Category Archives: Travel

Our 2006 Road Trip, Part 3: Milwaukee for Art’s Sake

July 13, 2014 By in Comics/Lit, Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

[The very special miniseries continues! See Part One for the official intro and context.]

Day 1: Saturday, July 22nd (continued)

Fairly rejuvenated, we headed north from Pleasant Prairie along Lake Michigan to our next stop, the Milwaukee Art Museum. This stop was literally a last-minute addition to the itinerary. We’d decided months prior which nights would be spent in which cities. Night one would be in Milwaukee, only four hours away. Since we knew the Jelly Belly tour wouldn’t last all day, and since Milwaukee is less than five hours from Indianapolis in good traffic, we knew we had time to kill. Only problem was, we couldn’t find anything up our alley in Milwaukee for the longest time. Other than the same combination found in every major city of zoo, museum, kids’ museum, art museum, and historic sites involving personalities barely known to outsiders, the only tourist attractions of note seemed to be alcohol-based. None of us are drinkers, socially or otherwise, so their appeal to us was minimal.

On that Thursday, a mere thirty hours before we left Indianapolis, I Googled the name of a local advertising museum to clarify something before I added it to the reject pile. Google led me to the Milwaukee Art Museum’s home page, where I stopped short.

Milwaukee Art Museum!

Hey, movie fans! Recognize this?

You won’t believe what this comics fan discovered the night before leaving town!…

Our 2006 Road Trip, Part 2: This is Our Hill and These Are Our Beans

July 12, 2014 By in Travel Tags: , , , , , , , Leave a comment

[The very special miniseries continues! See Part One for the official intro and context.]

Day 1: Saturday, July 22nd

We packed quickly, then hit the open road after a quick stop to air up the tires — all four of which were low — and shut off that dashboard light at last. The first few hours from Indianapolis to Chicago were mostly uneventful, unless you count my hairbreadth near-miss of an interstate exit sign I’d been seeking in Chicago. To steer clear of the wrong turnoff and avoid the line of cars steamrolling past us in the proper lane, I had to drive up onto the raised median between the forks in the road. I could blame the rampant Chicago interstate construction, or I could blame my proclivity for occasional concentrated daydreaming at inopportune moments. Or I could take the easy, responsibility-free way out and blame society. Either way, no way could I have pulled that move in my own car, a ’96 Cavalier, without sailing right off both axles. For once, the day was saved, thanks to…the SUV!

Once we were well past the heavy reconstruction of the Dan Ryan Expressway, we stopped briefly in Lake Forest for gas, then motored out of Illinois, into Wisconsin, and on to the pretty, pretty town of Pleasant Prairie, where the local botanists worked overtime to make a good first impression on travelers. A few miles east of the exit was our first tourist attraction of the trip, the Jelly Belly Factory, proud makers of jellybeans and jellybean accessories.

Jelly Belly Beetle!

I hear this car’s engine ran on jellybeans instead of gas, but then GM bought it and dropped it into the Mariana Trench.

Beans, beans, the magical candy!…

Our 2006 Road Trip, Part 1: Our Milkman’s Chariot Awaits

July 12, 2014 By in Travel Tags: , , , , , Leave a comment

[Welcome to the first installment of a very special miniseries, representing the original travelogue from our family’s 2006 vacation to scenic Wisconsin and Minnesota, home of much forestry, many lakes, and very odd things. Some hindsight editing and modern-day commentary will be included along the way as value-added bonus features for readers old and new alike.

All photos were taken with one of two cameras: one Kodak EasyShare that was obsolete when we bought it, and one 35mm camera whose film had to be dropped off for developing and whose pics were scanned using an equally obsolete, poor-res scanner. Very little about these entries will approach 1080p quality. Back in our day, this is what history looked like. When these travelogues were written, they were as much about the writing as they were about the pics. Consequently, some entries will have one photo, while others will have several.

I’m adding some present-day commentary in spots as value-added epilogues. I’ll also be inserting several photos that we’ve never shared publicly before. Even our internet friends who read the original entries will be seeing previously unreleased material for the first time.

Enjoy!]

2006 Jeep Commander. UGH/

Day 0: Friday, July 21st

As with last year’s vacation, rather than submit either of our own cars to hundreds of miles of wear and tear, we rented an SUV for the extra space, comfort, and intimidation factor — what better way to announce to the townsfolk of other locales, “Back off, man! We’re TOURISTS!” Granted, we had to prepare ourselves to spend extra money on gas, but that falls in line with my own little personal plan to help save America: the way I figure it, if every one of us works together to use up all the gas in the world as quickly as possible, down to the very last drop, then we’ll be forced to make the transition to alternative fuel sources that much sooner.

Right this way for a complete lack of sales pitch…

Real Maps Are Like Big Crispy Paper Blankets

July 8, 2014 By in Mundane, Travel Tags: , , , , , , 3 Comments

Map!

Remember the ancient times of the mid-to-late twentieth century, when long trips to unfamiliar places couldn’t be navigated by squinting at a computer the size of a deck of cards? If you needed to get from point A to point B, your first hope was that an elderly relative could give you directions that used no street names and depended on visual landmarks such as specific gas stations or funny-shaped trees. Plan B was to wander in the general direction until your wife got mad enough to make you stop the car and ask the locals for pointers. Plan C was to stay home and find something else to do.

Plan D was maps. Giant-sized maps that didn’t fit in your pocket unless you wadded them into a ball first, or wore overalls with enormous pockets. They unfolded into thirty or forty sections and covered your entire dining room table. If you were improvising on the run, they covered your dashboard, steering wheel, and most of your line of sight. Driving while mapping was, much like driving while texting, a fun way to terrorize your passengers and the drivers in the other lanes, adding new levels of stuntman risk to even the calmest Sunday outing.

Continue reading →

2014 Birthday Road Trip Photos, Part 4 of 4: the Rest of Muncie!

June 28, 2014 By in Indiana, Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

For the last few years, my wife and I have spent our respective birthdays together finding some new place or attraction to visit as a one-day road trip — partly as an excuse to spend time together on this most frabjous day, partly to explore areas of Indiana we’ve never experienced before. My 2014 birthday destination of choice: the town of Muncie, some 75 miles northeast of here.

Sure, many people celebrate their birthday on or near the original date. Some might take photos. Some might share them in a timely manner. We keep our own schedule. And by “we” I mean “I” because my wife isn’t as prone to distractions, digressions, or long, awkward pauses between chapters in her online projects. But I couldn’t very well leave this four-part MCC miniseries incomplete. I never explicitly promised anyone four parts, but that final “To Be Continued” at the end of Part Three cried out to me for closure. Also, I could use a short break from headline news and general relevance.

Part four, then: other things we saw besides nifty stores, official works of art, or Garfield statues. The most bewildering sight of all would be the “nature area” that contained a relaxing walking path, gentle plains, breezy forest, and a sacrificial altar.

nature table?

Right this way for, uh, wait, what?

2014 Birthday Road Trip Photos #3: Stalking the Great Orange Cat

May 21, 2014 By in Comics/Lit, Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , , 4 Comments

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

For the last few years, my wife and I have spent our respective birthdays together finding some new place or attraction to visit as a one-day road trip — partly as an excuse to spend time together on this most frabjous day, partly to explore areas of Indiana we’ve never experienced before. My 2014 birthday destination of choice: the town of Muncie, some 75 miles northeast of here.

Sure, many people would spend their birthday drinking, partying, and making the day wild and regrettable. We have our own agenda. Finding creative ways to spend quality time together. Embarking on road trips that wouldn’t occur to our peers. Searching for gems in unusual places — sometimes geek-related, sometimes peculiar, sometimes normal yet above average.

We’re the Goldens. This is who we are and what we do.

Part One was a general “hey, wow, still got a pulse!” birthday entry. Part Two was a salute to artwork around Muncie. Part Three covers the results of our primary objective, the twisted plan we knew no one would approve. It was a quest we’re sure many have tried, but few have confessed to attempting.

As it so happens, Muncie was once the town of residence for Garfield creator Jim Davis and his company, Paws, Inc. (Both now officially reside in Albany.) In honor of that intellectual property’s 25th anniversary in 2003 and its impressive long-term survival against all internet snark, dozens of Garfield statues stand in his honor all over Grant County and in Muncie. We weren’t prepared for a tour of neighboring Grant County, but Muncie boasts eleven of the known Garfield statues. We wanted to see how many we could track down. Because they were there.

We stumbled across our first one while visiting Minnetrista, inside their Orchard Gift Shop. Each statue has a name; this one’s “The Spirit of Minnetrista”. Coincidence, I’m sure.

The Spirit of Minnetrista!

This way for more curious artifacts like this…

2014 Birthday Road Trip Photos #2: The Art of Muncie

May 19, 2014 By in Indiana, Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

For the last few years, my wife and I have spent our respective birthdays together finding some new place or attraction to visit as a one-day road trip — partly as an excuse to spend time together on this most frabjous day, partly to explore areas of Indiana we’ve never experienced before. My 2014 birthday destination of choice: the town of Muncie, some 75 miles northeast of here.

Sure, you might think small towns seem odd choices for birthday celebrations. Finding creative ways to spend quality time together. Embarking on road trips that wouldn’t occur to our peers. Searching for gems in unusual places — sometimes geek-related, sometimes peculiar, sometimes normal yet above average.

We’re the Goldens. This is who we are and what we do.

Part One was a general “yay I tallied up another year without dying” birthday entry. Part Two: some of the art we encountered around town. Our Saturday began at the Minnetrista Cultural Center, in whose entryway stands a sculpture called “Catalyst” by Beverly Stucker Precious. The previous entry (linked above) showed it from outside; this is the view from the second story inside.

Catalyst

This way for sculpture, art, expression, and more!

Birthday 42: a Road Trip for Comics, Art, and Nature

May 18, 2014 By in Indiana, Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment
Birthday cupcakes!

Gifts from my coworkers: chocolate cupcakes with peanut-butter-cup centers. This is so much better than a birthday pitch-in where 9 out of every 10 participants bring potato chips.

It’s that time of year again! As of today I’m now 42 years old and decided hours ago not to contrive a Hitchhiker’s Guide joke from that. All things considered, I’m a much happier guy at 42 than I was at 21. By the time I’m old enough to want to lie about my age, I won’t be able to get away with it anymore.

For the last few years, my wife and I have spent our respective birthdays together finding some new place or attraction to visit as a one-day road trip — partly as an excuse to spend time together on this most frabjous day, partly to explore areas of Indiana we’ve never experienced before. My 2014 birthday destination of choice: the town of Muncie, some 75 miles northeast of here. It’s the home of Ball State University (my sister-in-law’s alma mater), hometown of Garfield creator Jim Davis, scene of a fair amount of works of art, and location for, of all things, a notable comic book shop I wanted to see.

Alter Ego Comics!

This way for props, flowers, shops, and doggies!

Happy Easter! Here’s a Scene After Our 2013 Road Trip End Credits

April 20, 2014 By in Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

The “faith” aspect of the Midlife Crisis Crossover tagline may seem downplayed here more often than not, especially while diving into the deeper ends of geekery and pop culture, but rest assured it’s never far from my mind. What matters most, what keeps us going, what makes everything possible, what sees us through all that we do together — the hints appear around us everywhere we go.

Even on our 2013 road trip, examples weren’t hard to find. Whether it was a giant cross that would be the last thing we photographed in Ohio on our way home at the end of Day 9…

giant Ohio cross

Continue reading →

2013 Road Trip Photos #36: Outtakes, Part 3/3: the Season Finale

April 19, 2014 By in Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: we guided you through our annual road trip in thirty-three episodes, from Indianapolis to Boston to Cleveland to home again. Next came a three-part collection of outtakes for hardcore MCC fans or just people who like photos of places they’ve never been. Part One gave you more photos from the Boston area; Part Two, more photos around the rest of Massachusetts in general.

Here, then, in our grand finale: outtakes from everywhere and everything else we saw. Pretend these are the bonus photos you’re watching during the “Our 2013 Road Trip” end credits, while the names of myself and my wife scroll past repeatedly for every possible position we served for this production.

Speaking of which: on Day 8 in Cleveland at the A Christmas Story house, my wife Anne tried on a replica of Flick’s aviator cap, one of the perks of the house tour.

Flick hat model, Cleveland

This way for the photo-packed conclusion!

Chicago Photo Tribute #10: Brief Lake Michigan Walkabout

April 12, 2014 By in Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

It’s that time of year again! A time for travel, a time for getting out of the house and out of town, a time for remembering what sunlight feels like, and a time for forgetting all about that nasty winter that we’ll all agree never to speak of again.

In two weeks my wife and I are heading once again up to Chicago to attend C2E2, that annual Midwest gala of a comic book convention that’s as close as we may ever come to San Diego. We’re also planning another walk around downtown Chicago, but haven’t decided on an itinerary. If you know of fantastic places or things around the Loop or the Magnificent Mile that weren’t covered in previous entries (see links below), we’re absolutely all ears.

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover, we shared photos from our visits over the years. With Chicago on our minds once more, it’s time to delve into the ol’ photo bag once more. Our last Chicago romp was last September, which was briefly covered here in an entry about the Gene Siskel Film Center, which for me was the highlight of the day.

Earlier in the day, we skirted once more along the shore of Lake Michigan.

Lake Michigan, Chicago, Navy Pier

This way for more. And we saw a doggie!

2013 Road Trip Photos #35: Outtakes, Part 2/3: More Massachusetts

April 6, 2014 By in Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: Part One of a trilogy of outtake selections from this year’s family vacation photos, those that didn’t make final cut for the original 33-part narrative. Some were omitted for specific reasons; some were due to space, pacing, and attention span considerations; some, I have no idea why.

Part Two, then: Massachusetts randomness, photos held back from Day 3 to Day 6 for reasons.

Beginning with our last stop in Massachusetts on Day 6: the Dr. Seuss National Memorial Sculpture Garden in Springfield. In the original entry I opted for a comprehensive head-to-toe shot of Seuss himself and the Cat in the Hat, but I also like how this pleasantly level portrait incorporates the greenery around the museums.

Dr. Seuss, Cat in the Hat, Dr. Seuss National Sculpture Garden, Springfield, Massachusetts

This way for Massachusetts food, water, and things!

2013 Road Trip Photos #34: Outtakes, Part 1/3: More Freedom Trail

April 1, 2014 By in Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , , 5 Comments

At last it comes to this: the long-running photo series — chronicling our 2013 family road trip to Boston, Cleveland, and other towns along the way — concludes with one more trilogy.

I design our annual travelogues with two rules in mind: (1) each entry should comprise a story, or at least a chapter in a story, not merely a clutch of random pictures drawn from a hat; and (2) for the sake of readers with more limited devices, no entry should be bogged down with megs upon megs upon megs of photos. Sticking to my personal composition targets means a lot of photos don’t make the final lineup. I’m not convinced anyone unrelated to us would want to see all several hundred photos we took this year, but a few more shouldn’t hurt. Besides, I have selfish reasons: a 36-part saga sounds like a much nicer, rounder number than leaving it as a 33-part saga, which would invite curses and fatal feng shui errors in the site decor.

Our first batch of outtakes (plus commentary! as always! like it or not!) is entirely from our walk along Boston’s Freedom Trail and the adjacent areas, as seen in the Day Two entries from our handy, official 2013 Road Trip checklist. Up first: alternate shot of the Benjamin Franklin statue and the building behind it. I went with a head-on shot for the original entry to focus on ol’ Ben himself and make it easier to disregard the building whose name I didn’t write down. Also, it seems wrong to see Ben looking so moody.

moody Benjamin Franklin statue

This way for more deleted photos!

2013 Road Trip Photos #33: the Three Investigators and the Case of the Abandoned Prison

March 5, 2014 By in Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , 6 Comments

Day Nine was the final leg of our journey, from the fair city of Cleveland to our hometown of Indianapolis. By this time my wife, my son, and I were ready to finish our gallivanting, return home, climb back into our own sleeping quarters, and swear off free hotel breakfasts for the rest of the summer. A man can only ingest so many stale mini-muffins before madness begins to creep in at the edges.

But it wouldn’t be our kind of road trip if we let a single pass without at least one stop along the way. Fortunately we found just the place to unwind, wander around, stretch our legs, clear our heads, broaden our horizons, and imagine how daily living might look if we walked in the shoes of another man completely unlike ourselves.

So we went to prison.

cell door, Ohio State Reformatory, Mansfield

Open the door and see what awaited us inside…the Rusty Reformatory of Reckoning!

2013 Road Trip Photos #32: the Great American Splendor

February 24, 2014 By in Comics/Lit, Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Panel 1
Panel 2
To be continued…this way!

2013 Road Trip Photos #31: James Garfield and Friends

February 17, 2014 By in Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , , 2 Comments

Day Eight in Cleveland continued southeast from the Siegel and Shuster boyhood homes to Lake View Cemetery, one of the hilliest and most scenic cemeteries I’ve ever seen. My wife’s penchant for locating Presidential burial sites in other states led us here to visit the final resting place of Cleveland’s own James Garfield, the 20th President of the United States of America.

He died five months after his inauguration, so I didn’t expect the James A. Garfield Memorial to be much more than a decent tombstone with a fence around it, not unlike Thomas Jefferson’s flowery but impassable plot in Monticello. In reality, Garfield’s mausoleum is a little shorter than Grant’s Tomb in Manhattan, but much larger than our house.

James A. Garfield Memorial, Cleveland

This way to see the President…

2013 Road Trip Photos #30: Man of Steel, Sons of Cleveland

February 10, 2014 By in Comics/Lit, Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Day Eight of our nine-day road trip continue in Cleveland due southeast from the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in the kind of neighborhood that wouldn’t normally attract tourists if there weren’t some kind of major draw. As fate would have it, in 1938 a pair of young men named Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster would put their heads together to create an intellectual property (years before the term became commonplace and meaningful) that would bend pop culture into new shapes and change the course of entertainment history.

Superman, Jerry Siegel House, Cleveland

This way, faster than a speeding bullet!

2013 Road Trip Photos #29: Rock ‘n’ Roll, Never Forgotten

February 3, 2014 By in Misc. Media, Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , 4 Comments

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: pics from our visit to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame Museum in scenic, underrated Cleveland. Last time I shared the items and exhibits that struck the deepest chords for me. This time: the general-audience objects that also caught our attention.

For example: FLYING DEATH CARS FROM ABOVE! Stage props from U2’s ’92-’93 Zoo TV tour.

U2 Zoo TV Cars

For those about to rock, enter here!

2013 Road Trip Photos #28: More to Rock-‘n’-Roll Than Elvis and the Beatles

January 28, 2014 By in Misc. Media, Travel Tags: , , , , , , , , , 3 Comments

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover: on Day Eight we woke up in Cleveland on purpose. Not many vacationers will lead a story off with that confession. This wasn’t like our last time in Cleveland, an ill-fated day in 2004 when we ended up trapped there for several hours, having been clobbered by a sneaky one-two punch of alternator failure and overturned semi. No, this time I wanted to be in Cleveland all day long. We had a to-do list of geek stops and I meant to assay every last one of them.

Our second stop of the day has a high-ranking item on my modest bucket list for years: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum, ruling majestically from the coast of Lake Erie. I’ll be honest: its six-hour distance from home wasn’t the only reason I’d procrastinated a visit. I was afraid the whole place will be one massive, nostalgic, retrograde tribute to old acts from thirty or forty years ago, just like the average Grammys ceremony. I was honestly surprised at the breadth of musical acts honored inside these randomly shaped walls.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Museum, Cleveland, Ohio

Follow the backbeat this way…

2013 Road Trip Photos #26: the House That Vitameatavegamin Built

January 19, 2014 By in Travel, TV/DVD Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Previously on Midlife Crisis Crossover:

We spent the late afternoon some 220 miles westward in Jamestown, birthplace of a certain funny redhead that brightened your grandparents’ lives. She used to be in all the papers.

The centerpiece of Lucy tourism is kept downtown in a dual storefront. One half recalls the production company Lucy created with her first husband, actor/musician/bandleader Desi Arnaz..

…and the other half of that storefront is the Lucy Desi Museum, devoted to souvenirs from the lives of TV’s original wacky couple, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. Inside these walls lies a veritable cavalcade of whimsy and wonder and all the Lucy gift-shop merchandise you can carry home in your long, long trailer.

Lucy Desi Museum

This way for more loving of Lucy…