T-day in Rochester, New York

Megan and I having our traditional dinner at Midway Airport


When in Rochester/Buffalo, do as the Rochestarians/Buffalonians do. This is the 10th anniversary edition of Flutie Flakes.


When Megan was doing her x-mas shopping, we saw a bunch of people in these at Brookstone (or something like that) at the mall. Her dad got one and Megan decided to try it out. We thought it was suppose to massage the feet, but it really is a "foot crusher" instead.


This is Watkins Glen, which is near Rochester. It's somewhat like Starved Rock in the Chicago area. On top of this large, steep hill is a really old cemetery where Megan's family has a lot of relatives buried dating from the late 1700s to late 1800s.


Here is the glen at Watkins Glen. Interesting thing I've learned from going to these places is that gorge, glen, dell, and canyon are all different names for the same thing. They define each other...




Megan overlooking the glen with her dad and Marianne in the background




Marianne and Megan on the bridge over the glen


This is pretty much good advice in most populated places...
















Megan and I at the glen. It was pretty cool. It's too bad that the walk below was closed because of ice on the stairs and icicles falling onto the path. I guess it gives me a reason to go to Rochester when it's not winter...


BUFFALO BILLS! This is my 4th Bills game and I'm beginning to think that this officially makes me a Bills fan. I've only been to a couple of Lions games and they are terrible. Plus, I don't live in Michigan anymore and who wants the embarrassment? The Chicago Bears are a good team and I like their style of football. It's all about the defense. But, I've only been to a couple of their games (one against the Bills. All the other football games I've been to have been high school. So...


Tailgating at the CBG (Conklin's Bar & Grill). The menu this time included sausages, hamburgers, and wings (official Buffalo Wings).




Inside this converted bread truck is the bar portion of the bar and grill


I like the superhero Bills fan in red. It's a sporty look.


The bar in the club level of Wilson Stadium




Pre-game. I really like Wilson Stadium because it's very intimate. It doesn't feel like you're a million miles away from all the action, like lots of newer stadiums. Also, the cheerleaders are called the "Buffalo Jills." There's nothing more entertaining than watching girls trying to dance sexy in snowmobile suits.


Jumbotron


Obligatory us pic


If you look at the top of the last pic, you will see this guy. HILARIOUS! If you live in the Buffalo area and know this guy, send this to him.








Back to Chicago. Work up on Monday morning at 4am (eastern) to catch a 6am (eastern) flight to Midway. Landed at 7am (central). Took the Orange Line train to the Loop. Transfered to the Brown Line. (continued on the next photo)


...Made it to my office by 8am (central). It was a long day with lots of coffee.

It was a great T-day weekend. Some time off work. Lots of great food. I would have had a billion pics of food if I didn't think it would freak out the Bell Family too much. The T-Day dinner was great. Michael's Valley Grill had some of the best ribs I've ever tasted. The Watkins Glen Harbor Hotel had a good restaurant that had a good chicken sandwich. Food @ Fisher's Station was really good. It reminded me a lot of places in northern Michigan because it was a restaurant in an old green house. Get the 2-2-2 if you are there. It's where Megan's dad asked me "if I have a hallow leg." ">Max's of Eastman Place had great chicken and duck. The potatoes and appetizers were awesome as well. Then Megan's friend's Sarah and Pete made flank steak with zucchini and baked potatoes. It was all so good and I probably won't eat for a month because of it. I probably gained about 20 lbs. in 4 days. Besides, her family is extremely, very nice to me and her niece provides us with hours of entertainment. Now, I allow myself to think about the next holiday. Saint Nick's Day is Saturday...

WARNING FOR NICK RATHERT!

WATCH OUT FOR THAT STALKER GIRL BEHIND YOU. She was giving you the "googly eyes" all night...

For everyone else: I will be in Buffalo/Rochester, New York for Thanksgiving. If you'd like to see me, your best bet will be to watch the Bills/49ers game on TV. If my luck/coincidence continues, my recent record indicates that one of these teams will end up in the Super Bowl. But, there's only a 50% they'll win if they get there...

The Lone Star

Some old business to take care of: Here's one of a ba-zillion examples of homage being paid to the newest Chicago-kid taking the world by storm. This is on the side of a gyro hut on Halsted, north of Fullerton.

On to Austin, Texas: featuring presidents Lyndon B. Johnson and George W. Bush


WELCOME TO AUSTIN, TEXAS! The best feature of the airport was the rental car lot was directly across from the terminal. In a state with very limited mass transit, it's a very necessary feature. I was in town for the Convio Summit Conference. For those who don't know, Convio is a database company that specializes in software for nonprofits.


Here's my hotel and the place of the conference. It's the Renaissance Hotel in the far northwest section of Austin at highways 1, 360, and 183. Just as a side note, I've never seen so many stoplights on multiple lane limited access highways before...


When did I start traveling in style?


Look at this bathroom. It's four times larger than my current apartment's bathroom. Then again, the room costs $140 more per day than my place. And that's with the discount...


Here's the atrium where many of the activities took place. They also had some stuff down the stairs. The most important thing downstairs though was the pool. Still only 4' deep, but...


"Oh, so how is it back in Chicago? 40 degrees you say... Well, it's alright down here in Austin. I mean, it's mid-November and it's 80 degrees."


Texas State Capitol. It's a massive state capitol. They really do everything bigger in Tah-has.




The odd thing is, everything says "Texas," "The Lone Star State," "Don't Mess With Texas," or "Texas Pride" in Texas. Everything except the capitol building. It might have said it on the sidewalk, but that was covered with cheap plastic mats...


Cool post-modern building downtown. They had lots of great old buildings too, but very difficult to take pictures of in the dark. Two oddities about downtown Austin: 1) they have a lot of loud nocturnal birds; 2) between the capitol building and the University of Texas are several blocks in every direction of 2-to-3 story parking garages. It's a vast wasteland from a future only Robocop could imagine...


Construction site downtown


Some kind of student gathering at U of T that appeared to rate six year olds wearing costumes. I didn't get it. I must be getting too old...




University of Texas-Austin's Main Building


One of main old Victorian homes downtown converted into a business and surrounded by skyscrapers.


That cool post-modern building again as seen through the alley of bars and live music joints.


ELLA! As many of you may know, my cousin Nick lives in Austin as well. So, while I had some time away from the conference, I visited him, his wife Kate, and his daughter Ella. She likes Care Bears and Little Mermaid.




Here's Ella giving her "pretty pose" in her Little Mermaid dress for the camera with Nick in the background.


Ella also made a very demanding and honorable request that I visit her house.


Back at the airport looking at strange artwork. "Keep Austin Weird..." I learned a lot and had a good time.

PS-Anyone have any idea why 7600 people have visited my blog since Sunday? Is it because the Kansas City Wizards player stole my name or the handball player from Germany? Are one of you a stalker that just can't get enough pics and banter? Just curious on my recent popularity...

Obama-polooza

Usually, I let my own photos do the talking, but they don't even come close to doing the Obama Election Rally justice. So, check them out on the tribune:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-081104-obama-rally-grant-park-photogallery,0,647742.photogallery


See that red arrow? That's where Noah, Frances, Megan, and I were. Practically hugging and hi-fiving Obama himself.


I haven't heard how many people were downtown to see Obama win. I've heard 100,000, but that has to be only the people who had tickets. My guess is it was between 1 - 2 million people. They were everywhere.




Here's crossing the bridge security checkpoint for people who don't have tickets.




USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA! USA!




First their was Lincoln and now Obama. Chicago is awesome!


Frances and Noah


Watching the election results on CNN. Did anyone else see Will.I.Am do the Star Wars hologram thing? I thought it was just a blue screen thing at first. But, I guess Anderson Cooper could actually see it in the studio. I read an article that said that CNN needed 44 cameras and 20 computers to generate a 3-D image in the studio. The future is now.




OBAMA WINS!


Noah and Frances on the train ride back home.