To my fellow Hip Forum members. I posted this on August 30th, wanting to share my "member announcement" with others. A friend here brot to my attention that the post (actually thread since it had responses) had disappeared. IDK why. There was no mention to me - it just disappeared. So, here it is again: I'm at my sister's place in Missouri now and downloaded my pix from the trip. The hotel in Washington, the Morrison-Clark was real nice. It was built in 1864 and had the elegant 19th century decor but the rooms were modern. Here's me writing in my Travel Journal. And working out in the hotel gym, doing penance for going off my diet while traveling. I walked too much as usual when in DC. Really wore my legs out walking to Union Station for lunch, then down to the National Mall and hanging out in the Museum of American History for hours, (Last year it was the Natural History museum) then walking back along the Mall and back to the hotel. Guess that should get rid of some of the effects of the wrong food. Here's me on the National Mall. No, I did not attend the Glen Beck rally at the Lincoln Memorial. Didn't even know about it until I saw the droves of ppl walking down to the National Mall. Some assumed that I was here for that, but no, just passing thru. Don't even know who Glen Beck is or what his problem is. All I know is that it was another perfect weather day, cool and sunny, which is how it has been for all four visits to this city.
The gym picture is so bad ass. I want to make it my display picture for everything. Thumbs up on this post.
Well, an update. Today I was supposed to take the grueling 30+ hour dog bus trip back to Miami, but my mom was having a ruf time in the hospital so I postponed that until Friday. (Have to be back at work on Monday so I wanted some time to rest up and get groceries and reacclimated after the long absence) Anyhow, Here I am at my sisters house in St. Charles Missouri this morning. (No one was home so I went shirtless) There is some beautiful scenery here and the ppl are more courteous and friendlier than in South Florida, but even tho I was raised in this area, I am a misfit any more in this culture. Sorta conflicting to come back to your roots and see that you belong out on another branch somewhere else. EDIT: September 29, 2010 I have been so busy on this trip and for a week of jury duty immediately upon returning that I have just gotten around to editing my pics. Going to tack into this post about a quick drive over the Missouri River to my adolescent home in St. Ann, where I lived until graduating from Ritenour High School in Jun '63 The high school has a bunch of added buildings since I went there, but this is the original 1949 bldg and how it looked when I was in school. I was really surprised on this visit, being jaded by living in Miami-Dade County where our schools have their own police department and metal detectors are the norm. I drove into the parking lot without passing a guard post, parked and walked up the large steps to the main floor - also unchallenged. I was standing there with all these teens around me between classes like a mosh pit before I found an office and announced my presence and that I'd like to take some pics of the bldgs. "Oh Toto, We're not in Miami any more." This is the "Heartland" that you hear about and I even wrote an essay about it in my travel journal. I went back to the place where I grew up in St. Ann. Surprisingly the street hasn't changed that much in half a century. Nor has the house that we lived in
Dang, your sister has a nice house. You look totally comfortable. Hope everything turns out well for you and yours. --QP
A belated Thanx QP (scroll up to see more pics of my childhood home) Today I was just working with pics of my trip and noticed that I did not make mention of going thru your old hometown of Chicago. I've attached some pics. One is an almost empty downtown street (except for some cyclists - there was some kind of cycling event going on that Sunday). Just find it interesting to see it empty when you know how full of cars it is on a weekday. The other is the Congress Plaza Hotel. This is where my grandson and I stayed on our first visit to this city in 2004 and there was a strike going on at that time. What I find interesting is the strike is still going on. IDK, I guess the unions are tenacious there but it seems to be an ineffective strike.
Awesome pics, Shale. It has been more than ten years since I last was in Chicago. I often wonder if I'll ever make it back. QP
