Sometimes the little thins make a huge difference

I've had a rough week -- beyond being stressed by the volume of work that needs to be accomplished in a frighteningly short amount of time, and more importantly, my Grandfather in Northern Michigan is not doing so well.

For as long as I can remember he's been physically and intellectually strong, and with an engineer's mind we share a lot in common, including a love of travel (he prefers to drive; I prefer to fly), even after a multiple myeloma diagnosis a few years ago he was still in relatively good condition. But over the past few months his condition has deteriorated alarmingly.

My mother flew out from Portland to visit him this weekend and I took Friday to make the 7-hour/450-mile drive up to see both my mom and my grandfather; it was tough to see him so incapacitated. And even tougher to leave -- but it was necessary as I need to be in Columbus (where I am now) for a project Monday morning.

While my grandfather would have no problems with it, putting in another 470 miles and 7 hours to get from Michigan to Columbus in two days is a little more than my ideal tolerance for driving, and combined with an emotionally draining few days...well... There were more than a few times I thought about just pulling off the road and taking a nap.

But I made it to the hotel -- the Hampton Inn Columbus/Dublin -- and checked in. I've stayed at this property before -- most recently about two months ago -- but I didn't recognize the gentleman behind the counter. As he checked me in he mentioned "Stephanie said to say Hi."

That lifted my spirits a little -- as a mid-grade road warrior I tend to feel like I fall into obscurity on the road. Despite the scripted, almost robotic, greetings that are doled out as part of the "standard" Hilton HHonors Gold greeting, I don't get the sense of human-to-human connection.

I remember Stephanie well from my last visit -- actually her genuine hospitality is probably 90% of the reason I came back to this property rather than "shopping around" a bit. I also remember asking the "crazy question" about the keycards.

(Aside) You see: Hampton Inn has, for as long as I've been a "road warrior", issued a unique keycard for each state ("Welcome To ________"). The first Hampton I visit in each state, I keep one of the key cards -- working towards my unwritten goal of "Collecting all 50". I was somewhat alarmed on my last visit to note that instead of the "Welcome to Ohio" keycard, there was a new card advertising USA Today. Not because I needed an Ohio card, but rather because I was looking forward to adding Arizona to my collection with my first trip to that state. Aside from graciously answering my question and offering to find an Ohio card if I needed one, I had largely forgotten the specific question.

But as I trundled up to my room, I noticed a piece of paper in with my key card. On it, the hand-written note:

"Hey! Welcome back! So apparently the keys you had last time were a promo. I believe we are all going back to the state keys. See you tomorrow! Stephanie"

It sounds a little goofy, but I have to say it instantly buoyed my spirits -- rather than being a faceless reservation number or a nameless person wandering the halls of a global corporation I felt like I was truly someone's guest, not to mention that I was tremendously impressed that despite the number of travelers seen on any given day she remembered both me and my question from my last visit -- almost exactly two months ago.

It was a simple -- but extremely nice -- end to a very long weekend.

Lincoln

Back from St. Ignace and Mackianc Island, Michigan

I've been wanting to make it up to my Grandparent's place in St. Ignace, and to get some Michigan driving on my car*. I also wanted to show my girlfriend Upper Michigan. This was the first weekend where (a) Rachel didn't have to work for the full weekend, and (b) my grandparents -- popular as ever -- had an open weekend. Finally (c) of this summer's Cleveland Orchestra/Blossom Festival program, this weekend seemed to be the least compelling (I wasn't terribly impressed by last season's performance and Joffery Ballet's labor issues earlier in the season had cast some doubt as well)

I picked Rachel up after she finished work early Friday Afternoon, and we stopped by her apartment to grab her bag, then my place to pick up the razor I forgot to throw in my bag the first time I left the house. With that we were on the road just after 3:45, and had an uneventful drive "Up North," crossing the Mackinac Bridge right about 11, and arriving at our St. Ignace destination just after 11:15. We were surprised to find one of my uncles and two cousins wrapping up a much longer vacation.

Introductions out of the way and quickly falling asleep, the first day of the trip was down. I think everyone sleeps a bit longer "up north" and we were certainly no exception, getting a leisurely start to Saturday morning. Being Rachel's first trip to Northern Michigan, we played tourists on Mackinac Island for most of the day Saturday: Starting with a light lunch at Fred's on the island, then a carriage tour for a general overview, and from there a bit of wandering.

The island's art museum is a relatively new addition to the tourist scene on the island, and was my first time visiting: All of the art on display (some of it for sale) depicts the island in some way giving the collection an appreciably narrow focus, and there were interesting surprises: The artist behind one of the more eye-catching works studied with the artist who created one of Rachel's favorite paintings Rest

While we decided to forgo the Fort on this visit, we found that the Art Museum ticket also grants access to the Market Street buildings we visited while working our way to the Grand Hotel -- my first time in those, I think, since my fist visit to the Island nearly 15 years ago. Popping into establishments along the way, we did our bit to support the local economy. Legs wearing thin, we hit the ferry back to the mainland and walked up the hill to my grandparents.

After a bit of socializing -- and a rather addictive game -- we adjourned to St. Ignace's boardwalk to enjoy the evening fireworks, before once again returning and retiring to another good "Up North" sleep.

This morning we woke up, once again, late in the morning and socialized a bit. I had originally thought about taking Rachel up to the Soo (Sault Ste. Marie) or Taquemenon (I'm virtually positive I've misspelled that) Falls... but I didn't consider the travel distances for either of those and after brief discussion both of those were saved for a later trip. Instead, we walked the St. Ignace Boardwalk to the end of downtown (and then a bit further), walked back window shopping and stopping for a late brunch (me) and lunch (her) before returning to say goodbyes and hitting the road south in between rain showers.

The drive back went a bit slower than the drive up because it seems like we hit a few chunks of blockage or clumps of slow moving cars that seemed to last forever. We plan to return sooner rather than later, and my grandparents' hospitality is second to none.

Some of the photos taken by Rachel can be found on my Flickr Photostream at http://www.flickr.com/photos/24046431@N07/sets/72157627489482560

Lincoln
*- Michiganders tend to drive like Californians: Fast, and with an average speed 10-15 MPH above the (70 MPH) posted speed limit. They're also typically more courteous than California drivers. Ohio drivers, on the other hand, generally give great deference to to the unreasonably low speed limits...and also linger in the left lane long after any passing has been completed. In other words, driving is just more fun in Michigan.

2010 In Review

So I'm a few days late here and December was really somewhere between blah and depressing (Having a property tax payment, real mortgage payment, and mortgage-esque loan repayment to my parents perpetually on the horizon tends to get me stressed late in the month, and early in the month I was just feeling kind of isolated. Visiting my parents, I think, was that month's one saving grace. But then, of course, the year was capped off by the news of my paternal grandfather passing.

But the rest of the year, as a sum, really was pretty awesome.

The Situational Awareness and Dating Story: Though I did quite a bit of dating in 2010, I am still single. Aside from practice, I've tried to get a better idea of who I'm looking for, and what that feels like. I have a pretty good idea, intellectually, and physically who I'm interested in but I'm finally honing in on what really hooks me.

Situational awareness is "being aware of what is happening [around] to understand how information, events, and [...] actions will impact your goals and objectives, both now and in the near future". For better or worse, I tend to mantain a fairly high level of situational awareness, and it's rarely lost.

Essentially (since I've tried writing and rewriting this paragraph in a way that both provides more detail and doens't sound demented) I'm most attracted to people who that je ne sais qoui is so strong that I loose all situational awareness and we are the only two people in the world--the type of person with whom a connection is so compelling that I can walk into a parked car while listening to her. Its a feeling I've experenced but a handful of times....Ok, so enough of that...

January, spent my first quality time in New York City, primarily Manhattan, including 3 nights at the famed Waldorf=Astoria (probably not something I'll do again, though) and a night at the Hilton Times Square (one of the best hotels of 2010 for both location and service). I attended New York City Ballet for the first time [I wish Cleveland had a professional ballet company], and heard the Chicago Symphony at Carnegie Hall [I was underwhelmed...but reminded of what a gem we have with both the Cleveland Orchestra and Severance Hall]. I discovered that if I ever leave Cleveland, the only other city I can imagine living in is New York--I love the mass transit, walkability, energy, and immense culture. I'd love to have a pied-a-terre in Manhattan some day, but I don't know that I'd permanently leave Cleveland.

We started the year strong in a musical theatre sense with both the standard Phantom of the Opera and the new Next To Normal, but I didn't really fall in love with any of the other musicals I saw in 2010.

Chasing a musical that I love on several levels, I saw Spring Awakening in Detroit, both the matinee and evening performance from the on stage seats on the same day-- the night before leaving an Akron Symphony concert at about 10pm and arriving at the hotel at 1am, and needing to be at a project in Columbus for 9am the next day. These were the 7th and 8th times I've seen that show in the 4th state, making it the show I've seen the greatest number of times without having any creative involvement.

I went back to Minnesota and had an interesting experience with the Minnesota Orchestra, along with visiting the Walker Art Center for my 2nd time -- It is one of a handful of museums outside of Cleveland that I'd make a point to visit again (the only other that comes to mind is the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum in NYC)

I found myself back in New York for a weekend mid-year with just a handful of days notice, courtesy of PlayhouseSquare...and I attended the Tony Awards. And almost tripped Scarlett Johansson twice.

For the Cleveland Museum of Art's Summer Solstice, my aforementioned friend and I participated in and won a photo scavenger hunt, making it one of the most memorable and fun nights to date. I almost went in for a kiss at the end of the night*. I chickened out. I think I'll regret that for a while. Meanwhile, more of the collection has been installed and the remaining pieces of the puzzle are well under way. I continue to be a proud member of this fantastic and free resource.

Over the summer I made my way to my maternal grandparents in St. Ignace, Michigan which combined with Mackinac Island is an amazingly picturesque corner of the world and a nice way to get away from that hustle and bustle--but yet again, had to drive to Columbus for a project. I did a lot of driving to Columbus (and greater Pittsburgh) for work this year; I'm not particularly fond of either city, but I also keep forgetting to visit the Andy Warhol museum in Pittsburgh [I swear it's on my list].

The only truly "new city" from this year was Jacksonville, Florida wherein I saw the "far" end of Interstate 10 -- the other end of which is near and no so dear in California, and touched the water of the Atlantic Ocean for the first time. Compared to the wonderful energy and compactness of New York City, Jacksonville disappointed me with so/so culture and urban sprawl second only to Southern California.

September saw Cleveland Public Theatre's Pandemonium benefit party where, in one of the more disappointing events of the year the woman I had invited for a first "date" canceled with what would be the most creative excuse I've ever been given, had it not unfortunately, been true.

In October, I visited Las Vegas where I served as an excuse for my dad to avoid a baby shower, having previously seen Cirque du Soliel's O [wonderful] and Zumanity [**] on my own, my dad and I attended Ka, which ranks as one of the most technically captivating bits of live entertainment I've seen, and a great use of technology.

Later in October, I attended Heights Arts's 10th anniversary concert and party...as everything Heights Arts does, thoroughly enjoyable, though 2 glasses of pinot grigio might have been a glass too many and I finished the night with a silent auction bidding war that I hadn't planned on getting involved with. But it is for a good cause.

Of course, throughout the year in Cleveland there were almost countless performances at...

...Cleveland Play House (Bill W. and Dr. Bob being the most moving drama of the year, The 39 Steps being one of the funniest),

...The Cleveland Orchestra (wherein I haven't missed a performance of a program at Severance Hall since the beginning of the 09-10 season, and only missed two weekends of the Blossom season.) If I was going to choose one concert from 2010 -- it is tough. I've enjoyed most of them, though Ashkenezy's Pictures at an Exhibition and Mahler's Symphony No. 1 (combined with Franklin Cohen playing Neilsen's Clarinet Concerto) both spring to mind.

...The Cleveland Institute of Music continues to amaze with a seemingly endless (except at the holidays and summer) menu of free concerts by amazingly talented students and faculty. Quite possibly one of the most delightful recitals I've heard, was violinist Diana Cohen's Second Master of Music recital.

...If I were to list every other organization that made a mark on my 2010, I'd invariably leave a few out...and this post is already long enough.

Oh, and I've continued studying the violin. It's a long and steep hill, but I'm making progress. I'm getting pretty good at reading music, my tone is improving, but I still have a way to go with rythm.

Suffice it to say, it turns out 2010 wasn't that bad. Let's see if 2011 can beat it!

Lincoln
*- Excluding relatives, there have been exactly 0 thus far. Hey, I'm socially conservative.
*- Not really for me. Hey, I'm socially conservative.

Mackinac Island Shall Explain My Absence (Part II)

Yesterday kind of got away from me--A long day on the project that brought me to Columbus means I finished the project early and am looking forward to crawling into my own unmade bed a night early. Once again, I've uploaded more photos to my Flickr Photostream.

When last we left this trip I had been to Mackinac Island and was had attended fireworks at the St. Ignace Marina... it really was beautiful with the light reflecting off the water, but since I was watching the fireworks rather than the viewfinder, not many of the photos turned out well...

After a good night's sleep and a late morning, some more visiting took place and my mom and I headed "downtown" to Bently's Cafe, a St. Ignace institution that has found at least one of my relatives behind the counter and is not lacking in 50's feel. Since I needed to be in Columbus, some seven and a half hours south, well rested for Monday morning, I started my journey south...

The Mackinac Bridge is the rest of the world's gateway to the Upper Peninsula, and the Upper Peninsula's gateway to the rest of the world. The toll on opening day in 1957 was $3.25 each way... the toll today $3.50 each way. Not bad for 53 years. The remainder of the drive south looked unsurprisingly like the drive north, just without the never ending sunset.

One of my favorite -- well, I can't call it a favorite -- but one of the pieces I most connect with in the Cleveland Museum of Art's collection is John Rogers Cox's "Gray and Gold" -- the symbolism is a bit hard to pick up from the version on their website, but in this 1942 painting storm clouds linger over amber waves of grain while political campaign posters are tacked to the telephone poles at the intersection of two quiet rural roads--it seems that each time I look it at I pick up another detail.

When I have a bit more time to travel, I enjoy letting my GPS take me off-highway... a quiet two lane road with a high(ish, this is Ohio after all) speed limit through farmland is more relaxing than being stuck behind a semi for 3 hours, and the time seems to fly with the scenery, with the occasional small town thrown in for good measure and a bit of variety. Perhaps because of this, the scenery shown in Gray and Gold seems so familiar.

This trip, for reasons of expediency, I was limited to mostly major highways, but nonetheless as I drove along there were scenes that reminded me of the essence of Gray and Gold -- just without the stormy overcast:

And with that and a few more hours of driving I arrived at my hotel in Columbus with a little bit more daylight and one more picturesque sunset for this trip...

And now, of course I am home...

Mackinac Island Shall Explain My Absence

I have returned from a simpler time, and it scares me. Well, not really, though I was quite confused about what to do when presented with a gas pump that doesn't have a slot for credit cards. (Aparently you pay after you pump the gas...and you go inside. The whole premise of paying for the gas after it's in your car is foreign to me.)

(If you want to skip all of the words and just see pictures, you can go to the Flickr photos)

I was in a place where wireless internet access is not ubiquitous, television is not missed, and the summer sunsets last forever. If you noticed the lack of a performing arts piece this weekend, it's OK... I didn't get hit by a bus, though I have 3 days and another couple hundred miles before I'm home: I will be at a Cleveland Orchestra concert next weekend, though I haven't decided which one sounds better (leave a comment if you'd prefer to hear about Saturday or Sunday's concert)


Before making my way to Columbus, where I am at the moment, I was "Up North" in beautiful St. Ignace and Mackinac Island, Michigan. Both cities are amazing to visit; and my grandparent's home up there has an amazing view of the lake just standing in the middle of the street. But let's start at near the beginning...

My journey started after work on Thursday, and at 11:59PM, 6 hours into the 7 hour drive I found myself checking in to the last room at the Gaylord Hampton Inn: My suspicion that that was a good place to pause the drive was confirmed when I tried convincing the clerk that my Hilton HHonors Diamond Card -- followed by my Ohio Driver's License -- was the credit card I wished to used to pay for the room. A keycard for their last available room was exchanged for a valid (and real) credit card, and I got a good night sleep.


Friday morning, I finished out the drive and greeted my grandparents who graciously hosted us in their home for this trip. After unwinding, my Mom (who had arrived by air the night before) and I headed over to Mackinac Island...relatively unique in that there motorized vehicles are prohibited* on the Island's roads leaving foot, bikes, and horses as the primary means of transportation. The island is full of history and, for me at least, is quite the visual experience so if you can't go for yourself, I'd recommend checking out some of my Flickr photos rather than reading my blather.

Among "new" sights for this trip, I was amazed to see a horse-drawn street sweeper a few times during the course of my visit -- an ingenious bit of technology to address one of the biggest problems of having a few hundred horses as an island's primary means of transportation (don't worry, the old-school human-with-shovel-and-pan street sweeper is still present in abundance).

After leaving the island and unwinding for a bit we grabbed dinner and that pretty much spoke for Friday.

Saturday morning was the reunion proper. Once things quieted down, my mother and I got a few games of bowling in. Unsurprisingly, I lost every game. Badly. But we still had fun. After bowling we paid my tribe's casino a visit to spend some promotional tokens. Unsurprisingly, I lost. Badly. But I walked out with $3.75 more than I started with, and we closed out the night with downtown St. Ignace's fireworks over Lake Huron.


Given that it is now 11:30 this seems like a good place to leave things for tonight, more about the trip and more photos to come tomorrow.


Lincoln
*--Golf carts are allowed on the golf course only; our carriage guide told the story about two attorneys who were golfing and decided to take the cart downtown to pick up more beer. A state trooper cited them for, among other things, OWI, open container, no seatbelt on a state highway...