I'm going in for surgery tomorrow on my bum shoulder at 6 am. I've got a bunch of DBD's lined up for the rest of this week and into next week, so the DBD will be up. But they'll need some seed-topics. So Asia and US East Coasters should feel free to put stuff up.
my mother texted me to say that some friends from Boulder Creek lost their house. I don't see how anyone could reasonably do any fire fighting in that area, just because of how the hills and valleys are laid out.
I don't think he's that good. I don't ever recall seeing him play, though there was one game I was at where Dr J was there. I think they showed him on the video screen.
Since I'm stuck here, I'm traveling domestically. I went and got my Chinese driver's license so now I can rent cars and road trip places. I went to Yunnan province and up into the mountains to see sacred waterfalls. Might head to Suzhou to eat noodles or Inner Mongolia to go hiking. Who knows! Unemployment + domestic travel.
#1 getting married in Maine on 10.10.2020. Was supposed to be in NY (her family home) but CV19 threw a wrench into planning so they called an audible and moved the location to Acadia National Park. Should be beautiful if a bit chilly. Mister CG and I head out two weeks ahead of time to self-quarantine in a cabin with waterfront access to a lake (a "camp" as Mainers refer to it), then move into Bar Harbor to meet up with her family for low key socially-distanced festivities. Otherwise I try to block off my work calendar and get out of town to our place in the foothills (~4,000 ft). I have several weeks of PTO to use so I hope this becomes a frequent routine as we get to the end of the year!
Ooh. I like Bar Harbor. There's a nifty little lobstah place on Main Street. It has a plain name like Bar Harbor Lobster or Main Street Lobster or something like that. Big deck out front. I also remember that their parking enforcement is strict.
Bar Harbor Lobster Co (on Main St)? We'll look for it. Last time we visited after Columbus Day and the region was into shoulder season, so many places were closed. We're staying on West Street so hopefully parking will not be an issue!
"brisk" is likely given the site! Years ago we attempted to hike Cadillac Mountain when the fog suddenly rolled in. Was a bit alarming as we lost sight of each other. We "hiked by braille" our way down to the trail head. Still one of our best hikes ever.
Wife and I went to Joshua Tree and did a lot of stargazing (both of us are astronomy/space buffs). Basically, during the day I researched how to take night sky photos and in the evening I got some great shots of the wife with the Milky Way in the background.
After we got back, the mother-in-law sees the photos, gets jealous, and insists that my wife's whole family go on a trip for stargazing. Essentially, she wants a photo of herself that is better than my wife's photo.
We went to Sequoia this past weekend and naturally the mother-in-law is too scared to go out at night.
You are a true Asian for predicting this very issue.
I've made clear to my wife that the decision on going on vacations with her family is entirely up to her, and that if she chooses to do so I am open to go as well if only to help her out with her family. It also provides a convenient excuse for her to have a separate room, which helps her out a LOT.
I do like the trips because I like the contrast of a family doing everything together compared with my fractured family. I also like them because I enjoy doing things for her family. But I do also prefer the trips to be sparse because it is immensely stressful. Her dad just does not shut up.
Exhausting is putting it mildly. Her father almost certainly has severe mental illnesses, but good luck getting an elderly Asian male immigrant to even consider therapy. My wife works with him in the family business, and I've seen him brutally torment her to, and past, the point of tears. He's a narcissist and will never admit he's wrong, and can't stand when the conversation does not involve him. (He will mutter to himself, then raise his voice to drown out other conversations in the room.) Despite all of that, there is no doubt he loves his children.
My wife's mom is a cold-hearted b****. She's a prime example of how Communism has turned Chinese people into selfish, individualistic bastards. Her sister memorably pushed my wife's cousin's daughter off to the side in a rush to get back onto a boat during a vacation. My mother-in-law this past weekend refused to wait for us during a climb up Moro Rock, while my wife, brother-in-law and myself helped her dad up and down after he insisted on doing the climb.
It is interesting to think that out of the four parents, my dad, who physically abused myself and my brother, might be the most well-adjusted parent.
Milestone birthday for me this week. Was hoping for a return to the Bay Area for a blowout party and reunion with old friends. As it is, wife and 2 teenagers are taking me to the WA cost for a long weekend(only 4 hours away).
Heading to Tahoe on Monday for at least a couple of weeks, maybe as long as a month. Looking like Placer County might drop off the watchlist today, which would be amazing. Cannot wait to be surrounded by different scenery, I am sick of this apartment.
the wife and I discussed doing this annually once Junior is out of the house in 2 years. 4-5 weeks away in the summer where it isnt 100+ degrees where I work remotely... SOON
they delayed school until Sept 8 and the first 3 weeks are online for sure. Austin has been pretty progressive and has been quick to do the max that the state allows. I suspect online will get extended but only once the State lightens the restrictions on doing so.
My family's general vacation goal is to eventually get to all 50 states. We're at somewhere near 20 or 21. This year was going to be a weekender in Portland, OR, for my son's birthday, and various cities in Ohio (Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus) for the annual longer vacation. Those plans went down the crapper. We're just doing local day trips and we went camping at Big Basin earlier this summer.
oh I forgot about that museum. I haven't been to Udvar-Hazy but did go to the Air & Space museum. They're sorta different types of museums but I love both of them.
I'm tempted to go explore more of Ohio in one of these upcoming weekends just because they have more things that are open right now (which is not necessarily a good thing) than if I drive the other direction toward DC. This probably means a trip to Canton, most likely.
Just because we haven't been there and they seemed like places that had the best variety of things for my family to do. I'd love to hear your opinions.
Jeni's was not my introduction to "interesting" ice cream flavors; I had encountered basil ice cream at Ici in college. However, Jeni's was the first ice cream I encountered that was interesting flavors AND had a delicious mouth feel. If you'd like to read more about what they all the "American hard body" ice cream: https://jenis.com/flavor-texture-body-finish/ The best I can describe it is, if you press your tongue down on the ice cream, the ice cream kind of pushes back. They don't make my favorite flavor these days, Queen City Cayenne (spicy chocolate, named for Cincinnati the Queen City), but they have so many good other flavors. Yes, you can get some of their pints shipped or at some grocery stores, but nothing beats the scoop shop.
Jeni's started in Cbus, and you can find scoop shops in other cities now (but sadly, none in the Bay). The closest I've tasted in terms of mouth feel is Salt and Straw.
Mitchell's Ice Cream (Cleveland-based, not related to the SF one) is good and reliable
Mason's Ice Cream (Cleveland-based, very small operation, apparently turns into a ramen shop in the winter; my friend's Alabama-born husband specifically requested Mason's for their Cleveland wedding) https://www.masonscreamery.com/
Graeter's Ice Cream (Cincinnati-based, though you can also get their pints around the country now. They're good, but I would equate them to Fenton's and don't think that you'd need to go out of your way to get their pints if you're in California. Black raspberry chip is good.)
PS. Buckeyes are poisonous, so don't eat them. BUT, obviously, Buckeyes are a theme throughout Ohio, so if you see Buckeye flavors, it's chocolate and peanut butter.
Cincinnati: the WORST (ha ha, friendly rivalry...) of the major Ohio cities
Cincy is...interesting. If you're not careful, you can end up driving across a bridge and into Kentucky (in fact, the airport is in Kentucky). It's nice to have hills. As a city, it's around the same age as Cleveland (Cleveland was founded in 1796, and Cincy was incorporated in 1819, according to Wiki), but they developed pretty differently. I think that Cincy was far more German (as far as European settlers go) and agrarian, whereas Cleveland was more Polish and Italian, and connected to steel/auto. I'm not sure if that's related to why you see Confederate flags (and hear a drawl) in the southern part of the state, but it's bizarre to me, because Ohio was a Union state. I-71 connects Cleveland to Columbus to Cincinnati. On the stretch between Cleveland and Columbus, you drive past (or go to) Grandpa's Cheesebarn (and if I remember correctly, it's next to an adult emporium). On the stretch between Columbus and Cincinnati, you see a barn painted with a gigantic Confederate flag and also a series of billboards proclaiming HELL IS REAL. (Not to be confused with Touchdown Jesus, who was between Columbus and Dayton before he got struck by lightning.)
Food:
Moerlein Lager House: try the local beers and goetta https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goetta It's got a nice view of the river, and you can walk to check out the Reds.
Findlay Market: Ohio's oldest continuously operated public market
Drink:
Go to the Hilton Netherland Hotel in downtown Cincinnati. The drinks are fine, but this suggestion is mainly to enjoy the opulent Art Deco setting
You'll see confederate flags everywhere (there used to be one in the house off the first tee of Shanghai Links Golf Course . . . along with an Alabama flag. The University/football team, not the state)
Michigan is a northern state with tons of rebel flags.
The Museum Center at Union Terminal is cool. They have a Children's Museum, Science Museum, Natural History museum, and Cincy History Museum. The Union Terminal building looks like the Hall of Justice from the superfriends cartoon. Inside it's got an Art Deco design.
The other cool thing in Cincy is this market called Jungle Jim's International Market. One of the best international market's I've been to. It's HUGE and each ethnicity has it's own section.
When I was little, Columbus was thought to be a cowtown, with not much to do outside of football. I was pleasantly surprised when I moved there in my 20s; because Bath and Body Works, White Barn, the Limited, Victoria's Secret, Abercrombie, Express, and Nationwide are all headquartered in Columbus (with a strong Chase presence as well), there's been a lot of development in the past 15 years or so. Honestly, the architecture isn't that interesting, but the influx of young professionals means more interesting things to do.
Science museum: COSI has a Foucault's pendulum, high wire unicycle, and many other cool things.
Campus and The Shoe: you just gotta check it out :)
Food:
Akai Hana/Tensuke Market: the Japanese food in and around Columbus (mainly in the northern suburbs) is amazing. Honda's headquarters (presumably Honda USA) are just outside Columbus, and because a lot of Japanese people moved to the area, the quality of the Japanese restaurants rose to meet the demand.
Melt: I probably should have put this in Cleveland, because this Ohio chain started in Cleveland, but they have really great grilled cheese/melts, with plenty of vegetarian and vegan options. I used to love chicken and waffles, but when I stopped eating land animals, it wasn't something that I could eat anymore. But, Melt has a chicken and waffle sandwich, and they're happy to sub in fried breaded tofu.
Wendy's and White Castle: meh, but they did originate in Cbus
Pistacia Vera: this bakery has a lot of what you'd expect from a French bakery--croissants, dacquoise, macarons--but I think my favorite thing from them is their quiche
Belle's Bread: this Japanese-style French bakery is known for their airy sponge cake layered with fruit, but they also have other delicious Asian breads and pastries
Neighborhoods to check out:
Short North: full of hipsters, art galleries, and beer halls. You can also go to the North Market, which has a lot of food stalls
German Village: most "historical districts" in the US have stipulations from the government to maintain certain architectural features. German Village is unique in that the homes are privately owned, and the homeowners all have an agreement to maintain the historical look of their houses and the brick streets. If you go to German Village, you MUST go to the Book Loft, which has 32 rooms!!! https://www.bookloft.com/tour-store I liked to buy a book at the Book Loft and then go read and eat at Pistacia Vera. (I should probably be encouraging you to go to Schmidt's, known for sausages and cream puffs that are larger than my head, but their "spicy" Bahama Mama is still kind of bland to me, and I think ultimately, I'm not super interested in German food.)
Yeah when we stopped by Columbus on our way to Cedar Point to eat with you, Ohio Bear, and CALumbus Bear, that detour cost us. The smaller roads between Columbus and Sandusky meant it took much longer than just going up 75 to Toledo. But the little ones wanted to go to Matt the Millers and Jeni's.
Cleveland will always be my favorite, so my suggestions skew there. A lot of development in the late 19th century/early 20th century happened in parallel with New York City (Rockefeller split his time between the two), so you'll see some similarities. I LOVE the Cleveland Public Library; the main branch is built in that neoclassical style. https://cpl.org/main-library/
You can walk around and check out the Jake (technically now named Progressive Field), as well as where the Browns and the Cavs play. I also love Great Lakes beaches in the summer--so much warmer than the Pacific.
Food:
West Side Market- think Philly's Reading Terminal. So many good things.
Cleveland also has great Polish and Italian food; go to Presti's in Little Italy for cassata cake and also stock up on cookies. My favorite are the kolachy.
Slyman's- get the corned beef sandwich. I don't even eat land animals anymore, but I still dream of this sandwich that's larger than my head. Thinly sliced corned beef piled high on fragrant rye (they give you three slices of bread because there is THAT MUCH MEAT), accompanied by a pickle spear.
Michael Symon's various restaurants, including Lola
Drink:
Great Lakes Brewing Co.
Nature:
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Ok I'm about to hop on a meeting, but I will be back with more opinions.
I have only been to his BBQ place Mabel's (which is right next to Lola in downtown Cleveland). It's been quite good on my 3 visits. Very solid brisket and beef rib (I was only able to get that once) with a distinctive polish seasoning to make it different.
I guess I have technically been to another one of his place, which was Bar Symon at the airport. That was meh and overpriced (but covered by my worktrip).
Columbus has the 2nd best zoo in the country. Although the science museum is really cool. And it also has Cedar Point, if you like roller coasters. Cincinnati has the museum center at Union Station. It's an old train station that got converted to 4 or 5 different museums.
My siblings and I had planned a mini-reunion before the virus hit. Hopefully we can re-schedule but I don't see that coming off this year. At best maybe I can get together with one of them over the holidays.
We went to South Padre Island for 5 days last month which was ok. Stayed in the condo a lot though. Was originally planning to go to Ireland again this summer but that has been delayed. Me and the misses are going to have a blow out next year though since its the 25th anniversary. Covid be damned.
I have no idea what we’ll do next for a family vacation. Spring break was supposed to be our last trip before my older daughter went to college and there was no guarantee that schedules would sync. Obviously that didn’t work. And who knows when we’ll be willing to fly domestically far less be allowed in anywhere else? Might just start taking three day weekends periodically for a change of pace.
I've been trying to get to Lassen National Park in northern Cal, a place I've never been to, despite having passed on all sides numerous times, for the last few years, but this year's problems derailed that again. Still on the list if a window of opportunity opens up.
There is a nice hike to the top on a switchbacking trail. I carried my then 3-year old daughter in a backpack up to the summit. Pretty fun and amazing views of the Trinity Alps, Mt. Shasta, and the northern Sierras.
My advice on a park visit is to spend some time at it. It takes a while to get to and from the various points of interest, and some are kinda hard to get too (like 10 miles on a questionable dirt road). The scenery is the normally wonderful California mountain stuff, but slowing down to allows you to really see the interactions of the vegetation, volcanism, wind and rain weathering, and how that forms the wonderful landscapes.
We are blessed to have a lot of territory like that from NorCal up through the PNW. And I never get tired of the variety and immensity of it. Lassen seems to be just remote enough to be off the beaten path for a lot of folks. Which makes it all the more intriguing.
Day trips are about all that work, with 3 day weekends dropped in here and there being the biggest breaks. I feel pretty good about road trips dependent on the destination, but the schedule havoc that has only been exacerbated by the pandemic means any extended absence will result in an extended mess to deal with afterwards.
I wouldn't be surprised if the next trip that's more than a 3 day weekend is a football road trip in the 2021 season, and that's only if schedule mayhem puts Colorado back on the schedule. Its all going to start with a vaccine. Like you, DC, domestic air travel on a voluntary basis won't be happening until that happens.
I took an unscheduled day off yesterday to drive to Philly and back. I’m not massively more in the hole than if I hadn’t gone, which tells you something about my attention span / the number of meetings and interruptions I get a day
I'm cursed by the U's network staff's ability to hose things up in ways no one knew in advance was even possible. To the tune of 2 12 hour days already this week, wrapped around a 9+ hour day. And we now have zero backup capability for hardware to administer the enterprise intelligence data store without going onto a closed campus. What could possibly go wrong?
"The Trump White House benefited from inaction in a divided Senate, a vacant board when he took office and an intervention by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) that left the new president with a clean slate to mold his agenda.
“The president had a unique opportunity to start from scratch,” said Arthur Sackler, a longtime lobbyist for mailers, postal shippers and suppliers. “I can’t recall another time when there was literally no one on the board.”
The Bernie Enthusiasts of Twitter claim that he was trying to stop Obama appointees who were in favor of privatization which may be true but also makes me think of the old line from a British children’s book: always keep ahold of nurse for fear of finding something worse
I am so over The Bernie Enthusiasts of Twitter. I like Bernie's positions on a lot of things, and while I think his approach is a bit alienating and sometimes flat out wrong, his defenders nearly always make it worse.
Trump calls for a boycott of American tire manufacturer Goodyear because they don't allow political expressions on either side. Goodyear's stock was down 4% earlier this morning.
So political expression at the tire plant is good, but political expression at the NBA workplace is bad. He should have told the tire plant guys to shut up and dribble, er, work their machines.
GOP-majority Senate Select Committee on Intelligence issues fifth report on Russian interference - doing what Mueller would not do and what Dems already knew that, yes, Manafort colluded with pro-Russia entities to interfere and Trump lied to Mueller.
that is surprising to me. also, Butch Hayes is a name from the past. He was the point guard before Kevin Johnson. Then became the off guard or 3 when we went 'small'. We were terrible in those days.
was it Baylor in JTs first game? Was it 35-0 at the end of the 1st? Or did they get the 5th TD early in the 2nd quarter? The other choice would be the 84-21 bombing of Pacific... so many points in that one... they couldve scored 100 easy that day. I was at both of those games too
Who was the opponent when Cal set its single-game record for most interceptions thrown by Cal and collectively on both sides (hint: it was the same game).
Ahhh, those bouncing balls. When I was a kid I went to my first Cal game and he kept throwing the ball laterally across the field, usually the ball bouncing harmlessly a few yards from his intended receiver...
DBD Logistics.
I'm going in for surgery tomorrow on my bum shoulder at 6 am. I've got a bunch of DBD's lined up for the rest of this week and into next week, so the DBD will be up. But they'll need some seed-topics. So Asia and US East Coasters should feel free to put stuff up.
Good luck with the repairs!
Good health vibes to you!
Hope everything goes well with the surgery
good luck on surgery. Rotator cuff?
Fire Season is fucking depressing
my mother texted me to say that some friends from Boulder Creek lost their house. I don't see how anyone could reasonably do any fire fighting in that area, just because of how the hills and valleys are laid out.
It arrived early this year.
everything is covered in ash this morning.
fire season, or the US 2020?
#gobears
No real plans at the moment to Covid 19. Maybe a tour of the Western national parks next year.
Jules, Julia, Julie, Julio, or other similar name
Julia Rosenqvist is the current No.1 singles player on Cal women's tennis
Wife and I have discussed baby names that begin with either J or D. I completely forgot about the Julius-root names.
If Daenerys is in the convo, I will punch you in the face next time I see you.
Absolutely not in the convo.
Julia Morgan, Cal degree in Civil Engineering in 1894, architect of the Hearst Castle, Hearst Gym and numerous building on and around the Cal campus. https://engineering.berkeley.edu/julia-morgan-iconic-architect/
Jules et Jim
One of the films I was surprised to enjoy when I took intro to cinema as an undergrad.
Jules Erving, son of Dr. J.
https://calbears.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster/jules-erving/16329
How did I not even know this? Did he transfer or just bail on basketball because he sucked?
I don't think he's that good. I don't ever recall seeing him play, though there was one game I was at where Dr J was there. I think they showed him on the video screen.
He was a preferred walk-on
My baseball wife's name.
Jules Verne: 20,000 Leagues under the Sea
Today in CV19
Family vacation
Since I'm stuck here, I'm traveling domestically. I went and got my Chinese driver's license so now I can rent cars and road trip places. I went to Yunnan province and up into the mountains to see sacred waterfalls. Might head to Suzhou to eat noodles or Inner Mongolia to go hiking. Who knows! Unemployment + domestic travel.
#1 getting married in Maine on 10.10.2020. Was supposed to be in NY (her family home) but CV19 threw a wrench into planning so they called an audible and moved the location to Acadia National Park. Should be beautiful if a bit chilly. Mister CG and I head out two weeks ahead of time to self-quarantine in a cabin with waterfront access to a lake (a "camp" as Mainers refer to it), then move into Bar Harbor to meet up with her family for low key socially-distanced festivities. Otherwise I try to block off my work calendar and get out of town to our place in the foothills (~4,000 ft). I have several weeks of PTO to use so I hope this becomes a frequent routine as we get to the end of the year!
Ooh. I like Bar Harbor. There's a nifty little lobstah place on Main Street. It has a plain name like Bar Harbor Lobster or Main Street Lobster or something like that. Big deck out front. I also remember that their parking enforcement is strict.
Bar Harbor Lobster Co (on Main St)? We'll look for it. Last time we visited after Columbus Day and the region was into shoulder season, so many places were closed. We're staying on West Street so hopefully parking will not be an issue!
That's a lovely part of the country but "brisk" is a reasonable prediction for the weather - hope everything goes well!
"brisk" is likely given the site! Years ago we attempted to hike Cadillac Mountain when the fog suddenly rolled in. Was a bit alarming as we lost sight of each other. We "hiked by braille" our way down to the trail head. Still one of our best hikes ever.
Wife and I went to Joshua Tree and did a lot of stargazing (both of us are astronomy/space buffs). Basically, during the day I researched how to take night sky photos and in the evening I got some great shots of the wife with the Milky Way in the background.
After we got back, the mother-in-law sees the photos, gets jealous, and insists that my wife's whole family go on a trip for stargazing. Essentially, she wants a photo of herself that is better than my wife's photo.
We went to Sequoia this past weekend and naturally the mother-in-law is too scared to go out at night.
As for the next family vacation, it will probably be Utah/Yellowstone with my wife's family.
Do you like taking trips with her family? Because you could always say, "We can't work on giving you grandbabies if we go on trips with you"
You are a true Asian for predicting this very issue.
I've made clear to my wife that the decision on going on vacations with her family is entirely up to her, and that if she chooses to do so I am open to go as well if only to help her out with her family. It also provides a convenient excuse for her to have a separate room, which helps her out a LOT.
I do like the trips because I like the contrast of a family doing everything together compared with my fractured family. I also like them because I enjoy doing things for her family. But I do also prefer the trips to be sparse because it is immensely stressful. Her dad just does not shut up.
Without wanting to be too rude about your in-laws, they sound exhausting.
Exhausting is putting it mildly. Her father almost certainly has severe mental illnesses, but good luck getting an elderly Asian male immigrant to even consider therapy. My wife works with him in the family business, and I've seen him brutally torment her to, and past, the point of tears. He's a narcissist and will never admit he's wrong, and can't stand when the conversation does not involve him. (He will mutter to himself, then raise his voice to drown out other conversations in the room.) Despite all of that, there is no doubt he loves his children.
My wife's mom is a cold-hearted b****. She's a prime example of how Communism has turned Chinese people into selfish, individualistic bastards. Her sister memorably pushed my wife's cousin's daughter off to the side in a rush to get back onto a boat during a vacation. My mother-in-law this past weekend refused to wait for us during a climb up Moro Rock, while my wife, brother-in-law and myself helped her dad up and down after he insisted on doing the climb.
It is interesting to think that out of the four parents, my dad, who physically abused myself and my brother, might be the most well-adjusted parent.
^this. I'm tired just reading about it.
Milestone birthday for me this week. Was hoping for a return to the Bay Area for a blowout party and reunion with old friends. As it is, wife and 2 teenagers are taking me to the WA cost for a long weekend(only 4 hours away).
Happy Birthday!
Not a bad plan B!
Heading to Tahoe on Monday for at least a couple of weeks, maybe as long as a month. Looking like Placer County might drop off the watchlist today, which would be amazing. Cannot wait to be surrounded by different scenery, I am sick of this apartment.
the wife and I discussed doing this annually once Junior is out of the house in 2 years. 4-5 weeks away in the summer where it isnt 100+ degrees where I work remotely... SOON
his classes are remote now aren't they? Oh wait...Texas...
they delayed school until Sept 8 and the first 3 weeks are online for sure. Austin has been pretty progressive and has been quick to do the max that the state allows. I suspect online will get extended but only once the State lightens the restrictions on doing so.
Drive safe! (expect some maga effect on public health measures, regardless of watchlist position.)
My family's general vacation goal is to eventually get to all 50 states. We're at somewhere near 20 or 21. This year was going to be a weekender in Portland, OR, for my son's birthday, and various cities in Ohio (Cincinnati, Dayton, Columbus) for the annual longer vacation. Those plans went down the crapper. We're just doing local day trips and we went camping at Big Basin earlier this summer.
The Air Force Museum in Dayton is one of my favorites...almost as good as the Udvar-Hazy Smithsonian Air and Space museum by the Dulles Airport in VA.
oh I forgot about that museum. I haven't been to Udvar-Hazy but did go to the Air & Space museum. They're sorta different types of museums but I love both of them.
May I ask why those cities? I have a lot of opinions on Ohio cities.
I'm tempted to go explore more of Ohio in one of these upcoming weekends just because they have more things that are open right now (which is not necessarily a good thing) than if I drive the other direction toward DC. This probably means a trip to Canton, most likely.
My opinion on Ohio cities is "No, thank you".
Sing it, brother. Ticked it off the list, no need to darken its borders again.
Just because we haven't been there and they seemed like places that had the best variety of things for my family to do. I'd love to hear your opinions.
Separate comment just for Ohio ice cream
The pinnacle, the apex, my dream, the enduring object of my affections: Jeni's https://jenis.com/ and bonus long read on luxury ice cream: https://www.eater.com/2019/4/9/18280840/fancy-ice-cream-van-leeuwen-jenis-salt-straw-mcconnells
Jeni's was not my introduction to "interesting" ice cream flavors; I had encountered basil ice cream at Ici in college. However, Jeni's was the first ice cream I encountered that was interesting flavors AND had a delicious mouth feel. If you'd like to read more about what they all the "American hard body" ice cream: https://jenis.com/flavor-texture-body-finish/ The best I can describe it is, if you press your tongue down on the ice cream, the ice cream kind of pushes back. They don't make my favorite flavor these days, Queen City Cayenne (spicy chocolate, named for Cincinnati the Queen City), but they have so many good other flavors. Yes, you can get some of their pints shipped or at some grocery stores, but nothing beats the scoop shop.
Jeni's started in Cbus, and you can find scoop shops in other cities now (but sadly, none in the Bay). The closest I've tasted in terms of mouth feel is Salt and Straw.
Another Columbus ice cream that is not as well-known is Mardi Gras Ice Cream. They have Indian flavors, and you can read more about their interesting story here: https://radio.wosu.org/post/ice-cream-sprinkle-india-immigrant-columbus#stream/0
Mitchell's Ice Cream (Cleveland-based, not related to the SF one) is good and reliable
Mason's Ice Cream (Cleveland-based, very small operation, apparently turns into a ramen shop in the winter; my friend's Alabama-born husband specifically requested Mason's for their Cleveland wedding) https://www.masonscreamery.com/
Graeter's Ice Cream (Cincinnati-based, though you can also get their pints around the country now. They're good, but I would equate them to Fenton's and don't think that you'd need to go out of your way to get their pints if you're in California. Black raspberry chip is good.)
Young's Dairy https://youngsdairy.com/ See goats! Eat ice cream! Get fried cheese curds!!!!!!
PS. Buckeyes are poisonous, so don't eat them. BUT, obviously, Buckeyes are a theme throughout Ohio, so if you see Buckeye flavors, it's chocolate and peanut butter.
Dayton: very Air Force oriented, but I just don't feel like there's that much to do outside of that?
Nature: https://www.glenhelen.org/
Cincinnati: the WORST (ha ha, friendly rivalry...) of the major Ohio cities
Cincy is...interesting. If you're not careful, you can end up driving across a bridge and into Kentucky (in fact, the airport is in Kentucky). It's nice to have hills. As a city, it's around the same age as Cleveland (Cleveland was founded in 1796, and Cincy was incorporated in 1819, according to Wiki), but they developed pretty differently. I think that Cincy was far more German (as far as European settlers go) and agrarian, whereas Cleveland was more Polish and Italian, and connected to steel/auto. I'm not sure if that's related to why you see Confederate flags (and hear a drawl) in the southern part of the state, but it's bizarre to me, because Ohio was a Union state. I-71 connects Cleveland to Columbus to Cincinnati. On the stretch between Cleveland and Columbus, you drive past (or go to) Grandpa's Cheesebarn (and if I remember correctly, it's next to an adult emporium). On the stretch between Columbus and Cincinnati, you see a barn painted with a gigantic Confederate flag and also a series of billboards proclaiming HELL IS REAL. (Not to be confused with Touchdown Jesus, who was between Columbus and Dayton before he got struck by lightning.)
Food:
Moerlein Lager House: try the local beers and goetta https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goetta It's got a nice view of the river, and you can walk to check out the Reds.
Findlay Market: Ohio's oldest continuously operated public market
Drink:
Go to the Hilton Netherland Hotel in downtown Cincinnati. The drinks are fine, but this suggestion is mainly to enjoy the opulent Art Deco setting
The Cincinnati Art Museum is free!
You'll see confederate flags everywhere (there used to be one in the house off the first tee of Shanghai Links Golf Course . . . along with an Alabama flag. The University/football team, not the state)
Michigan is a northern state with tons of rebel flags.
The Museum Center at Union Terminal is cool. They have a Children's Museum, Science Museum, Natural History museum, and Cincy History Museum. The Union Terminal building looks like the Hall of Justice from the superfriends cartoon. Inside it's got an Art Deco design.
The other cool thing in Cincy is this market called Jungle Jim's International Market. One of the best international market's I've been to. It's HUGE and each ethnicity has it's own section.
Agreed on the Museum Center :)
AND OMG HOW COULD I HAVE FORGOTTEN JUNGLE JIMS OMGGGGG GOOD CALL GO THERE!!!!!!!!
Next up: Columbus
When I was little, Columbus was thought to be a cowtown, with not much to do outside of football. I was pleasantly surprised when I moved there in my 20s; because Bath and Body Works, White Barn, the Limited, Victoria's Secret, Abercrombie, Express, and Nationwide are all headquartered in Columbus (with a strong Chase presence as well), there's been a lot of development in the past 15 years or so. Honestly, the architecture isn't that interesting, but the influx of young professionals means more interesting things to do.
Science museum: COSI has a Foucault's pendulum, high wire unicycle, and many other cool things.
Campus and The Shoe: you just gotta check it out :)
Food:
Akai Hana/Tensuke Market: the Japanese food in and around Columbus (mainly in the northern suburbs) is amazing. Honda's headquarters (presumably Honda USA) are just outside Columbus, and because a lot of Japanese people moved to the area, the quality of the Japanese restaurants rose to meet the demand.
Melt: I probably should have put this in Cleveland, because this Ohio chain started in Cleveland, but they have really great grilled cheese/melts, with plenty of vegetarian and vegan options. I used to love chicken and waffles, but when I stopped eating land animals, it wasn't something that I could eat anymore. But, Melt has a chicken and waffle sandwich, and they're happy to sub in fried breaded tofu.
Wendy's and White Castle: meh, but they did originate in Cbus
Pistacia Vera: this bakery has a lot of what you'd expect from a French bakery--croissants, dacquoise, macarons--but I think my favorite thing from them is their quiche
Belle's Bread: this Japanese-style French bakery is known for their airy sponge cake layered with fruit, but they also have other delicious Asian breads and pastries
Neighborhoods to check out:
Short North: full of hipsters, art galleries, and beer halls. You can also go to the North Market, which has a lot of food stalls
German Village: most "historical districts" in the US have stipulations from the government to maintain certain architectural features. German Village is unique in that the homes are privately owned, and the homeowners all have an agreement to maintain the historical look of their houses and the brick streets. If you go to German Village, you MUST go to the Book Loft, which has 32 rooms!!! https://www.bookloft.com/tour-store I liked to buy a book at the Book Loft and then go read and eat at Pistacia Vera. (I should probably be encouraging you to go to Schmidt's, known for sausages and cream puffs that are larger than my head, but their "spicy" Bahama Mama is still kind of bland to me, and I think ultimately, I'm not super interested in German food.)
Nature: this is more of a drive, but Hocking Hills. I mean, look at this: https://www.ohiomagazine.com/travel/article/secret-ohio-hidden-hocking-hills
Psst HeyAlumniGo, Cbus is actually kind of far from Cedar Point (it's closer to Cleveland and even closer to Toledo, but I generally don't recommend people go to Toledo). Also, of course, the zoo, as HAG mentioned. Recent drama: https://www.columbuszoo.org/home/about/press-releases/press-release-articles/2020/07/24/columbus-zoo-and-aquarium-statement-red-panda-kora-home-safe-and-sound
Wow...thank you for your thoughts and advice. All of it is going into the hopper for when we eventually go (hopefully in 2021).
Of course! I'm happy to answer questions when you plan your trip, perhaps with suggestions that are more specific to your interests.
Yeah when we stopped by Columbus on our way to Cedar Point to eat with you, Ohio Bear, and CALumbus Bear, that detour cost us. The smaller roads between Columbus and Sandusky meant it took much longer than just going up 75 to Toledo. But the little ones wanted to go to Matt the Millers and Jeni's.
Cleveland will always be my favorite, so my suggestions skew there. A lot of development in the late 19th century/early 20th century happened in parallel with New York City (Rockefeller split his time between the two), so you'll see some similarities. I LOVE the Cleveland Public Library; the main branch is built in that neoclassical style. https://cpl.org/main-library/
Other architectural points of interest:
https://www.theclevelandarcade.com/history.htm
https://www.rockhall.com/ designed by I.M. Pei
You can walk around and check out the Jake (technically now named Progressive Field), as well as where the Browns and the Cavs play. I also love Great Lakes beaches in the summer--so much warmer than the Pacific.
Food:
West Side Market- think Philly's Reading Terminal. So many good things.
Cleveland also has great Polish and Italian food; go to Presti's in Little Italy for cassata cake and also stock up on cookies. My favorite are the kolachy.
Slyman's- get the corned beef sandwich. I don't even eat land animals anymore, but I still dream of this sandwich that's larger than my head. Thinly sliced corned beef piled high on fragrant rye (they give you three slices of bread because there is THAT MUCH MEAT), accompanied by a pickle spear.
Michael Symon's various restaurants, including Lola
Drink:
Great Lakes Brewing Co.
Nature:
Cuyahoga Valley National Park
Ok I'm about to hop on a meeting, but I will be back with more opinions.
Remember when you ate a cookie that was larger than your head? that was the day we met
You actually recommend Symon's restaurants? Not hyped up because of his celebrity chef status?
I have only been to his BBQ place Mabel's (which is right next to Lola in downtown Cleveland). It's been quite good on my 3 visits. Very solid brisket and beef rib (I was only able to get that once) with a distinctive polish seasoning to make it different.
I guess I have technically been to another one of his place, which was Bar Symon at the airport. That was meh and overpriced (but covered by my worktrip).
Columbus has the 2nd best zoo in the country. Although the science museum is really cool. And it also has Cedar Point, if you like roller coasters. Cincinnati has the museum center at Union Station. It's an old train station that got converted to 4 or 5 different museums.
Just curious, is #1 Henry Doorly in Omaha, or San Diego?
San Diego. Haven't been to Henry Doorly in Omaha. AndBears needs to back me up here.
FWIW, I think Omaha is #1, followed by Columbus, then San Diego. The midwest zoos do a much better job with space management.
Cleveland!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysmLA5TqbIY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZzgAjjuqZM
pltm
My siblings and I had planned a mini-reunion before the virus hit. Hopefully we can re-schedule but I don't see that coming off this year. At best maybe I can get together with one of them over the holidays.
We went to South Padre Island for 5 days last month which was ok. Stayed in the condo a lot though. Was originally planning to go to Ireland again this summer but that has been delayed. Me and the misses are going to have a blow out next year though since its the 25th anniversary. Covid be damned.
I have no idea what we’ll do next for a family vacation. Spring break was supposed to be our last trip before my older daughter went to college and there was no guarantee that schedules would sync. Obviously that didn’t work. And who knows when we’ll be willing to fly domestically far less be allowed in anywhere else? Might just start taking three day weekends periodically for a change of pace.
it never occurred to me that there was an answer other than "with immediate family" so these other answers have been interesting!
I've been trying to get to Lassen National Park in northern Cal, a place I've never been to, despite having passed on all sides numerous times, for the last few years, but this year's problems derailed that again. Still on the list if a window of opportunity opens up.
There is a nice hike to the top on a switchbacking trail. I carried my then 3-year old daughter in a backpack up to the summit. Pretty fun and amazing views of the Trinity Alps, Mt. Shasta, and the northern Sierras.
My advice on a park visit is to spend some time at it. It takes a while to get to and from the various points of interest, and some are kinda hard to get too (like 10 miles on a questionable dirt road). The scenery is the normally wonderful California mountain stuff, but slowing down to allows you to really see the interactions of the vegetation, volcanism, wind and rain weathering, and how that forms the wonderful landscapes.
We are blessed to have a lot of territory like that from NorCal up through the PNW. And I never get tired of the variety and immensity of it. Lassen seems to be just remote enough to be off the beaten path for a lot of folks. Which makes it all the more intriguing.
Lassen is pretty cool.
Indeed, very cool. Some of those volcanic hot springs are incredible.
Day trips are about all that work, with 3 day weekends dropped in here and there being the biggest breaks. I feel pretty good about road trips dependent on the destination, but the schedule havoc that has only been exacerbated by the pandemic means any extended absence will result in an extended mess to deal with afterwards.
I wouldn't be surprised if the next trip that's more than a 3 day weekend is a football road trip in the 2021 season, and that's only if schedule mayhem puts Colorado back on the schedule. Its all going to start with a vaccine. Like you, DC, domestic air travel on a voluntary basis won't be happening until that happens.
I took an unscheduled day off yesterday to drive to Philly and back. I’m not massively more in the hole than if I hadn’t gone, which tells you something about my attention span / the number of meetings and interruptions I get a day
I'm cursed by the U's network staff's ability to hose things up in ways no one knew in advance was even possible. To the tune of 2 12 hour days already this week, wrapped around a 9+ hour day. And we now have zero backup capability for hardware to administer the enterprise intelligence data store without going onto a closed campus. What could possibly go wrong?
I've been blowing off some friday's and monday's. not going anywhere, but having time to actually relax on the weekend is important.
Not a bad strategy. The extra stresses of some of the strange circumstances we are dealing with have a sneaky way of building up I finding.
My father's health has been bad enough lately that my wife and I have had the “is it bad enough to merit getting on a plane.” Not yet.
The next football trip I plan on taking is 2022 at Notre Dame. I'm not sure if I'll do TCU. I'm not even sure they'll have fans at games in 2021.
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
"The Trump White House benefited from inaction in a divided Senate, a vacant board when he took office and an intervention by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) that left the new president with a clean slate to mold his agenda.
“The president had a unique opportunity to start from scratch,” said Arthur Sackler, a longtime lobbyist for mailers, postal shippers and suppliers. “I can’t recall another time when there was literally no one on the board.”
Smooth Move, Bernie
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/postal-service-trump-dejoy/2020/08/18/a9b4dd18-e14c-11ea-8181-606e603bb1c4_story.html
The Bernie Enthusiasts of Twitter claim that he was trying to stop Obama appointees who were in favor of privatization which may be true but also makes me think of the old line from a British children’s book: always keep ahold of nurse for fear of finding something worse
Was it really true, though? Why was Obama appointing privatizers?
He wasn't, they just weren't favoring what Bernie wanted. It was dumb.
I am so over The Bernie Enthusiasts of Twitter. I like Bernie's positions on a lot of things, and while I think his approach is a bit alienating and sometimes flat out wrong, his defenders nearly always make it worse.
I mind him much less than the true believers.
Trump calls for a boycott of American tire manufacturer Goodyear because they don't allow political expressions on either side. Goodyear's stock was down 4% earlier this morning.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1296092859226042368
https://twitter.com/goodyear/status/1296111292827283462
So political expression at the tire plant is good, but political expression at the NBA workplace is bad. He should have told the tire plant guys to shut up and dribble, er, work their machines.
Wow..similar to what he did with Goya, this has to be illegal...isn't it?
It’s questionable but I’m not sure if it’s illegal. Rather like steering the TikTok forced sale to his buddy Uncle Larry from Oracle.
An Oracle social media property does not make a whole lot of sense. About as much sense as Oracle net boxes twenty years ago.
GOP-majority Senate Select Committee on Intelligence issues fifth report on Russian interference - doing what Mueller would not do and what Dems already knew that, yes, Manafort colluded with pro-Russia entities to interfere and Trump lied to Mueller.
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/08/russiagate-wasnt-a-hoax/615373/
https://www.intelligence.senate.gov/sites/default/files/documents/report_volume5.pdf
FFS.
PRO
CAL
go bears, eventually
Trivia (no cheating, please)
MBB: Who holds the career Cal record for steals?
Kidd?
nah, only two years.
It is Jason Kidd.
Despite only playing 2 years, Kidd does indeed hold the record. And he has 23% more than #2 (Butch Hayes), despite the latter playing 4 years.
that is surprising to me. also, Butch Hayes is a name from the past. He was the point guard before Kevin Johnson. Then became the off guard or 3 when we went 'small'. We were terrible in those days.
Cal football set its record for most points scored in a quarter against which team?
was it Baylor in JTs first game? Was it 35-0 at the end of the 1st? Or did they get the 5th TD early in the 2nd quarter? The other choice would be the 84-21 bombing of Pacific... so many points in that one... they couldve scored 100 easy that day. I was at both of those games too
For the UOP game we definitely wanted 100!
The Pacific massacre was hard to watch after a while.
says you. My early teen self was chanting for a hundy and I was deeply embittered when they called the dogs off early
Who was the opponent when Cal set its single-game record for most interceptions thrown by Cal and collectively on both sides (hint: it was the same game).
UCLA. I was at that game in the 70s. Nationally televised back when there was 1 or 2 games on a week. Not Rich Campbell's greatest day.
I was at that game; my brother was in the UCLA band. I still hear about it.
Yes. 10 interceptions by Cal. 1 by UCLA.
Holy Cow!!!
9 of those were by Campbell if I remember right. Didnt he get drafted in the 1st round? I think he did haha
45-0 loss at home. So much for national prominence
Who holds the single-season record for most interceptions?
Deltha O'Neal? Though I think teams stopped throwing in his direction, similar to SQT or Asomugha after they became elite cover corners.
Yes. Deltha O'Neal (1999) holds the record at 9.
J Torchio???
J Torchio was all about running the triple option to the short side of the field. Thanks Joe Kapp
And bounce passes.
Ahhh, those bouncing balls. When I was a kid I went to my first Cal game and he kept throwing the ball laterally across the field, usually the ball bouncing harmlessly a few yards from his intended receiver...
I looked up his stats a couple years ago to see if he was what I remembered. Short answer... yes, yes he was
Light the Torch!
SJ Merc: some details about the UA dispute
https://www.mercurynews.com/2020/08/18/details-emerge-in-under-armours-legal-dispute-with-cal-and-they-stretch-the-imagination/