Is Chicago

Described here, this week's three-day vacation trip to the windy city. Both it was, although temps were only cold (not bitterly cold) and only cursory snow was seen. The impetus for the trip was Beautiful Wife's attendance at the Midwest Clinic; since airline travel and status in a family way have poor compatibility, we opted for a family road trip. Weather and traffic cooperated on Tuesday, and we made it door-to-door in about six hours, the latter door being that of the lovely Palmer House. Junior traveled quite nicely: minimal fussiness in the car (we don't do in-car TV or any of that mess; staring out the window builds character) and at restaurant meals. Then again, you'd travel nicely too, if you had a sharp new Land's End coat to show off.

Tuesday p.m. we hit one of those make-your-own-stirfry places and crashed. Wednesday morning we had breakfast at a Corner Bakery (that's a brand name, alas); here we are awaiting food.
J and I split off for a two-year-old's #1 big city attraction: the train! After the 6-minute red line ride (and 12 minutes of watching trains come and go), we hiked to the Hancock Center for an elevator ride up. (J's first suggestion: "no elevator, walk stairs.")
No line there at 9:00; we checked out the city views and sat coloring on the (ninety-fourth) floor for a bit, then back down and on to some evaluation of Michigan Ave. decorations and a trip to the Lego store. Yup, Lego store. Awesome. Then, snack time (for some, coffee time) in the lobby of the Intercontinental (it was toasty; we discussed the bulb ornaments on their tree). Then, back to hotel for naptime, followed by a trip by the bean and supper at The Berghoff. After bedtime, I wandered a bit, happened across Orchestra Hall, chatted up the loitering ushers and tiptoed in the back for a few final Nutcracker movements.

Thursday morning, continued public transit adventures as we tracked down the 146 for a bus ride to the museum campus. Note: Shedd is great at opening on a weekday. We chatted with some fish trainers on the bus, then I mostly pivoted whilst J scurried from species to species, identifying subtle differences among features. Below, sitting on a bench at the Caribbean tank; watching performing dolphins at one of those run-of-the-mill aquarium shows.

Then we bussed back to the hotel for lunch and naptime, during which I caught the el back uptown for a trot through the Museum of Contemporary Art. I particularly enjoyed a collection of Calder mobiles, some bizarre Carrie Schneider with a lot of extra arms, and a brilliant exhibit entitled "Hide and Seek", in which unlabeled art is installed incognito around the museum spaces. Either this is one of my favorites from that collection, or I've been fooled by a disgruntled signmaker.
After nap, a stop at the Architecture Foundation store, then on to the Art Institute for a quick tour (mostly admiring the space, with a quick focus on The Supper at Emmaus and, being John Hughes fans enough, Seurat's Sunday Afternoon, then on to large bowls of pasta. Friday morning, chow at the Artist's Cafe, an hour or two at the Museum of Science and Industry (note: mid morning on the last day of public school classes before break; zoo) and six hours return flight on the interstate.

Candidate Christmas card photos

Happy December and such from the 3.8 Kolthammers of Ohio. I note that I've now exhausted my supply of sweaters, so I'll need to invest in a new one in 2010 lest risk repeating a previous year's photo outfit.

Pfthanksgiving weekend: the report

Thanksgiving week was a rough one. Monday was off work, one of many such days, thanks to a change in vacation policy that requires us to burn more banked days before year's end. Tuesday and Wed were slow, thanks to everyone else doing the same to comply with said policy. And Thursday, turkey.

Before Turkey, though, a trot. This was the first time I've run the big Turkey Trot downtown. Let's call it 2500 joggers, with street closings, chip timing and charity benefits: the whole works. Another benefit: a free low-res photo! (As I understand it, with some connection to the photographer wanting people to order the real print; I don't know anyone who actually has.) As with all such photos, I look reasonably athletic, but the less-athletic folks in the background give a better perspective to my pace. According to Garmin, 5.00 miles at 8:30/mi. That being that, we did various family turkey-related things, driving from place to place. Friday was turkey day at 2211, complete with stuffing, potatoes mashed, roasted brussels, saucy cranberries and dinner guests. Our bird was brined [*] and roasted, bought fresh (that is, cleaned and refrigerated, just not frozen). Saturday involved some sort of walk to the library, and some sort of car trip to the Home Despot. Par for the course.

Sunday morning was our first running group run in some time. Starting at our place, we ran a lake loop (5.8 @ 9:25), then chowed some brunch. Good times. Then a little stretching, naptime routine and a hop in the VW for the 6-hr drive to Chicagoland. Busy highways on a holiday weekend aren't a boatload of fun, but I'll take them over airport delays. The tollbooths each required a ten-or-so-minute wait, but other than that, and a few interchange slowdowns, the only costs were 350 miles on the odometer, 11 gallons of premium, $20 in tolls and an incredibly dry reading of Heart of Darkness (audio books for road trips: highly recommended; check out twice as many as hours needed, since ~50% are intolerable).


View Larger Map

[*] Ohio was part of the 'Brine Belt', according to this nifty NYT map of recipe search popularity by geography.