Having spent the first half of the year in Indiana, it was natural to consider taking a vacation in the area. Now, myself, I'm from the east coast, and my partner is from the west coast. With only few exceptions, while growing up, when my family went on vacation, we went to the beach (i. e. the Atlantic Ocean). When my partner's family took a vacation, they generally went camping in California. It certainly never occurred to me until my adulthood that the midwest would be an enjoyable place to take a vacation. No offense intended to midwesterners, but the lack of an ocean or mountains could be seen as something of a drawback. Okay, okay, the Great Lakes could substitute for an ocean, except for the waves.
Anyway, being more grownup, and recognizing that there are ways to spend ones days off doing something other than riding ocean waves or laying on the beach, we made plans for a vacation visiting Michigan, Chicago, and Indiana around Memorial Day weekend. What follows are some photos from our trip, along with a brief account of our adventures.
First, a word from our sponsor:
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We started our vacation by going to Saugatuck, MI, which has become something of a gay-friendly resort. We stayed at a charming bed & breakfast in the town proper. It rained quite a bit, and was disappointingly chilly, but we managed to have a good time anyway. We visited nearby Holland, MI, which is where my partner's mother was born.
Our last day there, it finally got sunny late in the day. We walk the length of Oval Beach just before sunset.
Oval Beach from the Kalamazoo River inlet:
Sunset over Lake Michigan:
We then proceeded to Chicago, where, slowly, over the weekend, the weather improved. The weekend itself was spent singing Sacred Harp at the Midwest Convention. In addition, we visited various museums in the area (Science & Industry, the Field Museum, Frank Llyod Wright's Robie House) and the Chicago Botanic Garden. Here's a sampling of some of the photos:
Azaleas in the Japanese garden at the CBG:
Siberian irises:
Rhododendron and white bleeding hearts:
(I'll post more photos from the CBG in a future edition of the Saturday Morning Garden Blog.)
Chicago skyline in the evening:
Sunset in Chicago on Memorial Day:
Navy Pier and downtown Chicago as the lights come on:
On the evening of our last full day in Chicago, we enjoyed the Chicago Shakespeare Company's production of The Madness of King George III on the Navy Pier. We don't often get the opportunity to see first-class theater, so it was a great treat to see this.
There was plenty we did not get to see (such as the Chicago Art Institute), so we will have to go back again someday.
Finally, we left Chicago so that my partner could see where I was living during my sabbatical. We took a side trip to Indianapolis, and visited the Indianapolis Museum of Art, where, among other things, we saw a show of the art of Thornton Dial.
The next day, I put my partner on a plane back to Pennsylvania, and I buckled down to finish my sabbatical. While I might have wished for the weather to have been a bit warmer, we had a good time, so I could imagine taking vacations in the midwest again at some point.
And now, to the comments!
From JaxDem:
From eeff's diary Good Morning Open Thread, the thread about asparagus was started by mdmslle, but the Top Comment came from mama jo.
From Dragon5616:
bink makes a minor but important clarification to Hunter's superbly written front page post As seen on TV.
In blueness' outstanding diary, A Dangerous Country, TheMomCat reminds us that accused does not mean guilty in this first-hand account.
From trashablanca:
I generally post humorous or snarktastic comments to TC, but after the Saturday night metawars, this comment by Ziontao speaks for me, as I imagine it does for quite a few on this site. From slinkerwink's recommended diary No One Will Primary President Obama.
From JekyllnHyde (see below for context):
emeraldmaiden posted this tally update earlier this evening.
From your humble diarist:
In News Corpse's recommended diary What Fox News and Republicans Fear Most, bhfrik succinctly points out the irony of News Corp using the reflexive conservative response of persecution complex when compared to its larger problems across the pond.
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One final word: As you may already know, our dear friend and fellow TC diarist, emeraldmaiden, has been in poor health and hard financial straits for some years now, and sent out a cry for help. Members of the dailykos community have organized a fundraising campaign to help out emeraldmaiden and her family. (Take, for example, Dragon5616's TC diary from two nights ago.) As an added incentive to help out, various kossacks have offered the work of their hands as prizes, listed below. Read the rules in Dragon5616's diary (link above) for prize elegibility.
Please be generous. The link to emeraldmaiden's PayPal account is give at the bottom. And whether or not you can afford to donate to emeraldmaiden, please rec this diary, as its author, blue jersey mom, has pledged to donate 20 cents per rec to emeraldmaiden.
A Beautiful Handmade Quilt By Sara R
"Cornucopia" is a charm quilt of "tumbler" blocks, all of photorealistic fruits and vegetables. It is meant to represent plenty, abundance.
The quilt is 58" x 62" and is sleeved for hanging on a wall. The backing fabric looks like Indian corn. The fabric and the batting are all cotton ñ and the quilt is entirely quilted by hand by Sara R.
It was designed and pieced by her, as well!
(Link to emeraldmaiden's PayPal Account)
An Original Painting by boran2
A longtime community member, boran2 is also one of the "Top Comments" diarists and has posted hundreds of diaries on painting.
This is a 4x5 inch acrylic on canvas painting. It depicts a Hudson River overpass at dusk. It is painted on thick gallery wrapped canvas and can stand on its own. It was painted in April of 2010.
(Link to emeraldmaiden's PayPal Account)
Seven Additional Prizes
Additional prizes have been added, including the above lovely necklace/earring set (larger images) courtesy of Purple Priestess.
emeraldmaiden is giving away 200 yards of homespun yarn in any color the winner wants (especially if it's Daily Kos orange)! This is absolutely beautiful stuff.
The lovely Chacounne is donating two hand-embroidered (blackwork) bookmarks, in the winner's choice of pattern from a selection she will provide.
gloriana is offering one hand-made bobbin lace bookmark (pics).
Pootie Queen triciawyse has donated three paintings (scroll down in comment for pics). asimbagirl is offering this hand-knitted wine carrier, even in DKos Orange 100% wool.
And, last but not least, Chun Yang is offering a gorgeous batik pillow.
Here's a description of the batik pillow by Chun Yang: it is 14 by 14 inches, a removable cotton cover that I batiked with soy wax, hand dyed in a low-immersion way (minimum water). I then added some deColorant to it (thanks for the tip, Sara R!) which took out some color in the design and added a bit of color. The pillow inside is foam and nice and firm.
(Link to emeraldmaiden's PayPal Account)