San Diego Part I

Well,I have been out in San Diego for 36 hours and have been busy eating, drinking and being merry. My buddy Rocco is getting married in a couple months and we are busy celebrating his last single days. 2x4 jenga, 5 gallon kegs of local brew, bocce ball, and surfing have filled up the hours today. Leaving in a bit for Basic. This is just a glimpse of the weekend to come:

School Buses and Blow-up Dolls

Well, wedding season is on it's way and that only means one thing - Bachelor Parties. We had a pretty motley crew. I think there were 12 of us total to celebrate Tim's single days which are coming to an end.

This party started out at Moonshine, a trendy establishment in Wicker Park serving their own brew but I would not go out to say that it is a brewery. After lining our stomachs with breakfast burritos, omletes, and booze we surprised Tim by showing him a yellow school bus we will be using for our adventures into the great state of Indiana.

We loaded up with beers and stepped back into jr high as we all took seats in the back of the bus. It probably would have been cooler if we were on a short bus, but then we probably wouldn't have room to pass the inflatable dolls around. Driving through the city in a school bus with blow up dolls should be on your list of fun things to do while drunk during a bachelor party. Surprisingly, we recieved more laughs from women than men. Maybe this should be a study for future alums of University of Chicago.

Anyways, our trip to Three Floyds Brewery in Munster, Indiana was a great time. Great food and beer at this place. A few of us went on the brewery tour and we were thoroughly impressed with the Three Floyds brewing process and facility.

Six Dead Queens and an Inflatable Henry

Last night, we went and saw Six Dead Queens and an Inflatable Henry at the Piccolo Theater, an old Metra train station remodeled into a 50 seat theater. The place is very intimate with the rumble of the passing trains and the chatter from the people on the platform adding to the character of the theater.

As we were walking into towards the theater entrance, we noticed two older women around 65-70 walking with canes in the same direction as us. Jennifer then let me know that she was afraid that the whole audience could be a geriatric ward (my words, not hers). After entering the theater, we walked upstairs, got our program, walked out onto the train platform, back into the station into a waiting room. I bought two cups of coffee and the doors opened to the theater.

Seating was on a first come first served basis and we seemed to be the odd people out as there were only two seats left in two different rows. After talking to the house manager she hooked us up with some reserved seats next to a woman sitting by herself in a row of three seats. Of course, the signs say move to the end of the row but she sits on the aisle. I ignore this fault as I say excuse me to move past her into our seats. Let me say, I am not a small individual by any means. This lady must have thought I was a toddler because that is all the room she gave me. She moved her knees about 30 degrees to the left and looked at me like she just parted the Red Sea and did me a favor. I almost laughed, but it would have been a WTF laugh so I continued to say I didn't think I was going to fit through there. Next she gave me a glare and said, "So I guess you want me to get up?" I almost lost it. This woman almost got the Amish Avenger, but instead got my WTF laugh and a yes, if you don't mind. Needless to say, she was there by herself for a reason - reasons I probably should not elaborate on.

Anyways, the show was very entertaining. The actresses complimented each other and fed off each others energy. There were sexual innuendos, girl fights, wind passing, singing and a cell phone interruption that the cast played off very well. I would recommend seeing a show at this theater - it is local, it is intimate, and the show was very entertaining.

NYC Weekend

Well, this was officially the longest, shortest weekend that I have ever participated in. My better half and I took a 0600 flight on Friday and came back at 0900 on Sunday, far too early after our late night.

I have to say thanks to our friend's friends, who I have never met and already forgot their names, but they were out of town and let us stay at their place. Now that we have that out of the way we can get into our weekend.

We did a lot during those forty some hours in NYC. We walked, ate, walked, drank, ate, walked,drank, slept. That was our first day. If you have never been to NYC, you need to go. So much to do, so little time. We ate lunch in Tribeca at Bouley Market Cafe which was very delightful. Beets were hot on the menu as we had them in our appetizer and I had in my entree (Halibut, beets, horseradish cream). After enjoying our lunch we continued our feast at Amy's Bread in the Village. This was Jennifer's favorite bakery when she lived here. She enjoyed the Pink Cake and I gobbled up the carrot cake. We left Amy's and headed no where in particular where I walked next to Harold Dieterle, Top Chef Season 1 Winner and Chef at Perilla. Smaller than the TV makes him out to be, but his restaurant looks mighty fine. Next time we are there we just might have to stop by.

So up to this point I think I have consumed somewhere in the vicinity of 3900 calories, but who is counting. Next, we visited the Morrell Wine Bar in Rockefeller Plaza where we enjoyed a clean bathroom and a refreshing glass of wine. After that, a little shopping, a little walking and we were back at the apartment we were staying at in the Financial District. In the evening, we had reservations at Bar Baloud which really had us excited, but after a long day of eating, drinking, and walking we decided not to venture all the way across the island and stayed local in the Financial District where we enjoyed Stone Street. This place makes you believe you are somewhere else. It gives you the feel of a European city, far away from the hustle of NYC. Buildings from the mid-19th century, cobblestone streets and many patrons sit at the hundreds of tables in the middle of the street. It was a great place to be on a warm spring night.

Saturday started off with coffee, shopping and a milestone in my life - I bought a pair of pants that were size 36. This has not happened in the past 10 years. Cheerio!! Anyways, ate at Anthony Bourdain's Les Halles in the Financial District for brunch. Very tasty! I had the smoked salmon and sour cream omelet and a Bloody Mary. The Bloody could have been better, but my food was perfect. After that we took the Staten Island Ferry, which had crashed earlier that day. Saturday night was filled with more drinking and eating - I am sensing a trend here. We had dinner with our friend's Matt and Denise at Morandi which was great. Ambiance, location, food, and staff were great and the company was even better. I had Pappardelle al cinghiale, flat ribbon pasta with braised wild boar. We finished off the evening with a party, the real reason we came to NYC. Our friends, Vikki and J.T. were married in New Zealand last month and we get to celebrate with them. And celebrate we did at a place called STOUT where I had some Mother's Milk. I wasn't overly impressed with their beer list but at that point in the night it didn't really matter.

Woke up, came home. Still too early.

Ode to Car

Yes, this is me in my fabulous shirt from 1997. I know it is cool. Hold your applause though because we need to talk about something more important - my car. I have done the unthinkable to my good friend - I have sold you. You were always good to me, taking me around the country without incident. Chauffeuring my drunken friends around the city. Absorbing the abuse of the Chicagoland potholes so I didn't have to. I will miss you.

This is my last picture with my car. So I hand my camera to the brother of the gentleman who bought my car. I asked if he could take a picture......Wait, let me preempt this with where these two brothers are from -Wisconsin, Kenosha County to be exact. They were scared to drive down my street because it had curbs and other cars. Anyways, back to the picture. I asked if he could take the last picture of me and my trusty automobile. He proceeds to take a picture of me and my passenger door, leaving out the toothless Wisconsite that bought my car sitting in the driver seat. Can't complain about the cash money though.