Since the following postcards are from my 2009 travels, I will be setting up a new blog for the 2010 postcards. You can still find it on this blog link as I'll put in a connection to the new blog once I have it set up which will be soon as I hope to go on a new 2010 trip soon.
New blog for 2010 is www.travelswithmike2010.blogspot.com
Mike A.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Postcards from Owensboro, KY
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
The weather today was 22 degrees and sunny in Louisville when we started this trip and it never got above 27 degrees all day.
Today was our trip to Owensboro to eat someplace other than Moonlight!! I had promised Earl and Carlos that someday we would go to Owensboro and not eat at the Moonlight where we had previously dined on two other occasions. Now the Moonlight is a great place to dine, but at our advancing ages you can only go to the buffet table so often. Today, we are going to try out the plate lunches at Old Hickory which is just down the street from my mom’s house.
We left Louisville around 9:30 using my new Garmin which was my Christmas present. I decided I needed my “own” Garmin sometime shortly after The Barb acquired hers a few years ago (a thoughtful anniversary present from me). I thought that original Garmin was going to be a joint gift but NOOOOOOOO, she decided it was hers and then proceeded to select a male voice as the navigation prompt and got very testy whenever I would change the voice to a female. Now, MY Garmin has a sultry female voice giving orders and directions. Through the years I’ve grown accustomed to having a female voice as my navigator, barking out terse “Turn here!, Turn there!” orders. Now, all is right with the world as I am once again being led down the wrong road by a female voice. I just love it when a female leads me down the wrong road.
On the drive over, Earl and I were a little concerned that Carlos was perhaps not fully recovered from the cold he has been fighting for the past 9 days. The first clue was when he showed up in the car with what looked like a liter bottle of Nyquil. Half-way through the drive I looked into the back seat and saw Earl had put a napkin over his face in order to ward off the germs. I can tell my mind is not as sharp as it once was back when I was working because normally I would’ve brought some of my surgical masks to wear but unfortunately forgot them.
I believe everyone enjoyed Old Hickory. On other trips, Carlos would always remark as to how much alike we both are and could perhaps be related somewhere along the line. He found out on this trip that our taste in barbecue is not the same as all the items I recommended he order on the lunch plate he didn’t like. He did find a few things he did like but in the future he will not be ordering any meat serving that starts with the word “Chopped”. Especially the Chopped Mutton. Earl pretty much liked everything he ordered, but that might be because we had a blonde waitress who paid him a lot of attention.
Even though Carlos did not like the chopped mutton, I took it home in a doggie bag as I know my dogs would just love it. Especially the older dog Ukie, who is a chow hound.
After Old Hickory, we went to visit “The Rolling Pin” bakery which has been in Owensboro for over 60 years. Earl had seen it recently on a KET show and wanted to go. We each ordered a pastry and everyone enjoyed the conversation with the counter ladies, one of which was actually in the KET video which was produced over 15 years ago. On the way over, we drove by my high school and I pointed out “MY” parking space which is still there on Frederica after all these years. They had seen it before and now just refer to it as the “Famous Mike A. Parking Space”.
Next, it was back to my mom’s house where we again sampled the homemade bourbon balls. I believe they got the recipe wrong and must’ve tripled up on the bourbon because after about 2 of these my head started to feel funny.
Our next stop was over to my high school buddy Del’s automotive garage where we marveled at the very large tool boxes and chatted with the customers. Earl (ever the backache person) found a local chiropractor there and they became fast friends. Carlos and I chatted with an Indian family who were dropping off their car for repair. Since I’m going to India in 2010, they were able to teach me how to say “Where’s the Bathroom” and “I need Pepto Bismol” in Hindi. I figure if I’m armed with those two simple phrases I should pretty much be all set for India.
On the way back to Louisville we stopped at our favorite café in Troy, Indiana and treated ourselves to another dessert. The owners are always happy to see us and since it was not busy they stopped and chatted with us. A trip to Owensboro is never complete without a stop in Troy. We made it back to town by 5:00, vowing to go back to Owensboro again in the spring so Carlos can sample the ribs at Old Hickory.
A Post Script; Some time during the New Year’s weekend, Earl came down with an awful cold which 7 days later he is still not fully recovered. So far so good for me. And also, after getting back I fed the mutton to my two dogs. As predicted, chow hound Ukie scarfed all of it down by herself. This turned out to be a BIG mistake on my part as about 1 hour later I discovered the mutton didn’t set all that well with Ukie and the carpet in my house looked oddly similar to what I envisioned Sherman’s march through Georgia must’ve looked like. I’m not sure which is worse, the other dog getting sprayed by a skunk this past summer or Ukie’s debris field all through my house. I thought retirement life was going to be simpler than this. I'm getting too old to be crawling around the house with a bucket and brush cleaning up the carpet. I need a Man Cave.
Until next time,
Mike A.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Postcards from Greenfield Village, Michigan
Friday PM, December 4, 2009
It’s Friday night and we are in Dearborn Michigan having arrived earlier this evening from Louisville. Tomorrow we will tour Greenfield Village to see the Christmas decorations. The van ride up from Louisville was uneventful as we made it in less than 6 hours with only one stop (for 6 minutes) to stretch and use the bathroom. A big improvement over the earlier trip to South Dakota and the many stops we had to make. I’m not sure why that was but perhaps it was because Susie is travelling with us this time and all the guys just wanted to show off. Or, perhaps it was because they didn’t have the cooler of beer along this time. Yes, Susie (Earl’s wife) is with us this time as this was going to be our first ever “couples trip”. However, about half-way through this week The Barb decided she couldn’t go because she was still recovering from a bad head cold. Since the rooms were already prepaid, I immediately started thinking of what other FEMALE would be available to go with me in order to keep true to the spirit of this being a “couples’ weekend” and all. You know me, always willing to help the cause. I was really enjoying all the brainstorming involved in this pursuit and then that damn Tiger Woods debacle blew up down in Florida and there went my dreams down in flames. For red-blooded American males everywhere, I would just like to extend a big “THANK YOU, TIGER!!!” down Florida way. On the positive side, next year if this trip situation were to occur again, Tiger’s EX-WIFE will be available to go with me and with her new found riches, should be able to foot the whole bill. Again, THANK YOU, TIGER!! I just can’t say that enough.
Anyhow, Carlos was able to fill-in as my “date” for this trip. We are sharing a King bed which is not something we normally do on the guy trips. I’ll see how that works out.
Postcards from Greenfield Village, Michigan
Saturday, December 5, 2009 A cloudy and cold day
OMG, this morning it’s a frigging 19 degrees outside!! I really can’t complain though because I came prepared, even bringing my winter Tilley. And unlike this past summer (sic) trip to Michigan where I whined just all the time (The Barb, she’s a saint) I fully expected it to be cold in Michigan in December, but 19 degrees?!! And the prospects for it to get above 25 today are not very good. We are eating the continental breakfast at the hotel today and then off to Greenfield Village by 9:00am. I say we as there are six of us going; Susie and Earl, Carlos, myself and also Earl’s brother and sister-in-law (John and Nancy) who drove in from South Bend yesterday. They are staying in the same room as Susie and Earl at our hotel in Allen Park. Earl was very excited by that as it was a way to cut costs. I’m not sure who will be sleeping in the bathtub. Probably Earl, as he’s done it before on our trips. In yesterday’s postcard I forgot to mention that all of us went to dinner Friday at our favorite place “Buddy’s” in downtown Dearborn. I believe everyone enjoyed it. For those of you thinking “DOWNTOWN DEARBORN? NO WAY!!!!” I want to say no, this is not downtown Detroit. Dearborn’s downtown is very docile reminding me of Main Street in downtown Owensboro from the 60’s only Dearborn has many more eateries to pick from and more upscale modern. Very nice. If you are ever in Dearborn definitely try Buddy’s.
Since it’s so cold outside today I think I’ll send my “designated seat warmer” out to the van about 5 minutes before everyone else so he can warm up those cold leather seats. That would be Earl as even after all these years he’s still eager to please…
Postcards from Greenfield Village, Michigan
Sunday AM, December 6, 2009 About 25 degrees outside and partly sunny.
We made it through Greenfield Village on Saturday and even though it was cold we all dressed properly and didn’t really have a problem. I found out that the real holiday treat at the village is the night-time tours which were sold out for this weekend. That’s when they burn the lamps and have carolers, ice skating and animals all throughout the village. We took the day-time tour which was nice but not as “Christmassy” as the evening tour. Next year, I plan to come back for the evening show. The nice thing about the day-time tour was that there were only about 250 guests at Greenfield Village during the day. That made it very easy for us to get through the houses and exhibits without any interference from the crowds that are typical during the warmer months. It was like we had the village to ourselves.
After coming back to the hotel we all needed to warm up so we headed off to our respective rooms. Football games were on so I fell asleep watching that. About two hours later I woke up and found Carlos still watching games on TV. I left him in the room and went down the hall to the other room where I found everyone comfortably resting and also watching TV with the girls handing out drinks and snacks. I only stayed for about 30 minutes, enough to eat some more chocolate chip cookies and to chat some. When I got back to my room I saw Carlos was just starting to watch a movie on TV. I told him he should go down and visit Earl’s room because they girls were cranking out the supplies and they were having a party. Off went Carlos and I relaxed to watch the movie thinking he would be back soon. Two hours later, the movie was over and Carlos had never returned so I went off in search. When I got closer to Earl’s room I could hear loud noise and laughter. Upon entering I see what I had thought was a quiet party is now in FULL swing!! There are more snacks, wine chilling in the sink plus mixed drinks. Not only are there mixed drinks but there are also special drink glasses and wine glasses. I had no idea they brought all this stuff up with them in my van!! Whenever I go with just the guys all we have are chips and a cooler of beer. Somehow I feel I’ve been cheated and should invite the girls on more trips.
Everyone is talking and laughing and having a great time. Susie offers me another cookie and a chair as she goes to freshen up Carlos’ mixed drink. Carlos mentions that he normally is not a mixed drink drinker but I don’t see that slowing him down any. The girls seem content with the wine and have brought the heavier stuff for the guys and keep offering me some cheese but I stick with the cookies. Two hours later it’s getting late and since we have to get up early for the trip home I decide it’s time to get Carlos down to the room as his comment “I don’t normally do mixed drinks” is coming more frequently now as Susie keeps on refilling it for him. The King bed turned out to not be as roomy as the night before as Carlos took up 3 quarters of the bed as I clung to my little section on the edge. Had he encroached any more I was prepared to take corrective action. The good thing was the bathroom night light kept him from crashing into the wall like he did on Friday night.
Since we made good time on the trip home we stopped off in Cincinnati to see the IKEA store. Everyone liked it and wants to come back for another look when there is more time. It’s a big store and we only spent about 30 minutes there.
Until next time,
Mike A.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Subject: Postcards from Lexington, KY
We started our trip to Lexington from Mike H’s house. I’d already planned ahead as since I was not going to be doing the driving for a change I decided I would just sit in the back seat and let Mike drive while Earl navigated. Mike and I made such a good driver/navigator team on the South Dakota trip that I thought it would be good to let
Earl do a little “cross training”. After watching Earl struggle setting up the Garmin I was starting to wonder if that was such a good idea. As the trip goes on I soon realize that the bond between a driver and a navigator is special and requires two individuals who work together well in order to make the team a successful and finely tuned entity. That apparently is not going to happen on this trip. I don’t think Mike H and I sniped that much at each other on the whole South Dakota trip and we’ve not even made it out of Jefferson County. But hey, I’m in the back seat relaxing so let them snipe.
Our first stop is Woodford Reserve where Mike H will complete all the stops in the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. Earl and I had completed our distillery tour back in July but were more than willing to go again since we knew it meant more taste testing. There were only 6 people on our tour (The first one of the day) and at the end we helped ourselves to as many of the chocolate bourbon balls that we could stand. Since we had not stopped for breakfast we figured this would keep us until lunch.
We next went to the ALLtech headquarters building which is somewhere in the Lexington metro area. I’m not exactly sure where that is as the Garmin led the way and since I was sitting in the back just being a passenger, I was pretty much brain dead about the whole “getting there” experience. Gee, now I understand why Earl looked so comatose on the South Dakota trip as being a back seat passenger doesn’t do much to enliven the brain. After meeting Mike’s daughter Katie outside the main building, she took us to lunch stopping off on the way at the ALLtech farm where they have bison and other livestock they use in testing their various feed products. After lunch it was back to the HQ building for a tour. Very nice place and we all were envious that people would actually work in such a well designed and appointed building. And they seemed so happy too! They even had a replica of an Irish Pub in the building which they use as a meeting place. This Irish Pub theme would come up again and again on the tour as each ALLtech facility we toured had some sort of Irish Pub on the premises. Turns out the owners of ALLtech are from Ireland and added these pubs to their buildings to add a touch of home. And they were all working pubs too, as the ALLtech company also produces a line of beer ales and bourbon. Now I’m beginning to understand why the employees all seem so happy.
After touring the HQ we went across the road to the ALLtech golf course on Connemara Farm. There was a stately farm house on the grounds that served as the pro shop and office and also had another Irish pub in the back. They were all friendly and gave us samples from the bar. I could see where this was heading so I took the bottled water as I figured I might be needed later as the designated driver. After hanging out in the pub for a while Katie took us on a tour of the golf course in a couple of the carts. I drove the one cart with Earl and Katie drove the other with her dad. About halfway through the tour we noticed the cart I was driving had a “do not use” sign on it. I kept expecting it to break at any moment but it made it through the rest of the tour with no problems. It was a cool and windy day but being as I had on my winter Tilley I kept warm. I know Mike and Earl were envious though they didn’t say anything. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of them showed up this winter with their own Tilley, especially Earl now that he has that lump sum retirement money burning a hole in his pocket… It would look just great in that red sports car I JUST KNOW he is probably contemplating purchasing.
After the golf course tour we went downtown to ALLtech’s brewing facility to take that tour. They have TWO Irish Pubs at that location!! Again, both working pubs. Our tour guide served up samples of their products at the one pub and I must admit I sampled them too and even liked the bourbon ale one. Our guide was named Ann who is one of Katie’s friends having transferred down from HQ on Monday to start as the tour guide. Even though she was brand new in this job she did a great job and didn’t seem nervous at all which I could not say for myself had I been doing that job at her age. Actually, now that I think of it, Earl, Mike H, and I were the oldest people on all the tours today which is a definite twist from our experiences out at Mt Rushmore. Note to self; Take more trips out west next year.
The day concluded with us driving by Billy Gillespie’s house which was out in the vicinity of ALLtech’s HQ. Being the big UK fan that he is, Earl got out and walked up to the front door and looked into the window as we took his picture. Billy was not home. Probably out on a recruiting trip…
Until next time,
Mike A.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Subject: Postcards from Mt Rushmore--#1
Saturday PM, September, 12, 2009
We have arrived in Waterloo, IA for our first night’s stop. The drive up today was uneventful which is always how I like to see the first day’s long drive go. I’m not sure how this town got its name, but ‘Water’ and ‘Loo’ seem somewhat cruelly ironic. With 4 adult males in the car there were a lot of bathroom breaks so I consider it fortunate that we were able to get this far the first day. I suppose I shouldn’t be giving away “Man Secrets” to the female readers, but it is interesting that when you get four men in a van without any female distractions, they can somehow solve ALL the world’s problems in just 550 miles. Yep, by the time we arrived in Waterloo that was all settled and everyone was on top of the world. Then we couldn’t decide where to go for dinner…
To recap the day:
This morning, promptly at 5:45, Earl showed up at my house having been driven in from Oldham County by wife, Susie. Even though it’s dark outside I can tell Susie is glad to see us off. She even hands me a container of homemade cookies which I take were for me alone, only to find out later that the rest of the gang pretty much helped themselves whenever my back was turned. We loaded up Earl’s gear in the van and were at Carlos’ place before the scheduled 6:15. With him loaded, we were off to get Mike H. Things were going great.
While driving to Mike’s we encountered some bad omens on the Watterson expressway that made us wonder just how perilous this trip might be. First, we almost ran into an abandoned sofa just on the side of the road in the construction zone where the road is very narrow. Close call but my super keen reflexes dodged it. At least THAT’S the way I’m going to remember it regardless of how others may tell it. Next, just about ½ mile further down, we find a car stopped in one of the driving lanes. They simply have their lights on, like they are stopped at a stop light, only they are on the expressway!! Again, my keen sense of survival kicks in too late as we wiz past the vehicle and I’m saying “What the…?” Fortunately, the car was in the other lane. I hope the rest of the trip settles down. At least we are making good time and sticking to my schedule. I just love it when a trip stays on schedule.
We pick up Mike H and are on the road by 6:45. Still on schedule! Five minutes later we are pulling into the McDonald’s on Hikes for a bathroom break. Uh-oh, this is not good. We have over 550 miles to go today so these stops are not in my plan. Back on the road within 7 minutes and heading into Indiana. Traffic is very light for a Saturday which is good. About 35 minutes into the trip we see the first rest area at mile marker 21 and pull in for another bathroom break. I think the van is still rolling to a stop when we get out for our assault on the bathroom. Going across the parking lot, we look like a group of shoppers on Black Friday trying to be first in line for the doors to open at Wal-Mart. Not good. Not good at all. I’m thinking the pioneers probably made better time driving their mule wagons out west.
We saw the world’s largest truck stop on I-80 called “Iowa 80” Truck Stop. We did not stop primarily because I was past the exit and would not go back. I’m sure later someone will say I’m not flexible but that’s not the case because I’ve got a schedule to keep.
While on the road I like to eat at local places when possible as it’s just more fun to experience the local cuisine. In Waterloo, there was a magazine in the motel that advertised food places. I saw one that was a local pizzeria and had been around since the 1960’s. Mike H. and I agreed it would be a good place and the GPS said it was close by. When we arrived at the destination we did not find any pizzeria but rather found the wrong side of town. Gee, I didn’t need a Garmin to help me find the wrong side of town as I can usually find that myself. I thought, “Oh, boy, here I go getting lost in South Chicago again…” Well, I was determined to find this place and figured we could. After all, there are three analysts in the van and a techie so we should be smart enough to figure this out as long as the techie didn’t bring us down. After some bickering, we did find the restaurant down the street a few blocks. Here it was a Saturday night during prime dining time and we appear to be the only car in the lot. We check the door and they are open so we go in and have dinner. I felt better when a few other people showed up later.
Back at the motel we turn in for an early night. The USC and Ohio State football game is on so we will fall asleep watching that. Or, at least I fall asleep. Earl is from Ohio and Carlos is from California and graduated from USC. They are rooming together so I hope all turns out okay in their room as I’m counting on both of them to continue the trip and share in the gas costs.
Tomorrow it is up early and we head on to Mitchell, South Dakota and of course, probably another 16 bathroom breaks. There we will see the world famous Corn Palace.
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