Here we are on the road and wondering if the little dark cloud up there near the Batman building in Nashville is following over someone.
Well hello there! I know, I know blog fade got me as RL intruded. But yet again I’m back just like a bad penny. So shall we carry on as if nothing happened. Yes why don’t we…
Over the 4th of July weekend we went to North Chicago and stayed in the Navy Lodge at the Great Lakes Naval Base to visit our son Aaron and his fiancee Sara. Aaron home at their apartment in Kenosha after a lay off at the civilian job and then injury during his Army National Guard drill weekend. So he was free to hang with us and Sara was free Sunday for a tour and Monday for dinner. (more…)
Oops! That’s not Alice the corpse flower but Molly the dog.
Okay back in the Fall Alice the corpse flower at the Chicago Botanical Gardens bloomed. Mike and I went to see her when we had a weekend free. Sadly I have lost the photos of her. Also sadly when we got there she was going to seed and the stink was gone. I offer pictures I did find of Alice’s neighbors. Do enjoy after the cut –
For Memorial Day I went down to Tennessee to spend time with my parents. My has gotten into Greene County history and doing posts on Down Home Greeneville on Facebook with a short historical write up about each. While I was there I took her around to make photos. Needless to say I made more than a few of my own.
Then I got home with my camera chips and realized I’d not loaded up all the photos from our trip last July to Williamsburg Virginia and the Norfolk area. I know I’m not done with the cruise pictures. Oh and winter – there’s been a really hard winter in there with shots of it, snow sculptures and such. Any way it turns out I have a few thousand pictures to upload. Okay maybe not multiple thousands but definitely over a thousand. So hold on to your hat for a few photo posts as real life time permits. There will be….
July of last year the trip to the beach, Williamsburg, and Mike’s Navy graduation (that I didn’t get to see due to flight booking, my agent ahem named Mike booked my flight before the ceremony not after)….
Mike enjoying a dessert while on vacation – Oct in OrlandoLife is a beach when on vacation in Virginia in July.The brutal winter here had us all thinking of the tropics.Yes I actually have over 400 photos from Williamsburg.Oh you know there were pet pictures.Holidays in Tennessee.Did I mention it was a nasty winter here? It was and we did all we could to make the best of it. Ice sculpture contests and such.Of course more beading and craft sales…Going about Greene Count Tennessee making pictures with Mom.Yep and more on the cruise adventures.
So over the last three days I caught up on my uploading to Flickr. Yes over 1800 photos uploaded. Raw just off the camera no adjustments images. I’ll improve a few for future posts – maybe if time permits.
Also for my birthday I got a droid tablet (no Apple stuff for this girl) so now I can easily take stacks of comics with me to read. Expect that sometime there will be catch up on those too.
In the meantime you have been warned – photos are coming. Be prepared.
Drive up banking in the winter – when you make the passenger get out and knock the ice off the card slide
Let me first start by stating the obvious – IT IS COLD OUTSIDE! Yes it was -16F when I woke up. No that IS the actual TEMPERATURE you don’t wanna know the wind chill – somewhere in the -30sF. I don’t plan to go out until afternoon when we are supposed to warm up to about oF. Okay formalities taken care of I’ll start on my post now.
Due to work I didn’t go down to see the folks (mine and his) until after Christmas. It worked out just fine. Aaron and Sara came down later and stayed after us as they wanted to celebrate New Year’s with their friends here. Ahh I remember when we actually stayed up in dressy clothes and partied with others. Now just staying up is the challenge. Funny as I get older I get more like a baby routine keeps me from being grumpy.
Any way here are a few photos from the trip. Not much as I only had my phone.
We visited my parents for a few days. Here’s Mike and my folks outside a Mexican restaurant in their town. Yes we had to show our support for the Tennessee Volunteers – all graduates of the University of Tennessee ya know. Dad is a golden grad and got his 50 years since graduation pin.Mom’s kitty Sylvester – I have two black cats, Mom has one, Aaron has one, and my bff Patricia has two – do you have a black kitty?The house shoes my parents gave Mike – yes they are slippers!That’s Greeneville Tennessee the town to where I grew up out in the county. I’m setting a novel (urban fantasy with a rural setting) centered right on the corner where that church is.The view of the Smoky Mountains from my in-laws neighborhood. As you can see there was snow on the mountain but it was still nice enough in the valley to go golfing.Jellico Mountain area of Kentucky on the drive home. The roads were clear the whole way just a long drive.The snow just started as we hit downtown Chicago.Back home to typical Wisconsin Winter views.
Okay tomorrow and Thursday I work so hopefully I’ll get another post in the pipeline for those days – maybe about the great YWriter and a postcard from the past… or maybe swamp tour or Colonial Williamsburg… or maybe not… Until next time!
So on the long drive home from Ft. Leonard Wood we needed to stop and stretch our legs. We chose to stop in Springfield, IL and see the Lincoln Library and Museum. We were there for about two hours seeing the museum and having lunch. Here’s some photos for you… want more? Click on one and head over to my Flickr.
Mike and Lincoln have a lively discussion.The notes the statue was holding.External view of the museum and library complex.Another statue of Abe on the way to the museum.Mike photobombs the first family on the White House lawn…John Wilkes Booth leans on the White HouseYoung Abe Lincoln
Areas where I could take pictures was limited in the museum. Outside was cold as we drove snow from Missouri to get there!
Here’s the trip south. Chicago doesn’t have traffic early on Sunday mornings. This was about 7:30 am. There’s the WIllis tower (formerly the Sears tower) in the center. It’s rare to see the interstate so empty.
Mike drove most of the 13 hours to my parents. I drove the 9 hours to Montgomery Alabama from my parents. Needless to say last week doing the trip there and back plus the driving about to cemeteries and peoples homes – I spent a lot of time in the car. No matter how great the audio books are or how many channels we got on Sirius, it gets boring being the passenger or driver. I must acknowledge as a passenger I did more than my share of sleeping. Still when I got bored I picked up my camera when a passenger and at stops to share the experience with you. Here’s the photo gallery of 44 hours on the road.
Now we return to our Waukegan Trip. The Haines Museum in Bowen Park opened and we got to tour it. It’s operated by the Waukegan Historical Society. This home was originally built as a one room cabin to go with the farm that is now Bowen Park. Over the years with various owners it was added onto it until it because the Victorian home you see now.
Mayor Hull of Chicago and his family lived there as their summer home until the great fire then lived there full time. I learned that back then there were yearly elections for mayor. CAN YOU IMAGINE YEARLY ELECTIONS? Always being bombarded by the campaign trail, all the calls from the various parties and interests groups. The constant ads… it’d never end. The mayor would never be a leader but a figure head and it’d open up for another machine that stayed in tact to actually run the city. Oh wait… that’s what happened in the Chicago Political Machine.
Okay back to the house, it’s restored to its Victorian period to go with the architecture. It was the center of the Bowen Country Club. Here is where the children would be taught the ways of society. It was thought part of the barrier of improving oneself was not understanding the societal norms of table manners, dances, polite conversation, etc. I think honestly some that still holds true today knowing how to behave in the boardroom as well as the local bar is key to advancement. Today there is a room dedicated to the club and those kids it helped in so many ways not just the social graces classes in the house.
None of the items in the house are from the original owners. They are from the correct time period and exemplify the types of things the home would have contained in this 1870s time period. The last addition was the red parlor, a more formal parlor, and the master bedroom. The master bedroom now contains a bed and settee set that Abraham Lincoln used during his visit to Waukegan. The room is dedicated to him.
There were exhibits to the Waukegan area residents Alfred Gustafson and James Elsbury who died on the Titantic. There was an exhibit honoring Waukegan son Jack Benny, which explained why there was a Jack Benny art center (where the unhelpful lady was). There was also a time line of Waukegan events including when their town got curb side recycling! YAY! From there I’ve added the Genesee Theater as a place I want to visit for a photo post.
Also I noticed that all their doors were painted red. I had to get photos of each one to add to my red door collection! Heck some day I might make a poster of doors to sanctuary – all red doors I’ve photographed. I have to say of all the doors my favorite one on the Haines Museum was the servant’s door with the aged screen. Some doors to sanctuary aren’t ornate but are well used.
Let’s take a break from our trip to Waukegan to go back to the weekend before. That weekend we went to a place my has been wanting to go for year – the Russell Military Museum. It’s a local single owner place where the guy collects old military equipment. He used to lease/rent it out to the large movie studios but CGI has quickly done away with most of that. The last movie he leased to was Transformers 3. Just don’t get the offers with the computer graphics as they are today.
Mike was thrilled with the place and talked it up the following week. I’m not as into equipment as he is so for me touring a restored Victorian house or art museum is more thrilling but I appreciate both. As does he for that matter, just he prefers the equipment and I prefer the other. Different strokes for favorites but the ability to appreciate something else too – that’s what makes the world go ’round.
I found it interesting and vaguely sad. Much of it is in various states of decay. I pondered how many dead or dying men saw these walls as their last things in life. I thought of the tension and the fear that permeated the sheer steel of the structures. Now peacefully sitting in flowers. I didn’t say it to my military husband I did secretly hope that someday all weapons of war would so retire. I know it’ll not happen, never happen humans aren’t built that way. Still I wish.
It was interesting to see it all (laughed at the Dog Doo-Doo Disguised Transmitter) and gave me much fodder for the lens. Be sure to click on an image below and hop over to my Flickr account to see MUCH more.
Last photo post left you on the Road To No Where also known as the Amstutz Expressway or IL-137. We were on the odd road heading to Bowen Park in Waukegan. We’ve commented on the park for years as we’ve passed. It’s restored Victorian house up front, the rolling hills and gardens, the use of its other building and sporting facilities have always caught our eye. We’ve talked several times of going down there to see just what it offered and touring the house. That was our agenda this Saturday before the University of Tennessee versus Florida game.
Oh my, she wasn’t much help.
We pulled in and weren’t sure where to begin. He headed down to the Jack Benny Arts center. There it appears they have a place for the performing arts. However we weren’t to learn much about the place. The lady behind the counter wasn’t very helpful and seemed put out that we didn’t know how the park operated. She kept her arms crossed over he chest the whole time, dismissed the idea there was more to tour than the house as if seeing well kept historical buildings and a museum sign didn’t suggest that maybe all were open. She didn’t offer to explain what the art center was or if there was something to see there. After struggling to get any useful information we learned the house was the historical societies and opened in twenty minutes. With that she turned her back to us to tend the stack of mail. Being so dismissed we wandered out into the sunny day and beautiful landscape.
What we learned wandering, reading plaques, and later from the helpful AND friendly historical society gentleman was that Bowen Park park has long been a park. Originally it was purchased by a family from New York City and was a farm for years. Then a Mr. Buck purchased the place, he was a forward thinker and wanted to designate the area as a park preserve for the town of Waukegan. Now the town thought this was strange because this was just a farm out in a large swath of farmland between Waukegan and Chicago. We’re talking pre-Civil War era. However Mr. Buck was convinced that an area needed to be preserved because the growth of both would one day meet and such areas would be needed. However, his idea didn’t fly.
It was then purchased by a Chicago Mayor and his wife. Well they used it as a summer home to get out of the heat of the city until the great fire. Then while Chicago was rebuilding they lived there full time. Along the way it was owned by Louise Decoven Bowen was a Decoven of the affluent Decoven of Racine, live here long enough you get to know the names. Upon her husband’s death she thought it’d be nice to bring underprivileged children from Chicago out to the country to get fresh air, do outdoor play, and learn things to help them get ahead in society. She’d spent years working with such families and saw the need for the children. The Bowen Country Club was born. Not a Country Club like we think of but club in the country for underprivileged children to get out of the sooty city and enjoy the countryside. The land was converted from farming to this park use. That’s really when the root of the park design started. The idea was Buck’s, the basis was Bowen.
This club officially ran from 1912 – 1963. That was when the dorms and cottages were finished and opened. Before them she hosted small groups in her home and out buildings. When the club closed the land was converted to a park for Waukegan. By then Mr. Buck’s idea didn’t seem so odd. The growth of Chicago and Waukegan proved to meet as he had predicted and this was a green gem in middle of them.
Today many of the buildings from the Country Club are still used for various activities. The Lilac Cottage houses a library and class rooms for the arts. Other buildings serve as offices for the park department or historical society. It’s still a place to get away from the city and enjoy the land. Judging from the children’s garden we found it’s still a refuge that caters to children. We eventually sat down on a bench and listened to the drumming circle. We watched children enjoy rolling down a little hill in front of us while a family set up a pavilion for their family reunion that day. All in all I think Mr. Buck and Mrs. Bowen would be pleased by the park’s usage today.
Mike wearing UT orange, driving his 1966 Mustang with the top down.
It’s become the weekend tradition to go somewhere local on the weekend and do something. This suits Mike fine, he’s a go-and-see type of guy. It suits me well as I have to collect ideas, images, and such for posts here M-F. It’s become known as collecting Blog Food. Lately the weather has been grand and these outings are taken in the Mustang with her top down. Doesn’t do much for my hair but makes these jaunts all the more special and enjoyable.
This past weekend one of the places we went was in Waukegan, Illinois. Not far from here just south a bit between Kenosha and the Navy Base. On the way there we always take the Amstutz Expressway. This always struck me as an odd road. It’s about three miles long. It is a divided four lane highway with limited access that passes a downtown that isn’t congested. I pondered the purpose of it and questioned locals about why it existed.
Seems like it was a pork barrel project over all. It was intended to connect to more but the southern neighboring town of North Chicago didn’t build their part. Then industry that was there closed down and moved so the road lost it’s connection and purpose. It isn’t much traveled now, just a handful of cars any time I’ve been on it. It is more known now as a place to shoot car commercials and movies.
Some of the movies shot there were Groundhog Day (when they were stuck on the interstate), Batman Begins (great place for car chases), Ice Harvest (set in Kenosha filmed in Illinois), Blues Brothers (chase scene and awesome movie in general), Planes Trains & Automobiles (“I’ve got my hand between two pillows”) and Transformers (not sure if it was 1, 2, 3, or a combo of them). So chances are you’ve seen the road to no where on the big screen.
As you can see not a lot of traffic here. BUT it is complete with ramps to over passes, look on the right and you’ll see one.
If you’ve not seen those movies then you’ve definitely seen it in car ads where a car drives on the empty interstate while the voice over tells you how great it is. Usually that shot is accompanied by a warning about a closed course with professional driver. Those warnings always have Mike asking me why they put that there when we’ve driven that road just like that? I dunno Mike, I dunno. Maybe the road isn’t crowded because only those who can drive as well as professionals dare to take it?
The nickname of “road to no where” is what the locals call it. I find it kind of a romantic and spooky name. I’ve cruised the road to no where in both directions and lived to tell the tale. If you ever find yourself in north eastern Illinois you too can do the same.
Until next time.
There are several styles of overpasses on the short distance to give movie and commercial producers choices of back drops.Still going no where but there’s a bridge style overpass.If you are going to cruise to no where it’s best to do it in a classic car with the top down. Best way to go no where fast and enjoy the ride.
Mary Louise Eklund 