view of Liberty Island. Had briefly considered getting the ferry over there but heard someone say to the people already waiting that they were looking at about a 2 hour wait, hour and 3/4 at best, in the scorching heat no less, which didn't quite seem worth it. So we watched some street performers for a bit and made a rough count of the suckers waiting (about 1000) then had to head back to Century 21 as for some strange reason they only have womens fitting rooms so Jon had some things to return once he'd tried them on at home.
Went and ate a late lunch sitting in Central Park, watching community league softball and a very cute squirrel. Walked around in Central Park a little bit, eating ice-cream as we went.
In the evening we drove over to Queens to visit Jon's cousin Scott's Dad's fruit and vege shop before going for dinner at his sister's korean restaurant, where the food just kept coming. Stopped by the two grocery stores in Brooklyn as well on the way back.
Friday
We'd arranged at dinner to meet up with Scott's sister Hyun Hee (aka Hunny) but that got postponed an hour or so, so we used that time to go to the outskirts of Little Italy where Rainbow Sandals can be found and both got some, yay! (although the impending blisters were not so yay). Then we went back to Union Square, found Hunny and she took us to a thai place nearby for a delicious lunch accompanied by a pitcher of black cherry caipirinha. The place was big but was still packed for the lunch rush. The artwork tried to make noodles look sexy, and sort of succeeded.
After lunch it was way too hot to try to do anything so we hung out in a shady spot in Union Square for a fair chunk of the afternoon before we had to go our separate ways. Our way was to go line up for over an hour for the ferry to Governer's Island and the free concert there with Caribou! They were fantastic (and had gorgeous visuals to accompany the music), as were the band before them, Phantagram. It was held at "The (man-made) Beach" complete with sand, lined with colourful plastic palm trees and the best view of downtown Manhattan which just got better as night fell after a fiery sunset. I wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else.
Saturday
Did possibly the most touristy thing yet and went up the Empire State Building for a view of the concrete jungle. We even looked at a couple of things through the big binoculars (super zoom!). Heard some Finnish being spoken for the first time - must have heard just about every other language besides that on the subway, and everywhere you go in New York for that matter. Overheard a guy the night before saying that something like 800 languages are spoken in the five boroughs, which is easy to believe.
For lunch we went to Little Italy proper (and Chinatown as it seems to be swallowing Little Italy up from every side) where there are a couple of blocks lined with restaurants that are pedestrian only. Got pizza by the slice from a couple of different places as we wandered around.
Had planned to catch the subway straight to Central Park but as we were going past Grand Central we decided to get off there to check it out. Incredible. It is so vast and the ceiling with representations of the different signs of the zodiac racing across it makes it seem almost as big as the sky. Something was being filmed at the time too, no idea what though.
From Grand Central Station we did a little walking tour first to the Library and Bryant Park (even the rubbish bins look fashionable) then on to Rockefeller Center with Radio City, the GE building and the place that would be an ice rink in winter. Caught the subway onto Central Park, getting off further towards the north end of the park where we met a friendly policeman come tour guide with a true New Yorker accent (love it!). Walked around the reservoir (jogger central, just like in Dunedin) and enjoyed sunset lying on the Great Lawn (Grandad wishes he could ever get his grass in that perfect a condition). Saw the Belvedere Castle, with a backstage view into the Delacorte Theatre below where someone was dying very loudly in a shakespearean manner, the Bethesda Fountain, where beautiful music was emanating from beneath the terrace, and Strawberry Fields on our way out. Caught a yellow NYC Taxi back to Columbus Circle and were about to head home but I was craving a giant pretzel. Couldn't find any street vendors that late at night but instead wound up at the Brooklyn Diner where we sat in seats that the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Susan Sarandon and Bill Paxton had once occupied (along with many others whose names we didn't recognise) and dined on gourmet onion rings and potato chips with melted gorgonzola, an ice cream float and a Vanilla 16 oz Brooklyn Egg Creme before making our way back to Brooklyn.
Sunday
We had planned on going to see the Yankees play at Yankee Stadium this afternoon, but when we tried to get tickets the cheapest seats left were $300 a pop! So instead we met up with Kuem's sister again and her daughter Lydia and had lunch in Koreatown then Jon, Lydia and I headed to Times Square and decided on impulse to visit Madame Tussaud's which was a lot of fun, especially the 4D Wizard of Oz movie (very much abbreviated). Emerged some time and many many photo op's later (so many the batteries nearly died) and returned Lydia to her mum's shop.
Went to check out the kind of sparse Hell's Kitchen flea market just before they packed up (lots of cool antique and vintage stuff as well as the more run of the mill stalls) then explored a bit of Chelsea, walking along the High Line - an old elevated freight train track that is being turned into a park, around the Chelsea Piers which are where the Titanic would have docked, had it ever made it that far, and is now a recreation area with a driving range on one pier and parks on others that provided a perfect sunset spot. Then through the lovely neighbourhoods of Greenwich village with their leafy, narrow, cobblestone streets and out at Washington Park and the Washington Arch.
Monday
Was supposed to be the day we drove back to Ohio but our trip got extended a day so we could go to a museum finally. Too many to choose from but decided on the Guggenheim. Kuem came too and we spent several hours making our way up the ramp. The main exhibition on was Haunted, which began with Andy Warhol's Orange Disaster and finished up the top of the spiral with a whole "floor" devoted to life size projections of a performance of John Cage's 4'33".
Kuem got us lunch (including a tuna melt - had to be done) which we ate in Central Park near the Metropolitan then she headed off exploring and we went and lay on the lawn again until it cooled off a little. Made a quick visit to the foyer of the Natural History Museum just before they closed (big dinosaur skeletons, but not a T-Rex) before walking out through the south of Central Park (tried to find Jimmy Choo on 5th Avenue but it wasn't at the address google said to go to) and getting the subway to Bryant Park to find a spot for the outdoor movie that was showing at sunset, The China Syndrome. It was pretty packed already when we got there, a good hour or so before it was even due to begin, but there was room enough for two more and we had a great view of Jane Fonda and Michael Douglas fighting to expose nuclear power for the menace it is! It started pouring part way through which cleared a lot of the crowd out, but we huddled under our umbrella (which actually started leaking!) and waited it out, for all the 5 minutes that it lasted, to finish the film. Stopped to get a giant pretzel, which turned out to be too salty to eat sadly, before our last New York Subway Ride.
Misc:
Subway love
Taxis everywhere (new style though, not reminiscent of the movies at all)
Languags all around, changing every moment, spanish, yiddish, chinese, portuguese... even Kuem and her sister-in-law chatting away like school girls in Korean
Hot hot heat - though thankfully not as hot as the week before
Sooo much walking
Top toilets: Bryant Park, by far and away. Install some A/C and they'd be hard to beat anywhere
(Not-even-fit-for-a-)Bottom toilets: next to Delacorte Theater in Central Park, although the building from the outside gets an A.
Sunday, 11 July 2010
Beaver, the Creek. And surrounds.
Hello again Blogi
Last time we talked there was a possibility of caverning (ie not caving) and thunderstorms. The caverns got postponed but the thunderstorm was right on schedule.
We left it a bit late to make it to the Ohio Caverns (or the OC as one sign said - is this the real one perhaps?) so instead took our picnic lunch to Young's Dairy Farm. There you can feed goats, get licked by calves, make a fool of yourself in the batting cages, play mini golf and eat reeeally gooood ice cream in an attempt to cool off. Jon had Smores flavour and I had Peanut Butter Cup.
Drove through Yellow Springs on the way, home of Dave Chappelle. There used to be a college there that shut down kind of recently so it still has a studenty vibe to it.
Stopped in Xenia on the way back, home of Gummo! Took a few photos, checked out the Towne Square (which turned out to be a giant carpark with generic shops around it) and made an attempt to find the footbridge over the railroad tracks but the thunder we'd been hearing since Young's turned into full blown storm so that cut our visit short and we headed back to Beavercreek. Traffic was creeping along as the rain was so heavy you could barely see a thing.
On friday we drove to nowhere and descended into the "most colourful caverns in all the U.S." Saw lots of stalagmites and stalactites and learned how incredibly long they take to form. Didn't see any bats though.
Got back and ate Papa John's pizza in the park. Jon had been craving it and it lived up to expectations. They still give you the garlic butter dipping sauce to dip your crusts in. Then in the evening we wandered round The Greene, an outdoor mall that was a pseudo-downtown area - a few different streets lined with shops, restaurants, salons, the ubiquitous "olde english pub" and a central park area with a fountain and a bad covers band. A pleasant experience nonetheless.
I took Jon to a part of Beavercreek he had never been to before - Beaver Creek. I'd seen in on the map, surrounded by the wetlands and wanted to investigate. Investigate we did and we found a walkway that lead to a bridge over the creek itself and what could only have been a beaver scurrying along beneath it! (Although i must admit its tail did perhaps look a little too furry even in the gloom under the steps, but it vanished before i got a closer look so beaver it is and will forever be). Also saw a couple of frogs bouncing about and the fireflies were particularly entrancing in the bushes along the creek. The mozzies weren't quite so appealing.
On Saturday we were off to the state capital, Columbus, for the day. Columbus, I am told, has one of the two biggest schools (i.e. universities) in the country. So it's a pretty vibrant place. Everyone we talked to that lives there seems to really love it. There were a few things happening that day. First stop was the North Market Food and Ohio Wine Festival where we sampled some tasty local concoctions. The Market itself is a regular fixture and was pretty incredible - a permanent, indoor farmers market, bustling and with enthusiastic vendors giving samples of everything from wine jelly to waffles. Tried a Bison Slider too for the hell of it.
From the market it was a short but slow, due to the overwhelming heat, walk to a park complete with a squirrel and dragonflies by a pond covered in lily pads. We sat for a bit to regain some energy then headed down to the annual Parking Lot Blowout - a mini music festival in the parking lot of saloon. I really liked the band playing when we got there (Fat Girls by the Snack Table i think they were called!). After that it got pretty punk, with a few older chicago bands playing that apparently hadn't played in quite some time and gave extremely high energy performances, that were especially admirable given the ridiculous heat.
Pretty much next door to that was Basil, a restaurant where one of Jon's school friends, Lydia, works. She was hostessing so got the chance to come sit with us and chat at the bar for a bit too. After a drink and a nibble (of tofu with the most delicious house-made sweet and sour sauce, i may never be able to eat that gluggy, oddly pink stuff again) it was time to head to Skully's Music Diner, conveniently right across the road. Another good school friend of Jon's band, Tin Armor, was set to open for Ted Leo and the Pharmacists (aka TL+Rx). They were fantastic and the best band of the night (in my very humble opinion) despite the sound guy have some issues including putting a strange delay on Matt's vocals for much of the set. Ted Leo was a bit of a veteran with a cult following and this may have been one of his last shows ever. Everything was just too loud to be that enjoyable though which was a shame.
After the show we got the chance to check out The Tone Shoppe, the newly established studio where Tin Armor were recording their album and living there whilst doing so. That's dedication. Drank a High Life - the champagne of beers. Or so it says on the can. Very handy to that was a Waffle House which we frequented at 3am to satisfy our choc-chip waffle and hash brown cravings; it was a popular place at that hour of a sunday morning. Fueled for the drive we headed back to Beavercreek, arriving just in time for a dawn chorus lullaby.
The following day was, unsurprisingly, pretty low key. Woke up late. Watched the world cup final. Went for a wander by some shops (saw the very empty Circuit City building Jon used to work in). Saw an incredible sun event and wandered some more to the water tower and Jon's elementary school playground. Went with Jon's mom to the cemetery where her mother and brother are buried - the coolest bit was seeing the fireflies appearing over the grass of the graves, like spirits. Then packed for NEW YORK!!
Last time we talked there was a possibility of caverning (ie not caving) and thunderstorms. The caverns got postponed but the thunderstorm was right on schedule.
We left it a bit late to make it to the Ohio Caverns (or the OC as one sign said - is this the real one perhaps?) so instead took our picnic lunch to Young's Dairy Farm. There you can feed goats, get licked by calves, make a fool of yourself in the batting cages, play mini golf and eat reeeally gooood ice cream in an attempt to cool off. Jon had Smores flavour and I had Peanut Butter Cup.
Drove through Yellow Springs on the way, home of Dave Chappelle. There used to be a college there that shut down kind of recently so it still has a studenty vibe to it.
Stopped in Xenia on the way back, home of Gummo! Took a few photos, checked out the Towne Square (which turned out to be a giant carpark with generic shops around it) and made an attempt to find the footbridge over the railroad tracks but the thunder we'd been hearing since Young's turned into full blown storm so that cut our visit short and we headed back to Beavercreek. Traffic was creeping along as the rain was so heavy you could barely see a thing.
On friday we drove to nowhere and descended into the "most colourful caverns in all the U.S." Saw lots of stalagmites and stalactites and learned how incredibly long they take to form. Didn't see any bats though.
Got back and ate Papa John's pizza in the park. Jon had been craving it and it lived up to expectations. They still give you the garlic butter dipping sauce to dip your crusts in. Then in the evening we wandered round The Greene, an outdoor mall that was a pseudo-downtown area - a few different streets lined with shops, restaurants, salons, the ubiquitous "olde english pub" and a central park area with a fountain and a bad covers band. A pleasant experience nonetheless.
I took Jon to a part of Beavercreek he had never been to before - Beaver Creek. I'd seen in on the map, surrounded by the wetlands and wanted to investigate. Investigate we did and we found a walkway that lead to a bridge over the creek itself and what could only have been a beaver scurrying along beneath it! (Although i must admit its tail did perhaps look a little too furry even in the gloom under the steps, but it vanished before i got a closer look so beaver it is and will forever be). Also saw a couple of frogs bouncing about and the fireflies were particularly entrancing in the bushes along the creek. The mozzies weren't quite so appealing.
On Saturday we were off to the state capital, Columbus, for the day. Columbus, I am told, has one of the two biggest schools (i.e. universities) in the country. So it's a pretty vibrant place. Everyone we talked to that lives there seems to really love it. There were a few things happening that day. First stop was the North Market Food and Ohio Wine Festival where we sampled some tasty local concoctions. The Market itself is a regular fixture and was pretty incredible - a permanent, indoor farmers market, bustling and with enthusiastic vendors giving samples of everything from wine jelly to waffles. Tried a Bison Slider too for the hell of it.
From the market it was a short but slow, due to the overwhelming heat, walk to a park complete with a squirrel and dragonflies by a pond covered in lily pads. We sat for a bit to regain some energy then headed down to the annual Parking Lot Blowout - a mini music festival in the parking lot of saloon. I really liked the band playing when we got there (Fat Girls by the Snack Table i think they were called!). After that it got pretty punk, with a few older chicago bands playing that apparently hadn't played in quite some time and gave extremely high energy performances, that were especially admirable given the ridiculous heat.
Pretty much next door to that was Basil, a restaurant where one of Jon's school friends, Lydia, works. She was hostessing so got the chance to come sit with us and chat at the bar for a bit too. After a drink and a nibble (of tofu with the most delicious house-made sweet and sour sauce, i may never be able to eat that gluggy, oddly pink stuff again) it was time to head to Skully's Music Diner, conveniently right across the road. Another good school friend of Jon's band, Tin Armor, was set to open for Ted Leo and the Pharmacists (aka TL+Rx). They were fantastic and the best band of the night (in my very humble opinion) despite the sound guy have some issues including putting a strange delay on Matt's vocals for much of the set. Ted Leo was a bit of a veteran with a cult following and this may have been one of his last shows ever. Everything was just too loud to be that enjoyable though which was a shame.
After the show we got the chance to check out The Tone Shoppe, the newly established studio where Tin Armor were recording their album and living there whilst doing so. That's dedication. Drank a High Life - the champagne of beers. Or so it says on the can. Very handy to that was a Waffle House which we frequented at 3am to satisfy our choc-chip waffle and hash brown cravings; it was a popular place at that hour of a sunday morning. Fueled for the drive we headed back to Beavercreek, arriving just in time for a dawn chorus lullaby.
The following day was, unsurprisingly, pretty low key. Woke up late. Watched the world cup final. Went for a wander by some shops (saw the very empty Circuit City building Jon used to work in). Saw an incredible sun event and wandered some more to the water tower and Jon's elementary school playground. Went with Jon's mom to the cemetery where her mother and brother are buried - the coolest bit was seeing the fireflies appearing over the grass of the graves, like spirits. Then packed for NEW YORK!!
Wednesday, 7 July 2010
Jon, Jon and John
Had the chance to meet up with a couple of Jon's school friends again over the last couple of days (both called Jon/John).
With the first Jon on Monday we went for lunch at Marion's pizza accompanied by giant, sweeter than sweet root beer. Another high school friend, Alanna, joined us briefly too. Afterward we got ice cream (Ritter's "frozen custard" with smashed up Reese's cups and Heath toffee bar, tasted a lot like Daim or Pixie Caramel maybe) and walked through a neighbourhood by the "Land Lab" and came out at Jon's high school which unfortunately was locked up for summer.
In the afternoon Jon (JB) and I checked out the local mall and it's lovely air-conditioning (it was definitely over 30 degrees outside). The mall was nice as malls go - two open stories with lots of natural light and not many people.
Fourth of July had officially passed but the celebrations weren't over yet. That evening we went to the very impressive fireworks display at nearby Centerville (which also has a very cute, somewhat quaint town centre). It went for at least 20 mins and was loud enough to keep setting of nearby car alarms. We kept thinking "this will probably be the finale" no. "this must be the finale" no. still going. "ok this has to be it" wrong again. They just kept coming. Even after what had to be the actual finale there were a few more bangs. The music had stopped and the floodlights had literally come back on before the final few were let off.
Apparently Centerville and Beavercreek have a bit of a rivalry (especially in high school terms i guess). Centerville definitely won the fireworks battle. Also the cute downtown competition.
The following day we went into downtown dayton (Jon had to go to the sheriff's office) and I sat under a tree outside Sinclair Community College. Found out later that they take the temperature from there and at around the time I was sitting there it registered as being 94 F which is close to 35 degrees C. So hot.
Went to the U.S. Air Force museum, probably the biggest attraction of the Dayton area. Watched a great documentary at the IMAX there about the Hubble telescope. Ate some tater tots. That's worth mentioning, right?!
Had a look round the many planes on display, from small to the very big, new to the oldest of the old as far as planes go. The reason plane stuff is big here is because the Wright brothers were from around here. Drove past their original bicycle shop in Dayton in fact. Their original Flyer isn't here but there was a replica that was possibly made with the help of a Wright himself. Most of the museum was war related though (a given since it is an Air Force museum) which I'm not big on.
In the evening we headed back into Dayton again to meet up with the next John and go see a film (Harry Brown - recommend it, though it's pretty full on) at the NEON theatre which shows more festival style films for maybe half the price! I liked it a lot. It's in the Oregon district which is sort of the "trendy" bit of Dayton I think. Went for a drink and nachos after the movie at a place down the street with a courtyard out back, which was less seedy looking than indoors. I got to drive back to Beavercreek afterwards! That was a first, pretty bizarre but we made it home safely.
Today we've had a pretty low key day. Went back to the mall after a late start (which included bagels and donuts) for Jon to do some shoe and jean shopping. Tried to find Beavercreek postcards but as yet have been unsuccessful. It's not exactly a tourist hotspot. Then this evening Kuem and I went swimming at the YMCA. Felt good to be in the water - I don't remember the last time I swum lengths. There was even a spa, sauna and steam room to relax in after.
Tomorrow I think we're going to look at some caverns. Maybe we'll get a thunderstorm soon.
With the first Jon on Monday we went for lunch at Marion's pizza accompanied by giant, sweeter than sweet root beer. Another high school friend, Alanna, joined us briefly too. Afterward we got ice cream (Ritter's "frozen custard" with smashed up Reese's cups and Heath toffee bar, tasted a lot like Daim or Pixie Caramel maybe) and walked through a neighbourhood by the "Land Lab" and came out at Jon's high school which unfortunately was locked up for summer.
In the afternoon Jon (JB) and I checked out the local mall and it's lovely air-conditioning (it was definitely over 30 degrees outside). The mall was nice as malls go - two open stories with lots of natural light and not many people.
Fourth of July had officially passed but the celebrations weren't over yet. That evening we went to the very impressive fireworks display at nearby Centerville (which also has a very cute, somewhat quaint town centre). It went for at least 20 mins and was loud enough to keep setting of nearby car alarms. We kept thinking "this will probably be the finale" no. "this must be the finale" no. still going. "ok this has to be it" wrong again. They just kept coming. Even after what had to be the actual finale there were a few more bangs. The music had stopped and the floodlights had literally come back on before the final few were let off.
Apparently Centerville and Beavercreek have a bit of a rivalry (especially in high school terms i guess). Centerville definitely won the fireworks battle. Also the cute downtown competition.
The following day we went into downtown dayton (Jon had to go to the sheriff's office) and I sat under a tree outside Sinclair Community College. Found out later that they take the temperature from there and at around the time I was sitting there it registered as being 94 F which is close to 35 degrees C. So hot.
Went to the U.S. Air Force museum, probably the biggest attraction of the Dayton area. Watched a great documentary at the IMAX there about the Hubble telescope. Ate some tater tots. That's worth mentioning, right?!
Had a look round the many planes on display, from small to the very big, new to the oldest of the old as far as planes go. The reason plane stuff is big here is because the Wright brothers were from around here. Drove past their original bicycle shop in Dayton in fact. Their original Flyer isn't here but there was a replica that was possibly made with the help of a Wright himself. Most of the museum was war related though (a given since it is an Air Force museum) which I'm not big on.
In the evening we headed back into Dayton again to meet up with the next John and go see a film (Harry Brown - recommend it, though it's pretty full on) at the NEON theatre which shows more festival style films for maybe half the price! I liked it a lot. It's in the Oregon district which is sort of the "trendy" bit of Dayton I think. Went for a drink and nachos after the movie at a place down the street with a courtyard out back, which was less seedy looking than indoors. I got to drive back to Beavercreek afterwards! That was a first, pretty bizarre but we made it home safely.
Today we've had a pretty low key day. Went back to the mall after a late start (which included bagels and donuts) for Jon to do some shoe and jean shopping. Tried to find Beavercreek postcards but as yet have been unsuccessful. It's not exactly a tourist hotspot. Then this evening Kuem and I went swimming at the YMCA. Felt good to be in the water - I don't remember the last time I swum lengths. There was even a spa, sauna and steam room to relax in after.
Tomorrow I think we're going to look at some caverns. Maybe we'll get a thunderstorm soon.
Sunday, 4 July 2010
Fireworks and Fireflies
Yeah fireflies! Lots of them. Might try catch some in a jar some time.
So first impressions of Beavercreek. It's really hot firstly. Not quite overwhelmingly, intolerably hot but close. Everything is very open and green. It's not very built up at all of what I've seen. The houses remind me a little of Finland, probably mostly because there are few to no fences or hedges separating the properties.
We were super tired when we arrived (not surprisingly given that we'd each slept no more, and likely less, than around 2-3 interrupted hours the night before) so had a tour of the house, some lunch and pretty much crashed.
Before dinner we decided to go for a short walk to stretch our legs. Headed to the park around the corner and immediately someone calls out to Jon from the other side of the park "Bakos! Get over here!" So we got over there to find a 4th of July BBQ going on with a whole bunch of Jon's good high school friends there! Beavercreek aye!? So that was fun and we stayed there quite a while, sweating it out in the sun before someone noticed a nice shade-giving tree nearby. Walked back as the sun was getting low and the temperature was about perfect, had some dinner then went to Rotary Park to watch some fireworks, of course! And eat a giant pretzel with cheese dipping sauce.
So first impressions of Beavercreek. It's really hot firstly. Not quite overwhelmingly, intolerably hot but close. Everything is very open and green. It's not very built up at all of what I've seen. The houses remind me a little of Finland, probably mostly because there are few to no fences or hedges separating the properties.
We were super tired when we arrived (not surprisingly given that we'd each slept no more, and likely less, than around 2-3 interrupted hours the night before) so had a tour of the house, some lunch and pretty much crashed.
Before dinner we decided to go for a short walk to stretch our legs. Headed to the park around the corner and immediately someone calls out to Jon from the other side of the park "Bakos! Get over here!" So we got over there to find a 4th of July BBQ going on with a whole bunch of Jon's good high school friends there! Beavercreek aye!? So that was fun and we stayed there quite a while, sweating it out in the sun before someone noticed a nice shade-giving tree nearby. Walked back as the sun was getting low and the temperature was about perfect, had some dinner then went to Rotary Park to watch some fireworks, of course! And eat a giant pretzel with cheese dipping sauce.
The Real O.C.
On our last day in LA for now Hea Sun took us to THE as-seen-on-tv Laguna Beach! Before that though we had a superb breakfast spread at Hea Sun's: Fresh tropical fruit salad and bagels - raisin and cinnamon, everything and jalapeno varieties!
The day started out pretty bleak but the sun soon came out in full force and we took advantage, sun bathing on the beach and going for a dip/playing in the waves. Strolled around a little bit of the town which was very cute and beachy in an upmarket kind of way. It was also very artsy with lots of little galleries and art on the street banners instead of the usual advertising which was a welcome relief.
Stopped for a scrumptious late lunch at 230 forest avenue then headed back on the 405 past the multitudes of homogeneous spanish style villas covering the hillsides and over to beverly hills again. This time we walked around instead of just driving past. Mostly walked around Rodeo Drive where all the very upmarket shops are. Touched a $7000 Michael Kors creation (that's around $10,000 NZD). Peered through the window of Jimmy Choo as we got there after they'd closed.
Then we took a drive through the leafy residential areas of Beverly Hills and Bel Air. Wow. And that's only the places you can see; drove past lots of sprawling properties with large hedges so you can't see the house/mansion from the road. Still didn't see any celebrities and didn't really know where to look for them (we weren't quite lame/desperate enough to purchase a Map of the Stars brochure :p)
And that was pretty much it for LA. A city where great opulence and beauty sits seemingly all too easily alongside shabby storefronts and the many homeless queueing for thin looking soup.
Caught the "red-eye" departing at 11:59pm to Chicago and then (delayed) on to Dayton, Ohio where Kuem met us and I am currently at number 2452 North Knoll Drive, Beavercreek, Ohio. How about that.
The day started out pretty bleak but the sun soon came out in full force and we took advantage, sun bathing on the beach and going for a dip/playing in the waves. Strolled around a little bit of the town which was very cute and beachy in an upmarket kind of way. It was also very artsy with lots of little galleries and art on the street banners instead of the usual advertising which was a welcome relief.
Stopped for a scrumptious late lunch at 230 forest avenue then headed back on the 405 past the multitudes of homogeneous spanish style villas covering the hillsides and over to beverly hills again. This time we walked around instead of just driving past. Mostly walked around Rodeo Drive where all the very upmarket shops are. Touched a $7000 Michael Kors creation (that's around $10,000 NZD). Peered through the window of Jimmy Choo as we got there after they'd closed.
Then we took a drive through the leafy residential areas of Beverly Hills and Bel Air. Wow. And that's only the places you can see; drove past lots of sprawling properties with large hedges so you can't see the house/mansion from the road. Still didn't see any celebrities and didn't really know where to look for them (we weren't quite lame/desperate enough to purchase a Map of the Stars brochure :p)
And that was pretty much it for LA. A city where great opulence and beauty sits seemingly all too easily alongside shabby storefronts and the many homeless queueing for thin looking soup.
Caught the "red-eye" departing at 11:59pm to Chicago and then (delayed) on to Dayton, Ohio where Kuem met us and I am currently at number 2452 North Knoll Drive, Beavercreek, Ohio. How about that.
Friday, 2 July 2010
Gettyn jiggy with it
We have had a smashing couple of days in Los Angeles, California. The weather really came to the party too.
Been figuring out the buses and yesterday went to the Getty Centre (after a quick foray into an American Supermarket which was surprisingly pleasant). I mean Center. It was, in a word, amazing. The building was gorgeous, the views were spectacular and the art was incredible. We only had a few hours to spend there but spent a while at the current changing exhibits: The art of Gerome; and Engaged Observers (documentary photography exhibitions since 1960). Really beautiful/engaging/inspiring stuff. Other highlights were the room full of Monet, Van Gogh, Cezanne and Degas originals, the garden (which is considered an art installation in itself) and the gallery of French decorative arts (i.e. really ornate furniture).
Got to see UCLA campus on the bus on the way past which is a very attractive campus from what i saw. Navigated the bus home again and cooked dinner for Hea Sun (stuffed eggplant and cous cous salad - yum)
Today Jon went to get a hair cut at a place just around the corner. I mention this because the place was really cool! took a few photos so might insert them here at some point (not that i ever succeeded at that before so don't hold your breath). The place was called Floyd's barbershop and the walls were plastered with band posters or had murals painted across them. All the hairdressers "tool-kits" were covered in different stickers and whatever else they wanted.
Next thing on the list was to get some sunnies (jon left his in NZ and had been suffering without them) so headed back to the 3rd st promenade to urban outfitters where he found a sweet pair for $10 and I got a dress that i thought was going to be $30 on sale but when i went to pay for it it was only $9.99! bonus! plus tax of course, such a nuisance that.
Stopped and got Pinkberry frozen yoghurt (pomegranate flavour with LOTS of toppings) then headed along Main St and back down to the beach. There were at least 10 times as many people there today compared with wednesday when the weather wasn't so flash. Paddled along the other edge of the Pacific (got a little wetter than intended thanks to a surprise wave).
Caught the bus back to Hea Sun's as the plan was to head over by beverly hills, hollywood etc. Drove past several iconic places (the viper room, Wilshire(?) hotel from pretty woman, along rodeo drive...) and headed up to the Griffith Observatory from where there was a view of the Hollywood sign as well as most of the rest of the city along with some interesting astronomy themed displays. Could easily spend a few hours there, but it had taken us an hour to get there due to traffic plus we hadn't got back from Santa Monica as early as planned and had dinner reservations in West Hollywood. Passed Paramount Pictures on the way to the restaurant, where we met up with Hea Sun's brother George and had a delicious dinner. I have now eaten barramundi. And yellow/gold beetroot (or "beets"). And tasty tasty Chocolate Brioche Bread Pudding with creamy vanilla bean gelato. Mm-mmm.
And now for a quiet rest of the friday night in in LA.
Been figuring out the buses and yesterday went to the Getty Centre (after a quick foray into an American Supermarket which was surprisingly pleasant). I mean Center. It was, in a word, amazing. The building was gorgeous, the views were spectacular and the art was incredible. We only had a few hours to spend there but spent a while at the current changing exhibits: The art of Gerome; and Engaged Observers (documentary photography exhibitions since 1960). Really beautiful/engaging/inspiring stuff. Other highlights were the room full of Monet, Van Gogh, Cezanne and Degas originals, the garden (which is considered an art installation in itself) and the gallery of French decorative arts (i.e. really ornate furniture).
Got to see UCLA campus on the bus on the way past which is a very attractive campus from what i saw. Navigated the bus home again and cooked dinner for Hea Sun (stuffed eggplant and cous cous salad - yum)
Today Jon went to get a hair cut at a place just around the corner. I mention this because the place was really cool! took a few photos so might insert them here at some point (not that i ever succeeded at that before so don't hold your breath). The place was called Floyd's barbershop and the walls were plastered with band posters or had murals painted across them. All the hairdressers "tool-kits" were covered in different stickers and whatever else they wanted.
Next thing on the list was to get some sunnies (jon left his in NZ and had been suffering without them) so headed back to the 3rd st promenade to urban outfitters where he found a sweet pair for $10 and I got a dress that i thought was going to be $30 on sale but when i went to pay for it it was only $9.99! bonus! plus tax of course, such a nuisance that.
Stopped and got Pinkberry frozen yoghurt (pomegranate flavour with LOTS of toppings) then headed along Main St and back down to the beach. There were at least 10 times as many people there today compared with wednesday when the weather wasn't so flash. Paddled along the other edge of the Pacific (got a little wetter than intended thanks to a surprise wave).
Caught the bus back to Hea Sun's as the plan was to head over by beverly hills, hollywood etc. Drove past several iconic places (the viper room, Wilshire(?) hotel from pretty woman, along rodeo drive...) and headed up to the Griffith Observatory from where there was a view of the Hollywood sign as well as most of the rest of the city along with some interesting astronomy themed displays. Could easily spend a few hours there, but it had taken us an hour to get there due to traffic plus we hadn't got back from Santa Monica as early as planned and had dinner reservations in West Hollywood. Passed Paramount Pictures on the way to the restaurant, where we met up with Hea Sun's brother George and had a delicious dinner. I have now eaten barramundi. And yellow/gold beetroot (or "beets"). And tasty tasty Chocolate Brioche Bread Pudding with creamy vanilla bean gelato. Mm-mmm.
And now for a quiet rest of the friday night in in LA.
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