It was in the parish hall of the First Congregational Church in Huntley, with an old beat-up dining room table. The players came in and out of the kitchen [...]]]> We saw this play before at the Woodstock Stage Left Cafe, and it was really good. Bette saw that it was here again and she jumped.

It was in the parish hall of the First Congregational Church in Huntley, with an old beat-up dining room table. The players came in and out of the kitchen from doors on either side. Actually, a nice set-up for the play.

We sat in several rows of folding chairs, the single problem of the night – it is hard to sit in folding chairs for 2.5 hours. They served coffee and slices of the birthday cake from the play at intermission. Nice touch.

And they did a great job. I would see something like this again. They announced, thanks for supporting local theater, which is in danger of disappearing. Here is the front line. Support them.

So I drive the 0.1 mile, and go in. The [...]]]> For dinner, needed something light. Found BJ’s Brewery website, I had seen it in the Marriott list, and considered it. It is a chain, so I was not real hopeful. Tonite, it was raining, don’t want to go far. They have “PIRANHA® PALE ALE CHILI”. Sold.

So I drive the 0.1 mile, and go in. The parking lot is insane at 6PM. Don’t know why. Basic brewpub decor, ask at the desk – they have food at the bar. Pretty busy for a Monday night.

Finally muscle into the bar in front of the four TVs. Three basketball games and a “classic” NFL game from 1985 – Bears vs. Green Bay. Whoopee. Read my book a bit – “Digital Fortress” by Dan Brown.

Takes a while before the bartender notices me. The dude to my left comes in after, gets called first. Orders house vodka tonic. Likes it. I order a Russian stout. Also the Chili + house salad with balsamic.

Chili? Good, not great – a little too mushy. Not hot, but warm. Eh.

Stout? Good.

Then I asked for a half a HARVEST HEFEWEIZEN®. He said he didn’t have halfs – but brought me a “tasting” glass – 3/4 a pint. Boy, he got a good tip.

Oh, my. Exploded with flavor. Wonderful. Sweetish, but a hint of bitter. As they say, no lemon required. Tastes like it is already living in the glass. Gotta get Art here to try it.

So we head down the 101 to Millbrae, and exit into an [...]]]> After I pointed out and he passed a bunch of places to eat on the way back from Point Reyes, Art said he had a place in mind, good Chinese. Fine. He is ethnic Chinese, grew up in the Philippines, and knows Chinese.

So we head down the 101 to Millbrae, and exit into an ethnic wonderland. Chinese shops, produce vendors, various restaurants, all rolled into a sleepy downtown area (on a sunday night).

We parked in a municipal parking lot, and walked a few blocks to the Shanghai Dumpling Shop. We entered, a waiter looked up, Art flashed two fingers, and the waiter motioned to a booth.

The interior is bright yellow, and over the kitchen is a bright red roof. Nothing dark here. Tables in the middle of groups. We arrived early, and people kept coming in, mostly Asian but many other ethnicities, brought together by good food. A nice place. A woman came out of a back room with a huge bowl full of something ground. I suppose it was dumpling filling.

The menu was a trip. Their translator was obviously not familiar with English, or not a marketing major, or he would not have “Boiled Tendon” or “Pork Esophagus” on the menu. My favorite was the three types of eels. Ick. Art says the fried ones are like fried calamari. I could do that.

Art and I got the Xiao Long Bao (Shanghai Soup Dumplings), which were excellent, served in a bamboo steamer right off the pot, and the Green Onion Pancake, which was really a round flat french Fry, also good, but very dense as some reviewers have mentioned. Then we split the beef in satay sauce over rice noodles, cooked in a clay pot, bubbling. Yum. We thought about the sesame chicken, but I can get that at home. Then again, I might just go back and try it. No booze, but lots of good tea.

Leaving, we stopped in Dean’s Produce next door, and picked up some apples and plums. Lots of interesting cheeses, and Romanian and European stuff. Olive oils. Made me wish I did not have to pay $100 to fly it all home.

Then Art suggested a Chinese ice cream parlor, so we walked three blocks to the Sweet Indulgence Dessert Cafe at the corner of Broadway and La Cruz. We walked in and the place was empty. It hat bright color, funky plastic cone furniture and a collection of manga toys in the case by the counter. Posters of the drinks on the wall so you could point and ask. A cute Asian woman came out from the back and I asked her what was good. Art explained that I was from Chicago. That said it all.

She recommended the jasmine tea with tapioca. I don’t remember details, but it came cold or hot with balls of tapioca in the bottom, with a big fat straw to suck it down. So as you slurp, the balls of tapioca slide up the straw (thanks to the angled cut at the bottom of the straw. That took me a while to figure out). The tea (with cream) was good, the tapioca was interesting, but tasty. Kind of fun. Art had some sort of shake. There was a case with what looked a lot like gelato, but the flavors of Red Bean and seaweed did not sound like gelato I know…

We went back and talked with her at the anime filled counter. She is a Hong Konger, owns the place with the other woman in the back, and they are struggling with everyone else on the block with the economy. Then a bunch of kids came in and ordered tea and stuff from the case.

She is going to Chicago to study at a French pastry school. For 5 days. Then she has to come back and work. Late nights. I give her a lot of credit. She wants to go to France to learn pastries. I do wish her well.

Shanghai Dumpling Shop – 455 Broadway – Millbrae, CA
Dean’s Produce – 451 Broadway – Millbrae, CA
Sweet Indulgence Dessert Cafe – 298 Broadway – Millbrae, CA

Celery, (case?) Miller High Life, Snapple, IBC Root Beer, 2 bags of ice. $18.76.

This was on my and Bette’s first trip to OB with the Resing clan. The beach house is [...]]]> I found an old receipt while going thru some boxes from Seamark Foods in Kitty Hawk, NC dated Friday 6 Aug 1993. at 4:19PM.

Celery, (case?) Miller High Life, Snapple, IBC Root Beer, 2 bags of ice. $18.76.

This was on my and Bette’s first trip to OB with the Resing clan. The beach house is no longer there due to hurricanes – it was decrepit then.

Her rental house is across the street, and the house next door [...]]]> Kelly goes to Clarke College for PT. We wanted the campus tour, so we walked down Clarke St. for two blocks and saw several dorms, all named after nuns, and a bigger building. That was it. No quad, bookstore, anything. Hey, whatever works.

Her rental house is across the street, and the house next door to hers was full of dudes cooking and drinking beer and throwing Baggo. Ah, I remember it well. She showed us around a bit, and we met her roommate who was sunbathing (or trying to – the wind was a big brisk for bikini weather.) Her roommate and our other contact, Jordan, begged out of lunch due to finals. So we headed off to lunch. First we drove down HUGE hills to Loras, where several friends has gone. It was a nice typical campus, more on the order of Grinnell. Clarke reminded me of IIT – utilitarian, all business – without the Mies buildings.

Kelly wanted to try the Star Brewery, but we did not know where it was. But using GOOGLE via text, she was able to call the place on the way there and get directions. You get there on 5th St (or the bridge on 3rd), not 6th as someone had said.

The Star Brewery is along the Mississippi behind a dike. It used to be a brewery, but it closed several times, and the city saved it from being demolished and turned it into a tourist attraction and dining and retail center. Retail is still coming, not quite there. It may be a hard sell, being so far from town. Nearby is the Diamond Jo Casino, and a nice looking museum along the river.

You walk thru a series of halls with unfinished retail, and find a small museum, a wine shop with tastings, and an elevator. You take the elevator (we did the stairs) and are in the lobby of the restaurant. We were seated at two tables pushed together right by the window, where we could see the river and the train tracks, and watch the bridge open to let the barges go through. Way cool.

Bette and I split the Asian salad with shrimp. Kelly had a chicken breast breaded in buttermilk batter – she liked it. I had the Star Burger with wonderful sweet potato fries. Why don’t more places (like McDonald’s) have sweet potato fries? I had a couple of Fat Tires, and Bette a Stella Artois, and Kelly a Bud with Lime. I kind of expected a microbrewery, but the draft beer selection was merely average.

On the way out, we had to dodge the train – an actual train came by as we walked along the river, and stopped on the tracks, blocking the 5th St exit. So we found the bridge after getting lost in the Coast Guard station.

On the way back, we visited Jordan in the Mary Ben dorm, with a great view of Kelly’s house, dropped Kelly off, and headed home. Bye, Iowa.

Star Brewery – 600 Star Brewery Drive Suite 200 – Dubuque, IA

View College Tour 2009 in a larger map

We set out with the new Honda CR-V Friday afternoon. Traffic was a little funky in Rockford at the I39 on-ramp, and I-80 was trashed at the IL state line as usual, but for the most part, the trip was uneventful. Lots of water at [...]]]> So here’s the route:

View College Tour 2009 in a larger map

We set out with the new Honda CR-V Friday afternoon. Traffic was a little funky in Rockford at the I39 on-ramp, and I-80 was trashed at the IL state line as usual, but for the most part, the trip was uneventful. Lots of water at the side of the road, and rivers we crossed looked very high.

The car did great. I was fairly comfortable, and Bette really liked it. There was a lot of room for stuff in the back seat, and our single suitcase fit underneath the rear cargo area cover. I reset the MPG meter and we averaged 26.7 MPG on the 700 mile trip – filled up twice. Not bad; the Van got 15MPG on a good day, and the Volvo does maybe 20. The CR-V does not have the pickup of the Volvo when you want it — a turbo is good for some things. But I never really needed any more power than I had. Fine.

We found Grinnell and felt our way to Broad St as we left my printed Google maps home. We called Leah as we approached, and we parked on the main drag, in front of a take-out Chinese place. Leah’s apartment is over the bike shop. If we had time, I would stop there to look at bike racks.

Funny how nervous I am about parking the damn car now. With the van, I didn’t care – nobody in their right mind would break in except to sleep in it. Now, will someone hit it, break in, steal it? A drawback to a new car I suppose.

We walked around a bit and saw the Sullivan Jewel Box building, now a city hall. Wonderful concrete sculptures all over the front with a gorgeous round window.

For dinner, headed over to the Depot Crossing, a restaurant built in the old railroad station. Nice place. Went in, sat at the bar for a few minutes and we had a beer. We split a great bruschetta appetizer, almost gooey, not like the crunchy ones you usually get. Bette had the 1/2 burger. I had had the Maytag Bleu Cheese Sirloin ($24) with a glass of Red Diamond Zin ($6.50). Leah had the sushi-grade grilled tuna ($18) and a small Caesar. We finished with coffees. Good meal, the place is very nice.

Had breakfast at the hotel, and met at the coffee shop in front of Leah’s. Fresh coffee, lots of people, and art for sale on the wall. We got 16 oz. CERAMIC MUG coffees and sat on the tables in the early sun. It was very calm, and warm. Sunny. Wonderful. People walked by. With dogs. Nice.

Leah came and we shared a caramel bun. It was good, but South Beach has ruined me for meaningless carbs.

Walked around the campus, in and out of various buildings. Nice campus. Then we headed back, Leah to study, us to hit the “Bikes to You” bike shop.

The heavily equipped bike shop dude recommended the Saris Thelma 2. It fits the Honda receiver hitch via the adapter and weighs 26 lbs. so it’s easy to put on. A dude in the store asked if I was considering it, I said “Yes.” He said it was a great rack, he has had several and it is the easiest to load and mount. He said it was a top-five purchase – well worth it. The bike shop dude told us $260 or so. Based on Web search, that looks like a fair price, but I really need to see if the bikes will work on it, as some of the REI reviews say their bikes don’t fit and warn about bikes with fenders as Bette’s has.
I wish I could buy it from him, but shipping would be a killer and what if it doesn’t work? Maybe next time we are in Grinnell.

Saints Rest Coffee House, 917 Broad St, Grinnell, IA‎
Bikes to You Adventure Outfitters, 921 Broad St, Grinnell, IA‎

The kids [...]]]> Kat was in the madrigal singers at Wheeling High School. We went to the last of her dinners in the school cafeteria. They used to be at Chevy Chase Golf Club, which is a beautiful place for a madrigal dinner, as it looks just like a castle. The cafeteria is a little less overwhelming.

The kids sang great of course. The food was miserable. I have never had catered food as bad. The Chicken Vesuvio was cold, chopped unidentifiable meat in a juice of unknown origins. Cold beans, cold potato chunks.

I wish I remembered the caterer so I could rant on about them. Something Pasta Mobile. Better try a different caterer next year, kids.