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Category Archives: Travel
Chicago Museum of Science and Industry
Linda flew in to Chicago for a long weekend and to escape her Disney projects. Dani and I met her at Midway with Korean Barbecue tacos from the nearby Dos Ricco’s Mexican and Asian Cuisine. I like the Korean taco, … Continue reading
Bottles and Bottega
Last month Dani and her friends visited Bottles and Bottega to drink some wine and paint a picture. It looked like so much fun I suggested we go there on the evening I arrived in Evanston, and Dani eagerly agreed. … Continue reading
Posted in Art & Sculpture, Dani, Evanston, Wine
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Enterprise Car Rental, Midway Airport
This was the most amazing car rental experience I’ve ever had, and in the place I least expected it. My absolute worst car rental experiences have all been at Midway, where I have slowly been working my way through all … Continue reading
The Revenge of Burgundy
A few weeks ago we got together with Ron and Bev for dinner at The Vineyard, with the shocking result that the Bordeaux outshone the Burgundy. This almost never happens. So when Ron invited us to join Rhett from … Continue reading
MoneyShot!
Alexander Sage Oyen is a young composer of Broadway-style music. He first came to my attention when a few of Dani’s friends sang on his debut album, released shortly after his graduation for Dr. Phillips High School. Since then I’ve … Continue reading
The Night Bordeaux Beat Burgundy
Long, long ago, when I first became interested in wine, there was a general perception that Bordeaux wines were better than Burgundy, particularly when they were aged. Over the decades that I’ve been tasting wines, I’ve come to the conclusion … Continue reading
Great Old Wines at The Chef’s Table
We convened in the private room at The Chef’s Table at the Edgewater for a tasting. I have been trying for a couple of years to get Kevin Buckler of Adobe Road to schedule an extra day when he is … Continue reading
Ron’s Birthday at Scratch
Ron Siegel celebrated his (ahem) 60th birthday at Scratch. It’s the new restaurant on Fairbanks in Winter Park, next to All Fired Up. The place is owned by three young restaurateurs who have done an amazing job of designing … Continue reading
2011 Bordeaux
Last year we attended the 2010 Bordeaux tasting at the Rosen Shingle Creek, and it was a terrific event, so we were looking forward to this year’s version. Quite a few of our friends also attended, so there were 15 … Continue reading
Butter Cookie Taste-Off
We did a butter cookie taste off, buying tubs of butter cookies all over Solvang. Olsen’s Danish Village Bakery was the first of four bakeries in Solvang where we purchased a tub of five dozen butter cookies. These were among … Continue reading
Posted in Dani, Dining, Linda, Los Angeles
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10 Million Words
From the time Dani was a baby until she went off to college, I read to her every night. As the years passed, our reading material became a lot more sophisticated, but we never tired of the routine. Here are … Continue reading
Posted in Books and Writing, Dani, Orlando
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Lang Lang at Ravinia
Chinese pianist Lang Lang rose to fame with his first performance at Ravinia in 1999, when he was just 17, as a last minute substitution. He returned this year for his 12th Ravinia appearance. It was a cool night for … Continue reading
Peach, Brie and Bacon Pizza
Thanks to Kara for bringing this recipe to my attention! It was fabulous. If served to me blind, I don’t think I could have identified the ingredients, they meshed so well. Ingredients 1 lb pizza dough Flour 2 Tbsp extra … Continue reading
Smoke House Garlic Bread
For years I’ve been trying to duplicate the amazing garlic cheese bread served at the Smoke House Restaurant in Burbank, California. Tonight I finally did it. The secret is to make up a paste and spread that on the bread. … Continue reading
Why Are Concerts So Loud?
I’ve never been to a concert that wasn’t too loud. But last night’s One Republic concert set records. Even though we always wear earplugs, our front row edge seats were right in front of the sub woofer, and we were … Continue reading
Oil Painting Class
I took a one week break from my sculpture classes to attend a five day oil painting class taught by Ken Minami. Each day we spent the morning drawing and he afternoon painting. I leaned to use gray paper and … Continue reading
Posted in Art & Sculpture, Evanston
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Goo Goo Dolls and Matchbox Twenty at Ravinia
For the Fourth of July Dani and I took the Metra up to Ravinia Park for dinner and a concert, rather than watch the Evanston fireworks from her balcony. The timing on the train worked out pretty well, because we … Continue reading
Sculpture Class at the Evanston Art Center
This summer while Dani is at work I wanted something to do, so I went up to the Evanston Art Center It’s in the three-story house on the lake, next to the lighthouse north of the Northwestern University campus. I intended … Continue reading
Posted in Art & Sculpture, Evanston
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Jackson Browne at Ravinia
We have a full summer of concerts planned, mostly at Ravinia, the wonderful outdoor venue north of Evanston. We usually sit in the pavilion, but for this concert we could only get lawn tickets, which turned out to be lots … Continue reading
Northwestern University Graduation
Dani graduated from Northwestern University on June 21st, 2013, with a BS degree and double majors in Communications and Psychology. Linda, Nicole and I travelled to Evanston for the festivities. It was an activity-packed few days. We began at the honors ceremony … Continue reading
New York Dining
We tried quite a few new restaurants during our week in New York, and returned to many old favorites. Here they are, in order. Le Rivage This really authentic French Bistro is very popular with locals, but just a block … Continue reading
Broadway Shows
This trip we fit in four shows: three new ones and one favorite. Newsies This Disney show is based upon a movie from the 90s that flopped but became a fan favorite. The Alan Menken score was resurrected and Harvey … Continue reading
Charleston
We spent two days at sea, sailing from San Juan to Charleston, South Carolina. The Atlantic was fairly calm, and the sailing smooth. We had booked Priveé, the private dining room, for Thursday night. It’s located between Toscana and Polo … Continue reading
Puerto Rico
Since San Juan is a commonwealth of the US, we cleared immigration before disembarking. Last time I was in San Juan, Dani and I went into the countryside on a horseback riding excursion, so I’d never really seen the city. … Continue reading
Posted in Caribbean
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St. Barts
St Barts is by far the nicest island port on this trip. It is French speaking, the currency is the Euro, the residents are French citizens, and the cooking is French/Island cuisine. We tendered over to the small marina and … Continue reading
La Reserve, St. Lucia, Barbados
La Reserve The finest meal served during the cruise is a one-time event called the Connoisseur Menu. It’s served in the Wine Spectator branded La Reserve, a 22 seat restaurant that is only open three days out of 20, and … Continue reading
Granada
Granada is a charming port that fits the quintessential image of a Caribbean island. A circular bay shelters a multicolored harbor that rises into steep, green hills dotted with homes. 95% of the GranadaÕs houses were destroyed by hurricane Ivan … Continue reading
Posted in Caribbean
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Colombia and Aruba
We’ve spent a relaxing few days, mostly on board ship, beginning with two sea days that took us through the Panama Canal to Cartagena, Columbia. The shore excursion we had booked sounded like it was going to involve a very … Continue reading
Posted in Caribbean
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Panama Canal
Today we passed through the Panama Canal, traveling east to west, from the Pacific Ocean to the Caribbean. That’s not a typo. The canal actually runs almost north/south, but because of the S shape of Panama, we emerge somewhat west … Continue reading
Posted in Panama Canal
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Ecuador
Panama hats aren’t made in Panama. Who knew? They’re actually from Ecuador, which is convenient, because that’s where we are today, and I needed a hat. Yesterday we had a great day at sea. I spent some time in the … Continue reading