FLYING TO DALLAS

We're waiting to board our flight to Dallas and begin our tour of the deep south. I'm confident the Confederates won't mind us spending some money as we pass through.

While we're in the Dallas area, we'll visit the Bowling Hall of Fame and the taxpayer funded palace the Dallas Cowboys call home. We'll also have a look at the spot where President Kennedy was assassinated. Maybe we'll see the crew of Cheaters busting a chump who is cheating on his wife.

NOTRE DAME

On our way out of South Bend we stopped at Notre Dame for a look at the famous football stadium and the Golden Dome. The stadium was all locked up and it appeared we would get only a few exterior shots. Just as we were about to leave we spotted a gentleman who was doing some maintenance work. He was kind enough to let us in for a quick look around and some photos. His kindness was much appreciated.

Notre Dame Stadium opened in 1930.

NEW YORK METS VS CHICAGO WHITE SOX

Chris Sale pitching for the White Sox

We took the L to US Cellular Field (New Comiskey Park) on the South Side of Chicago for an interleague game between the Chicago White Sox and New York Mets.

There was a good pitching match up with Chris Sale, one of the American League's top pitchers, going against one of the Mets' super pitching prospects, Zack Wheeler. Wheeler was the 6th pick in the 2009 draft by the Giants. Two years later he was the young phenom the Giants traded away for a two month rental of broken down Carlos Beltran in 2011.

The Chicago Red Hot

The game was a close one. The White Sox appeared to have it all sewn up with a 4-3 lead in the ninth inning. The Mets had a runner on second with two outs and the White Sox got the Mets' batter to hit a routine pop up on the infield. However, just as the third baseman, Connor Gilaspe (another ex-Giant), was about to make the game ending catch, second baseman, Gordon Beckham, crashed into him and the ball fell safely to the ground. The runner on second hustled around to score the typing run before any of the shocked White Sox could recover the ball. White Sox play-by-play announcer, Ken "Hawk" Harrelson, nearly blew a gasket when his beloved Sox performed their Bad News Bears impression. But the White Sox game back to win the game in the bottom of the ninth and the suicide watch for Hawk Harrelson was called off.

CHICAGO RIVER & NAVY PIER

We walked over the Franklin-Orleans Street Bridge to Upper Wacker Drive for a stroll above the Chicago River. The destination was the Michigan Street Bridge where we would catch a river taxi to Navy Pier. The walk and the boat ride were pleasant enough on their own. Getting an up-close look at Lake Michigan and a few other points of interest made it even better. We couldn't stay all day because we had tickets for the White Sox vs. New York Mets game at US Cellular Field.

Shannon on Upper Wacker Drive, over the southern bank of the Chicago River.

TOURING CHICAGO

Millennium Park

After a good night's sleep, we spent the day exploring Chicago. We started by taking the "L" and a short walk to Millennium Park. From there we got on a double decker bus with an open top to tour a large part of the city. Luckily for us, the weather was mild so we didn't bake as we rode atop the tour bus. There were intermittent clouds and sunshine with an occasional sprinkle. Later in the day after we finished our bus tour some heavy rain came down. Our timing was nearly flawless.

This jersey must be size 500XL

Right now just about everyone we encounter in Chicago is talking about the Blackhawks, their NHL team currently playing the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup finals. Hockey isn't just a fringe sport here as it is back home. In the photos that follow, you'll see the statues in front of the Art Institute of Chicago wearing Blackhawks helmets and a dinosaur skeleton statue at the Field Museum of Natural History wearing a Blackhawks jersey. The Blackhawks hold a 3-2 lead and a win tonight will bring the Stanley Cup back to Chicago. I hope they win it so ice hockey, which has no business being played in the summer, can be put to rest for a few months.

Looking down on the Chicago River from our 22nd floor hotel room

FIRST NIGHT IN CHICAGO

Waiting at Gate 52

We left Castro Valley at 8:00 this morning for San Francisco Airport and a flight to O'Hare Airport in Chicago. The flight didn't leave SF until 11:50 but with all the security checks involved with commercial air travel these days, we felt it prudent to arrive extra early.

The three hour wait after passing the security checkpoints wasn't bad. We had our laptops, tablets, and books for entertainment. We flew first class which was very comfortable in our recliner seats with plenty of room to stretch out.

Shannon relaxes in the hotel lobby

We landed safely in Chicago this evening around 6:20 local time. By the time we collected our bags and caught the train to downtown Chicago, it was too late to do anything. Things close early on Sunday night so we decided to relax at the hotel. There's no ballgame tomorrow so we'll devote the day to sightseeing. We'll do more of the same on Tuesday before we head out to The Cell that night to see the White Sox game.

Wednesday morning we will leave Chicago and pass through Indiana on our way to Grand Rapids, Michigan. We will return to Chicago before we return home.

WALKING TOUR OF OLD MONTREAL

I've experienced several days of bad internet connections so there hasn't been much posted of late. There was also lots of driving and touring which cut into my photo editing time.

We jumped on the Montreal Metro this morning to go across town and take a walking tour of Old Montreal (or Vieux-Montréal, as the French-Canadians call it). For now, I only have time to post the photos. I'll come back later to add some descriptions and commentary. The streets of Old Montreal are beautiful. The buildings and monuments are interesting without knowing what they are.

THE FREEDOM TRAIL - BOSTON

A sidewalk marker on The Freedom Trail

The Freedom Trail in Boston is a walking path of about 2.5 miles through old Boston leading to sixteen historic sites. We would have walked the entire trail but the exceptionally hot weather forced us to shorten the tour. A thunderstorm rolled in a little while ago which dropped the temperature down to about 80 degrees but the rain and lightning kept us indoors for now.

Boston Common

Our hotel is a block from Fenway Park. We walked about a half mile to the Kenmore Station and took the Metro to the Park Station. This put us at Boston Common, the large public park in downtown Boston where the trail begins. When the British Army occupied Boston in 1775-1776, the troops were encamped here. Boston Common itself is worthy of a good walk in milder weather but in this heat we limited ourselves to the path leading to the Massachusetts State House.

CANDLEPIN BOWLING IN SCARBOROUGH, MAINE

Candlepins are 15-3/4 inches tall

Candlepin bowling isn't available in California but it's more popular than ten-pin bowling in parts of New England and Canada. It doesn't require as much physical exertion as ten-pin bowling but getting high scores is much more difficult.

No finger holes required.

As in duckpin bowling, the ball is light and a little bigger than a softball. The maximum weight allowed for a ball is 2 lb 7 oz which is slightly less than the weight of a candlepin (2 lb 8 oz). You can see how it would be much easier for small children and seniors to participate in this game. Compare rolling a ball a little under three pounds to a big one weighing eight to sixteen pounds. One can carry three bowling balls and shoes in a bag the size of a purse and it would weigh only about twelve pounds. Think of that the next time you pull your four-ball roller weighing 60+ pounds out of the trunk.

KENNEBUNKPORT, MAINE

On the bridge over the Kennebunk

Kennebunkport is a name you might recall from the days of the George H.W. Bush administration. The Bush family's summer home is here in this small, yuppie village somewhat reminiscent of Carmel, California. (Lots of rich white folks who play golf and own sailboats or yachts.) It's in southeastern Maine, not far from Maine's border with New Hampshire.

During his presidency, Bush hosted visits from Margaret Thatcher and Mikhail Gorbechev In Kennebunkport. In 2007 his son, George W. Bush, invited Vladimir Putin and Nicolas Sarkozy here where he no doubt dazzled the European leaders with his..um..fishing trophies. Yeah, that's it. Fishing trophies.

That's an OLD town

It's a quaint town on the Kennebunk River about a mile from the Atlantic Ocean. The river separates the town of Kennebunkport from the town of Kennebunk. We took a brief stroll around the part of town known as Dock Square. After that, we walked over the bridge to Kennebunk and back.

SANFORD, MAINE

Shannon likes Dunkin' Donuts

This was a brief rest stop on our way from Massachusetts to Kennebunkport, Maine. We passed by numerous Dunkin' Donuts restaurants on the trip and Shannon asked us to stop at one. She sees their ads on TV a lot but the Dunkin' Donuts chain doesn't operate in California.

She had a grilled cheese sandwich and some kind of flavored coffee drink. She reports that both were very good and she would rather have Dunkin' Donuts at home than Starbucks.

There were two interesting buildings across the street so I snapped a few photos before we got back on the road.

A building on Main Street in Sanford, Maine

The building directly across the street from Dunkin' Donuts

PILGRIM MEMORIAL STATE PARK - PLYMOUTH MASSACHUSETTS

Show me the rock!

We hit the road early for a visit to Pilgrim Memorial State Park in Plymouth, Massachusetts. This is the site of Plymouth Rock and the point where William Bradford and his band of Puritan pilgrims aboard the Mayflower landed to start Plymouth Colony in 1620.

Whether Plymouth Rock is an authentic marker of the landing, I'll leave to the scholars. While it's likely the legend of Plymouth Rock is apocryphal, it remains firmly established in the mythology of colonial America.

Shannon & Mayflower II

Besides Plymouth Rock, the park is home to Mayflower II, a replica of the 17th century Mayflower. Mayflower II was built in England during the 1950s and sailed to America. It was part of a project to commemorate the friendship and cooperation between the UK and USA in World War II.

STATE HOUSE OF RHODE ISLAND

Shannon stands before the State House

Our second stop today was the Capitol of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island State House in Providence. If you watched the Showtime TV series, The Brotherhood, you saw the exterior of this building several times. Tommy Caffee was a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives in that series.

Construction of the State House started in 1895 and was completed in 1904. It underwent a major renovation about twenty years ago. It houses the offices of the Governor, Lieutenent Governor, Secretary of State, and General Treasurer of the State of Rhode Island. The chamber of the Rhode Island Senate is located in the east wing while the Chamber of the Rhode Island House of Representatatives is in the west wing.

It's Saturday so Tommy Caffee isn't taking a bribe from Freddy Cork.

STATE CAPITOL OF CONNECTICUT

Shannon poses in front of the
Connecticut State Capitol

Our first stop today was the State Capitol of Connecticut. The Capitol, located in Hartford, the capital city of Connecticut, houses the Governor's office, and the Connecticut General Assembly which consists of the State Senate and the House of Representatives. The State Supreme Court is across the street and faces the State Capitol. Construction of the building started in 1871 and was completed in 1878.

The Connecticut Supreme Court

We drove by the Capitol yesterday but it was Friday and with state business being conducted, we couldn't find a place nearby to park. Since the state offices are closed on Saturdays, we came back today and had no difficulty finding a space across the street.

NAISMITH MEMORIAL BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame

This morning's destination was the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. The National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York was a huge disappointment to me so I entered basketball's Great Hall with my expectations held low. In the end, I thoroughly enjoyed the Basketball Hall of Fame. There were plentiful exhibits for all forms of basketball and reverence was paid to the greats of past and present without the kind of ESPNization that has tainted baseball's Great Hall.

Shannon among the displays honoring
the Hall of Fame's inductees.

The Hall itself is an eye-catching structure. In the center is a giant basketball-like sphere which houses two floors of exhibit space plus a functional full court. There is also a tower out front with a basketball sculpture at the top.

A basketball from 1908. It has laces
like one would find on a football.

The top floor of the Hall houses the displays for the inductees and some of their mementos. The middle floor holds the uniforms, basketballs, and other displays of historical interest. The ground floor is home to an extensive gift shop and a full basketball court on which the Hall's paid visitors can play as long as they like. The court on the ground floor was a stroke of genius. Even an old man like me was pumped up to grab a ball and shoot around for awhile. I wish I had taken photos of the school aged kids who were there so you could see the joy on their faces as they dribbled and shot around on a court beneath the space honoring the greats of the game.

United States Military Academy at West Point

We left Reading, Pennsylvania early this morning and passed through New Jersey on our way to the United States Military Academy at West Point. We took a guided tour of the academy then visited the West Point Museum. Fun fact: West Point has a state-of-the-art bowling center with ten lanes.

Shannon approaches the Visitors Center

Inside the Academy's Visitors Center

The baseball park has been spotted!

DUCKPIN BOWLING IN COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND

A rack of duckpin balls

Several years ago, I watched an episode of the the TV series Homicide: Life On The Streets in which some of the characters were bowling. Except they weren't using regular equipment. The pins were kind of short and squat and the balls appeared to be a little larger than a softball. It was bowling but it wasn't the game Walter Ray Williams and Norm Duke play. Little did I know, there are other types of bowling played regionally in the U.S. and Canada. In places where these other forms of bowling are played, our game of bowling is called ten-pin.

Shannon tries duckpin bowling

The Homicide series took place in Baltimore so I did some searching and found that the game of duckpin bowling is popular in Maryland, the Washington DC suburbs, some parts of New England, and the Canadian province of Quebec. (New England and eastern Canada also have candlepin bowling which we will try when we reach Maine. Ontario has five-pin bowling which we will try in Toronto.)

BOWIE BAYSOX VS. HARRISBURG SENATORS

Home of the Bowie Baysox

We drove out to Bowie, Maryland for a minor league baseball game between the Harrisburg Senators and the Bowie Baysox at Prince George's Stadium. These teams play at the AA level in the Eastern League. The Senators are affiliated with the Washington Nationals and the Baysox are affiliated with the Baltimore Orioles. It took about thirty mintues to make the twenty mile trip to Bowie from our hotel in Washington DC.

Shannon sits in a sea of empty seats

Prince George's Stadium is a fan-friendly park with free parking, reasonable prices (with the exception of a $30+ price tag on a couple of their team caps), better food options than most ballparks, and good views of the game from every seat. The ballpark employees are friendly and courteous.

Bowie is a city of about 54,000 in Prince George's County between Baltimore and Washington. George and I saw a game here in 2009 when the Baysox hosted the Akron Aeros (a farm club of the Cleveland Indians). That was a cool night in May with a game that was well attended despite periodic rain showers. This was a Friday night game when one would expect a solid turnout but the place was mostly empty. The primary reason was the miserable weather. The hot temperatures (over 100 degrees) and high humidity made it uncomfortable to be outside. In addition, there were power outages all over the state that were triggered by the heat wave. We were determined to go, so from our perspective the weather and power problems provided shorter waits in line and better seats.

A standing 8-count for the pitcher

The game was sloppy but competitive. There was a scary moment when a line drive off the bat of one of the Senators struck Bowie's pitcher in the chest. After a long injury timeout during which the pitcher was checked over by the team's trainer, the pitcher stayed in the game. The next batter he faced blasted a three-run homer. Harrisburg's three runs were enough. They held on for a 3-2 victory despite committing four errors and allows six bases on balls. Bowie had plenty of chances but couldn't get the big hits when they were most needed.

One of the best stadium ad signs ever

Almost as enjoyable as the game were the foot-long hot dogs at the Black Angus Grille, the fresh squeezed lemonade, and chatting with the neighborly park employees. Perhaps the most humorous event of the night was a between-innings game in which the contestant had to throw a Nerf football through a large toilet seat (on one of the stadium ads) to win a prize. All things considered, it was enjoyable night despite the stifling heat and humidity.

TOUR OF THE WHITE HOUSE

Shannon in Lafayette Square
 near the White House

No pictures on the inside for this one because cameras are forbidden on the White House tour. Security is very strict with Secret Service agents all over the place, multiple ID checks, and screenings for contraband. I wish I could have snapped a few shots to share but I understand why cameras are forbidden.

The north side of the White House

The White House is a grand mansion with a vast collection of art, furniture, and  presidential relics. The rooms we saw were beautifully decorated. Of course, we couldn't go to the upper level where the president and his family live. Still, we enjoyed seeing the parts that are open to the public. The gardens and lawns surrounding the White House were also quite beautiful.

The Washington Monument

The only thing we didn't enjoy was the walk to and from the Metro station in temperatures that continue to top 100 degrees. The weather forecasts show the temperatures will finally drop down to 84 degrees on Monday -- the day we leave here. Wonderful.

While walking around the "Federal Triangle" area of Washington DC, we caught a few glimpses of the Washington Monument, the U.S. Treasury Building (with its statues honoring Alexander Hamilton and Albert Gallatin), and the Wilson Building (formerly known as the District Building) which houses the offices of the Mayor and Council of the District of Columbia.

Taking a break from the heat on
the steps of the Wilson Building

Tonight we have a minor league baseball game in Bowie, Maryland. We're relaxing in our air conditioned hotel room for a spell after nearly melting in the streets of Washington.

WASHINGTON NATIONALS GAME

Nationals Park in Washington DC

We took the Metro to Nationals Park to see a game between the Washington Nationals and San Francisco Giants. I wish I could say it was a pleasant summer evening but that would be a lie. It was oppressively muggy and the daytime temperature was over 100 degrees. By the end of the game at about 11:00 PM, the temperature was still 89 degrees.


It was a "turn back the clock" night with both teams wearing replica uniforms from 1924, the year the Washington Senators defeated the New York Giants in the World Series.

The Nats in 1924 Senators uniforms.

Nationals Park is a decent place to see a game. Access from the Metro is convenient. It's a short walk from the Navy Yard station to the ballpark. Unlike the Oakland Coliseum with its excessive "security" measures, entering Nationals Park is quick and painless. The seating is good and if you're on a budget, the upper deck seats are only $5.00. I have only two complaints about the place. One is the prices for everything but tickets. $4.50 for a coke, $6.00 for a small hotdog, and $34.00 for a Nationals t-shirt. Ridiculous! But not quite as ridiculous as the abomination pictured below.

Isn't this where we should take a dump?

The game was a good one. The Nationals scored first but the Giants held a 5-1 lead at the seventh inning stretch. The Nationals reduced the lead to 5-3 with two solo homers that knocked Matt Cain out of the game. The Giants' bullpen yielded another run before the inning was over but still held the lead 5-4 at the end of seven innings.

Washington 6, San Francisco 5

After a scoreless 8th inning, the Nationals won it by scoring two runs in the bottom of the ninth. Bryce Harper, the Nats' 19 year old phenom, tied the game with an RBI single then scored the winning run when the Giants failed to convert a potential double play that would have sent the game to extra innings. The win gave the Nationals a three-game sweep of the Giants.

WASHINGTON DC - THE NATIONAL MALL & THE NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM

Shannon at the National
Air and Space Museum

After an overnight flight and a change in time zones from Pacific to Eastern, we arrived at Dulles International Airport shortly after 7:00 AM. We picked up our rental car and headed to downtown Washington DC. It was too early to check into our hotel but we were able to get our parking pass so we could get out of the car and do some early sightseeing.

We're staying at the Holiday Inn Capitol which is a block from the National Mall and two blocks from the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. The first order of business was breakfast. Once that was finished, we set out for a stroll around the National Mall before the brutal heat and humidity arrived. After that, we would head to the National Air and Space Museum. Anyone who has been watching the Giants take a couple of butt-whippings from the Nationals in Washington DC the past two days is aware that this part of the country is in the midst of a swealtering summer heat wave. The temperatures have been over 100 degrees along with brutal humidity such that we never see at home.

Renovation of the National Mall

Were we ever surprised to see heavy construction equipment all over the National Mall. We discovered that the National Mall is undergoing a huge facelift to make it more eco-friendly and better able to withstand the heavy traffic it endures (over 24 million visitors per year). When George and I visited here in 2009 we noticed how worn out some parts of the lawn appeared. It's good that something is being done about it.

Construction equipment on the National Mall

With the Mall in its state of disrepair, we spent only a few minutes there. This was Shannon's first trip to Washington DC so the National Mall's condition was a big disappointment -- but not as disappointing to Shannon as when we explained that the National Mall isn't a gigantic shopping center. From there we moved quickly to the Air and Space Museum. Even though it was only about 9:00 AM, the temperature was already above 80 degrees and the humidity was stifling. Getting into an air conditioned museum seemed like a splendid plan.

Shannon & an Me-262

We covered only the first floor of the Air and Space Museum today. We will return to see the upper level sometime this weekend. Among the highlights we saw were the Spirit of St. Louis (the airplane that carried Charles Lindberg across the Atlantic in the first non-stop flight from New York to Paris), the docked Apollo and Soyuz (the two spacecraft that made the first joint USA-USSR space flight), and a Messerschmitt Me-262 (the first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft). George and I were here in 2009 and we didn't see the Me-262 at that time. We assume it was added to the collection recently. (I'd seen the Junkers Jumo 004 engine of an Me-262 at the Imperial War Museum in London but never before had I seen an entire Me-262 in person.)

The Apollo & Soyuz Spacecraft

We ran out of gas pretty quickly after our overnight flight so we headed back to our hotel for an early check-in. We need some sleep before we head to Nationals Park where we're hoping to see the Washington Nationals complete a three-game sweep of the suck-holes from San Francisco.