Omaha, NE

Today I drove from Chicago to Omaha. The entrance to Rt.90 in Chicago was blocked due to a truck accident, so instead of hopping from 90W. to 80W. I ended up on Rt. 88 across Illinois.  The ride was fairly pleasant, but lots of roadwork often slowed my driving speed. Once I got on 80 I was able to relax and enjoy the scenery of beautiful cornfields and farms. The land did not look as dry as I expected based on information in the newspaper.

My hotel for tonight is in somewhat of a warehouse area, 1.5 miles outside of  downtown Omaha. Fortunately, the hotel provides a shuttle service, which I gladly took to the Old Market area- touristy spot with restaurants and shops. I chose the Upstream Brewing Company.  Wise decision!  For dinner:  house salad with a thick slab of beer bread; Omaha steak burger with Cheddar cheese and fries; Firehouse Red Lager as a side.  How could I go wrong? (The restaurant and brewery occupy an old firehouse,which actually burned partially due to a fire years ago.)

Until another time, that's it for me and Omaha.  Tomorrow, on to Boulder!

The Taste of Chicago

The Taste of Chicago is the world's largest food festival held each year in mid-July in Grant Park (which is also home to the huge concert, Lollapalooza). This year, 36 restaurants participated, along with specialty pop-ups and different celebrity chefs each day.  There's music, entertainment, activities for kids. I timed my drive to Colorado to coincide with this event, and today was our day to attend.

Admission to The Taste is free.  To sample the food, however, you buy groups of tickets and then use the tickets to pay for food and drinks.  (12 tix for $8) You can buy large plates of food (a meal) for 8 or 9 tickets, or a "taste" for 3-6 tickets.  Generally, the vendors offered different samplings for the large and "taste" portions.  We decided to go with the small plates, and in the three hours we walked around (interrupted by a 30 minute downpour), we sampled a fair amount of delicious food.  

Sabor Latino- Steak Mini Jibarito (steak between fried plantain cakes)

Star of Siam- Potstickers (We did not have the pad thai, even though it looked great.)

Austrian Bakery- Mini Schnitzel Sandwich; Altwiener Appelstrudel (both amazing)

Carbon Live Fire Mexican Grill- Tequila-lime Marinated Grilled Chicken Breast Taco (like being in Mexico)

Dominick's Finer Foods- Watermelon slice to refresh our palates

Iyanze- Hibiscus Sorbet

Pazzo's- Chopped Salad on Romaine Hearts

The Smoke Daddy- Pulled Chicken Mini

Music Tent- soul/swing music.  I needed a West Coast Swing partner!

Then, we had to decide how to spend our remaining tickets.  Jen wanted another taco and a sweet.  I wanted a sample of Eli's cheesecake.  We were able to sample all three.

Carbon- see above

Eli's Cheesecake Company- a small sample of plain

Churro Factory- 4 mini churros

Though some natives of Chi-town groaned when we said we were going to The Taste, it was a great day.  Definitely on the "Let's do this again" list.

http://www.explorechicago.org/city/en/supporting_narrative/events___special_events/special_events/mose/taste_of_chicago.html/

The Great American Road Trip

For years, I fantasized about driving cross country, NJ to California.  The southern route, the northern route.  I followed the blogs of the NY Times writer, Matt Gross, as he drove east to west, often to lesser known spots.  It seemed like such a grand adventure.  I had never gone cross-country in my 20's, but I could do it now that my kids were grown.   Then, the negative thoughts would surface:  sitting for endless hours; the cost; safety issues; the wear and tear on my car; maybe too much time alone. 

In April, I traveled to Colorado with a friend.  We went to Denver, Colorado Springs, and Boulder.  I fell in love with Boulder, which is no surprise to anyone who knows me.  I knew I wanted to return for an extended time.  When I got home, I did some research, weighed out the cost and convenience of flying vs. driving.  I talked with family and friends.  I checked with my mechanic.  Finally, I would take the drive, though ending in Colorado, not California.  Good enough!

Stop #1- Chicago to spend the weekend with my daughter.  Taste of Chicago and the beach (Lake Michigan).  The drive took a bit longer than I thought it would, but overall smooth going.  NJ- Pennsylvania- Ohio- Indiana- Illinois.  Route 80 W. all the Chicago, then route 90 W. into the city.  It's great to be here, for endless reasons.

Rocky Mountain National Park

Of course, I knew that Rocky Mountain National Park would be breath-taking. I've seen pictures; I've flown over the Rockies many times to visit family in California. But, that is nothing compared to the grandeur of seeing the mountains in person. There are tree-covered foothills and smaller mountains in the foreground, with dozens of peaks over 12,000 feet in the background. In the northern part of the mountain chain, the famous snow-covered Longs Peak rises to 14, 259, one of 53 "fourteeners" in the state of Colorado. When my friend and I drove into the park, my only thought was, "Why didn't someone urge me to get to RMNP sooner?"

Rocky Mountain National Park encompasses 415 square miles in the northwestern part of Colorado. The mountain chain itself is 2700 miles long, from Alaska to Mexico. In RMNP, a visitor can travel along the top of the range along the Trail Ridge Road, the highest major highway in North America. However, as you would imagine, the road is not always fully accessible, as was the case for me during spring break. Despite the fact that this winter the mountains had little snowfall overall and guides were already worried about water restrictions this upcoming summer, the highest part of the Trail Ridge Road was closed. While there are limitations to the park in April, the huge plus is the small number of people. Throughout an entire day of driving and walking with a friend, the total number of people we saw did not exceed twenty. I'm sure people hiking into the woods encountered fewer than that.

Shopping in New York?

I needed to get out of the burbs for a few hours, so I planned a Saturday morning of shopping and tango in NYC. Shopping meant: West Elm, City Bakery, Paragon Sports, and the Union Square Greenmarket. Tango: meant the morning practica at Dance Manhattan.

Once I got downtown, I stopped at Pain Quotidien, two doors from the 18th Avenue subway. (Last year when I took a tango class on Saturday mornings, I always went to this same spot, either for an apple muffin to go, or a bowl of steel-cut oats and fruit at the communal table. The woman behind the counter still remembered me. ) Next-- West Elm. As I walked, I noticed a line across the street, women mainly, waiting for a David Yurman sale, "30-60% off original prices". At West Elm, I selected two placemats and paid $3.47. Out of curiosity, I went to the David Yurman sale. There were at least 40 people in the sales area, compared to four or five at West Elm. The least expensive items were "specially priced merchandise", $250-$500. To purchase anything else would have required a small loan.

In the next block, I wandered into Books of Wonder, a fabulous children's bookstore. I happen to be re-reading Charlotte's Web, and noticed a copy in their "old and rare" collection. The book contained an inlaid bookplate signed by the illustrator, Garth Williams. The price: $2500. Another purchase I did not make. I crossed the street to City Bakery to buy their "Baker's Muffins" which are worth the trip into Manhattan even if you do nothing else. They're huge yeast muffins with cinnamon, raisins and apples @$4 each. Yum!

I walked another block to Paragon Sports to use a 20% off coupon I got at the Banff Film Festival. I was not successful there, and that was fine given that the sales tax in NYC would have eaten a significant part of the coupon. I looped through the greenmarket, bought Cameo apples, and admired all the cherry blossom branches (too inconvenient on the bus). On to tango.

At tango, the "shopping" is of a different nature. It's rarely comfortable to be a woman walking into a practica or milonga when you don't know any of the male dancers. Often, and especially in New York, guys want to have a sense of your ability before they ask you to dance. Even though I used to take classes at Dance Manhattan, it's been nearly a year since I went to the practice sessions. I recognized a few faces, all occupied. The best option was to take a seat and wait to be invited on to the dance floor. (Grrrr......no women's lib in tango!)

I wish I could say that my experience at the practica was pleasant and inspiring. But, it was not. The first dancer (whom I had met one other time) began to rub my back and neck while we danced, murmuring "why did we ever get out of bed this morning?" I played along, and we danced two sets together. He was clearly popular, with women circling him throughout the morning. The next guy walked away from me after one song saying that he "had to find someone else to practice with." (It is extremely rude to leave a partner before the tanda or set of songs is over.) Did I already say that egos can get very big on the tango floor? Who expects perfect connection after thirty seconds of dancing? The following partner was ok, though stepped on my toe. I accepted another dance with the back rubber, and kept up my "vamp" tango. At least he was a good dancer. The session wasn't exactly turning out how I had hoped, so during a break I packed up, blew a kiss, and returned home for a cup of tea and a baker's muffin that was worth the bus fare.

http://www.thecitybakery.com/