I didn’t write yesterday … there was really no time (as you’ll read later). But we made it home safely.
We rose at 5:30, hoping to get out of the area in time to avoid flooding. Packed and in the car and checking out at 6:20, we were then on the road. It was just barely sprinkling when we began. We were grateful.
But then rain did get heavier. Not killer “we can’t drive in this” heavy, but still, we knew it meant watching out for flooding on the road. Getting to the top of the spot between Death Valley and Panamint Valley there were rock slides. No boulders to speak of, but very large rocks that Dan had to avoid, driving in whichever lane was clearest.
As we headed down to Panimint Valley we could see water at the edges of the road that were headed down. Near the bottom, we saw the start of that flow and it was clear that it would land at the bottom and pool. I hadn’t really understood just how roads got so quickly flooded. Now I do.
Videos don’t really do it justice, but I’ll still post a few …
Dan then had to be careful for the drive for quite some time. Reaching parts of the road that were flooded (shallow, mind you … not something he couldn’t get through), Dan would slow and carefully drive through. As he mentioned later, you don’t know what’s under the water as you can’t see that.
Driving through Trona a whole lot of the road was flooded. That was a bit of a surprise … they must just accept the flooding and not work on guiding water elsewhere.
For this trip we went through Ridgecrest so we could get breakfast. That city, too, was quite flooded already. But we made our way to Starbucks (have I mentioned that these kinds of trips are the only time we enter Starbucks? And never in Europe. Nope. Isn’t gonna happen!)
Next up was getting to Tehachapi, where we’d fill the tank.
Except.
The freeway — if it’s called a freeway up there? — we were to take to there was closed! In our day of phones with maps and guidance systems we could fortunately find another route somewhat easily. Waze and Google maps gave the same directions while Apple maps gave different ones. It was two to one — Waze and Google won. It wasn’t a direct route … we had to go a distance and eventually ended up on the Grapevine. But we made it.
The Grapevine was slow moving, but at least it was moving. (I later read that the day before it was a total mess due to accidents.)
From there it was “easy” (as in Dan knows what to do) and eventually rain diminished. We did take a Buttonwillow bathroom break. And there we saw something … um … words can’t desscribe, really. (Excuse the blur.)
Finally, we even saw blue sky and the green was lovely to see … what I think of as “Spring green” was right there in December!
And we saw a rainbow.
So the rest of the drive was pretty uneventful, but what a LONG day. We arrived home at 4:00, and had a Christmas Eve dinner reservation at 5:00, so we had just enough time to unpack the car and get changed.
Our alarms were set for 4:50, and when they went off Dan got up and looked outside.
Gray. Gray. Gray. And no stars to be seen.
That meant back to bed and sleeping in (which means up at 7:00 for me). There was no point going out for a non-existent sunrise, after all. It also means that today will probably not be much of a photography day at all, but of course the iPhone will get used so I can post things here.
After sitting around for a bit Dan made us some coffee. Not the in-room stuff, but good coffee using his aeropress. We then walked to the spots that serve breakfast. The breakfast buffet was $21 per person. No thanks! We don’t eat enough to make buying mediocre food worth it. The coffee spot had pretty sad looking pastries and muffins. Instead of those we went back to our room and enjoyed the breakfast food we brought with us, sitting on the little patio outside. Worked great! (And the price was right.) Oh … and some odd fungi outside our door which I’ll include here.
Eventually we drove down to Manly Lake (or is it Lake Manly?) again just to have a look-see. On the way we stopped a bit so I could take some more iPhone photos.
Finding parking at the lake took a bit of time, as there were a whole lot of people out there. Dan opted to only shoot a photo of the crowd, and I did the same with the iPhone, but I can’t quite capture things well.
Then we drove to Natural Bridge Canyon and after parking we took a few photos looking back at the lake.
Then it was walking time. Good thing I read the sign about the snakes. Whew!
On the way I noticed more green. I do love to see green!
The bridge isn’t a terribly long walk. And of course I took photos.
We continued on for a bit, and I continued making iPhone shots.
We opted not to climb the rocks to go up even higher. I had seen a family working on getting down and they were young and agile. I’m not interested in taking a chance of falling. Plus I’m lazy. The rocks, though, are so beautiful. I mostly took photos with my camera, so those will wait until later to be posted and go up on my photography site at some point (if they are decent). But above you can see a few images.
Then back down we went.
While we don’t necessarily feel the need to revisit the Artist Drive, we did so since photo ops weren’t plentiful. I do find the rock colors pretty astounding.
Can you spot someone on the rocks?
More of the drive …
Lunch was at our patio again, using up more of the food we brought with us.
Oh … I forgot to mention the weather! Looking up at the higher mountains, near where we were yesterday, it looked to be snowing. Sure enough, later when we checked there was more snow on them. We had a few tiny drops of rain down below, but that was it.
After lunch, a bit of reading, and whatnot, Dan figured maybe we’d do a loop off of the road to Beatty (I think). So out the door we went.
But wait! What was this we saw?
SUN.
Yep, the sun was shining on the mountains just across the street from The Ranch, too, and so we simply drove across the street and out came Dan’s camera (and my iPhone). They were beautifully lit!
From there we moved on, and stopped a few more times. Dan was sort of chasing light at this point. As he said, anything he got was a bonus since we really hadn’t expected to have the right lighting and all for photos. Quite a wonderful surprise, and a good — maybe great? — reason to have stayed today.
Yep, you read that right: we had actually considered coming home one day early, even while we knew the place was paid for and there was no chance of getting the money back. I think we (okay, Dan, really) made the right choice!
Finally it was back to our room, dropping things off, and then dinner time. Dan had a nice piece of salmon. I had pasta with a mystery white wine sauce, meaning there was no sauce! Oh well. Thankfully I had added chicken to the plate and that was good. Prices here are ridiculous, but as Dan and I frequently say anytime something is a bit off, “It’s Death Valley!” You get no food photos. But heeeer’s Danny! Hah!
Dan decided I “needed” some chocolate since my dinner wasn’t great, so we went to the store. What do we find? A book with Dan’s image featured on the front!
When we returned to our room it was shower and packing time. We are going to head out quite early so we can, we hope, get through DEVA and a bit more before the rain really hits. Stay tuned!
It was an early morning day: our alarms (yes, both mine and Dan’s) went off at 4:15 AM. At that point I wasn’t sound asleep in any case so it wasn’t a miserable awakening.
While loading the car a runner went past. That’s one early run! She wisely had lights on both front and back as I learned when we later passed her on the main road.
I sort of dozed on and off as Dan did the long drive in the dark. I do have a tendency to fall asleep in moving vehicles … not only in cars, but in trains and planes as well. It’s a gift. 😉
The final road to our destination was not “sleepable”. It was washboard for a while, and at one point quite narrow. Again, I’m grateful for the driver. I think the drive itself was a bit more than an hour.
We arrived at Aguereberry Point at a very good time. Sunrise was still a bit away, but the colors … well … they were amazing. I didn’t use my good cameras, but the iPhone was just fine.
I’ve been to Aguereberry a few times now, and today’s visit was really rather pleasant. It was chilly, yes, but not like one time when the wind really made it ridiculous and another when it was pretty darn freezing.
Dan continued to photograph. Me, not in the mood, sat in the car part of the time since even with the nicer weather it does get cold, what with the wind and the clouds that were blocking the warmth of the now rising sun. And mostly I was really enjoying the peace and quiet one experiences in this area.
From Aguereberry Dan drove a short bit to a different view, hoping to get some light on the water down below. It’s possible a bit of dozing took place as well.
It appears that the light today might not be a photographer’s dream, and tomorrow Dan has read that it will be rather gray. We’ll see how it goes. I enjoy the area no matter what. (I’m not sure I’d want to be here in a huge storm, though, and while I’m glad to have experienced a dust storm once in my life I could do without that as well.)
More driving and a brief stop at a small cave Dan investigated … it really didn’t go anywhere.
At one curve I noticed a lot of trees below and figured there must be a water source. Going around further we saw a very bright cottonwood which was catching the sun so of course we had to stop. But gee, what are these pink things on the ground? Flowers. In December!
Crossing the street I then saw a spot of orange. Mallow. Another surprise.
Since Dan was continuing with his photography I walked up the street a bit, seeing tons of evidence of the wild burros but no burros in sight. And then more mallow. Plus this marker. Who knows if it’s for real or not? Guess I should look up the name.
More of the trees …
Finally we wound up at Wild Rose Campground. Breakfast time!
After eating we drove up the road a bit, seeing a few building that may or may not still be in use, and then headed over to Skidoo. The drive was long and bumpy and, for yours truly, sometimes scary. I’d done the trip before, but I’d forgotten at the drop offs in some areas. Thankfully Dan knows my fear and is very careful. He also suggests I grab my emergency passenger brake. It works so very well. How do I know? Well … we’ve not gone over a cliff. Yet.
Here is the photo of my emergency passenger brake being put to use:
We didn’t go all the way to the mine, but stopped at what used to be Skidoo, which was a convenient spot for one of us to get a bit of a rest while the other worked on this blog entry. (Waking up at 4:15 and doing ALL the driving while yours truly nods off does mean a nap or two is in order.)
Then back where we came from. This time, though, Dan mentioned that he thought we could probably find Furnace Creek from where we were. Sure enough, I found it, could spot where our lodging was, and where the fancier place up above and to the right was. Can you see them? (The Ranch is a darker rectangle, if that helps.)
More driving in a very windy area as we looked for a lunch spot. We ended up near a nearly wiped out abode (A cabin? An actual house? Dunno!) and driving past that we wound up near a mine that was a bit more sheltered. We first took a quick look into the mine … but no, we don’t go into these things.
Then we set up our chairs and table and worked very hard and diligently on eating. So far I think we should get an A+ (and everyone who knows me knows I don’t even believe in pluses!) when it comes to eating. Hah!
We saw some interesting clouds as well. Dan mentioned that seeing Mare’s Tail ones was often interpreted as “rain in 24 hours”, and we did see those, along with other strange clouds.
We walked back to the ramshackle place and took a few photos. Dan has probably taken photos nearly every time he’s been here, so he wanted to grab more, knowing the place isn’t long for the world.
From there we drove to another building. If the dates are right it was built in in 1951, but who knows if that’s really true. It was in better condition than the first, but of course there’s no way in the world I’d ever want to stay there. Dan got the door opened, so I could shoot a few photos of the inside, but I wasn’t even about to walk into it.
Our drive then took us to another “Oh, I might as well take a photo!” spot for Dan, as the light was good. I worked more on this blog then. When I looked back up that light seemed to be going. One has to work very quickly with photography!
Side note: we often think, “Oh, it’s 1 hour to our next destination,” but get distracted by photo ops. Go figure. (Good thing there aren’t many flowers … we’d get distracted even more then!)
It was decided that we’d head back down to Stovepipe Wells and see what the light was doing when we got there.
Turned out it was doing nothing but fading to gray.
We filled the tank (it’s unbelievable how many miles we drive to get from place to place!), and then sat in the car below the power pole location to see if the sun decided to poke through the clouds.
Eventually we drove up to the end of the gravel road. We saw a strange plant someone had placed on a rock. And then … gee, some flowers on the desert holly! I’d never seen that before. Obviously I had to pull out my macro lens and shoot that, along with another plant with incredibly tiny leaves. I hope something turns out — I’ll only know when I get things into Lightroom.
Then it was halfway down the road to wait to see if that boring light turned into something magical.
The answer was no. Ah well … can’t have great light every single day.
We went back to our room, unloaded all the gear, and headed to the tavern here. We enjoyed some pizza and salad and I neglected to take a photo until it was too late so you’ll have to use your imagination. But yes, it was yummy and yes, I ate too much.
We don’t know what tomorrow will bring: the weather forecast isn’t promising. But only time will tell …
My watch and phone alarms went off at 5:30 AM. I woke (actually I was sort of awake already) but noticed Dan’s alarms didn’t go off. Hmm. I figured I must have misunderstood the time he said we needed to get up. I decided to check his phone to see what time he’d set: turned out he hadn’t set it at all. Double hmm. So I woke him and, yes indeed, he wanted us to rise at 5:30 AM. Oops!
Thankfully we are pretty quick to get up, and we weren’t planning on even a hotel coffee before leaving so we dressed, loaded up the car, and headed to Badwater and Manly Lake. It was pretty dark outside …
I’d never seen the lake with enough water to qualify as a lake, but the November 18 storm they had here meant it would be a good time to check it out.
Don’t get me wrong … no one would be boating this lake. No swimming either, but we did see a few people walk into the water to have pictures taken.
The light was pretty. A very pastel sunrise appeared. I actually took a few Fuji camera shots, and a lot of iPhone photos so I could find decent ones for this blog.
We stopped one other time for another view looking back from where we had come. I noted that while it looks rather dead right now (no flowers), there were lots of little green things growing.
We also drove the short road to Devil’s Golf Course. No one was golfing. (No, you can’t really golf there.) I should have snapped a boring photo just to say we’d been there. Too late now.
Finally we made our way to Zabriskie Point and Dan got the car parked. We didn’t head up to the point, though: it was breakfast time. First up was coffee, and then it was granola and banana slices in milk. Food is so yummy when eaten outside in a National Park, I think.
After breakfast we went up the walk to the top of Zabriskie. It’s an extremely popular spot for tourists and Dan doesn’t usually go there any more, but I wanted to get some shots to post here so he was accommodating. He’s nice that way. And of course he took photos too.
Funny/weird side bit: I saw a man walking up on his own. When I got to the top I heard him telling awful stories to a family there that he somehow nabbed … talking about people who’ve fallen to their death at various locations. Mentioning how far they’d fallen. Talking about other horrors, like someone accidentally driving their car over an edge. Eek! Not quite the thing vacationers are probably wanting to hear. When he finished his spiel he turned around and walked back down. Hm. Odd to witness all that.
Okay … but back to our adventures!
After Zabriskie we went to drive to Echo canyon. We’d been there before and I had fond memories of eating lunch at the end of the canyon, where we had reached an old mine. (I also was remembering being bothered horribly by yellow jackets.) So up we went. And hey, we spotted yellow flowers. That was fun.
We also stopped to shoot Eye of the Needle.
When we reached the Inyo mine we unpacked for lunch. The weather was pretty nice: no need for a jacket, but not hot enough to be out of the sun.
Then back down the road we went. Dan had a very brief rest while I went out and shot some other yellow flowers.
These gravel roads are really something to drive … and I’m grateful that Dan does them as I’m uncomfortable navigating them.
I took another photo of Eye of the Needle. Just because.
People camp along some of the roads here. These days they have to get a permit for many of them, and have to camp in designated spots. (Dan used to just pull over and sleep wherever he wanted, and he can still do take some places. Me? I camp in a room. With a bed. And a bathroom. And electricity.)
From Echo we drove to Stovepipe Wells to tank up, and then, a very short hop away, we drove up to Mosaic Canyon. I think I know why they call it that.
We walked a bit up the canyon, finally getting to a spot that is a lot of smooth granite.
I had been up that before, but today I decided I wasn’t up for slipping, which I’m prone to do on that stuff. So that was the end for of the trail for us and back to the car we went.
The sun was quickly moving and while Dan initially thought he might go to “his rock” (a spot he likes that has good views) he decided instead to go to the “power pole road” spot. Dan had to move quickly to get his camera gear out. I only took out the the iPhone so I could post here. I find shooting sunsets and landscape things to be very challenging and I wasn’t in the mood for that challenge.
Dan is an extremely patient photographer, unlike yours truly. He is so good at waiting for the right light. But of course one never knows if the right light will show up or not! There were some incredibly interesting clouds, and they were light from the top … but, alas, it wasn’t to be tonight. When all went gray he packed up.
Next up … food! Since we were so close to Stovepipe Wells we opted for dinner there tonight. It wasn’t exactly an epicurean’s delight, but it filled our stomachs and it was nice and convenient.
Then it was back to our hotel. We arrived back somewhat early, but that gave us time to relax, I could finish up this blog entry, and early to bed is probably wise since I’m assuming it’s an early to rise morning.
Greetings from Death Valley! We are search at The Ranch at Death Valley or maybe it’s the Inn at Death Valley, or if we were to get very hopeful, the Oasis at Death Valley, but I’m pretty sure that last one is the expensive place. But when I made the reservation it was for the ranch, and when I look at the provided notepad it says the inn, and Dan said something else said the oasis. Go figure. I guess they just like to keep us guessing!
We woke quite early (for me, anyway) had our coffees, and after brushing our teeth (and my making the bed) we headed out. Our car had been loaded last night, so it went rather quickly.
The drive was just fine because my personal driver did it all. Yes, Dan did every bit of the driving. I guess I need to offer to drive on occasion. But today was not such an occasion. Go figure.
Going over Pacheco Pass was lovely. Fog. Nice light. And a shot through the car window (I could touch these up, but not tonight: I’m lazy that way).
The drive continued. I attempted to shoot through the window some more … capturing a Joshua tree was near impossible which was a disappointment as I always enjoy seeing those on our way to Death Valley. This one image will have to suffice — through a window and a fast moving vehicle!
We arrived at Searles Valley … such an odd place. And then the very bizarre city of Trona. I try to imagine what it is like to live in such a place … but nope, can’t imagine it at all! Dry. Dusty. And quite … um … unusual.
We reached a nice spot with a view, and I asked to pull over. I took a few shots, and then Dan saw a group and offered to take their photo. Turns out they were from Holland and he spent a bit of time recommending spots to visit in Death Valley. He’s handy that way!
We arrived at the visitor’s center where Dan got our permit and yakked with a ranger there about what roads were open now. (There are more opened than we thought, which was nice.)
Since we were early we then took a little loop before going to the Ranch.
After checking in we unloaded the car. Dan had purchased a little wagon sort of thing that worked quite nicely for unloading everything.
Our room is just fine. Nothing special, but rather roomy — with TWO queen size beds — and clean. It’ll do!
Then we walked to see what our dinner options were. First spot was the “tavern” which was serving what seemed mostly like lunch food, second was an grill that had dogs and burgers, then there was a buffet ($29 per person and I don’t believe that included drinks), and finally the saloon.
We ended up at the “Last Kind Words Saloon” even while knowing it wasn’t the least costly, but it looked nice and it was the final spot we looked at so why not? We had to wait a while to be seated so Dan had his alcohol free beer and I had a glass of merlot as we waited.
Eventually we were called in. I had chicken tacos (listed as a starter but PLENTY of food) and Dan had a burger. Nothing here is inexpensive, but it’s Death Valley and that’s to be expected. Thankfully we’ve brought food for our breakfasts and lunches, so we only have to pay for dinners. Whew!
Tomorrow we will head out on some sort of adventure. When it comes to places look this I leave it in Dan’s capable hands: he knows this area so well, and I’m happy to go along for the ride.
Yes, we’ve decorated our house for Christmas. We even did a bit more than many recent years because our whole family will be here come January 2 to help us celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary. (FIFTY years?! How in the world did that happen? No pretending I’m 49, I guess.)
This year I used the ornaments we put up when the kids were … well … kids! Things they made, or things my mother bought us as each child was born, and lots of bikes because Dan was an avid cyclist back then. It was fun to unpack them all and enjoy them once again! I know the kids will crack up at some of their hand crafted works of art. (Hint: macaroni glued on paper, anyone?)
But of course a decorated house doesn’t mean we are necessarily not going anywhere, right? (If we weren’t I wouldn’t be posting here right now!)
So yes, we are packing for a very short trip to Death Valley. The timing worked well: a friend who is playing Nutcracker in San Jose can use our house rather than dealing with a two hour (or more) drive each way to get to and from the hall, and we have a house sitter. I know my friend is looking forward to the stay: our area has fabulous decorations … people drive here to see them. So she and her husband and daughter can enjoy those as a special little treat, and we can enjoy knowing our house is inhabited while we visit Death Valley.
Oh … and she can enjoy some Clementine mandarin oranges while they are here as well. The tree is bursting with them!
Another relaxing slow start. A shower for Dan. Packing for us both. Then off we went to find breakfast.
First, though, I went to the front desk just to ask if we had to go back there to check out or just toss our keys in the box even while we’ve asked for late checkout. The box it is. Easy-peasy.
Walking outside we were greeted by sun. That’s not something we’ve seen much of here. I’m actually fine with no sun, but it was rather fun to see it and the very blue sky.
The first place we looked at, being the closest and with good ratings, looked like a no-go, so we went instead to the Goddess and the Baker, just a quick walk from place number one. It was noisy, and we could have opted to eat outside instead, but it was right by the El and we didn’t want that noise, so inside we stayed, enjoying a tasty breakfast with our coffee.
Not having enough time to really wander we ambled back to Club Quarters.
Back at the hotel we entered an elevator (there are four here, but SO slow to arrive at both the Lobby and our fourth floor, yet they go very quickly once inside. Dan put his key card to the reader and pressed 4 and off we went. To the 6th floor! Say what? People entered and Dan again tried to get 4 to work. Nope. Turns out our cards had been deactivated. While I have an email confirmation for our extended time, apparently they didn’t keep our cards activated. So down to the lobby again, and Dan had his reactivated so we could get to our room for about a forty minute sit.
Oh … and I finally remembered to take a couple of photos of the place. It wasn’t fancy, but it turned out to be just fine and the price was better than most places.
Then I read. Hooray, I finished my Louise Penny book! Now on to the next Elizabeth George. (I am going back and forth between the two authors which can be a bit befuddling sometimes, but so it goes! Many things like this are actually good for an aging, 69 year old brain?)
When it was time to leave I dropped our keys in the box in the lobby and we walked to where we went down stairs (actually an escalator that wasn’t running and you know how crazy it is to go down those!) to get the Blue Line. Maybe ten minutes later we were on the train and had about a 45 minute ride.
Then it was a walk to Terminal 1 …
… and time to go through security. I pulled out my ID but it turned out they just did facial recognition. Then into the line to put all our stuff through the machine. Off went my coat. My watch went into my purse (I’ve since learned that isn’t necessary). I put purse, coat, suitcase, and small pack on to the belt. Then I went through the security check. I triggered something. The man implied it was random. But I had to then go through the one where you stand, feet apart, hands above the head. It triggered as well. So I walked through and the TSA agent had me put my arms out to check. I said, “Maybe it’s my barrette?” She smiled and said, “No, it’s your hair.” Then she sent me on my way. (Could it really be my hair or was she joking?!) We collected our things and walked to the lounge.
Quick and easy entrance, as always, and up the escalator we went, finding chairs where we’d spend some hours. But wait! When I saw Dan put his jacket on his luggage I looked behind me to grab my coat to do the same. Oops. Not there! I’d left it behind in security. So back I went. It wasn’t a problem … just a goofy mistake. But still ….
When I returned I got a glass of extremely mediocre red wine (why do I bother?!). Then Dan got a bowl of soup. We take turns so we can keep an eye on our stuff. Most people don’t when in the lounge: they just trust that things won’t be stolen there. but being the skeptical, distrustful people that we are … well …. (Okay, maybe we are just extremely cautious?!)
We had a nice spot where I ended up people watching sometimes, since I could look down through a window.
Eventually I went to get something to eat and did the “make your own taco” thing. It was fine. The donut holes for dessert were fine too. And certainly a very healthy choice.
Also, because you know you need to know, Kansas City had just won their game in overtime. HAH! No, I’m not a football fan: the TV was just right in front of me is all. But no one here cheered, so I’m guessing no one here is really a huge fan. (And the other team … um wearing blue. Denver Broncos maybe? I’m clueless, I know. And I also am betting no readers here care in any case!)
After some time it was time to head to the gate. Our line was fairly short and we were boarded in no time. We had the aisle and middle seats (yours truly gets the middle), so we didn’t bother to seatbelt in until Mr. Window Seat arrived. Turned out to be a very silent young man. Easy to deal with as long as I remembered that the woman in the middle never gets an armrest. Period. It’s always been that way, and I’m just not up for a fight about armrests. (But I do roll my eyes.)
The flight was easy, with turbulence only over Nebraska. Gee, my mother’s place of birth … a turbulent state, perhaps?
And then we landed, made our way to our car (no checked luggage this direction), and were home in a little over an hour after we landed.
Having not posted a photo of what I took prior to the trip, I did snap a photo when we got home. Funny, really, that it’s close to what we take on longer trips. I did, though, have a few failures: I never needed one pair of thick socks, my puffer jacket, the raincoat, or the umbrella. Had I not brought those I probably could have even taken only the roller (but would never chance that since they could say it had to be checked and I’d want some things — and would have to have something things — on the plane with me).
But that doesn’t mean we go to bed … I had to get my yogurt started and Dan had his bread starter or whatever it’s called to do.
I’m so glad we were able to take the trip, but still sad that Jan and Greg weren’t able to be there. It wasn’t the trip we expected, but we did have fun even while missing them.
Today was our last full day in Chicago, although we do have a bit of time tomorrow to get out and about. (That’s rather nice, since sitting in a plane can cause me to get a wee bit antsy!) I’m not thrilled that our flight doesn’t leave until after 5:00 PM, since I know the later the flight, the more likely we are to experience delays, but we really had no choice when we moved our flight forward two days. So be it. It’s a minor thing and these days each time we travel I’m just grateful that we are still able to do so!
After having coffee in the room, playing my variety of morning games (Wordle, Connections, Sudoku, and Strands) Dan showered and I started this blog. Exciting news, I’m sure.
Then it was time to head out … but where?!
Well, as it turns out the Magnificent Mile has the Festival of Lights event today, which includes a variety of booths and at 5:30 PM a parade. So we opted to walk in that direction to see what we’d see.
We reached a building we’d seen the other time we were here: the Tribune Tower has embedded stones from around the world. It’s fun to walk around and see them all, and of course very sad to see the one (not a stone) from the World Trade Center. We couldn’t see them all, though, as the entrance to the building (now a place where people live) had fencing around due to the upcoming parade.
Then it was time for breakfast. We saw some rather expensive spots but finally found what appeared to be a diner. Little did we know what we’d experience: when we were seated and the server came he first asked if we had been there before. Nope, not us. So he explained that they are very rude. And indeed he was. The servers also all dressed up in various styles. He looked like he was Conrad Birdie or similar. One guy was a hippie. But in any case, they all seemed like they wanted to be on stage. And yes, he was extremely rude. It was funny for a few minutes. It got old quickly. And here’s the thing: he could really mean what he said and how were we to know? These servers could say the things some servers probably always wish they could say to annoying or difficult guests and they could get away with it. The place was extremely noisy as well. But at least the food was yummy. So there’s that. Would we ever go back? Nope! If, however, you want to check it out, it’s called Ed Debevic’s.
From there we continued up Michigan.
There was some decor that included fake red plant life (maybe they were to look like berries?) and I felt rather sad for the birds trying to eat them. I guess I won’t ever put things out like that now that I’ve seen them trying to eat them!
More walking and we reached the sand beach and lake, and even saw a volleyball game taking place.
When we were on our way to this location we saw a church across the street at one point and knew we’d head back to see that. It was a Presbyterian church, but said it was closed on Saturday. Still, there was a side door open and it appeared we could go there so we peered in, and then entered.
Lo and behold, we could even get into the sanctuary, and there was an organist practicing. (I didn’t get the whole piece, but at least I got some!
As we were walking back out we saw someone who worked there going to shut the door we came through. Hm. I wonder if maybe we weren’t supposed to enter after all? Too late ….
Then we walked more, ending up in the understreet level that then took us to a lower level bridge crossing the river.
A bit later we were back at Millennium Park because I had really wanted the hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps. I stopped to take a photo of (mostly) struggling ice skaters.
The we headed to the place we’d seen it yesterday that had a sign for the hot drink. It wasn’t there, but we did manage to find a stand in the craft sales tent I mentioned yesterday. I must say it wasn’t all I thought it would be, aside from being over-priced. I didn’t taste any peppermint at all, and it was rather grainy. Ah well. Live and learn (maybe).
Back to our hotel for our typical afternoon feet up rest, some reading, and blogging time for me.
When we were ready to go out again we figured we’d go back to the Magnificent Mile, perhaps catch a bit of the parade, and when it was time grab some sort of dinner. Not necessarily in that order.
Ah, the search for dinner. If a place is crowded I know I’m doomed with my bad ear. If it’s empty we think, “Well, that must not be any good!” If it’s too pricey … well … it’s too pricey! And no way do we want fast food.
But finally … I had done some looking, as had Dan. We had passed a place a few times that, when I looked it up, sounded fine. So we walked over to Miller’s Pub. We walked over and were told it was a 45 minute wait. So be it!
Looking at it I thought it didn’t really resemble any pub I’d seen, but it looked fine and I think we were both just too done with searching.
Since we did have that 45 minute wait, though, we walked a bit. We couldn’t get to the parade — it was too far away — so we walked around the block and when we saw the Palmer House we went in. Looks like a nice place!
Then back to Miller’s we went. While we waited we got alerts from United saying we could check in. Turns out that when one person gets move up, the tickets get separated, so I had to check in on my account and Dan on his. While we’d again put in for upgrades that clearly wasn’t going to happen, but last night I’d noticed that seats in row 10 had opened up so we did manage to move from row 22 to row 10. We can live with that! So we both checked in, this time with no checked luggage.
At that point we could be seated. I had a lovely salmon dinner and Dan had what they called Greek chicken (Miller’s was taken over many years ago by a Greek family.) Both meals were quite tasty and, to top it off, we had a decadent chocolate cake for dessert.
My diet will begin tomorrow. I hope.
When we left we both agreed it was straight to the hotel: we saw no need for anything more. So I finished up this blog entry to post early. Then I plan on going back to my Louse Penny book (#4 in the Gamache series).
After slowly rising and having our hotel room coffees (I’m so happy I brought the Nespresso pods I had collected from various places as we are finally in a place that uses those!) we talked about what to do. We had nothing specific on our schedule today until the symphony concert in the evening, so we decided to head in the direction of Millennium Park, which was much larger than we knew (Dan had read a bit about it).
As we walked that way we ended up going down Michigan, which went right past the Symphony Center.
Seems like I walk past a lot of doorways that interest me. Here’s another …
Shortly after that we passed a sign that advertised the Museum of Contemporary Photography. Of course that meant Dan had to investigate! First, though, we went to a coffee place (yes, more coffee) so we could have better-than-Nespresso cups, and got croissants as well.
Then it was back to the photography exhibit, which was part of Columbia College Chicago. Welll … not terrific, to be honest. So a bit of a bust, but that happens sometimes.
Then it was a walk back the way we came, and then across Michigan. It really was a nice walk and I even (finally) pulled out the Fuji camera. I have no clue if I’ll like anything I shot, and I won’t know until I get home, but I’m still in search of a Christmas card photo and I’m hopeful.
We wound up at Lake Michigan for a brief and chilly stop.
Leaving the lake we headed back to the park. And no, I did not pet the lion. Nor did I climb on to it. But the sign made me smile. (You can see a photo of said lion in a post when we visited the Art Institute.)
I had heard that there was a German Christmas Market opening today so we walked up (if it’s actually up!) the park. First we stopped at the Bean.
Then we saw a tent that appeared to be a market so we went in. Definitely not the German market, but a craft market instead. Nothing of interest for us.
I looked up the Christkindle Markt and found it was at Daly Plaza so off we went. Sure enough, there it was, and quite similar to the markets we saw last year, although not as expansive. We walked a bit. Ordered our absolutely-of-utmost-importance glühwein, and then walked until we decided to get the potato pancakes. We had a couple of nice conversations with other people. One was with a young man who was a flight attendant. He said these days there are retirees who are doing the job. I suggested Dan go for it. I’d like the perks! (Somehow Dan didn’t sound like he’d do it. Go figure.) We eventually bought a little cone of nuts as well — another typical Christmas market thing to do.
It was then after 2:00 and since we had our souvenir glühwein cups we decided to take them back to the hotel so we didn’t have to keep carting them around.
Once there it seemed a good idea to wash my hair and rest up a bit for the concert at night.
For dinner we had originally planned on dining at the Symphony Center restaurant, but having read so-so reviews, and knowing we’d already spent quite enough on meals, we opted to just go downstairs to the Elephant & Castle Pub again. Nothing fancy, but certainly easy to get to (no coat required since we don’t venture outside!), and we could get dressed after we ate. I had chicken pot pie and Dan had fish ‘n chips — seemed appropriate for a spot that wants to pretend they are a British pub, after all! Dan, though, sort of cheated by having a non-alcoholic beer and I sinned profusely by having a mediocre glass of white wine!
I wasn’t sure opting to wear my jumper was a good idea in the 45° temp as we started off but, doggone it, I brought it so I was going to wear it at least once! I did have my wool tights which helped with the cold, and of course I wore my wool coat as well. (Truth is, when one is always in a warm coat, what you wear underneath is rarely seen … but in the hall it does get warm so off that coat goes, although I’m too lazy and pedestrian to check the coat.)
As we walked we encountered more people: tonight was the tree lighting in the park. We had gotten a call from Chicago Symphony warning us about closed roads and difficult parking … no issue for us, of course!
When we entered the hall we were encouraged to go down to the front to take photos. The ushers all seemed quite proud of the hall!
Then upstairs we went, and I really enjoyed the concert — especially the second half which included the Mozart Requiem interspersed with other things. It was quite moving!
Then it was back to our hotel and, I hope eventually, to sleep. For some reason I’m not at all sleep and it’s 11:40 PM. Ah well …
Today was Chicago Lyric Opera day, and since it was a 2:00 matinee performance we didn’t have a ton of time to spend prior to that — especially since we took our time rising and getting our showers. But it’s vacation, after all. We are in no rush to go out to greet the balmy 45° temperature. (So far the wind has been minimal so we can’t complain. Plus, we have appropriate clothing for the cold.)
Since the opera house is the opposite direction of where we were yesterday it was a good time to head that way and explore a bit. I had chosen our hotel, Club Quarters Loop (it’s not luxurious but it suffices), because it was smack dab (does anyone say “smack dab” these days?) between Symphony Hall and the Lyric Opera — about 1/2 mile from each.
When we finally got out and about we walked toward the opera house but ended up doing a bit of a random walk as well, as we saw things that looked interesting.
We wound up at Union Station: we had been here when we did our cross country train ride to New York but I couldn’t remember it at ALL. (And yes, Christmas decorations are being set up all over Chicago.)
More walking …
We walked by the opera house so we would know where to return to.
And more walking …
We began the walk not knowing if it would be a breakfast/dinner day or a lunch/dinner day, but eventually we figured it was too late for breakfast so we thought we’d grab a coffee. Between getting distracted by various spots and doing some photography, though, we finally figured it was too late to get the coffee so we finally wound up at a little place right on the river walk for a quick bite.
From there we ambled back to the opera house, although Dan had to guide us because I managed to get totally baffled about what direction we needed to go. I’m not sure I’ll ever fully figure out Chicago!
The opera was doing the Cav/Pag double. I was interested in going since Opera San José will be doing the same in early 2026. I wanted to see what they do with the silly section where there’s a big oboe solo (in Pagliacci) but the dear composer (Leoncavallo) has both first andsecond oboists play it. Really? Kind of crazy if you ask me, but seeing what Lyric Opera did about it might help me figure out what we should do, although it’s really up to the principal oboist and conductor. I can’t remember what we did the last time. (OldBoeBrain strikes again!)
The hall is gorgeous.
We had great seats and enjoyed both operas. Turns out the section I was a bit concerned about it entirely covered by the chorus. Okay then … no worries!
We got out early enough that we had a bit of time to spare so we first went back to the hotel to drop off a few things, including the opera program which I just might take to opera when I return next weekend.
Then it was time for dinner. I’d made reservations for a German place that’s been around forever. We walked by it yesterday and Dan noted that everyone in there was old. Go figure. Tonight, though, I certainly saw younger people along with the oldsters.
The food was plentiful and prices reasonable. Of course I ate too much. It’s a talent! Nearing the end of our meal some costumed person walked by. Sadly I only got a photo of the backside … NO clue what it was about!
Tomorrow we have symphony in the evening. I think we’ll probably check out Millennium Park as they might have a Christmas market or some such thing. Who knows what else the day will bring … until it’s been brought! Hah!
