Fifteen years ago today:
From Madison to Chicago via Milwaukee and the very first McDonald’s east of the Mississippi. Listen for a Sentry supermarket commercial and a very early one for “King of the Hill.” Joe, my host, offers a nighttime tour.
Fifteen years ago today:
Roaming around Chicago including a visit to a downtown Woolworth store in the midst of that chain’s mass store closings.
…I miss being the 1997 version of me, with a shiny new website and less grey hair and flirtatious fans and very few real responsibilities.
But not most days.
It would be kinda nice to be able to take off on a five-week road trip, though.
Fifteen years ago today:
Last day in Chicago with an emphasis on the projects (many of which are no longer standing), followed by the drive to Indianapolis, hanging out in Fountain Square, a nighttime drive, and a pretty amazing hotel room courtesy of Bob, my host.
Fifteen years ago today:
Coast to coast tour of Indiana, part one, including Indianapolis, Brazil, Terre Haute, Clinton, Rockville, and Billie Creek Village. Much of this takes place along US 40, formerly known as the National Road. This chunk of the trip was spent with my friend Bob in Indianapolis, who suggested the whole trip to begin with.
Fifteen years ago today:
Coast to coast tour of Indiana, part two, covering Centerville, Richmond, Greensburg, and Shelbyville, and including covered bridges, giant pork tenderloin sandwiches, and courthouses with trees growing out of their roofs.
In case you care, photos from my Labor Day weekend trip to DC are here (or below).
Random thoughts on DC:
- I hadn’t really spent any significant time in DC in over twenty years (and not much even before) but I have spent a fair of time in Baltimore and the DC ‘burbs in my life. It was good to dive into DC proper.
- There is construction everywhere. Seriously. It’s as if DC is preparing for a sudden influx of about three times as many people as are there currently.
- It’s much whiter than I expected. Apparently the black population has declined from seventy to a bit over fifty percent in the past few decades due to a surburbanizing black middle class, a growing Asian and Hispanic population, and your basic, old-fashioned gentrification.
- I didn’t wander by accident into any neighborhoods that gave me the willies. Of course, I also didn’t venture south of the Anacostia River, either.
- Except for Dupont Circle and environs, DC didn’t seem nearly as tight-assed as I’d remembered it being.
- Good trip, all in all. I’ll probably be back soon. It’s kind of a perfect three-day weekend destination for me.
Photos:
[flickr-gallery mode=”photoset” photoset=”72157631470177690″]
Some assorted stuff before I actually leave the house and do something with my day:
- This borders on a San Francisco level of silliness. I expected more out of New York. Hell, even the SF Chronicle thinks it’s stupid.
- Same shit, different layout.
- Currently planning my annual Thanksgiving trip to Toronto next month and very excited that I might get to see this while I’m there.
Fifteen years ago today:
Indianapolis to Detroit with a stop in Ft. Wayne, where I realize that one of my favorite radio stations as a lonely teenager had become the home for drooling dittoheads and other assorted morons. The night finished with some Canadian TV.
Fifteen years ago today:
Highlights include a quick trip to Windsor in the rain (and another to drink later on), the Henry Ford Museum, Brush Park, and downtown Detroit. This was my first trip to Detroit, a city I was a little obsessed with at the time, and I was very excited.