Sunday, July 15, 2007
Day 47
I woke up feeling tired and lethargic today. I decided to go for a run to sort myself out. I did 35 minutes on a really boring road. To create a bit of excitement, I ran two laps around a cinema carpark. Thrilling stuff here in Milwaukee.
I arrived back to the hotel in time to watch the last few kilometers of Tour stage eight. Rasmussen rode away from everyone into the yellow jersey and a stage win to boot. Mayo made a move to finish second and jump up the GC. A lot of the favourites crapped out and lost time. But it's still early and a lot can happen (or go wrong in two weeks).
We left the hotel and started our long drive to St. Louis. We had to drive all the way across and down Illinois. First we got hit with more tolls on 94 (the road that goes north - south but is marked east - west). Needless to say we were happy to see the back of Chicago and all of it's bitterness. What we saw the rest of the six hour drive along 55S was corn stalks. That is it. Corn stalks. Nothing else.
We stopped once to eat, a second time to buy petrol and then outside of Divernon to have a look at Route 66. There isn't much left of it but you can see glimpses of it now and again running parallel to 55.
Paulo took the keys and we drove a short stretch of 66 between Divernon and Girard. Just to say that we did it. Unfortunately, the only thing about 66 (during this bit) is that you have a closer look at the corn stalks. That is it.
We continued along 55S all the way into St Louis. Unfortunately, we couldn't find any visitor centers before or after the state line. We took 170N, then 270E and back down 55S in an effort to find a visitor center. But no such luck. After looking for over thirty minutes, we found a Days Inn in Collinsville, Illinois. We checked in and then crossed the street to have dinner at Ruby Tuesdays (or Goodbye as we were calling it).
The evening finished with a bit of wifi time and and an all time classic on the telly - Ace Ventura. Take care then, bye bye now.
I arrived back to the hotel in time to watch the last few kilometers of Tour stage eight. Rasmussen rode away from everyone into the yellow jersey and a stage win to boot. Mayo made a move to finish second and jump up the GC. A lot of the favourites crapped out and lost time. But it's still early and a lot can happen (or go wrong in two weeks).
We left the hotel and started our long drive to St. Louis. We had to drive all the way across and down Illinois. First we got hit with more tolls on 94 (the road that goes north - south but is marked east - west). Needless to say we were happy to see the back of Chicago and all of it's bitterness. What we saw the rest of the six hour drive along 55S was corn stalks. That is it. Corn stalks. Nothing else.
We stopped once to eat, a second time to buy petrol and then outside of Divernon to have a look at Route 66. There isn't much left of it but you can see glimpses of it now and again running parallel to 55.
Paulo took the keys and we drove a short stretch of 66 between Divernon and Girard. Just to say that we did it. Unfortunately, the only thing about 66 (during this bit) is that you have a closer look at the corn stalks. That is it.
We continued along 55S all the way into St Louis. Unfortunately, we couldn't find any visitor centers before or after the state line. We took 170N, then 270E and back down 55S in an effort to find a visitor center. But no such luck. After looking for over thirty minutes, we found a Days Inn in Collinsville, Illinois. We checked in and then crossed the street to have dinner at Ruby Tuesdays (or Goodbye as we were calling it).
The evening finished with a bit of wifi time and and an all time classic on the telly - Ace Ventura. Take care then, bye bye now.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Day 46
Having survived Friday the 13th and Chicago, it was time to move on. We woke up early, packed up and headed out on 58. Along the way we found Artemis Restaurant and stopped for breakie. The food was OK, the coffee was really good but the service was crap. I suppose you can't have it all.
Leaving the diner, we got on to 94W (which actually runs north to south) and drove to Milwaukee.
We checked into our hotel and drove into the city, so we could have a look around before the Brewers game. We parked up and got onto one of the free trolley's that goes around the center of the city in a loop. We joined on the east end and went across the river to the west end. Both of us were a bit hank so we got off and started walking down State Street.
After ten minutes, we came across a quirky little sub shop called Ebert & Gerbert. There were cool tunes playing, first a 60s station, then a 70s station. The staff were friendly - they loved Paulo's accent. And the subs were amazing. They were proper old school fare. They even cut out the middle of the bread, flatten it and place it on top of the sub before they wrap it.
Feeling full and a bit energised, we had a quick stroll round the Historic District. But there wasn't much happening - everything was closed.
When we made our way back to the car and drove to Miller Park, we realised why. I think that every single person in Milwaukee was in the carpark of the stadium and tailgating. For those Irish readers, tailgating in America means drinking copious amounts of beer from coolers, kegs, boots of cars - wherever it will fit. And of course eating enormous quantities of burgers and dogs that everyone makes themselves.
I have seen tailgating in the past but this was a whole different level. We parked up and legged it into the stadium to buy tickets. We settled on a pair of seats next to each other in the nose bleed section and with an obstructed view. It was either them or stand. "How bad could the seats be?", said Paulo on the way inside.
We had a stroll around, I bought a proper old school Brew Crew cap and then we went to watch the Rockies take batting practice from behind first base. Unfortunately, no foul balls came our way.
We got a beer and some food and made our way to our seats. It's just as well we arrived to the park early. First we had to go up two flights of stairs. And then we had to get an escalator that was so long and went so far up, I thought that we might be greeted and shown to our seats by St. Peter at the top.
They weren't the highest seats in the house but they were pretty close. Right next to the right field foul line. And the obstruction was a high railing. Even Paulo couldn't see over it.
They gave us a good vantage point to watch all the players warm up.
We stayed there for 3 or 4 innings and then moved up to some empty seats for the remainder of the game. It was a pretty slow game and when the ninth inning ended it was still 1-1.
One highlight though, was the sausage race at the end of the sixth inning. In a hard fought battle, the Mexican guy (with the brown hat) won.
The Brew Crew delivered in the bottom of the tenth though. Tony Graffanino hit a blooper into center field that dropped for a single and scored the winning run from second base. It made for exciting baseball and the fans went bananas.
Some other sites from the park.
After the game we chilled in the stadium and then slowly made our way back to the car. The drive back was a bit longer than we would have liked as we got lost. Twice. But we found our way back and had a bit of wifi time, while watching Tour de France highlights of the first stage in The Alps.
Leaving the diner, we got on to 94W (which actually runs north to south) and drove to Milwaukee.
We checked into our hotel and drove into the city, so we could have a look around before the Brewers game. We parked up and got onto one of the free trolley's that goes around the center of the city in a loop. We joined on the east end and went across the river to the west end. Both of us were a bit hank so we got off and started walking down State Street.
After ten minutes, we came across a quirky little sub shop called Ebert & Gerbert. There were cool tunes playing, first a 60s station, then a 70s station. The staff were friendly - they loved Paulo's accent. And the subs were amazing. They were proper old school fare. They even cut out the middle of the bread, flatten it and place it on top of the sub before they wrap it.
Feeling full and a bit energised, we had a quick stroll round the Historic District. But there wasn't much happening - everything was closed.
When we made our way back to the car and drove to Miller Park, we realised why. I think that every single person in Milwaukee was in the carpark of the stadium and tailgating. For those Irish readers, tailgating in America means drinking copious amounts of beer from coolers, kegs, boots of cars - wherever it will fit. And of course eating enormous quantities of burgers and dogs that everyone makes themselves.
I have seen tailgating in the past but this was a whole different level. We parked up and legged it into the stadium to buy tickets. We settled on a pair of seats next to each other in the nose bleed section and with an obstructed view. It was either them or stand. "How bad could the seats be?", said Paulo on the way inside.
We had a stroll around, I bought a proper old school Brew Crew cap and then we went to watch the Rockies take batting practice from behind first base. Unfortunately, no foul balls came our way.
We got a beer and some food and made our way to our seats. It's just as well we arrived to the park early. First we had to go up two flights of stairs. And then we had to get an escalator that was so long and went so far up, I thought that we might be greeted and shown to our seats by St. Peter at the top.
They weren't the highest seats in the house but they were pretty close. Right next to the right field foul line. And the obstruction was a high railing. Even Paulo couldn't see over it.
They gave us a good vantage point to watch all the players warm up.
We stayed there for 3 or 4 innings and then moved up to some empty seats for the remainder of the game. It was a pretty slow game and when the ninth inning ended it was still 1-1.
One highlight though, was the sausage race at the end of the sixth inning. In a hard fought battle, the Mexican guy (with the brown hat) won.
The Brew Crew delivered in the bottom of the tenth though. Tony Graffanino hit a blooper into center field that dropped for a single and scored the winning run from second base. It made for exciting baseball and the fans went bananas.
Some other sites from the park.
After the game we chilled in the stadium and then slowly made our way back to the car. The drive back was a bit longer than we would have liked as we got lost. Twice. But we found our way back and had a bit of wifi time, while watching Tour de France highlights of the first stage in The Alps.
Friday, July 13, 2007
Day 45
Don't Any Of These People Have Jobs?
Well, I was right. My head hurt this morning. A lot. We struggled out of bed, packed are gear and left for the city. In a bitter twist of fate, the Cubs were playing at 1:20 today. They couldn't even give us a break by playing a night game.
We were both starving, so we stopped for sub on the way into town. Despite my hunger, I was full after two bites. It was going to be a looong day.
We drove into Chicago and got off on Addison Street. In an excellent maneuver, we found parking on a street a few blocks from the stadium and didn't have to pay.
By the time we got to Wrigley, the game had already started.
The only tickets left were standing room and after talking to a few scalpers we decided that they were our best bet. The view was a bit dodgy but the atmosphere was great. The stadium is - - years old and there was such a buzz in the place. All I could think about though is the fact that the stadium holds about 34,000(ish) people and none of them were in work. Don't the people in Chicago have jobs? We watched the game (what we could see), had a bite to eat and started feeling a lot better. The Cubs won 6-0 against a Houston team that looked terrible. They made several errors and couldn't catch a ball to save their lives.
As we were leaving the stadium, we had a look around the Cubs shop and both bought caps. I opted for the 'road' cap, while Paulo went for the classic choice and the cap that the team are currently using. Outside, there was a huge crowd in the street drinking and celebrating. The bars across the street were jammers and it looked like everyone was settling in for the night. One of the bars has a name that I can really relate to.
I spotted an old guy playing the saxophone to a little girl across from the stadium. He was playing '(They Long To Be) Close To You' by the Carpenters. He missed a few notes but it didn't matter, it was very sweet and made me smile.
On the way back down Addison, we stopped in D'Agostino's for a slice of pizza (because it would be rude not to).
Since it was still early, we decided to check out a jazz bar called Green Mill. It's a very old place and apparently used to be one of Al Capone's favourite watering holes. I had read in a paper that a guy called Chris was playing from 5-8 on the Hammond organ. Definitely worth checking out!
The place was seriously old school. Some things around the bar looked like they hadn't been replaced since the place opened, while other things were strewn around from the 60s and 70s. It was quality! Before I continue, I should give you a bit of background as to who was in the bar.
There was:
Laura - the barmaid, who didn't have much patience for anything or anyone. She also chain smoked and had a comment for just about everything.
An assortment of 20 and 30 something barflys at the end of the bar. They were all mates and it seemed like they drank there a lot. I mean they went there a lot and drank a lot.
Bob - the 'old' guy who everyone in the bar talked to. The funny thing was that he didn't say a word the entire time. But he apparently is a legend in those parts.
Rico - some guy who showed up late, looked a bit like Keith Richards in the 70s and knew everyone in the place.
Now, that you know who was there, here are some of the lines we heard.
Phone rings behind the bar, Laura says, "I'll get it." (There was no one else working.) She picks up and says "Green Mill", listens for a few seconds and then hangs up. She apparently couldn't hear what they were saying and didn't feel like talking to them anyway.
Bob walks in and the whole bar yells "Bob!" like when Norm walked in to Cheers. He just shook his head and sat down at the bar. He then produced a paper Coke cup that was full of chili that he had bought across the street. He ordered a Miller Lite and got stuck in to both.
Two drunk buddies walked in who were arguing with each other. They sat down at the bar and Laura says, "I'm not serving you. You're both already fucked up. If I was the one who got you fucked up then I would serve you. But I didn't. So I'm not." The two guys looked at her in disbelief. Several expletives followed and when the guys left one of them called her a dyke. Needless to say, she had a few choice words that had the entire bar in stitches.
A conversation started about birthdays and someone asked Bob when his birthday was. He just shook his head and said nothing. Rico, who was sitting next to him, said, "Bob doesn't have any more birthdays. He used them all up!"
All of this took place in the space of about 45 minutes. There was such a great buzz in there.
After starting off with a Diet Coke and Sprite, we switched to Pabst Blue Ribbon - the local beer. It was surprisingly good and only cost $2.50. I am telling you this may be the best bar ever!
The entire time Chris was playing on the organ and he was fantastic. He was also blind. But he was working two pedals with his feet and playing two different keyboards with his hands. He played requests the entire time and after Paulo had a quick word, he played 'When Irish Eyes Are Smiling', which Paulo didn't ask for. And then some Booker T, which he did ask for.
We might have stayed longer but at 8:00 a big, burly guy came up and told us that we had to pay a $10.00 cover if we were going to stay. But we were both Hank so we decided to move on.
We had a look at some other places on the street and ended up driving into Chinatown. We settled on a spot that was dead. Nobody in there. But the food was OK.
We then made our way to the next hotel, a Red Roof Inn, a bit further out of town. We chilled out for a bit (without wifi as it wasn't included) and fell asleep pretty quickly.
Well, I was right. My head hurt this morning. A lot. We struggled out of bed, packed are gear and left for the city. In a bitter twist of fate, the Cubs were playing at 1:20 today. They couldn't even give us a break by playing a night game.
We were both starving, so we stopped for sub on the way into town. Despite my hunger, I was full after two bites. It was going to be a looong day.
We drove into Chicago and got off on Addison Street. In an excellent maneuver, we found parking on a street a few blocks from the stadium and didn't have to pay.
By the time we got to Wrigley, the game had already started.
The only tickets left were standing room and after talking to a few scalpers we decided that they were our best bet. The view was a bit dodgy but the atmosphere was great. The stadium is - - years old and there was such a buzz in the place. All I could think about though is the fact that the stadium holds about 34,000(ish) people and none of them were in work. Don't the people in Chicago have jobs? We watched the game (what we could see), had a bite to eat and started feeling a lot better. The Cubs won 6-0 against a Houston team that looked terrible. They made several errors and couldn't catch a ball to save their lives.
As we were leaving the stadium, we had a look around the Cubs shop and both bought caps. I opted for the 'road' cap, while Paulo went for the classic choice and the cap that the team are currently using. Outside, there was a huge crowd in the street drinking and celebrating. The bars across the street were jammers and it looked like everyone was settling in for the night. One of the bars has a name that I can really relate to.
I spotted an old guy playing the saxophone to a little girl across from the stadium. He was playing '(They Long To Be) Close To You' by the Carpenters. He missed a few notes but it didn't matter, it was very sweet and made me smile.
On the way back down Addison, we stopped in D'Agostino's for a slice of pizza (because it would be rude not to).
Since it was still early, we decided to check out a jazz bar called Green Mill. It's a very old place and apparently used to be one of Al Capone's favourite watering holes. I had read in a paper that a guy called Chris was playing from 5-8 on the Hammond organ. Definitely worth checking out!
The place was seriously old school. Some things around the bar looked like they hadn't been replaced since the place opened, while other things were strewn around from the 60s and 70s. It was quality! Before I continue, I should give you a bit of background as to who was in the bar.
There was:
Laura - the barmaid, who didn't have much patience for anything or anyone. She also chain smoked and had a comment for just about everything.
An assortment of 20 and 30 something barflys at the end of the bar. They were all mates and it seemed like they drank there a lot. I mean they went there a lot and drank a lot.
Bob - the 'old' guy who everyone in the bar talked to. The funny thing was that he didn't say a word the entire time. But he apparently is a legend in those parts.
Rico - some guy who showed up late, looked a bit like Keith Richards in the 70s and knew everyone in the place.
Now, that you know who was there, here are some of the lines we heard.
Phone rings behind the bar, Laura says, "I'll get it." (There was no one else working.) She picks up and says "Green Mill", listens for a few seconds and then hangs up. She apparently couldn't hear what they were saying and didn't feel like talking to them anyway.
Bob walks in and the whole bar yells "Bob!" like when Norm walked in to Cheers. He just shook his head and sat down at the bar. He then produced a paper Coke cup that was full of chili that he had bought across the street. He ordered a Miller Lite and got stuck in to both.
Two drunk buddies walked in who were arguing with each other. They sat down at the bar and Laura says, "I'm not serving you. You're both already fucked up. If I was the one who got you fucked up then I would serve you. But I didn't. So I'm not." The two guys looked at her in disbelief. Several expletives followed and when the guys left one of them called her a dyke. Needless to say, she had a few choice words that had the entire bar in stitches.
A conversation started about birthdays and someone asked Bob when his birthday was. He just shook his head and said nothing. Rico, who was sitting next to him, said, "Bob doesn't have any more birthdays. He used them all up!"
All of this took place in the space of about 45 minutes. There was such a great buzz in there.
After starting off with a Diet Coke and Sprite, we switched to Pabst Blue Ribbon - the local beer. It was surprisingly good and only cost $2.50. I am telling you this may be the best bar ever!
The entire time Chris was playing on the organ and he was fantastic. He was also blind. But he was working two pedals with his feet and playing two different keyboards with his hands. He played requests the entire time and after Paulo had a quick word, he played 'When Irish Eyes Are Smiling', which Paulo didn't ask for. And then some Booker T, which he did ask for.
We might have stayed longer but at 8:00 a big, burly guy came up and told us that we had to pay a $10.00 cover if we were going to stay. But we were both Hank so we decided to move on.
We had a look at some other places on the street and ended up driving into Chinatown. We settled on a spot that was dead. Nobody in there. But the food was OK.
We then made our way to the next hotel, a Red Roof Inn, a bit further out of town. We chilled out for a bit (without wifi as it wasn't included) and fell asleep pretty quickly.
