jremsikjr

You can get an average hotel room for $50 off the strip. That said, we stayed on the strip at Treasure Island. Would have liked to have been more centrally located on the strip but, it was a nice place. There are plenty of reminders that this is a playground for adults.

We rolled into Chicago and quickly grabbed a lane at 10 Pin Lounge. It’s approximately a bowling alley/martini bar. It was cozy and each lane had a projection tv mounted over it.

My most surprising observation was the three birthday party’s happening for kids in the 7-10 range. I would suggest trying them a little later in the afternoon/evening.

The general feel of the club was approximately what I expected. Two bars. Two Pool Tables. Local Blues memorabilia and guitars mounted on the walls.

We saw Doug McDonald and Carey Bell. First impression as we walked into the club was to see Doug McDonald wildly fingering his guitar and the whole club was digging it. The headliner, Carey Bell, had an awful band backing him named The Killer B’s. A husband and wife duo that talked WAY too much.

The commercial/touristy Chinatown wasn’t very big. About 3 blocks of stores with a chinese mall a couple blocks away. We went for the Autumn Moon festival which was poorly named as it took place in the blazing sun. The performances started an hour late. We left early because of the lack of shade and my fair skinned wife was looking more and more like a lobster. ;)

The photo opp totally made this trip worthwile with the chinese buildings in the foreground and Sears Tower in the background.

We decided to go check out Times Square around 10AM. We saw the street was segmented by barriers and the resultant pens were filling up so we hopped into one. Little did we know we couldn’t leave and return.

We stood there for 14 hours. Packed elbow to ear lobe with 200 eager people all wanting to be as close as possible to the drop.

When we left we learned that all the people were packed into the front half of our pen. We could’ve brought a couch and hung out in the back of our area and had a swell time. Next Time(s Square).

My wife’s grandfather passed away while I was in Philadelphia helping a friend move. In the haste to get home as soon as possible I negelcted to check the weather. I got into Detroit late and wound up spending the next 10 hours there.

The airport is nice, but not that nice, I high-tailed it to a local hotel. A good night’s sleep and clear runways in the morning meant I was off to a funeral, hooray!

Looked like a fun city the second day I was there my wife’s grandfather died and shortened my trip.

We stayed in the Thistle hotel located on St. Katherine’s Docks at the footings of Tower Bridge. Our room was average, the service slightly above.

Our three day tour consisted mostly of walking tours and public transportation. It was cold and rainy. I’m willing to accuse poor planning on our part but, in hindsight I think we would have had more fun staying in the Netherlands.

We had a memorable trip over the Skyway Bridge in a Plymouth Reliant (K Car!). As we climbed the bridge which is about a 15 degree or better grade we slowed down. At the top we were traveling at 20 MPH and could not go any faster.

Good Times!

As was the chinese firedrill on the interstate. Traffic suddenly stopped and we wanted to change drivers. All three of us opened our doors ran out and got in another door. Things are much more amusing when you’re 17.

Dunns River Falls is a natural tourist attraction about 2 hours east of Montego Bay, Jamaica. While we were there there wasn’t a break in the line all the way up the falls. Handy for those harder steps where people can give a helping hand along the way.

If I recall correctly it took about 45 mins to climb the falls but, it’s something I’ll remember forever. As they say at amusement parks “You will get wet while attending this attraction” ;)