Chicago, Day 2

With my foot still bothering me a little bit, I passed on walking the 606 trail downtown. Instead, I did 25 minutes on the elliptical before having breakfast.

My custom egg omelet with cheese, bacon, spinach, mushroom, and tomato tasted just about perfect. I also had some sausage links and pineapple. 

So after cleaning up, I boarded the Blue line to the a Damen stop, into Wicker Park. As NY Sports Wicker Media, why wouldn't I? But there's a literal Wicker Park within the neighborhood. Not much to it, basically a playground, a fountain, and a statue of Mr. Charles Wicker, whom the neighborhood was named for. Unfortunately, this is not my kind of neighborhood. It's deteriorated into one of the most liberal hoods in an already liberal city. I thought about getting some pastry at Mindy's Bakery, but the line was about 20 people at the door. I also considered getting a slice of pizza at Dimo's, but there was nothing there that I really wanted. 

So I began walking down Milwaukee Ave to Standard Bar and Grill. Actually, I took a wrong turn somewhere, I was walking east on North instead of southeast. I'm sure that doesn't sound confusing. Anyway, my friend Q and I watched WWE Bash at Berlin. We had the upstairs level reserved while the downstairs patrons watched college football. The show was good, kind of predictable, but I'd give it a slight thumbs up. For food, I had the fried chicken sandwich and sweet potato fries. Not a bad sandwich, crispy outside with some slaw, aioli, and pickles.

Then it was the Blue to the Red southbound to meet up with the 7 Line Army at Cork and Ferry. This bar is designed told maybe 30-40 people. Well, I arrived around 3:45, about 2.5 hours before the game. The bar was already packed, there was barely room to stand. But they played a lot more country music than I expected. Not just Zac Brown Band and Luke Bryan, but also some of the all time great like the Oak Ridge Boys, Ricky Skaggs, and Dwight Yoakam.

Then we walked over to the Cell for Mets vs White Sox. Even with a clear drawstring bag, I got in, no problem. More on that later.

In the first inning, Pete Alonso and Jesse Winker hit back to back homers. I even called the Winker homer before it happened, much to the shock of people around me. On the mound, Jose Quintana bent about as far as a pitcher can without breaking. He threw 90 pitches in 4 innings, ultimately getting through 5, allowing 1 run. Even though Chicago got the winning run to the plate in the month inning, Jose Butto finished off the 5-3 win. 

On the trip back to Rosemont, I had to make a Portillos stop. Same order as always. Big beef sandwich with cheddar cheese, sweet and hot peppers, small fries, large Coke. Fast food just does not get any better.

Chicago, Day 1

I was up by 4:22 am. Breakfast was some meh vanilla yogurt and trail mix. I drove 10 minutes west to Cary and picked my mother up since she was going to drive my car back to her apartment complex and keep it there for the 5 days. Good way to save money. 

Since it's is the Friday before Labor Day, I did expect the airport to be filled. Well, the ticket area was no problem and I passed through security in 20 minutes. Now all week long, this nonstop flight looked like a breeze. Even 24 hours before departure, there were 23 open seats. Plus, I was using a D1 pass which pushed me to the top of the standby list. 

Now I'm used to the boarding pass being emailed to me when my seat gets assigned. But as each boarding group was called, I found it strange that no standby passengers had been assigned their seats. The gate agent asked for 25 volunteers to check in their bags because the overhead compartments were filling up faster than expected. I wasn't overly worried but I started pacing the floor, my nervous energy was starting to rise inside. 

One standby did get his seat, seat 11C. I was next on the list and after me were 11 more people trying to get on the plane. So all 9 groups board and there are a still a good amount of people sitting around, wondering what's going on. 

At this point, I'm feeling desperate; I threw out a couple of prayers too, tried some positive self talk. I decided to go right near the gate and I took the seat nearest to the desk. Within 2 minutes, the gate agent called my name. I was at that counter so fast I think there were clouds of smoke fading behind me. She told me Merry Christmas and I had the last seat. 8B. Sure it was the bulkhead seat, sure there was no charger, sure there was a crying baby in my row, I didn't care! I was on my way. 

I picked up my bag quickly and began walking towards Terminal 2, which is where all the hotel shuttles do pickups and drop offs. As I was walking down the center sidewalk, a Doubletree Inn/Embassy Suites van flew by me and parked curbside. Turns out that was my van. So I hopped on and he drove rather aggressively to the hotel. The Embassy Suites is in a great location, close to a lot of restaurants, bars, the Convention Center, and the blue line on the CTA. I knew check in was 3 pm, so I expected to just drop my bags and go. Turns out my suite was ready! 

The hotel is set up in an open square formation, with the main floor visible as soon as the guest leaves their suite. I guess I didn't realize that I would actually have a suite! I have a living space, 2 TVs, 2 sinks, 2 couches, it's pretty crazy! About the only thing I can use more of is overhead light. But the breakfast includes an egg station, so I can have a custom omelet every single day!

So I walked a good 12 minutes to the train, I actually thought it would be less. I boarded the blue line with a bunch of anime people on it, I guess the Convention Center across the street is hosting them. I traveled southeast to the Irving Park stop and hit up one of my long time favorites, Smoque. Sliced brisket, St Louis ribs, smoked beans, mac and cheese with bread crumbs on top, vinegar slaw. Good to be back! 

From there, I jumped back on the blue line into the Loop area. I got off at LaSalle and walked east to Buckingham Fountain, right off Lake Michigan. I have been there too many times in winter where the water wasn't flowing So with a little sun peeking out from the sky and the fountains operating, it was a welcome sight. I headed up through Millennium Park and then into the much smaller Maggie Daley Park. What I didn't expect was a mini golf course! Most of the holes were dedicated to various Chicago institutions from the Willis Tower to sports teams to the Chicago Theater, culminating with the Portillo's hot dog at Hole 18. It was a pretty good course, not too tough but a few challenging holes for sure. And I showed them my Meredith ID and I got a little discount, since they figured I was faculty!

And that point, I had a lot of time to kill, so I moved just a few blocks north and walked downstairs a long ways to get to the Riverwalk. It was quite crowded and it's really been made up well with a lot of bars along the way to go with all the boat tours. I walked all the way west to where the three directions of the Chicago River converge and I felt the need to go to the building where I used to work for 2 years. It's the next building west of the Merchandise Mart and it used to have the big Chicago Sun-Times logo on it before the paper disappeared. But it isn't just that, two apartment buildings have been constructed in the last 8 years right in front of the building too. I guess it's progress. But I walked into my old building, we were on the first floor. And it was just vacant. I asked the guy at the front desk if there had been any tenants since they closed in late 2018, about 18 months after I resigned. And he said no one ever did. It's just been empty for 6 years. But the cost of rent is so prohibitive in River North, that I guess it's not too surprising.

I was planning to walk to Navy Pier, but my right foot started to bother me, especially on my right heel. I guess it wasn't a great idea to wear sandals and walk so many miles. So around Rush or Michigan St, I stopped and did some window shopping on the Magnificent Mile. Under Armour, Untuckit, and Nordstrom Rack, in particular. 

I didn't know there would be a great local brewery in that neighborhood, but there was. In the same building as the AMC Theater was Crushed By Giants, I took a seat at the square shaped bar, which was decently crowded. My favorite was the Neon Werewolf, kind of a hazy IPA. The Goliath Bane was fine, but had sort of a soapy taste to it. I even struck up some conversations with the guys sitting around me, and some of the different plans we had. I did come to one conclusion: I think I am the only person who came into town with no intention of seeing Pearl Jam in concert at Wrigley Field.

Anyway, as I left Nordstrom Rack, I realized my Ventra train card was gone. It sucked, but the good thing was I immediately deactivated it. I did have to pay $5 for a new card, but I just loaded it with a 3 day pass for $15. Pretty good deal, since I would normally pay $15 for 6 rides and now it was unlimited rides for that price through Monday.

I took the very crowded Blue line up to the California stop to Revolution brewery where I met up with 

Matt and Mary Beth, who will be giving birth in about 5 months. I had a great pastrami sandwich with swiss cheese and grainy mustard and toasted rye bread with caraway seeds. The fresh cut fries were great, and of course I got some garlic aioli for dipping purposes. A side of house sliced made pickles were a great finish. The Fist City pale ale was as good as I remembered it. 

Then we walked to Pilot Project. As soon as I saw the gay flag in the window, I knew it wasn't good.

Some tranny look dude who had no facial expressions at all served us. I got some fruited pale ale that had strawberry and lavender in it. Pretty good, but ain't no way I'd go back.

For dessert, it was Margie's Candies. In the 20 years I lived in Chicagoland, I had never visited, I'm not sure I had even heard of it. Each table has a little jukebox just like an old school diner. I got a  sundae with coconut and pistachio ice cream topped with hot caramel, bananas, crushed peanuts, whipped cream, and cherries. Sugar overload, and I don't think I'll need dessert the rest of the week.

My foot really hurting so I got black on the Blue line to Rosemont, got back to my room and crashed.

I realize so much of traveling like this is staying charged up. That could be a device or your energy level.

Chicago, Day 4

Well, Happy Labor Day. 

So today was the first run in my training program for the 8k and 10k I have coming up in October and November. I was supposed to do a 30 minute tempo run, which is really 5 minutes warming up, 20 minutes at my 10k pace, and 5 minutes of cooling down. With absolutely no airflow in the hotel gym, it was rough. I got through the 25 minutes and walked on an incline for the final 5. Not a great start, but Wednesday night we can do it again.

Once again, it was an omelet for breakfast, but I added green chiles and bell peppers this time. I had some time before Ryan picked me up, so it was back to the room to clean up a little bit and do some writing.

We headed to the Last Fling, the summer farewell festival in Naperville. We were surprised how small the space was and I think part of that is the reconstruction of downtown. At least half of the space was reserved for the carnival. 

The first band was Rick Lindy and the Wild Ones, which had sort of a 50s and 60s rock and roll feel to it. There was even a little rockabilly, so I had flashbacks to Lucky 757. After the band, we had lunch on a rooftop at a place called Empire. I ordered a Gumballhead beer and a burger with Swiss cheese, bacon, mushrooms, and onions, and a side of ordinary fries. I was really sad how liberal some of the businesses have become with their books and clothing. It's like downtown infested the suburbs. God help this country.

Anyway, we watched a few minutes of the Ron Burgundys, who play yacht rock. We left about an hour in, the sun was pretty intense on our backs and I think Ryan was about spent. So he dropped me off at the hotel.

I headed to the cocktail reception, and had two glasses of red. At 8 pm, I wanted to splurge just one time. So I had dinner at Fogo de Chao, and went through as much meat and salad bar as I could. With the glass of red wine and tax and tip, I only spent about $90. Seems like a lot, but at most quality steakhouses, you're not getting the main course for less than $65. So I thought it was worth it.

Gary Allan setlist

 

1. Tough All Over
2. Nothing on but the Radio
3. Man to Man
4. Waste of a Whiskey Drink
5. Her Man
   (Waylon Jennings cover)
6. The One
7. Guys Like Me
8. The Hard Way
9. Tough Little Boys
10. SEX
11. Songs About Rain
12. Half of My Mistakes
13. Right Where I Need to Be
14. Tough Goodbye
15. Smoke Rings in the Dark
16. Every Storm (Runs Out of Rain)
17. Life Ain't Always Beautiful
18. Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning)
    (Vertical Horizon cover)
19. Man of Me
20. Encore:
21. It Ain't the Whiskey
22. Watching Airplanes

God, I Give Up

I don't think anyone on earth, who supposedly has so much going for them, has been rejected as many times as me.

Two women already, since I moved to Raleigh, and it's likely about to be 3.

What did I do so wrong, or what is so wrong with me that I need to be avoided at all costs?

43 years old, and my family tree is basically dying with me. So it's on me. Somewhere, I screwed everything up.

Maybe people are just assholes.

Dwight Yoakam/Mavericks Setlist

Mavericks

Without a Word

Overnight Success

Live Close By (Visit Often)

There Goes My Heart

As Long As There's Love Tonight

Dance the Night Away

Every Little Thing About You

La Siteria

Rolling Along

Dance in the Moonlight

All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down

Dwight Yoakam

Keep On the Sunny Side

Please Please Baby

Little Sister

Streets of Bakersfield

Think of Me

What Do You Know About Love?

Things Change

This Time

I'll Be Gone

Blame the Vain

I Sang Dixie

Always Late With Your Kisses

Pocket of a Clown

You're the One

Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Honky Tonk Man

A Thousand Miles From Nowhere

It Only Hurts When I Cry

Little Ways

Guitars, Cadillacs

Fast As You

Suspicious Minds

At Red Hat Amphitheatre, Raleigh, NC

One Month In

So it's nearly one month since I moved from Newport News to Raleigh. It's a Saturday night and I have nothing to do at all. Figured I'd take a minute and talk about a few things that have gone on.

First and foremost, the job. It's 3 weeks down and it's slow, steady progress. This school had systems and reports to run that I'm still trying to understand how they fit in the overall scheme. But this role is far more administrative than my previous ones were. I'm used to seeing a lot of students and this isn't like that. I'm still answering questions, but most of my job is self-paced. I do like that, but it's a matter of knowing what to do when and eventually understanding how I'm helping. Staff is super nice, very supportive. Funny thing is I'm one of the youngest people on staff! I think at some point I can try to modernize a few things. Translation: less paper, more electronic.

The building is old. Really old. Like about 100 years old. The restrooms are unisex and in the summer months you have to leave the door open so the air can flow. And I actually have my own desk with a window! I never expected that to have that. If anything, I could use a couple more outlets, but with all the old heavy wooden furniture, there isn't much room to move stuff around.

I've done several meetup events, mostly all walks. It's a decent group of folks, though I'm seeing new people every time. I'm hoping there will be some people who will be reliable, steady friends.

As for the women, well, not much to say. One girl decided after a week of communication she was too busy. Funny, it's like she suddenly realized she had a lot going on. Frustrating thing I feel she led me on, talking about trips and date ideas. There's always a catch: they're taken, they're far away, they have a ton of kids, they have a severe mental health diagnosis. I don't know how people ever end up in good relationships.

Food highlight is probably Morelia Paletas, which is a custom popsicle shop. They have about 20 flavors of ice cream and sorbet on sticks, 4 dips, and about 10 toppings. I opted for the strawberry cheesecake dipped in cookie butter, since it was the only non-chocolate option, topped with crushed almonds. Fantastic. The pop was kept so cold that it didn't even have a chance to melt. Great flavor, I'm not a major dessert guy, but this was great.

Some of the restaurants have been hit or miss. Red Hot and Blue was mediocre counter BBQ at best. I've been to Bad Daddy's Burger bar three times. I like the funky vibe and food a lot. I just wish the kitchen guys realized a medium burger is not intended to be cooked all the way through. Taco Bamba is a great spot near where I work, my boss actually took me there on my first day. Some of the tacos have some Southern influence such as using Cheerwine flavored bacon carnitas. Definitely a place to return to. 

The apartment is working out well. There are a lot of college aged people here, which makes sense since it's so close to NC State, I'm assuming their parents cover the rent. I guess it's a good balance since my co-workers are mostly older. I haven't made too many conversations with people around, I guess it's a societal thing to not interrupt anyone. Hopefully when they have a few community events this month, it'll help. And I was used to being the only one at the pool when I was living in Virginia. Not here. There are usually 4 or 5 women around getting sun. And no, I'm not about to talk to them.

Shipt grocery deliveries are much different here than they were in Virginia. The drives from store to residence can sometimes be 30-40 minutes. Now I don't mind driving to a new town, but some of these towns ain't worth going back to. But there are a good number of orders that are usually available. The thing is I usually get off work at 5 pm and that's the time when traffic is at its worst. So if I'm doing deliveries, I'd rather do 2 or 3 if I'm taking the time to not go home right away. And there are probably 4 or 5 zones all 10 minutes away, so it does present options. Guess I'm still finding my groove of what zones work for me and which ones don't.

Update: I did see a girl back to back days. Let's see if this goes somewhere. 

Hank Williams Jr and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band setlist

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

You Ain't Going Nowhere

Partners, Brothers and Friends

Cosmic Cowboy

Long Hard Road

Take Me In Your Lifeboat

Fish Song

Working Man (Nowhere to Go)

Mr. Bojangles

Fishing in the Dark

Bayou Jubilee

Cadillac Ranch

Will the Circle Be Unbroken/The Weight

Hank Williams Jr 

Are You Ready For the Country?

OD'd in Denver

The Blues Man

Whiskey Bent and Hell Bound

Move It On Over/Mind Your Own Business

The Conversation

Just Call Me Hank

All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight/I Like Girls

On the Hunt/Gimme Three Steps/Waiting for the Bus

Kaw-Liga

Your Cheating Heart

Whole Lotta Shaking Going On

Outlaw Women/Dinosaur

There's a Tear In My Beer

All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down

I Walk the Line

A Country Boy Can Survive

Born to Boogie 

Rich White Honky Blues 

Family Tradition/Hey Good Lookin'/If You Don't Like Hank Williams

We're Really Changing This Life

It's the end of April and I haven't written a thing in all of 2024. But if ever there was a time to break my silence, this is it.

I'm sitting at my work desk, or at least the most recent incarnation of it. It's a remarkably small desk. If I stretch my arms out, I would be reaching into the next cube space. And this was one of the final straws for me at my current company. I essentially was downgraded from an adjustable large L shaped desk to what essentially amounts to a bookshelf. Also there were times when admissions was shown appreciation from the higher ups and FA wasn't, such as a lunch after a January start had gone well. FA wasn't notified about it and those students can't start without being packaged. Also the constant changing in my job duties. I was going to work reentries, then I was going to work military students, then I was going to work independent students. And these changes would happen every 6 weeks or so. 

I have been working here for 6 years, since July of 2018. I met a lot of good people. I worked with a lot of students. I did my job very well. But it was really the lack of respect and appreciation and lack of stability that did me in.

So I started applying for new jobs. I narrowed my search on Hampton Roads as well as the Triangle in North Carolina; I didn't have any intention of moving too far away. So it was early March on a Saturday when I sat down at the Captain's Den, my favorite local coffeehouse, and began updating my resume and cover letter and started completing online applications. I probably applied for 6 or 7 jobs over the course of a week. 

I didn't hear back from too many places. I would have relished a chance to work at Christopher Newport University in Newport News. But as I found out from a former manager, they don't hire for profit employees. I think it's absolutely absurd, but it's the cold hard reality. And they can do business how they choose, even if they are missing out on qualified candidates.

And so it was on Wednesday March 20, I got an email from a guy named Kevin, the FA Director at Meredith College. I knew of the Raleigh, NC based school since my mother has former co-workers whose daughters went there. We arranged a Zoom interview with him, the assistant director, and the current info director who is working her way towards retirement. 

So the following Monday, I drove home on my break and did a 15 minute interview. I don't remember a ton of the questions, but I did feel pretty comfortable through the interview and I was sure I carried myself as knowledgeable, confident, and personable. I asked about next steps and they said there would be in person interviews for qualified candidates. I asked if it could be the upcoming Friday or following Monday since I would be in town for Easter and I didn't want to drive the 7-hour round trip twice.

Sure enough, they agreed to a Monday in-person interview that would last two hours. At that point, I pretty much figured there wasn't more than one other candidate and chances are I was the only one they were interviewing and they wanted to make sure I would fit in.

So the Monday after Easter, which was also April Fool's Day, I put on my suit and drove into the picturesque, pine tree-lined campus and drove a lap around the campus. It was rather quiet, but well maintained. I parked and walked in the Johnson Admin Building at the front of the campus. I met Kevin and chatted casually with him for about 15 minutes. Then, I began my tour with various departments. 4 people in accounting, the registrar, and finally the entire 7 person FA team. The whole process lasted 2 and a half hours. And I have to say that's a long time to be that on your game. Words, tone of voice, body language, everything. But Kevin walked me to my car after, maybe he wanted to see what I drove, I don't know! 

I think it was Friday when Kevin emailed me about references, since an email address was wrong. When job is checking your references, you have to feel pretty confident, and at this point, I knew I was about done with my life in Virginia. We got the email issue resolved, and the next Thursday, April 11 when I was donating plasma, he emailed me about setting up a phone call. I knew he wouldn't set our first phone call to say they went in a different direction.

Sure enough, he offered me the job. I took 24 hours to consider it but I knew I was going to accept. I emailed him back Friday morning to let him know. And all that was left was the background check and that took another week. He told me as long as I didn't murder anyone, I was good. I told him as long as flies in the kitchen don't count, I was good. And I was hoping they didn't find my YouTube sports page, cause they would have seen my emotional side!

That afternoon after work, I drove down to Raleigh for more apartment searching. I probably went to 8 or 9 places, including two of them for the second time. And when one of them offered me 2 free months rent, I knew I was going to take it. Yes it will be a quarter less space than my current place, but the complex is only 2 years old, I'm on the 4th floor with an elevator, it has a balcony, a large kitchen, and the gym and pool are super nice. 

So that was enough for me. Two days later, Monday, March 15. I turned in my resignation letter, which had been sitting on my OneDrive for a couple of days. 

Ten days later is today. And today is the end of a chapter for me. I'll be spending the next two weeks packing and loading.

So as I prepare to leave Virginia, I realize I have definitely changed over these last 7 years. And I'm not always one to recognize changes in myself. But I'm a different guy than that 35 year old who left Chicagoland after living 14 years in the same house and boldly went on his own for the first time. I have been hustling harder than ever, balancing full time work, and multiple part time jobs, and now NY Sports WickerMedia on Youtube. I learned to budget. I learned to manage my time, as no one was there to do anything for me. I learned more about decision making. I loved a girl or two and got my heart broken. I made some friends, some lasted, some were only meant to be in my life for a period of time. My faith, well, I don't know if it's grown. Church was a struggle here. After all the great ones I attended in Chicago, nothing in Virginia could come close. It's time for that to change.

10 Random Things

Haven't done a quick hits post in a while so let's do that now. 

1) Rangers swept the Capitals and now begin a second round series against Carolina. Of course, right as moving to the area! My instinct says Carolina in 7, I expect pure heartache.

2) As for the Knicks, I feel more optimistic, mostly because the Indiana Pacers can't play defense or rebound. I'll take New York in 6 to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals.

3) The YouTube thing seems to be going well. I'm getting close to 900 subscribers. But damn, I hate that I can't get paid.

4) I liked the Jets Draft. I loved Malachi Corley and Braelon Allen, and the Jets added both in the 3rd and 4th rounds, respectively. And they also reinforced the offensive line with Olu Fashanu and added their possible quarterback of the future in Jordan Travis. In Joe Douglas, I still trust.

5) Running isn't getting easier. I wonder if I can get back to 7:15 a mile for an extended period of time. I can still do 8:00/mile without much trouble and I can go 30 to 40 minutes before I start to feel challenged. Oh and why is it every time I say I run races, people ask the marathon question? Do you run marathons, they ask. When I say no, it's like, oh you're not a real runner.

6) Fried food, I can only handle so much of it. The night before my final shift at work, I had a Yelp event at SuperChix in Williamsburg. It's basically a fried chicken sandwich and frozen custard joint. After 3 boxes of fresh cut fries, 8 or 9 varieties of chicken sliders, and 3 boxes of salad, my stomach was wiped. Oh and then came 4 cups of frozen custard. 

7) I met Meghan at that event. It was her first Yelp elite event. She was so down to earth and nice. I managed to see her later that week for coffee. We hung for about 2 hours that Tuesday before I drove down to Raleigh to pick up my apartment keys. I can't deny I had interest, and she is someone I would like to keep communicating with. And she is pretty shy, I can already tell. But...it still irks me that I initiate all contact. I guess I should look at women like I do my sports teams, with lowered expectations.

8) Moving and packing is coming along pretty well. My mother being here for 3 days really made an amazing difference. The main things left to box up at this point are food and cookware, and I certainly have more boxes than I will need. So I'm just trying to eat whatever I have in the apartment, especially in the freezer. With the pulled pork and sausages saved in the freezer and pancake mix still in the pantry. I may put on a couple of pounds from this!

9) The election is six months away. It is truly scary that there are people in this country who would sign up for 4 more years of higher prices, illegals invading, wars all over the place, etc as opposed to the prosperity and strength we enjoyed with President Trump. Hopefully no dead people vote this time and mail in voting is heavily restricted. Voter ID is what we should have...OK I'll stop there.

10) I'll say it again. Let's Go Rangers!

Arizona, Day 6

Well, let's keep the last day brief. I had come back from the gym and getting a little bit more of a lift in. 

I had started packing up my new suitcase, not too worried, our nonstop flight back to Raleigh wasn't leaving until 4:30 PM. So at this point, it was maybe 10 in the morning. Mom was still laying in bed checking her phone with the morning news on the TV in the background.

All of a sudden, a word came from my mother's mouth as loud as I can ever remember hearing it in my four decades of life.

And that word was "FUCK!"

I knew exactly what it had to be in reference to. The flight had gotten all screwed up. Just the night before, there were about 20 or 22 seats available and all of a sudden, the flight was booked even. I didn't even know if I should take a shower. I figured we had to get right to the Phoenix airport. But the more we looked, the more we realized it wasn't worth it. The connections through Chicago, Charlotte, and Dallas were not worth trying. So we decided to just go for the non stop. If that didn't work, then we would probably have to wait until 11 pm to fly to Charlotte and then fly to Raleigh in the morning. If that was the case, I wasn't getting to work until early afternoon at best.

Since we had time for lunch, we found a restaurant called Perfect Pear Bistro, which had never even come up in my initial research. It was a nice cafe, with a bit of a southwestern flair. But I got a great combination of the Pasta Atraciamana and Spicy Cobb salad. The pasta dish was rigatoni, bacon, caramelized onions, roasted red peppers and creamy spicy red sauce topped with parmesan cheese & basil. Great flavors, a touch of heat with the sweetness of the veggies. The fresh basil contrasted the smoky salty bacon really well too. Great dish. And the salad had MORE crispy bacon, roasted butternut squash, black beans, red onions, avocado, egg, pepper jack cheese, cilantro & sunflower seeds with spicy chipotle ranch and I also got some lime vinaigrette dressing on the side. Plus for more protein, I added chopped chicken breast. Awesome! Plus a quality Arnold Palmer and I had no complaints.

We got to the airport about 1:30, probably 90 minutes earlier than we needed to. There were only 4 standby passengers and we were number 2 and 3. Of course, #4 was the first to get their seat, so that immediately had me nervous. I mean why the hell do we have a numbered list if we don't follow the stupid numbers? Anyway, we did get our seats, about 15 minutes before boarding. Mom had row 9 and I had row 26, which is the last row of the plane, right next to the restroom. 

Now I was actually considering drinking alcohol on the plane, which I rarely do in coach, since it costs money. But I do like to have it on an evening flight, so I did ask for red wine. A few minutes before the flight attendants reached my row, one of them, who barely spoke English, came up to me. She asked if I would switch seats with a guy in Row 4, which was the first row of coach. Apparently, he wanted to sit near the restroom. 

So now I'm thinking to myself, I can make this work. I managed to get a half bottle of Merlot and I had no trouble drinking that down. I mean I don't love the bulkhead row of coach, but if sitting there means free wine, I'm in! 

Arizona, Day 5

With Christmas over, all the local businesses were open. I started my morning with five miles on the elliptical machine in the hotel gym. We drive about 10 minutes towards the Phoenix Zoo to an attraction called Hole in the Rock. It's a brief trail, not even a mile. But with Mom still struggling with her balance, we had to be mindful of distance and elevation.

The trail was incredibly crowded, especially littered with kids. It was hike up a hill that took about 10-15 minutes. But there's a view through the hole where we could see the zoo and the Phoenix skyline. 

Feeling hungry, we drive back into Old Town Scottsdale for Capriotti's sandwiches. We'd spent pretty heavily so a sub sandwich seemed like a good idea, especially with no custom salad joints around. So we get to the deli and they had a sign on their door that they had been voted the best sandwich in America. Well, we decided to test that. We split the American Wagyu roast beef sandwich as well as the classic Italian sandwich with Genoa salami, capicola, and prosciutto. The sandwiches were good, but could have been better. Each sandwich came with one slice of tomato on top, it could have used more. Also, some extra oil and vinegar to moisten the bread would have been a big help. and also the bread was thick to the point where it kind of overwhelmed the ingredients inside, I actually scooped out a little bit of the inside of the bread to balance it out. I would say it was good, but not out of this world. 

Good variety of chips and drinks are available. 

We explored the shops at Old Town for a while. Baseballism caught my interest, it's kind a of a lifestyle brand store. It doesn't sell official MLB merch or anything like that, but it had some classy clothing that focuses on history and tradition of the game. Didn't end up buying anything thought, there just wasn't enough variety.

I spent a good amount of time in Bischoff's Shades of the West. It's that old style Trading Post that are very common in the southwest. I guess the trade is we give them money, they trade us the merchandise we want? But they have everything from hot sauce to sports gear to shoes to purses to moccasins. Fantastic variety of inventory. Ultimately, I bought two bags of pistachios, one for me and one for mom.

And this store was so old school, they they wrote out the receipt on paper!

Mom wanted to go see a movie, I guess she wanted to relax. I really didn't, it was a nice day and I wanted to be outside. After another brief argument, I dropped her off outside Harkins and she went to see The Color Purple. Sad choice, but whatever. As for me, I drove to the City of Mesa cemetery. Country music legend Waylon Jennings is buried there and I wanted to see his gravesite. I had to drive past the Cubs spring training baseball complex to get there; it seemed quite nice from the outside.

I continued to drive east ad it started to get more Hispanic and more lower class. I entered the cemetery and it suddenly seemed more quiet. I found the site pretty quickly and it was pretty easy to spot. American flags, bandanas, spare change, guitar picks, Jack Daniels minis, Coke bottle tops, and unsmoked cigarettes. I'm sure he would have been proud. From what I can tell no one else was around. But way out in the distance, there was a burial was going on. I started playing some of Waylon's songs on YouTube, it was kind of my own concert right there. I had to hurry since nature was calling, but I still stayed there about 40 minutes as the sun beat on my face and the cool wind blew through the trees.

From there it was off to Four Peaks, one of the Valley's most popular breweries. And I didn't expect to have to park a quarter mile away on a Tuesday afternoon. But it's a popular place and I guess a lot of people had the day after Christmas off. I sat alone at the bar and I drank a flight, the peach beer was pretty good. But I settled on their imperial hazy for $10. The $3 sticker was included, which I appreciated. 

But then it was onto my next spot, the Green Acres cemetery in Scottsdale. I wanted to visit the gravesite of wrestling legend Eddie Guerrero, which took about ten minutes to find. And it was also the garden that has the resting spot of another Hall of Famer, Superstar Billy Graham. Unfortunately, there is no headstone yet, even though he passed in May. Sad it's taking this long.

I picked Mom up from the movie and we enjoyed happy hour at the Thirsty Lions pub in that same shopping center with Portillo's, Lou Malnati's, the movie theater, etc, etc. but I really liked this place. Pretty dark interior, but still approachable and inviting, staff was dressed in black. Excellent pork tacos, succulent bacon wrapped BBQ shrimp, very good burger sliders, and for my only dessert of the whole trip, I had some whiskey cherry bread pudding with fresh whipped cream. Great finish. Had a classic mojito for my drink. Oh, plus they have some of the best looking bartenders I saw during my vacation.

My friend Matt, and his wife, Mary Beth, were visiting his parents, which I had no idea was the case. But his parents live up in the bougie boonies of north of north Scottsdale. I had to go into one gate to go to the next gate to get there. But I picked them up and we went to the Buffalo Chip, a very popular country bar. And I mean a real country bar, with the spirits, the live band, the dancing, the Old West decor, everything. I should have brought a jacket, because there was no room inside and we had to sit outside in the near dark. I did order a brisket sandwich, and I ate what I could of it. But since I didn't have a fork, and it was brutally hard to get a server, I had to pick up, with my hands, all the shredded meat that had fallen out and shove it in my mouth. Not east to do in the dark and in the cold. One beer and I was good. Fun unexpected night and I'm glad I was able to get away from the hotel for the night.

Arizona, Day 4

In the morning, we wanted to get a hike in. Now we had tried to hike the morning before and we could not do it because the parking lot was completely full on Christmas Eve! So again we tried to go to Camelback Mountain. Of course we ended up in a fight over parking and I ended up going alone. As it turned out, that was for the best. Because she would not have had a chance have lasting even ten minutes on that rocky Cholla trail that was so steep.

After 35 minutes, I made it halfway to the top, right around the helipad, which I believe was a little bit over one mile. Maybe if I had another two hours, water, and actual hiking boots, I could have done it. So we did go to Barry Goldwater Park, a tribute site to the US Senator, who nearly photography, electronics, and radio. He seems like he was an interesting man.

After a much needed shower., we went to the Musical Instrument Museum in northeast Phoenix, near Scottsdale. It was a very impressive place, there were galleries for certain musical artists, and certain instruments such as guitars and pipe organs. Then the entire upstairs was different geographic sections, showing the history of music from nearly every country in the world. And within the US and Canada, there were breakdowns of almost every genre from rock to ragtime jazz to polka to bluegrass. I never thought I'd see a wall of accordions from Italy or ukuleles from the Far East, but they were there. Definitely worth the visit, but you'll spend at least 3 hours there.

Then it was time to eat, so we drove south to Old Town Scottsdale and stopped in RA Sushi, where I'd made a reservation. I knew of the place in Chicago, but I'd never dined at one of their locations. Now I'm not a sushi lover, but it seemed like a good option with the limited availability on Christmas Day. 

For a drink, I decided to try the Emperor's margherita, made with the amazing tequila from Casamigos. It had a little Japanese yuzu floating on top as well. Wow! Super smooth, I was proud of myself for only getting one, because I could have drank three of those with no problem.

The highlight of the meal for me was the surf n turf sushi. It had shrimp, asparagus tempura; topped with seared filet mignon, green onions, red bell peppers, fried onions and garlic chips. It had a side of creamy wasabi sauce, which wasn't too spicy. Fantastic!

The shrimp fried rice was really good, I also liked the tunacado, which is seared ahi tuna served with fresh sliced avocado along with a creamy tzataki dipping sauce. And the Gyozu, the seared potstickers, had a nice sear on the outside, which is so key to a good potsticker.

After the meal, it was back to the room where I watched football and then I think crashed on the bed. All the traveling finally caught up with me. I may have finished off the leftover Lou's pizza in the fridge...

Arizona, Day 3

After three days out of the gym, I was dying for a good workout especially after my In N Out the night before. For the most part I lifted the weights, I wasn't feeling the cardio. 

My suitcase had broken on the trip in, so I knew had to replace it. So we made a trip to TJ Maxx and I did buy a SwissGear suitcase for about $80. It's a spinner, a nice feature I'd never had before. It might be a tad smaller than the other one I had been using, but I think with the expansion option and the inside straps and three internal storage compartments, I'll get by.

Then it was lunchtime and we went to Pappadeaux. Always a favorite, and it's a shame that it's been relegated to 4 states now, with the vast majority in Texas. We started off with the free hot crusty French bread. And then for the app, some fried alligator, which ain't cheap, but it's so good. It came with a citrus chipotle sort of dressing, it was really thin. We didn't want that, so we asked for some remoulade and the staff had to make it from scratch! So good! 

The tableside Greek salad has always been a favorite of mine, and it's prepared tableside. Mom had snuck an extra avocado in, so we diced that up and scooped in on our salad plate. I'm sure the waiter was wondering how the hell an avocado skin was in our salad plate.

Then we split the mixed seafood grill with shrimp, scallops, salmon, and vegetables, and served over a plate of dirty rice. Everything was fantastic. 

We explored the Glendale and Sun City areas for a while and then headed back to the room to cool down and I watched football for a little while until it was time to go to church. Now we went to CCV downtown, which is one of their many, many locations in the Phoenix area. We had to park off sites and then we got a ride in a pedi-bike to the site of the Church. They had a lot going on; there was a smores station, hot cocoa, and coffee, all for free. Me, I just settled for a bottle of water.

Christmas service was quite nice, the pastor gave a message on the topic of worship. It was a somewhat basic message, but it would be a good place to attend regularly. After that was dinner at Mancuso's, which is the restaurant Leah's family owns. Parking was a nightmare, it's right across the street from the basketball arena, so space is limited. We eventually found the correct underground garage though. Then we had to walk outside and up two flight of stairs to get there. 

We started off with some free garlic bread, very nice. Crispy outside, soft on the inside. For dipping, they had this cool jug with two pour spouts: one side was for the extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I wouldn't mind one of those in my kitchen! The lump crab salad was quite nice with mixed greens, hearts of palm, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, avocados, asparagus, and the basil dressing. The crab meat was nice size, good lumps.

Unfortunately, the entrees did not impress us. The NY strip steak was ordinary at best. It needed more seasoning, needed to be cooked a little better. The menu said it was Argentine beef. I've been to Argentina, and this tasted a like a steak I would get at at a casual restaurant. We did ask for medium rare, and this was closer to rare. It wasn't worth the $36, it was worth maybe half that price. The Milanese pork chop was better, with a nice bread crumb coating on the outside. The vegetables were undercooked and they had a load of garlic. I mean I love garlic, but it was really pronounced. The gorgonzola mashed potatoes were fine as well. We were able to get a nice bottle of Malbec for $42 though, they do have a nice variety of wines for different prices as well. 

Arizona, Day 2

Saturday was a big day. We were up at 4:45 am for a four hour drive north to Page, AZ for a tour of Antelope Canyon, near the Utah border. 

We woke up to a ton of rain and bitter cold. My mother had to drive in the dark in a rental car that she did not like and she was terrified. She kept complaining about it and I didn't really appreciate it, considering  it was the same make and model car that I drive.

We made it to Flagstaff, which is about halfway there and by now he rain had lightened up but the temperature was only around 40 degrees. With the mountains, with a little snow on top, and the cold temperature, I thought I was back in Alaska!

I had the vibe she was no longer looking forward to the tour, she wasn't really dressed warmly enough. We stopped at the Starbucks and decided at that moment to try to get our money back, we ultimately were able to get a 50% refund. And I think it made sense, because we would have been outside at least two hours, and done eight hours of driving. It just did not make sense.

So we headed about 20 minutes north of Flagstaff to Cameron, where they have a famous Trading Post. 

So then, I took over the driving and we went east from Flagstaff down Route 66 to the famous town of Winslow. Yes, just like from the Eagles song, "Take It Easy." We took some pictures at Standing on the Corner Park, which has statues of both Jackson Browne and Glenn Frey. There isn't a whole lot to the town, it's kind of lower class with a few shops and local hotels downtown. But it isn't a place you're going to spend multiple days.

Driving back to Flagstaff, we hit our peak altitude of 7,286 feet. By now, it was close to mid afternoon, so we decided to grab a bite in downtown Flagstaff. Being up in the mountains, it was quite a bit colder than it usually is in the valley. We went to the McMillan Pub, where we had a drink each and their spinach and artichoke dip. Service was a little bit slow, but there were only two employees, so it could not have been easy. 

Then came the 2 and a half hour drive back, which felt like it was just dragging and dragging. I don't think we got back to the hotel until about 6:30. So after cleaning up a little, I walked across the street to Hundred Mile, a local brewery, that I guess is run by some hardcore Iowa Hawkeyes fans. I'm not into dark beers, but I dug the peanut butter porter, not too heavy or filling, but still a deep roasty, nutty flavor. I had 10 BBQ wings, which I really liked, they had that southwest spice to them, and the sauce wasn't overly thick or sweet, they were more like BBQ glazed. Plus a side of carrots celery, and pickle slices, and I was pretty pleased. Super nice and engaging staff as well.

On the way back, of course, I had some In n Out Burger, an apparent west coast must. Now I had them once before, many years ago, in Vegas. I did not expect an armed guard inside, nor did I expect every table and booth to be occupied at 10 pm. I had a double double, animal style and after eating it, I wish I had ordered a 3X2 for the extra burger patty. It had a little too much of their spread for me and I thought the burger was just too salty. But for the burger and a drink, it was less than nine bucks, which is not too bad price wise.