Statue of Liberty

7/8/11 as i sit on the staten island ferry passing the lady miss america herself. symbol of freedom and liberty and pursuit of happiness i overhear a convo between to hispanic men speaking half english half spanish and they are talking about the one guys sister getting the bleep beat out of her by her boyfriend. i pondered freedom. freedom of choice freedom to live the life you want to live from wherever you came from or are going you can choose in this country to live just how you want. sometimes its hard to understand the choices people make with said freedom.

Ground Zero

7/8/11 does not hit you until you visit the pre memorial site. where photos, videos, interv iews and visions for the future for that now empty space culminate. they have the play by play of the day (9/11) and picture boards, they have a motorcycle donated to the memorial site all painted up with pictures to commemorate the life of a young man ended in the tragedy. the statement on it reads he called his entire family to say goodbye as he knew the end was near. how many families went through this same experience? are haunted by a fateful, tragic phone call the morning of September Eleven Two Thousand and One? grieving gives way to peace as you view models of the memorial site currently under construction, story boards of the plans to plant many trees, models of the waterfall and reflecting pools that are going to be the biggest man made waterfalls in the country and opportunities to give in anyway you choose towards the efforts. either donations, souvenir or tokens slash symbols of the bravey, heroism and tragedy that touched three thousand plus lives.

Greenwich Village

7/8/11  sitting at Gizzi's coffee shop in the village. trying to tap into the beat.  the old vibe that gave rise to the beatnick.  what is it about it that intrigues me? what am i trying to tap in to? the two things i think about are art smith and the movie funny face. art smith, a modernist jewelry artist had a shop on west fourth in the village from the forties to seventies. his shop slash studio was also a slash coffee shop type atmosphere in that people would congregate there to discuss whatever, art, religion, politics, etc. funny face starred audrey hepburn and fred astaire.  audrey played joan a librarian in a little greenwich village bookshop and adored empathicalism, the beatnick culture and aspired to be counter culture.  she got to go to paris as a model the unique turn in the movie and had the chance to meet professor fleaustre the originator of empathicalism at a beatnick bistro.   point? the underlying similarities i have finally figured out is they all represent community and discussion, diversity and entertainment. an ideal flavor mix of art, creativity, philosophies, beliefs and expression of said items. my favorite flavor.

Island - Manhattan, NYC

we ate at island last night after arriving to the city @ ten at night. the food was amazing. our server was helpful and generous with our drinks.  scotch on the rocks filled up half the glass and my chopin martini filled the precarious martini glass and yes some of it did end up on either the table or me.  jon and i chose to go family style and order two dishes that we shared between the two of us. a kobe beef hot dog with sweet potato fries and red sauerkraut and a maryland crabcake with tomatoes and creamed spinach. both were completely devoured amidst embarassing bob wiley type groans.  eat your heart out bill murray.

Outside Island (our hotel is right next door, Hotel Wales)

Garrett's - it's a Chicago Thing

Our next to last day in chicago we stood in line for about forty five minutes to get us some caramel and cheese popcorn mix.  we ended up with a bag of cheese popcorn as well and two boxes of chocolate covered caramel corn with almonds. the bag says its popped and prepared daily and best to consume immediately but two days later we are still enjoying this yummy treat and for not too expensive of a price.

Brix and Stone Gastropub

First off "Gastropub" is a British term for a gathering and fine food deosn't have anything to do with digestion or a new diet trend.  Secondly, their food is British and pub-like in taste and selection.  Second off, the gathering part is facilitated well with ample couches and small tables so you can drink, enjoy appetizers and chat with friends and/or family before being seated for dinner.  Jon and I shared a meal and it was plenty! Shepherd's pie and they used lamb meat, it was actually quite tasty!  Although I tasted it well into the next day and that was an undesirable effect.  Try it! Lincoln's newest in the Haymaket!

National Arbor Day Lied Lodge restaurant and Tree Adventure

The Lied Lodge is in Nebraska City, NE only 45 minutes from Lincoln.  It is well worth the drive with its Tree Adventure & Discovery ride, beautiful lodge, Apple House Cafe, local wine tastings there is plenty to do for adults and children alike.  To comment on the restaurant - we had the buffet and aside from the semi-adequate variety for the low(er) price the salmon was over done, BBQ brisket was average, the cornbread and rice and chicken gumbo WAS good but the variety was lacking.  The kids had PB&J with jello which took quite a long time to arrive considering it was...well PB&J and pre-bought Jello in a cup.  The dessert variety on the buffet was probably the best item.  There was cheesecake, lemon bars, tiramisu, some brownie heaven and a chocolate bundt cake to choose from and all were large proportions and quality tasting. 

The Tree Adventure is like a mix of Montessori and environmental education (mostly about the benefits of trees and tree planting) but a low-cost option and/or complement to the normal public school prescribed and budgeted education your child normally gets (if going to a public school of course).  There are hands-on activities in the "Nature Explorers Classroom" like tree forts with fabric for children to imagine and create as they like.  Mostly they end up tied to polls looking like "hammocks" or "cocoons" as our family calls them (you will see many children wrapped in these "hammocks" looking like worms in a transparent cocoon ready to bust out and fly away to the next activity).  Next is an area with a rugged table and chairs and boxes full of shells, leaves, sticks, round pieces of natural wood, etc. for the creative to engineer bridges, buildings or works of art like the "Sea of Eyes" my son created out of a bunch of sea snail shells.  They looked just like eyes the way they were positioned.  Moving on is a natural xylophone made out of wood about a story long.  Next you move on to the tree house rising at elevation 1044.5 feet.  Oh, and there is a map and punch card the young explorer receives at the entrance so they can practice their navigating skills and chart their course with punches.