michaelrcaron

I took the train down from Frankfurt to meet my brother, who was visiting me. At the time I worked in Eschborn (a suburb of Frankfurt) and while I was working he went to Heidelberg. When I met up with him, he told me a story of how he went into a Loewenbrau (“Lervenbroy” not “Lowenbrow”) pub and tried to order a schnitzel. The waitress didn’t understand him, so he had about 2 liters of beer waiting for her to bring him his Schnitzel. After a while, he was wondering what was going on because she never came to check on him (something very German, wait staff doesn’t come to you like they do in America. They let you chill there and you have to ask them to come over for something. You’ll sit there all day waiting for the check if you don’t ask for it.). Finally, he asked, “where’s my schnitzel?” “You didn’t order one.” “Yes I did!” “Oh, I am sorry, I must have not understood you.” “Forget it… I’m kinda toasty now and I need some fresh air.” Haha! What a fantastic time in Heidelberg.

It is indeed a wonderful place to visit with a very quaint, cute old center. Certainly go up and visit the Schloss because it’s very pretty, and it’s got some great views of the city. Then walk back down to the city center and grab an ice cream.

If you visit the Everglades, make sure you try to go during the summer’s wet season. You’ll see a lot more wild life. My wife and I visited Shark Valley in April, but it was too dry and we only saw about 10 gators lounging around the roadside. There weren’t much else to see. Certainly the air boats are everywhere, don’t fall into the trap of taking the first one you see. I’m guessing the Native Americans that live near Shark Valley would have the best tours due to their long-time heritage in the area. We didn’t take one because they were expensive and we feel they damage the natural habitat.

If you find yourself heading to Texas, you should pick up a few Asleep At The Wheel CDs and do a road trip. Dallas is pretty cool, Ft. Worth is very touristy, but Texas has a character all to it’s own and it’s kind of neat.

Ok, so we did see the Northern Lights, but that was just about it. Saskatchewan is filled with nothing, well, the occasional lunar landscape when you hit a patch of bad lands, but for the most part the only wonderful thing we saw here on our way to the mountains in Alberta was an ice cream shop in the middle of nowhere. Avoid if you can.

I went to Manitoba with my buddy one year for kicks in January. We had the goal to stay in Winnepeg for a weekend. It was extremely cold, and not very interesting. Chinatown was alright, enjoyment from eating good food. The hostel was nice, but in general, there are so many more interesting places in the world to visit, this wasn’t that interesting.

My girlfriend fell in love with me here. I took her to the Sky Bar and the neighboring restaurant for her birthday. It was an incredible time. After dinner, we went up into the Hollywood hills, drove around, parked and enjoyed the views and pretended to be in a rich house looking from our patio.

I was here for a DOD research program missile launch. Totally awesome. I spent time at the air force base there, then I drove south of the base toward El Paso, stopping along the way doing small excursions in the desert wild flowers to watch the sunset behind the mountains. Exquisite beauty.

My wife and I just got back from a day trip to Lincoln Park the day after Thanksgiving. It was filled with goodies, but the cream of the crop was spending time together at Cafe Ba Ba Reeba off Halsted and Armitage. It’s a pretty big place and it’s been there forever, but it’s a staple of Lincoln Park and worth visiting.

I went to a place called the T-Shirt deli. It’s a shop that looks like a butcher/sandwich shop where you can create your own t-shirt design through iron-on letters and pictures. They have shirts for anyone including babies and pets. Upon ordering your t-shirt, they wrap it in butcher paper, stick little meat stickers on it, write up your order on a ticket and stick the whole thing in a doggie bag “to go.” Bucktown’s filled with these kind of shops.

I grew up in the south suburbs of Chicago. As a result, I traveled there countless times as a child and teen. After college, I moved to Minneapolis, but my family stayed near Chicago, my brother and sister moving into the hip downtown neighborhoods of Bucktown, Lincoln Park, Irving Park, and Wicker Park. Through visiting them and exploring on my own, I’ve discovered a wealth of character that only Chicago has to offer. Chicago’s packed with innovative restaurants, wild shops, hip and friendly people, world-famous hot dogs, museums, views, experiences. Why would anyone NOT want to go here on a visit?