The Wingman Chronicles

Darlene and I stole a weekend away together in Niagara-on-the-Lake for our sixteenth anniversary a week or so ago.

Niagara-on-the-Lake is a very walkable village, with excellent food, and a very nice atmosphere.  We started off with dinner at Zees Grill on the patio, followed up by “Born Yesterday” at the Shaw Festival.  The play was wonderful (first play for me in about twenty-five  years), and very well presented.  It has been called the ‘gem of the festival’, and I think we would support that assessment.  It was recommended by our B&B hosts, who had seen it three times. 

We spent our second day cycling through the surrounding wine region, with tastings at Peller Estates, Reif Estate Wineries , Ravine Vineyard Estate Wineries, Coyote’s Run Winery, and Marynissen Estate Wineries.   My panniers managed to pick up four bottles of ice wine, and four varieties of red, among other odds and ends.   I tihnk our favourites were Coyote’s Run and Ravine – there are over twenty wineries in the area, so you could make a career out of this if you were ambitious.

We had a late lunch at Olsen Foods at Ravine, run  in partnership with Anna Olsen of the Food Network.  Amazing food.

Some forty kilometers and six hours after we left, we returned to rest our weary legs at our B&B. We spent two nights at the Merlot House Bed and Breakfast. Excellent food, and beautiful rooms. Highly recommended.

Dinner Friday night was at the historic Angel Inn.  The Angel Inn, (along with half the places we visited in the area) was burned by the Americans in the War of 1812 – and then we had go to Washington to return the favour - but I digress….

We ended up with a nightcap at The Irish Harp pub (Guinness of course) to wrap up a long and busy day.

Next day, we wrapped up with a morning of shopping, one last lunch at Olsen Foods, and then back to King City for Sean’s first hockey practice of the season.  

Best of all, this all took place at the tail end of the best weather of the whole summer (and yes, this was in the third week of September).

Definitely earned some brownie points for this one   (I missed  a men’s league hockey game for the play, no less, and withstood the associated abuse.

I was in Chicago for a few days this past week, for meetings related to an industry committee in which I participate.  It was an interesting trip for a bunch of reasons.

Photo by Tortipede

 I had the pleasure of staying at the University Club of Chicago, a wonderful old building built in the early part of the last century.  It has great architecture and service, with the downside of requiring a jacket and tie. It is located on the East side of the Chicago Loop, overlooking the newly refurbished area along the lakefront.

I arrived Wednesday evening, and met a few folks for a drink in the Presidents Bar.  I was introduced to a friend of a fellow committee member.  Milt had celebrated his 91st birthday the day before (Veteran’s Day in the U.S., Remembrance Day in Canada).  He had some interesting stories to share. 

Milt grew up in the ghettos of New  York in the 1920s and 1930s.   He was 16 years old when Prohibition was repealed in 1933, and recalls spending New Years Eve 1933 in Time Square, imbibing Bronx Cocktails (he mentioned that the only people who couldn’t get a drink during Prohibition were these people who didn’t want a drink anyway). He is also looking forward to celebrating the 75th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition (December 5th, 2008).

Milt is a veteran, and was a combat officer in the second world war.  He served in the Pacific Theatre.

He has done many other things through his life, including being a navigator in Michigan road rallies, running Porsches for some 1,300 miles through Mackinaw and the Upper Peninsula.

Milt has had, in his own words, “a wonderful trip”.  His words of advice: Don’t complain.  Don’t explain.  And play the hand you’re dealt.  Not bad rules to live by.  And he was sure a fun guy to talk to.

Happy Birthday, Milt.

I had another chance to get to Paris this year, this time just as fall was starting. It was a business trip, but I had a free day to wander around, and managed to walk about eighteen kilometers. I got to Luxembourg Gardens, the Luxembourg Palace, Pont Neuf, Le Pantheon, and an exhibition by Georges Briata at the L’Orangerie du Sénat in the Luxembourg Gardens (no, I am not an art aficionado by any stretch of the imagination, but the price was right).

I also did a walkaround of Notre Dame Cathedral. The Pope performed a mass about sixteen hours before I was there (hmm, I wonder why he didn’t call?). The place was still a madhouse when I got there, and had a very significant Gendarmerie presence. Spectacular architecture.

The highlight of the trip was a few days at Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay, a twelfth century monastery that has been converted to a hotel. it is about thirty miles west of Paris, and is spectacular. Much of the original Abby has been restored.

As always, all the photos are over at Flickr.

No, this isn’t about another Geek hockey game. Although the outcome was similar.

I had the opportunity to spend a few days in San Antonio last week, and had a quick run around the downtown area. It is a very nice and walkable area, with pleasant weather, at least in May.

Although I was in San Antonio for a work-related conference, I did have a little time to get out and walk around.

A few of the highlights:

• The Alamo – very close (a three minute walk) from the main downtown hotel cluster (shown below); and surprisingly small!
• The Riverwalk – A set of pathways following the canals of San Antonio, decorated with cafes, restaurants, pubs, and other interesting ways to spend your time; water taxis and tours can move you around quite nicely;
• Excellent restaurants – I can personally recommend “The Fig Tree”. Nice outdoor terraced patio (which was too windy when I was there), and excellent food;

And, of course, being in y’all Texas and all, we did spend one evening at Cowboy’s Roadhouse – where the festivities included a mechanical bull, line-dancing, and a real-live bull-riding competition. When in Rome, as they say….

This is the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw. Lots of construction happening, as they replace the remnants of forty years years of communist regime.

This is the latest in a series of 90 minute tours – this one compounded with a bit of lost luggage and a hotel that has had “technical difficulties with your room”.

Managed to drive by Stonehenge today, as part of a wonderful drive to visit a company partner in the Southwest of England. Classic English countryside, lanes, hedges, and pubs.

Had lunch at the Cross Keys Pub in Wiltshire – highly recommended.

With apologies to Elvis and ZZ Top, of course.

I’m out here for a conference, and beyond the surreal extravagance that is the big LV, we ran into John Cleese at breakfast.

No, I didn’t ask him what he ordered…..

West End Glasgow
Originally uploaded by Cuss.

Any place that has Haggis and Whiskey as part of the breakfast buffet can’t be all bad.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to dash across to Forfar, where my grandmother was born.

So, I’ve been fired off to Orlando for a conference, and I must say, I messed up.

I should have brought the wife and kids. Hopefully next time I’ll know better. Maybe just a little too much winter, but I am feeling summery like I haven’t felt since 1986.

I could throw a rock and hit DisneyWorld (I’ll post a photo later).

30C+, mucho warm. Marriot World Center (a resort). Should have known too – when I told the kids where I was going, the ears perked up – the Mickey Mouse propaganda machine has clearly succeeded in our house…