Chicago Cubs, Red Velvet and The Giant Bean

Craig Writes;

8/06/13. It was a loonngg drive up from Lexington, about five hours gripping the wheel, which when your driving on the wrong side of the road can be a bit of a head spin. We're staying in a suburb of Chicago called Wicker Park, a great part of town only 100 metres from a very funky restaurant and shopping strip. Our apartment is enormous.

We had the top two floors.

Huge, there are rooms off to the side then there's upstairs as well.

Two stories and 2400 sq feet of space. Most hotel rooms we have stayed in would fit into the master bedroom. What's amazing is the spread of our "belongings" is always in direct proportion to the size of the place we're staying in. Shoe box or palace, give us two days and we'll have our crap spread to every nook, cranny and hidey hole. There won't be a lamp shade with out a pair of undies on it, a cushion without a shoe or a shirt on it and an inch of floor space without a charger cable, adaptor or I device on it. And don't get me started on the bathrooms.

9/06/13 Just settling into the neighbourhood today. Went and did some shopping and sorted out the perfect Birthday Cake for the Birthday Girl's Birthday tomorrow. Bottle of French bubbles and some candles.

I'm sure it was supposed to be her 43rd. 

Not sure if you've ever tried to transform a big wax candle three into a big wax candle two but I'm here to tell you, it can be done. It was a good day to just hang and catch up a little and have some pre birthday French bubbles.

10/06/13 The Big Day, Christina's Birthday. Yummy Red Velvet birthday cake, cards and pressie, yes only the singular version I'm afraid, and lots of lovely wishes from friends far afield. What a great day.

By the look on her face I think she was expecting Channing Tatum. Sorry!

Happy ..err. 42nd sweetie

Caught the train into Chicago and went straight to Millennium  Park. This is a stunning place. Twenty four acres of well planned, manicured and very functional public space. The primo attraction is Cloud Gate or "The Bean", as it is affectionately known. One hundred and ten tons of meticulously placed stainless steel plates, so highly polished it looks like a seamless gigantic blob of Mercury just sitting in the shape of an enormous... bean.

The Bean.

The Frank Geary designed Jay Pritzger Pavilion is an amazing 4,000 seat amphitheater with a series of interlocking criss crossing steel pipes all lashed together by enormous polished metal ribbons. It looks like something of the set of a Transformers movie.  Most nights you'll find a free concert of some description being played there. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra practises there every lunch time,Tuesday to Thursday, and the public are invited along to listen.

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra entertaining the lunch time crowd

You almost expect the whole thing to come alive

The Lurie Gardens are a lush and colourful diversion from all the monuments of concrete, steel and glass that surround it. 

An oasis in the concrete jungle.

The Lurie Gardens

The Crown Fountain is...well, quite interesting.  It's a massive LCD screen displaying the staring faces of members of the general public who, at intermittent intervals will purse their lips and through the wonder of CGI and modern plumbing techniques, squirt a firehose spray of water onto the expectant young public waiting in the water park below.

She's about to purse her lips send and these guys a big wet raspberry

There was also an interesting exhibition of very phallic looking statues by a guy called  Kenyo Gyozu Saki San, or something very similar to that. What's a trip to Chicago without...Pizza Pie. Never had it before and having had it, probably wouldn't bother again. But, if I was, I'd go back to Pizano's. Just had that quintessential Chicago feel to it and there were so many other tasty looking things on that menu I have liked to have tried.

Pizza Pie, Chicago style.

After lunch we decided to walk The Magnificent Mile. Talk about over promise and under deliver.  More like the Mundane Mile. 

Not so magnificent

If you like leaving shoe leather on the pavement outside expensive retail outlets and dodging buskers and beggars, go for it. There's nothing here you wouldn't see in any major city in the world. 

It was home after all that, some very tasty Thai from the local and a nice bottle of  Californian chardy.

11/06/13 Another trip into the city for a 90 minute boat tour that takes you down the river  and out into Lake Michigan where you get the full panoramic view of this magnificent city.

Magnificent buildings

"The" Chicago Theatre

The guide was a walking encyclopedia on the architecture of the city. He knew the when, how, who and why of every building we passed. How many floors, how many elevators, how much money. I was impressed by the architecture of Dallas and San Francisco but Chicago is hands down the better.

The start of our river cruise

From the Neo Gothic towers of the Chicago Tribune to the Post Modernist lines of the Boeing building, this town has it all. It even has it's own  lock, that lifts and lowers the boats from the river when ever they enter the water of the lake. Dozens of times a day boats enter and leave the lake and each time eight million gallons of water leave the lake and get washed down the river, eventually finding it's way down the Mississippi and out into the Atlantic.

What a beautiful city

It was a wonderful experience that even getting pelted on the walk back to the train by the sudden downpour of the fattest, wettest rain drops Iv'e ever seen, could not dampen.

12/06/13 Chicago Cubs vs The Cincinnati Reds. Our first Major League baseball game and at none other than the famous Wrigley Field. Built in 1914 it is the second oldest Major League Stadium in the US, beaten only by Fenway Park in Massachusetts which was built in 1912.

The old Wrigley scoreboard

Aahh, ya can smell the history

Batter up!!

Before the game started there was an announcement I didn't hear and every body starting standing up. So not wanting to be miss out on anything we stood up and were looking around for a streaker when all off a sudden this booming voice came over the speakers and we had launched into a rousing version of the Stars and Stripes. What fun it was, I didn't put my hand on my heart but I did sing it with vigour.

Some venerated older member of the Cubs wandered out to the pitchers mount, threw a ball to the catcher then wandered off to a loud applause. The players rushed to their positions in the field, the batter strides to the plate swinging his bat like he's tryin to swat a fly. He taps the base, taps his left foot, taps his right foot, taps the plate again,then finally faces the pitcher. A slave to his superstitions and rituals, he does this every time he faces a new ball.

We watch enthralled, as one after another, brave batsmen put themselves in front of these human catapults standing on the pitchers mound throwing 90mph + lightening bolts one after the other.

A rare hit and a run to base

Away she goes..

On the very rare occasion some lucky bugger actually got to make contact it either shot like a rocket up into the stands causing a small riot as people flung themselves out of their seats like soccer goallies saving a penalty, scrambling, snatching and snarling then holding the prized ball aloft to the crowd like it was the FA Cup. If it was fortunate enough to head in the right direction, more often than not one of the outfielders would stroll underneath it, casually catch it and sent the batter, head down, scuffling back to the dug out. At the mid point of the seventh innings, which is the baseball equivalent of half time, the crowd again moved as one to their feet and this time we got to belt out a rendition of that old baseball chestnut, Take Me Out To the Ball Game. We didn't know the words but it sure as hell didn't stop us having a go. We were root, root, rootin along with the best of them.

People have built stands on the top of the buildings looking into the stadium

Now that wind coming off Lake Michigan could freeze the nuts off an eskimo and as much as we were enjoying the game we had to leave at the top of the 8th innings due to impending frost bite. It was a low scoring game when we left and it stayed that way. The Reds beat The Cubs 2 - 1.

Wrigley Field is an old field and oozes that old field character and charm. We were sitting back in the nose bleed section but the place is not that big so not only did we have a great view of the whole park but we still felt close enough to be a part of it.  And, even though it was a 1.20pm game on a Wednesday, and there was a 70 percent chance of thunderstorms, there were still about 20,000 fans.  It was a great thrill to be there and I'm sure this won't be our last ball game.

13/06/13. Well time to pack up and head of to the airport for our flight to New York. We say this about just about every place we've been, and we mean it because we haven"t been disappointed yet and every place has it's own magic. But, we have loved Chicago and could happily spend more time here, we will be back.

Scalpings, Slave Running, Shakers, Booze and Wieners

Craig Writes;

5/06/13 A relaxing slow start to the day before a short trek out to the Woodford Reserve Bourbon Distillery, a boutique distillery nestled along side the Glenns Creek. 

One of the three huge copper distilling pots

Elijah Pepper first settled here in 1812 and set up the first distillery which operated until 1878 when it was sold to the Labrot brothers. It's a small scale distillery using three enormous old copper pot stills from Scotland in it's unique triple distilling process. It produces between 15 to 30 barrels a day. By comparison, Jim Beam does 2200 barrels a day. A barrel will provide 180 x 750ml bottles.

Boutique bottling

We were all amazed when as a part of our tour we were taken into a big barn that smelt like closing time at The Belmont Hotel. There, four enormous 9,000 gallon tanks of fermenting mash known as "beer" were literally bubbling away all at different stages of fermentation.

Drowning in a vat of bourbon?? I could think of worse things.

It seemed quite surreal to have such unrestricted and unguarded access to what would be millions of dollars worth of product. I cant see that it would be that difficult for an unscrupulous person to quietly drop something into a patch and ruin 9000 gallons of potentially yummy bourbon. We stood on the platform looking into the enormous Cedar vats, the strong smell of fermenting grains and yeast filling our nostrils. When you placed the palms of your hand a few inches from the surface of the bubbling mass it was like turning your palms to a slow burning campfire. The Ageing Shed had about 5000 barrels of bourbon all at different stages of the required 7.5 years of char edged barrel ageing. Estimated value is about $US40 Million.

If I had to be locked up in a warehouse...

At the end of the tour we all ended up in the tasting rooms where we were all treated to a shot of Woodfords Premium Bourbon. We were instantly down for a bottle before we collared Bill, another of the tour guides and started to pepper him with some questions.  Well, one thing lead to another and next we know Bill is giving us a taste of the Real Good Stuff.  

"The Really Good Stuff"

The Double Oaked Bourbon that is aged once for 7.5 years then put into another barrel that is highly toasted and only slightly charred so it retains the caramelised sugariness of the oak, for a further 12 months. It slipped down the throat like a spoon of warm Tupelo Honey. Such a smooth caramelly, slightly nutty drop that hung sweet and smokey on your palate long after it had started to warm the pit of your stomach.  

Happy and content we took the slow drive back to our homestead to retreat to the white iron tree seat nestled under the canopy of the tall Liquid Amber shading the back of our cottage.

Sipping smooth bourbon by the light of a fading sun to the sound of the chatting birds, bliss

There we enjoy the cool of the fading daylight and a healthy dram of Kentucky's finest.

7/06/13, Today was a trip to the Harrodsburg Fort. The trip out was lined by "400 Mile Sale" signs every 100 metres or so all the way down Highway 127. Once a year, on the first full weekend in June, everyone who wants to, along the 400 mile length of highway 127, has a yard sale. There were literally hundreds of them along the short stretch we travelled from Georgetown to Harrodsburg. Some, no more than a few odd clothes thrown over the hood of a car and others looking like a professional suburban swap meet where half a dozen serious neighbours get together and spread dozens of stalls loaded with nick nacks, countless clothes racks and enough books to fill a library, along the curb side. We did stop and chat to a stall holder after our visit to the fort, Harold it was, and he gave us the run down of the history of the sale and sold Christina a few old cooking magazines. I could have picked up a complete set of Titliest golf clubs for about $60, including a bag.

The Harrodsburg Fort was a replica built in 1927. It wasn't built on the original site, which was built in 1727, but moved a hundred metres on the other side of the pioneer cemetery. The original fort was finally deserted in the 1840's and eventually stripped to make other dwellings as the town began to grow.

Authentic 1770's Fort

Although I'm not sure about the Crazy Paving 

It's most active time as a functioning fort came in 1777 when it was under siege from the Cherokee Indians. A siege that lasted a full year and if not for the unorganised and erratic nature of the Indians attack would have seen the fort overrun and all 300 occupants scalped, burnt alive and chopped into tiny morsels.  The fact they had  a running spring inside the fort and managed to dig a tunnel under the fort to escape and bring back meat was all that really saved them. Not everyone escaped though, one poor fella who strayed outside the gates was beheaded and the Fort's Reverend who also found himself lingering outside after a quick trip to retrieve the dropped pluckings of a wild corn field was surprised, captured and scalped.  The fort has been painstakingly replicated and everything there is from the period if not from the original fort. Judging by the spartan existence of these early pioneers it was subsistence living at the pointy end. There were no luxuries here apart from a roof over your head,some cooking implements, the barest of furniture and a bed to sleep in. 

Could do with The Hilton touch, 

Shaker Street

After we had left the fort and had our little stop over at Harold's road side stall, we headed to the Shaker village to have a look at what must have been one of the most optimistic, some would say naive religions to have been concocted. Having said that, they actually prospered very well for the first one hundred years or so due mostly to the fact they were extremely hard workers and exceptionally skilled tradespeople who's herbs, spices, produce, furniture and brooms were in high demand among the locals. They prospered and built  many fine buildings on a farm, which due to their success as business people as well as good recruiters, eventually grew to over 5000 acres. 

It was strictly girls to the left and boys to the right

They had little problem attracting followers who were attracted to the prosperous nature of the farm and the peaceful demeanor of the pacifist people, particularly women with young families who husbands had died, for they knew if they followed the teachings they would be well taken care off. They believed that the second coming was nigh and they wanted to build a heaven on earth in anticipation of the big event. The only fly in the sacramental ointment was the whole celibacy thing. That's right. No nookie, no procreation. They were totally reliant on young followers joining, and staying. The wheels started to fall off after the Civil War when the US started to industrialise and all of a sudden the lure of dollars working in the many factories saw many of the young followers leave once they reached twenty one.  With a new age of prosperity looming fast, the lure of  money and sex, they were never going to keep a hold of the young ones.  The mass production that came with the Industrial Revolution meant that many of the products the Shakers made were now available at prices they could not compete with.  Particularly once the young ones started to leave and their free labour force was now having to be replaced by outsiders who would not work for a roof over their head and three square meals a day. 

It was all over once the young ones were lured by the prospect of free travel

Within twenty years the numbers had dwindled from 500 to 12 and the short Shaker era had come to a close. There are three living Shakers left residing somewhere outside of New York but they're old and their days are numbered. It was an interesting experience.

Callum had discovered in the first days of our arrival at Harold and Beckys, a giant fire pit all fuelled up and ready to go and was desperate to put a match to it.

Fire in the hole

We got permission from Harold to go set the thing on fire so we could toast some marshmallows and burn some wieners. 

I read somewhere that the charcoal is good for your teeth

A watched wiener never cooks

But, an unwatched wiener always burns

Most nights we were either back to late or it had rained that day and the thing was soaked. But, today we were back early and the rain gods had stayed away. Tonight, we make fire.

9/06/13. Sadly, this was our last day at the Jordan Farm Stay. One last throw of the stick for the dogs and one last vigorous scratch of Lily's rump and it was time to hit the road. A five hour road trip today with a three hour stop over at the very erroneously named Under Ground Railroad Museum which had absolutely no connection to a railroad let alone an underground one. 

The Underground Railroad that wasnt

It was a reference to the underground movement where pro freedom whites helped slaves run away from their slave masters in the early days of the Abolitionist Movement prior to the Civil War. It wasn't what we were expecting at all which gave it all the more impact. 

The KKK, White supremacist pigs with absolutely no fashion sense

The numbers were staggering, over 12 million Africans were sold into slavery over three centuries. Many died in horrible conditions before they even got there.

Slaves were shackled and penned in barns like this

They also have a compelling section on modern slavery. Even today, millions of people across the globe are sold into slavery, up to 50% of them children. Makes you sick and wary. I found myself holding the boys hands just a little firmer when we left.

The trip to Chicago was a long one but we're here now.

Southern Charm, Muhammad Ali and The Louisville Slugger

Craig Writes;

02/06/13. We bid Paducah adieu and hit the road for a four hour drive through to Lexington and the Jordan Farm Stay B&B. Harold and Becky are a lovely well to do Southern couple with a delightful Southern drawl and an even more delightful manner. 

Harold and Becky

It seems a common thread with the Southerners, all incredibly generous, polite and welcoming. When we arrived they were just pulling out of the drive way, top down in their late model platinum E type Jaguar, but they stopped to have a quick chat. They train and own thoroughbred horses, which is what the gentry do in these parts.  Their grand two storey Southern mansion sits at the end of a long drive way that stretches under a canopy of ornamental Aristocrat Pears and loops back on itself with a small parking lot to the side for guests cars. 

A beautiful canopy of Aristocrat Pears lines the entrance to the house

Nothing but blue skies and rolling blue grass

The dogs would be sitting patiently on our porch first thing in the morning

The two guest cottages sit across from the main house on the other side of the drive way with a recycled brick courtyard and a small garden separating them. Ample privacy for all. The twenty acres that occupies the rest of the property is all white corralled fences, manicured bluegrass fields and magnificent horse sheds that look like they belong on the set of Sea Biscuit or Black Beauty . A thoroughbred mare and her new foal Lilly are in the paddock right behind the cottages and spend their time ambling around chewing on a bit of grass here and there with Lilly occasionally kicking up her heels.

Two magnificent looking animals. Lilly is only two months old.

Occasionally they look up to give disdainful looks to Maggie and Skye, the two playful Border Collies who run up and down the fence barking and jumping and who were to become short term extended members of our family. 

When Skye wasn't chasing a stick she would offer herself up for a good scratching

The cottage was stocked with a freshly made Blueberry Cake, a basket of freshly made muffins and a basket of beautiful seasonal fruits. In the fridge was fresh milk, a jug of freshly squeezed orange juice and a bowl of chopped sweet strawberries and grapes. These were replaced fresh every day.  The very next morning, after testing the beds to make sure they were as comfortable as they looked and the howling coyotes we were warned about didn't keep us up all night, we extended our stay from  the original three nights to six nights.

3/06/13 The next day we took a drive into Lexington to try and find Gratz Park. We wanted to relive a walk through the park we had twenty years ago when we were here, courtesy of a competition Christina won to go to the Kentucky Derby. The beautiful old buildings surrounding the park were still as grand and pretty but the park itself seemed to have been let go. The grass was riddled with all manner of weeds and in need of a cut and the bronze statue in honour of the cities children, showing a young girl and her young male companion playing with a sail boat in a pond, could have done with a clean up. Even though it had lost a little of it's gloss it still bought back some great memories. Apart from Gratz Park and a light lunch, Lexington held no great allure, so we quickly headed back to the rarefied air of our country retreat where the boys splashed in the pool and Christina and I explored the ponds and paddocks of the property.

This pond has water running into it most of the year and is stocked with fish

This stunning structure is the horses "shed"

4/06/13 Looking forward to today. A 90 minute drive out to Louisville to the Muhammad Ali Center. He is a Louisville local and he still keeps a home here. The lady behind the ticket desk said that on rare occasions Ali and his wife will come in the back way and sit in the theatre to watch the short film that kicks off the tour we were about to go on. People will walk in expecting to see the man on the screen and there he is, just sitting in the back row. Unfortunately for us, today was not one of those days.  

An ordinary building from the outside that, inside, chronicles the life of an amazing man

The Center is a fitting tribute to a man who gave so much, not just to the sport of boxing and the millions who he entertained and enthralled, but more importantly to the struggle of his fellow black Americans to gain equality and respect in the community. At a time when segregation was still a part of every day life in parts of the South, including Louisville, he used his status, his outstanding oratory skills, the unstoppable presence of his personality and his standing in the community to help break these barriers. He was an exceptional athlete, showman and humanitarian. 

I would have like to have seen a bit more memorabilia of his, boxing gloves, heavyweight belts etc. There were some cool things like the gem encrusted robe given to him by Elvis in 1972, his brown convertible Rolls Royce Corniche in the basement and the torch he used to light the flame at the Atlanta Olympics, but not much else. Unfortunately opportunities are limited to take photos so we only have a couple of shots.

This was his favourite ride, can't say I blame him, it is a convertible Rolls Royce

The fourth floor has about eight televisions showing continual loops of fifteen of his fights. The fifth floor was all film clips and time lines starting with his life as a young boy with a single minded determination to become the heavyweight champion of the world. It progresses through his triumph at the 1960 Rome Olympics, his shock defeat of Sonny Liston in both 1962 and 1964, his name change from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali when he became a follower of Islam, his refusal to go to Vietnam and consequent loss of his titles and boxing license, his return, his victories and defeats, his humanitarian work and influence with world leaders and finally to his last and greatest battle, the one fight he cannot win, his fight with Parkinson's Disease. The film clip showing on the big screen of the moment he is handed the final Olympic torch to light the flame at Atlanta, him trying so valiantly yet vainly to still the uncontrollable shaking in his left arm, still brings a lump to my throat.

We left the Ali Center and walked down Main Street towards the five storey baseball bat leaning against the red brick building that was The Louisville Slugger museum.

You'd need big balls to throw at this bat

Much to my delight, it turns out it's not just a museum but the actual factory where they have been churning out Louisville Slugger bats since 1914. The factory was a normal wood turning shop till one day the son of the owner decided to make a bat for a pro ball player he knew called Pete Browning, known then as The Louisville Slugger.  Well, old Pete went on and hit some pretty big home runs with his new bat and soon everyone was wanting the bat that Pete Browning, The Louisville Slugger, was using. 

1.8 million bats a year, it's not like they wear out, where do they all go?

Today the factory turns out around 1.8 million bats a year and although they now have 32 competitors they still manage to hold about 50% of the market.  The tour of the factory was an unexpected bonus. They use approx 40,000 White Ash or Maple trees a year to make their bats and according to them it is all renewable timber. There must an absolute load of these trees because he also said that the trees need to be 70 years old to be suitable. They must have some mighty big plantations out there they can tap into. They have some great bats on display and Charlie got to put some gloves on and have a swing with a bat used by the famous Mickey Mantle. 

Charlie with Mickey Mantles bat, Callum with Gigantors mit

They had a bat used by Babe Ruth in the season of 1927 where he hit 60 home runs over 158 games. A record unbroken for nearly 40 years. This bat was used to score 21 of those home runs and is now valued at over 2.5 million dollars. You can see where Babe used to put a small notch in the back of the bat every time he hit a homer. 

Yours for only 2.5 million dollars

The batting cage was hands on fun. The attendant, a generous young man, gave me 20 hits for the price of ten and I tell ya it was hard work. Mine were only coming down at about 50 mph and I would have been lucky to have hit 4 or 5 of them decently. It was a lot of fun. Turned out the whole family ended up having a bash with Callum and Charlie being the "pros". 

Christina with bat, a real swinger

We finished with a short film on the history of baseball with a definite lean towards the importance of The Louisville Slugger, and who can blame them, it is their museum. Another great day of discovery.