What I said was...

test...

2008-01-16T22:33:00.000-08:00

JBox Fridays: New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle

2007-03-03T16:39:00.000-08:00

Ok, so it's not Friday...but I've been notified with the following warning from blogger:

WARNING

This blog has been locked by Blogger's spam-prevention robots. You will not be able to publish your posts, but you will be able to save them as drafts.

Save your post as a draft or click here for more about what's going on and how to get your blog unlocked.

what the hell? alright, so i clicked that convenient little link and found out that a spam blog is:

What Are Spam Blogs?

As with many powerful tools, blogging services can be both used and abused. The ease of creating and updating webpages with Blogger has made it particularly prone to a form of behavior known as link spamming. Blogs engaged in this behavior are called spam blogs, and can be recognized by their irrelevant, repetitive, or nonsensical text, along with a large number of links, usually all pointing to a single site.

daaaaaaamnn...not only did they temporarily lock my blog, they insulted me at the same time! Oh well...here's this week's video anyway...yeah I know, it's a band repeat, but New Order had a knack for this kind of music!

JBox Fridays: Tainted Love - Soft Cell

2007-02-23T21:46:00.000-08:00

AHHHHH!!! Large floating head in space!!! Seriously, while some of the previous videos have been pretty bad, this one goes the route of boring. I mean really boring...shoot, I'd rather they redid it with clips from the Coneheads movie just to make it better. If you don't know what i'm talking about, go check out that movie...it will all make sense...still, Soft Cell has a pretty catchy chorus in this song...

YouTube search link

My Awesome Friends - Part II

2007-02-20T22:46:00.000-08:00

Jesse's 30th Birthday Party - Part 02 Set, originally uploaded by HandPuppet.

Why have a 30th birthday celebration when you can have 2? Well, as circumstances would have it, I had asked some peeps to hangout on Saturday night to celebrate my birthday. But some had already planned to do something for me on friday, as I mentioned in my previous post. So I got super lucky and in the end had an awesome weekend because of it. Above are some pics that Sung took for Saturday. Enjoy!

My Awesome Friends - Part I

2007-02-18T23:53:00.000-08:00

I'm now officially not a 20something anymore. But if this past weekend is any indication, it doesn't matter. My friends came out in a way I never could have imagined. While my birthday did not officially start until midnight Sunday morning, some of my friends had other plans...check out Sung's recap of this past Friday on his blog:

Sung's Not-*that*-Unemployed Life (really)

JBox Fridays: The Human League - Don't You Want Me Baby

2007-02-16T08:07:00.000-08:00

If you can make it through the whole video without joining in on the chorus, i'll be impressed. As far as the video goes, I'm still trying to figure out what was with the whole vampire look. hmmm...One more bit about the band, The Human League is still together! whoa! I'll have to go searching around to hear what their latest releases sound like. I can't imagine what they would sound like in a non 80's synthpop kinda way...

YouTube search link

Oh man, it's almost here...

2007-02-13T22:46:00.000-08:00

Ok, so this isn't exactly the birthday I'd say I just can't wait for...Actually, I don't mind waiting at all! take your time! I was thinking about it recently...mainly to start the year off. I think I kind of went through a depressed phase thinking about all the personal goals I had setup for myself while growing up. For a while there, I felt pretty sad thinking I failed in some aspects.

Wasn't I supposed to be married with kids by now? Shouldn't I be some big shot in the corporate world? Shouldn't I be gearing up for the next "stage" of my life? Did I screw up somewhere? Did I make a right turn when it should have been left?

It's all BS though. The things I thought were "important milestones" are not things that should define me to this point. They're just things I thought I needed back when I was a kid. What the hell did I know, right? I've done so many things that I never dreamed I would do already and I still have a long life to go (hopefully).

and now for the cheesy bit...

I really do gush over the peeps in my life...my family is really close and even though I'm a good 1700 miles away from them, they have never ever made me feel distant. Anyone who has seen me around them can attest to how happy they make me. I have some pretty awesome friends both here in seattle and around the country too...shoot, they're my extended family...

Each year, I've been able to count on the fact that i'll meet new great people...learn more things at work...explore a little more of the world through my travels...shoot what the hell was I getting depressed about? bring on the big three zero and with that a new great year!

JBox Fridays: Yaz - Don't Go

2007-02-09T19:17:00.000-08:00

Now I KNOW you didn't think I was going to forget about today being Friday! Well for the one of you still reading my blog, here's today's music video pic. I don't really have anything interesting to say about the video, but I will point out two things that pop into my head when i watch it:

The guy needs a SERIOUS haircut
I always thought the lead singer was a guy for some reason

So, on another note, I'm going to start adding links to search for these songs as YouTube has started systematically removing music videos from their site. I'll get into my anger towards that in another post. But, for the meantime, here the link.

Still fuming...

2007-02-05T13:06:00.000-08:00

A friend just emailed me this with the subject header: "Warning: Do not read until bitterness subsides". Well, I read it anyway, and I'm kinda glad I did. Check out the new fan club inspired by our famous Chicago QB, Rex Grossman. Apparently, my friend saw this pic in a message board forum *before* yesterday's game. Rex is a dumb dumb and he deserves all the criticism he gets. To bad there isn't a "Can't Handle Snaps Anonymous" club out there for him to join...grrrrr....

Chicago Sports Weekend - Day 3

2007-02-04T20:43:00.000-08:00

sigh :(

Chicago Sports Weekend - Day 2

2007-02-04T10:34:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, a group of us drove down to Portland to do some shopping and catch the Bulls play in Portland. Well, if I thought Friday night's game was nerve racking, it was nothing compared to what would happen on Saturday night. Our seats were the exact opposite of what we had the night before. We were literally the 4th to last row in the stadium. It was so high that if we looked straight ahead rather than down, we would look at the BACKS of some of the scoreboards. Wow...but to be fair, our tickets were only $10, so what do you expect?

The game was ugly all around. Both teams shot terribly to start the game. The Bulls only scored 12 points in the first quarter and seemed lucky to get that. They went on a tear during the 2nd quarter and it looked like this was going to be a blowout. But, they went cold in the 3rd quarter and back came the Blazers. The 4th quarter was extremely tight. The Bulls ended up getting some key stops on defense and Ben Gordon (33 points) nailed some key free throws to put the game away. In the end, the Bulls walked away with an 88-86 win. Whew!

Chicago Sports Weekend - Day 1

2007-02-04T09:18:00.001-08:00

What a way to set off the weekend! We arrived at Key Arena about 25 minutes before game time. We had awesome seats thanks to Harold's girlfriend. She got him tickets to the game for Christmas and he, in turn, let me tag along. Lucky me! :o) Anyway, I showed up wearing a Bulls ballboy shirt. So, when the local staff were handing out game day programs to everyone in the lower seats, they tried their best to pretend they didn't see us. So much that they put the programs on empty seats rather than give them to us:

IMG_2815.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Well we ended up getting their attention and took some programs. But they didn't look happy about it. Whatever! Now, as awesome as our seats were, check out the phat tickets Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer scored:

IMG_2839.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Yep, that's right...those seats are literally on the Bulls team bench. His son was wearing a Ben Wallace jersey from when he was with the Detroit Pistons. Come on Steve, you telling me you couldn't afford to buy him an updated jersey?? Perhaps even a nice shiny jersey like Kirk Hinrich was wearing?

IMG_2862.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Hinrich ended up having a great game. You could just see he was feeling it that night. Final stat line for kirk: 20 points, 9 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals. More importantly, he did all that while trying to guard Ray Allen. His backcourt co-starter, Ben Gordon, had a quieter night:

IMG_2872.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Ben would end up saving one of his great performances for another day. But still, it wasn't too bad of a night for him: 12 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, 1 steal. Well, since we're at the halfway point of this post, it's only appropriate to introduce the Sonics' cheerleaders who posed very well for us:

IMG_2886.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Yeah, sadly I have to say that their cheerleaders blow the Bulls' cheeleaders away. Ok, back to the game...the star of the night for the Bulls was Luol Deng (#9):

IMG_2863.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Perhaps getting snubbed about going to the All Star game upset him? Check out this "non-All Star" stat line: 27 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal. Yeah, clearly average stuff. As far as the rookies went, we did get to see some of Tyrus Thomas:

IMG_2877.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

He didn't play a whole lot, but there was definitely one play that just had Harold and me shaking our heads. He jumped up from what looked like behind the backboard...contorted his body back around it and tried to lay the ball in. Way too hard to describe but believe me...it was an amazing show of athleticism. And now, on to the best part...the final score:

IMG_2895.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

The game was a nail biter but our boys pulled it out. So I go back to what I stated at the start of the post: What a way to start the weekend!

JBox Fridays: Frankie Goes To Hollywood - Relax

2007-02-02T07:00:00.000-08:00

Oh boy, where do I start with this one. Well, even if you weren't a child of the 80's, you may still remember this song after it made an appearance on the movie Zoolander. Didn't see it? You should! The movie's hilarious! In the movie, they brainwash Zoolander to the tune of this song:

Anyway, getting back on track here...one of the reasons why I picked this genre of music was to see how truly ridiculous some of the videos could be. Well, this one just left me speechless. Well, no not really since I'm "talking" to you about it right now. Apparently they made two versions of this video. The one I embedded above is the second one. Here's a not so safe for work version. If you want a hint as to the content of the video without clicking on the link, let's just say it wouldn't surprise me if this is still a favorite in gay bars...

Anticipation...

2007-02-02T06:49:00.000-08:00

Sigh....I missed it when the Illini went to the Final Four...I missed it when the White Sox won the World Series...and now da Bears are in the Superbowl and again I'm missing "it". That is, the energy that is spilling out of everywhere in Chicago right now. Check out the pic my sister just sent me this morning! Again...sigh...but still....GO BEARS!

UPDATE: Oooooh!! more pics from another sister!! Enjoy (click on any of the pics to see a larger version)!

A blog I can't stop reading...

2007-01-31T21:32:00.000-08:00

So, one of my daily agenda items involves perusing the list of links listed on Reddit. A couple of days ago, I saw some obscure link title "Fired on my second lesson of teaching English". I don't know why I clicked the link, but I'm glad I did. I've been reading this blog for the past three days and the same thoughts keep going through my head each time:

"Why am I reading this again?"
"Oh this is why!"

The past two days were part of an ongoing story. But today, he wasn't able to get back to his story. Still, today's post is still great. Anyway, here's my plug to Firefly's blog.

A crazy Chicago sports weekend

2007-01-30T23:27:00.000-08:00

You can take the guy out of Chicago, but you can never take the Chicago out of the guy. This has never been more true than with the subject of sports. I've lived out here in the northwest for almost a decade now and I have to be honest...Seattle sports bore me. But let's be fair...you can't expect anyone to root for certain teams for 20+ years and then just drop them because they move. It doesn't work that way!

Well, the stars have aligned and we're looking at 3 straight days of Chicago sports on the horizon! Woooo hooooo! Here's the tentative agenda for this weekend:

1. Friday - Head to Key Arena in Seattle to watch the Chicago Bulls take on the Sonics
2. Saturday - Make the 2-3 hour drive south to Portland to watch the Chicago Bulls take on the Trailblazers
3. Sunday - Cook some specially shipped pizza from Chicago and root on Da Bears in Superbowl XLI.

Man oh man, I can't wait! I just hope Sunday night involves a lot of celebrating!

Unveiling the Top 5

2007-01-27T10:32:00.000-08:00

So if there's one thing that most people will rip me about, it's the fact that I have the entire Friends series on DVD. But, if there's one thing I've taken from the series that has stuck, it's the concept of the top 5 list. That is, the list of people that you're allowed to hook up with even if you're in a relationship at the time. Well, I've had this conversation over the last few years with different people, and seem to keep forgetting what the latest order is. Soooooo...tada! here's my first unveiling!

I'm leaving the list in a permanent spot on the right from now on and reserve the right to modify at will...but if I do, I'll be sure to post a new cover art. mmmm...hope you enjoy this one as much as I do!

JBox Fridays: New Order - True Faith

2007-01-26T18:11:00.000-08:00

Well, because I'm bored...and more importantly, because i CAN, I'm instituting a new "feature" for my blog this year: JBox (Jesse's jukebox) Fridays. That's right, now you can come to my blog and not only be annoyed by my words, but also my taste in music! :o) This year, i'm going to try to keep a theme: 80's British music ala New Wave. Ok, so i tried doing some research into whether or not the music I'm talking about actually is New Wave and now I'm not so sure. But whatever it is, you should see at least a lot of similarities in the songs.

Today's choice is one of my faves: New Order! I'll let the band do their thing! Hope you enjoy it!

Daaaaa Bears!!!

2007-01-22T15:11:00.000-08:00

Oh my gosh it's happened!! My beloved Bears are in Superbowl XLI! I have to admit, both of the last two games have left me a nervous wreck, but so long as they keep finding a way to win, I don't care!! It's almost surreal to see the differences between this year's team and that of the '85 Bears. I mean, back then, it wasn't a question of *if* the Bears were going to win, but by how much. This year, it I've seen critics talk about how there was no way the Bears would even make it this far with their QB and injuries on defense. Well, looking at the early odds in Vegas shows the Colts to be big favorites going into the championship. Man oh man, I hope the boys can pull it out!

Stereophonics - Rainbows & Pots of Gold (Live)

2007-01-20T21:01:00.000-08:00

I don't know how many of you are familiar with the band Stereophonics. A friend of mine had me listen to a song of theirs a while back call Handbags and Gladrags. It's apparently a Rod Stewart cover. Anyway, ever since I heard that song, I've been a fan of the band. Actually, I'm usually a pretty big fan of any UK band...U2, Coldplay, The Beatles...and on and on...

Anyway, I was listening to this song a while back on my ITunes and just love it. But it wasn't until I went looking for the video on YouTube that I found out the story behind it. Or maybe I should say the "gossip" behind it. If you go to the YouTube site for this video you can read the comments there...otherwise, just make up your own theories based on the lyrics in the song...

Don Omar - Ella y Yo

2007-01-20T12:15:00.000-08:00

So I found a neat little gadget to embed song lyrics on my blog and decided to try out how the layout would look next to the video of the song from YouTube. Looks pretty good to me!

If you're interested as to what the song is actually about...well...basically the main guy, Don Omar, is wrecked with guilt because he's been sleeping with a married woman. His buddy is trying to console him, but it isn't working. He tries to tell him that love should overcome even the fact that she's married and that her husband probably already knows he's lost her. Then Don Omar lays the bombshell on him...it's the friend's wife....oops!

A proper lap dance

2007-01-02T21:03:00.000-08:00

A proper lap dance, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

My response to Sung...you didn't think you were the only one taking pictures did you? looks like you had a good time ringing in 2007...

oh yeah...while we're at it...glad i didn't get any kisses from sung on New Years...

Sung's New Year Kiss...w/ tongue?, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Your girl may think different, but that might be a little too much tongue dood...

Grand Central Station - New York,New York

2006-10-15T23:01:00.000-07:00

IMG_2664.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Pretty cool train station...the ceiling is painted with all the famous constellations. The main area is just huge! But the main thing I remembered didn't even have to do with trains...just some really pretty cars that were being raffled off:

IMG_2679.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

yummm! 300 tickets were getting sold per car for $1000 each. Not a bad idea on their part! they still get the $300k for the car and a bunch of people lose a lot of money...

Junior's Cheesecake - New York,New York

2006-10-15T22:38:00.000-07:00

IMG_2661.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

I had high hopes for real New york Cheesecake. So we hit their most famous joint for some quality cheesecake. The verdict? It's cheesecake. Nothing particularly phenomenal that you can't get anywhere. They were charging something ridiculous like $5 a slice. At least the ones at the Cheesecake Factory are bigger. Hmmm...Eli's anyone?

Lombardi's Pizza - New York,New York

2006-10-15T22:34:00.000-07:00

IMG_2656.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Had to see what all the talk about New York Style pizza was about. We heard this was one of the best places in town. They still use a coal oven to heat up their pizzas. We got a Sausage/Pepperoni/Roasted Red Peppers pizza and it was delicious! I still say Chicago has the best pie in the states, but this pizza is right up there! You'll find it in the Little Italy area.

Statue Of Liberty - New York,New York

2006-10-15T22:30:00.000-07:00

IMG_2644.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Did you really think we'd miss it? Yeah, I don't think so. Let me just offer up some advice if you'd like to go. The ferries go to both the statue's island and Ellis Island before returning. We caught the first ferry out too avoid lines. We even avoided Ellis island because we were REALLy short on time. And the whole trip still took us 3 hours. So make sure you have the time!

Tired...So Tired...

2006-10-15T22:26:00.000-07:00

RoadTripDay16.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Well here it is...our last day in the Big Apple and -- more importantly -- the end of the road trip. But we still had a few things to take care of before marking NYC as officially "done"...

Gray's Papaya - New York,New York

2006-10-15T22:23:00.000-07:00

IMG_2566.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

We ran into this place on our way back from the bar. It was yet another check in our tourist's book that we had to hit so we stopped for a hot dog. I remember them making a big deal out of this in the movie Fools Rush In (yeah I watch too many movies). Let me tell yeah, I was pretty disappointed...skinny hotdos with hardly any taste at all...and that's after a bunch of drinks when any food you eat will usually taste like the best food ever...too bad...

The Apartment - New York,New York

2006-10-15T22:18:00.000-07:00

IMG_2543.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Bora and Charlie took us to a really cool bar that you just won't find in most places...literally! There's no sign out front, you just need to know where it is. Here's what the front door looks like:

IMG_2556.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

but the inside is swank and looks like someone's apartment...the idea is so simple...yet brilliant!! We got there a little early, but after a certain time its by reservation only. yowsa!

Cover Art For Our Trip?

2006-10-15T22:15:00.000-07:00

IMG_2540.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

AWESOME!!! We couldn't have planned a better picture during our trip! How did they know?? :o)

Cupcakes anyone?

2006-10-15T22:14:00.000-07:00

IMG_2537.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

So after dinner, we decided to get some dessert. There is a REALLY popular cupcake place in NYC. The only problem is that I can't remember the name. Once I find out, i'll update this post.

So how popular is popular? Ever see a line for a cupcake place at 11:30 at night on a Saturday? Ever see a place with a self-proclaimed "Cupcake Bouncer"? Yeah...*that* popular...

Havana Alma De Cuba - New York,New York

2006-10-15T22:09:00.000-07:00

IMG_2526.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Ate dinner at this Cuban place and it was fantastic! The place looks really nice and the portions of food you get are huge. But make sure to try out their Sangria, tis was awesome! I wanted to try their Mojitos too, but couldn't stop drinking the Sangria! They also have live Cuban music there too! Highly recommend this place in the West Village!

Naked Cowboy - New York,New York

2006-10-15T21:59:00.000-07:00

IMG_2522.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Sometimes, seeing the "sights" is not a good thing...

South Street Seaport - New York,New York

2006-10-15T21:55:00.000-07:00

IMG_2508.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

This place is cool as hell. It reminds me a little of Navy Pier in Chicago. Lots of stores for the shoppers, but also lots of street entertainers. I was able to catch the breakdancers in the pic above. They also had your typical "statue people". Know what I'm talking about ? Well, this time they had arobot guy who has a little box to play robot noises. Very nice act in my opinion:

IMG_2515.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Brooklin Bridge - New York,New York

2006-10-15T21:49:00.000-07:00

IMG_2503.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

After leaving the Wall Street area, I decided to take a walk along the water and ended up heading towards the Brooklyn bridge. This would be as close as I would get though with the limited time I had...

Wall Street Bull - New York,New York

2006-10-15T21:45:00.000-07:00

IMG_2500.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

I've seen so many pictures of this statue that I decided I'd make another! the only problem, is that EVERYONE is trying to get a picture of themselves in front of it. So getting a picture of the bull is really tough. But I lucked out.

The funny bit is that some people would get sick of waiting for a photo, so they'd umm..."improvise":

IMG_2501.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

in what country is this a common practice?? ;o)

Ground Zero - New York,New York

2006-10-15T21:35:00.000-07:00

IMG_2486.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Well, I've read that they were going to rebuild that area, but wow are they moving fast! The entire area is gated off but you'll find lots of notes all around with poems people have written about 9/11. You still get that weird feeling in your stomach when you walk around there knowing all those people died there.

New York Stock Exchange - New York,New York

2006-10-15T21:32:00.000-07:00

IMG_2480.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

hmmm...who can I talk to about that stagnant MSFT stock price?? Then again, it has been steadily climbing since I visited there!

Federal Hall - New York,New York

2006-10-15T21:30:00.000-07:00

IMG_2478.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Man, my memory of American history is rusty. Supposedly this is the site where George Washington was inaugerated as the first president of the United States. I'm too lazy to verify it, so comment back if you know different!

Rice To Riches - New York,New York

2006-10-15T21:26:00.000-07:00

IMG_2472.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Rice pudding anyone? I want to say that I saw a scene in the movie, Hitch, that takes place here. So we decided to check the place out. Picture a Baskin robbins type place and switch all the ice cream with different flavors of rice pudding. Now, I understand that not everyone likes rice pudding. But, if you're in NYC and do like it, you better hit this place because their stuff is faaannnnntastic. I had a Banana rice pudding with graham cracker topping:

IMG_2475.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

the picture doesn't do it justice...the good news is they supposedly ship as well, so I say just try it for yourself!

Little Italy - New York,New York

2006-10-15T21:20:00.000-07:00

IMG_2466.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Little Italy is...well...little...

It's literally right next to Chinatown as you walk up Mulberry street. The thing that you notice right away in this part of town is the smell from all the restaurants in the air....MMMM MMMM!!! We already ate in Chinatown, but the smell was making us hungry all over again! This Italian deli was a big culprit of the great smell too:

IMG_2469.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Chinatown - New York,New York

2006-10-15T20:57:00.000-07:00

IMG_2447.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

I have to say I was expecting a little more from the area. When I was in San Francisco's chinatown, I felt like I could easily have been in China itself. I didn't get that feeling in NYC.

There are tons of people everywhere there, and we even caught some festival while we were there (yay dragons!!). The streets are lined with street vendors selling everything from fresh fruits to purses...

IMG_2441.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

some different looking fruits by the way...

IMG_2443.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

and it's amazing what people can make with palm reeds...

No Need For An Alarm

2006-10-15T17:45:00.000-07:00

RoadTripDay15.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

So, among the many differences you'll find between the cities of Seattle and New York, there is no more audibly notable difference than the car horn. By this time in the trip, we were all tired. So the idea of setting the alarm to wake up early was not something any of us wanted to hear. It didn't matter though. Around 8 in the morning you hear a car horn...then another...then another 4...Finally, it felt like EVERY car on the street let out a long continious honk...

HHHHHHOOOOONNNNNNNKKKKKKK!!!!

wow. Patience is a virtue not known in NYC.

I'd Like To Give A Shout Out...

2006-10-14T18:21:00.000-07:00

IMG_2431.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Bora and Charlie, really hooked us up in NYC. Katz was just one small example! We told them they should start a blog about places people should go to since they seem to have the whole city scooped!

Katz's Delicatessan - New York,New York

2006-10-14T18:15:00.000-07:00

IMG_2421.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Why is he blogging about this??? Let me take you a little closer...

IMG_2422.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Still have no idea? For you movie buffs, this is the location of one of the most unforgettable moments in the film "When Harry Met Sally"....the famous orgasm scene, that is...."I'll have what she's having"

B.Y.O.B.

2006-10-14T18:12:00.000-07:00

IMG_2418.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

So we were going to meet up with my friends Bora & Charlie and a place on the lower East Side of Manhattan. Very cool area, but one thing that really stuck out to us was their Bring Your Own Booze policy. Apparently there's some weird stipulation where a lot of the restaurants in that part of town can't serve alcohol. But, they don't mind you bringing in your own. Which, in retrospect, is awesome! I mean, I'd rather pay $7 for a six pack than the single beer most restaurants would probably offer at that same price. The only thing is, did anybody remember to bring an opener?? ;o)

IMG_2417.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

yeah, that's his belt alright!

Empire State Building - New York, New York

2006-10-14T17:59:00.000-07:00

IMG_2375.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

On to our next big tourist attraction!! So let me just say that the fact we went on our road trip at this point in the year proved to be the most valuable here. Why you ask? well, i doubt you'll ever see this room look like this in July:

IMG_2380.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

That's the line to get in the elevator that will take you up to the 87th floor...ummm...I don't think so!!!

IMG_2390.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

In the end, though, the view from the top is breathtaking...above, you'll see a view of the Wall Street area of Manhattan along with the Statue Of Liberty off to the right...

IMG_2406.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

...well you didn't think I was going to leave out at least one photo of Central Park did you? It's blocked by some other buildings, but you can still get a good idea of how trully large that park is

St. Patrick's Cathedral - New York,New York

2006-10-14T17:57:00.000-07:00

IMG_2365.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

If you want to see Gothic architecture at its absolute finest, you'll be sure to check out this church. It's also right there on the famous 5th Ave which should ring a bell to those of the shopping fanatics. I'm wondering if this is the same church that the Stay Puft Marshmelow Man stomps on in The Ghostbusters movie...hmm...

Museum Of Modern Art - New York

2006-10-14T17:40:00.000-07:00

IMG_2297.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Ok, so we're museum junkies...but I've heard so much about this place from magazines and such that I just had to check it out. There are some pretty famous pieces in this place, but honestly, the amount of stuff we saw in there was a big let down after seeing the Art Institute in Chicago. Still, there were a lot of gems here like this nice Jackson Pollock piece:

IMG_2307.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

...or the very first Van Gogh painting I ever learned about (A Starry Night):

IMG_2341.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

and my new favorite...the image that i'll probably end up putting up on my desktop the next time I leave on vacation (Edward Ruscha):

IMG_2323.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

I fyou'd like to see more, just click on any of the images and sorth through my photos on Flickr

Who's Idolizing Who?

2006-10-14T17:38:00.000-07:00

IMG_2294.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Yeaaahh...that's right! Nothing like walking down 7th Ave (that's not just any street mind you...it's the one that leads to Times Square) and seeing a familiar name. Just thought my Seattle peeps would get a kick out of it.

Time Square - New York, New York

2006-10-14T17:35:00.000-07:00

IMG_2285.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

How many times had I seen this place during all those New Year's specials? Too many. But, now we were finally walking around there. Kinda surreal to be honest. I mean, seeing what we've seen along the entire road trip and comparing it to this was just ridiculous. It's definitely a mega tourist trap, but what do you expect. Lots of purty lights that made me think a trip to Tokyo might have to be an an upcoming agenda.

On To Our Final Destination...

2006-10-14T17:30:00.000-07:00

RoadTripDay14.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Our arrival into New York City was significant...it was the only city where we would park the car and never get back into it. Our trust Ford Escape (or rather both of them) had survived just over 5000 miles of road tripping. But this is NYC, and our cab ride from the airport (that's where we dropped off the car) showed us the only important thing you need to know....you don't want to drive in this city!

Harvard University - Boston,Massachusetts

2006-10-06T19:53:00.000-07:00

IMG_2269.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

This is all we saw of Harvard. :o( If only we hadn't spent all our time walking the stupid Freedom Trail! The area that the campus lies in is called Cambridge. We drove through it at night and it looked great. It will be the first thing I visit when I head back out there.

Mike's Pastry - Boston,Massachusetts

2006-10-06T19:51:00.000-07:00

IMG_2257.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Here's another place we were told was a must visit in Boston. Don't you love how most places people recommend are food places? I think if someone asked me about places to visit in Seattle, half of them would be food related.

Anyway, the place was pretty busy, and what better to try in a Boston pastry shop but Boston Creme Pie. MMMM...we finished 2 slices of this in about 20 seconds...

Paul Revere's House - Boston,Massachusetts

2006-10-06T19:47:00.000-07:00

IMG_2233.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

This was our reward for finishing the trail. wow. Looks like a typical house in Seattle to be honest! Wasn't he just a scout? Oh well, just figured I'd show you what you'd be missing if you didn't visit this area of Boston.

Freedom Trail - Boston,Massachusetts

2006-10-06T19:45:00.000-07:00

IMG_2203.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Now, I like a tourist attraction as much as the next guy, but the Freedom Trail in Boston is just over the top in my book. They painted a red line all throughout the city to follow the route Paul Revere took while letting the locals know that the British were coming to start the war. What is does is zig zag you across the whole city with the majority of the areas not being very interesting at all. If you're short on time, I suggest you don't bother trying to walk the trail.

Cheers Bar - Boston,Massachusetts

2006-10-06T19:35:00.000-07:00

IMG_2175.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

The name of the bar is actually the Bull And Finch Bar. From what I understand, only the outside was used for the TV shots. The inside looks just a little bit like the tv show. The first thing you notice is it looks really small inside at first and there is no full square bar. But there is a hallway that leads to a back room that has another bar and a dining area.

This place is definitely a tourist trap, but what the hell...ya gotta hit it, right?

Legal Sea Foods - Boston,Massachusetts

2006-10-06T19:27:00.000-07:00

IMG_2167.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Time fo some chowda! I'm still working on building up my liking of seafood. Living in Seattle definitely helps that. But, clam chowder is not something I've been a fan of yet. Still, you can't hit Boston without trying some of their home cooked chowda. We got some advice about where the best place to eat it and Legal Sea Foods was the place.

When you walk in, it kinda looks fancy/chainish....and it is. But damn, all their food is top notch! We recommend this place highly!

ADVICE: So if you are planning a day trip to Boston and need to park, here's what I recommend: Go to the Park-Square Legal Sea Foods location and park in the parking garage in the same building. It costs $18 for the whole day, but Legal Sea Foods will validate $8 of it. From there you can walk to just about anywhere in Boston downtown. And, since you have it for the whole day, you don't have to worry about refilling the meter.

Fenway Park - Boston,Massachusetts

2006-10-06T19:15:00.000-07:00

IMG_2117.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

To this point, we had seen quite a few stadiums from the outside:

Miller Park in Milwaukee
Wrigley Field in Chicago (yeah, i'm not stepping foot in there except to watch the White Sox beat the Cubs on their own field)
US Cellular in Chicago
Soldier Field in Chicago
Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati
Giants Stadium in NY

So we had to go into at least one stadium on our trip. And you cannot go wrong with picking Fenway Park.

The tour was great, but what really opened my eyes was the seating in Fenway. You are so close to the field it's not even funny. During the tour, we got to sit in various seats around the stadium (including on the Green Monster...AWESOME!). Every seat had a great view. Add the history for that stadium and I can't see how anyone can argue that there's a better ballpark in all of baseball. Congrats Bostonians on getting to watch your baseball games in that place...I'm beyond jealous.

The Big Dig - Boston, Massachusetts

2006-10-06T19:01:00.000-07:00

IMG_2068.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

GULP! Ok I admit it...I'm a pretty big Discovery Channel junkie...mainly shows like Modern Marvels or Megastructures. Well, I can't remember which show had it, but one of them had a whole episode about the Big Dig project in Boston. The main idea is to move the highways underground through the city to open up the land above ground to things like parks, etc. Noble idea, but the project is still going on (mmm...like how your tax money is still going there??) and recently there was a story about a huge chunk of concrete falling in one of the tunnels killing a woman.

So as we drove through it, all you heard coming from our car was:

"Oh God!"
"Oh Jeez!"
"Oh boy"
"Oh my goodness gracious"
oh you get the point...in any case...SCARY! it even looks kinda patched together as you drive through it...yeeeaahhh...

We're there already???

2006-10-06T18:52:00.000-07:00

RoadTripDay13.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Holy cow is Rhode Island small. So we drove over to Boston after waking up in Providence. It took all of 40 or so minutes to get there. Are you kidding me? That's my commute to work on busy days!! Wow!

Benefit Street - Providence,Rhode Island

2006-10-05T23:40:00.000-07:00

IMG_2065.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Easily the prettiest -- and oldest -- "homes" street you'll see. House after house of beautifully restored (or maintained?) houses all looking different from one another. Definitely a far cry from the rows of cookie cutter homes you see in today's suburbs.

Each house has a plaque that identifies when it was built too. Very neat!

By the way, from what I could tell, this is also a divider street between Brown University and RISD. I've heard...ahem...at least a few jokes cracked at Brown University students' expense! ;o)

Rhode Island School Of Design - Providence,Rhode Island

2006-10-05T23:34:00.000-07:00

IMG_2058.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

One of two schools we saw in the area (the other was Brown University). We caught some good glimpses of RISD, though, while walking through downtown. Plus, I actually know someone who goes to RISD, so it gets my attention by default. You can definitely see a lot of the influences of the school's students all over downtown...mainly in the local stores...definitely a good window shopping area

Providence,Rhode Island

2006-10-05T23:24:00.000-07:00

IMG_2055.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

So our next stop was to be in the capital of the smallest state. We were going to crash at my friend Molly's place. Makes sense...little person...little state (Molly, if you're reading this...I'm just keeeedeeeeng). The area is small, but looks very nice! You have the capital, and two universities all within the small city limits. Not a whole lot of other states can claim that!

Mystic Seaport, Connecticut

2006-10-05T23:20:00.000-07:00

IMG_2042.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

I don't know how many times my sisters watched the movie Mystic Pizza. So many times, that it would be impossible for me to not remember it. Anyway, on our way through Connecticut I saw the signs to go there. If that pizza place would have been real, I would have made the guys turn off to go there and try it...man I'm addicted to pizza.

Rocky Statue - Philadelphia,Pennsylvania

2006-10-05T23:17:00.000-07:00

IMG_2010.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Well you can't complete the whole Rocky theme without checking out that statue. If I remember correctly, they made it for Rocky 3. I've heard rumors that they left it to the city after the movie was done being filmed. But, the city didn't want it. Still, it was too heavy to move, so the city just left it there...If anyone knows whether this is true or not, I'd like to know...

Benjamin Franklin Parkway - Philadelphia,Pennsylvania

2006-10-05T23:12:00.000-07:00

IMG_1986.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

So that street that I mentioned in the Rodin Museum post was actually this one. The main reason we were walking down the street is because it's the one that Sylvestor Stallone ran down in that famous Rocky training scene (yeah yeah...I know, pretty corny, but whatever, we're tourists!). Up in the distance of this pic you'll see the Art Museum that has the steps he runs up

Rodin Museum - Philadelphia,Pennsylvania

2006-10-05T22:59:00.000-07:00

IMG_1993.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Add this to the quickly growing list of things I didn't know were in Philly. I'm sure most people reading this will probably recognize the statue above. We were just walking down a big street in Philly when we saw it. I wonder how good the replica statue, we saw outside, is of the real thing. We just walked around the outside and were able to see another of his works in the front archway:

IMG_1995.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

I remember seeing a photo of this in an Art History class back at school. The piece is called The Gates Of Hell. That's some amazing skill...

Franklin Institute - Philadelphia,Pennsylvania

2006-10-05T22:46:00.000-07:00

IMG_1979.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

I saw a picture of this statue while at the visitor's center that was by Independence Hall. I guess I just always figured all those kind of statues were somewhere in D.C.. It turned out that this guy is in the lobby for one of their museums. We were short on time, so we weren't going to check out the museum, but at least we could take a couple of shots of this guy who was nice placed in their free lobby!

Independence Hall - Philadelphia,Pennsylvania

2006-10-04T22:06:00.000-07:00

IMG_1904.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

So, first up on that day's agenda was to visit here. I'm sure you've seen this painting in your history books growing up:

IMG_1930.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Well, that took place in this building. One interesting thing that I learned during the tour about this picture had to do with the delegate that is signing the Declaration. Apparently he was the only guy whom the artist could not find a previous profile painting of. So to complete the painting without deviating from fact, he just "turned him away" from the viewing audience and everything worked out. Wanna see what the room looks like in real life? Here ya go:

IMG_1941.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

It's pretty surreal to walk around in that building. The tour guide was pretty good, and they made a point to have different accessories on each desk in the real room to show where they thought each delegate sat back in the day. Pretty neat on their part. Also, the chair where George Washington would have sat is the original. Pretty amazing!

Excuse Me?

2006-10-04T22:04:00.000-07:00

IMG_1926.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

When my friend Neha was talking about her neighborhood, she mentioned that the locals liked to refer to the area as the gayborhood. This sign seemed to agree...

Philly's Growing On Me

2006-10-04T22:00:00.000-07:00

RoadTripDay12.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

So after hanging out with my friend Neha the night before (thanks for letting us crash Neha!!), we were off to an early start the next day to see as much as we could of the rest of Philly. At first, we didn't think we had much left to see, but we ended up finding out that we were way wrong.

Let me just say that this city surprised me a lot. It's not that I thought Philly was a bad city or anything, I just didn't think anything stood out about it. The people there seem very cool and laid back. And the layout of the city is perfect for the urbanites...seems very seattle-like in some areas...

Franklin Court - Philadelphia,Pennsylvania

2006-10-02T21:10:00.000-07:00

IMG_1905.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

If you're ever in Philadelphia, make sure to head over to Franklin court. The post office right there on Market street will stamp a B Free Franklin stamp when on your stamps when you mail anything from there. Makes a post card from Philly even neater!

What This Trip Is About

2006-10-02T20:41:00.000-07:00

IMG_1900.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

I saw this quote when walking through the visitor center and thought it was better than any thing I could have said to describe what this trip was about. Just wanted to share it with you...

Liberty Bell - Philadelphia,Pennsylvania

2006-10-02T20:40:00.000-07:00

IMG_1891.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Oh man, now we're talking. I don't know about you, but I've read about this bell so many times during history classes growing up. It was somewhat surreal to be standing 3 feet away from it.

The thing that made us all chuckle about all the hoopla is that the main premise behind the bell (the crack) has nothing to do with any major historical event like a bomb blast or anything. Nope, it has to do with shoddy craftsmanship...oops!

But at least it's free to visit it!

Pat's - Philadelphia,Pennsylvania

2006-10-02T20:27:00.000-07:00

IMG_1856.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

On to our second cheese steak destination...Pat's. So, from what I heard from people familiar with the area, there is a huge rivalry with Geno's as you'd expect. Pat's seemed like a no nonsense type place that seemed to have a little more customers at that time than Geno's did. They don't have all the crazy decorations that their competitor has and if you look at their menu, it tells you how to order (I heard that if you go up to the window on regular days and don't know what you want, you'll be told to go to the end of the line...holy Soup Nazi!)

Their sandwich, right off the bat, looks way different from the first:

IMG_1857.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Well! They've got Geno's beat on filling amount! We ordered the exact same ingredients as the last place to be objective about our comparison. And, we all quickly agreed that the sandwich seemed to lack the flavor of the last place. But, going back to what I heard, people always seem to like just one or the other...makes for a great rivalry huh? I recommend you try both to see which one you like!

Geno's Steaks - Philadelphia,Pennsylvania

2006-10-02T20:13:00.000-07:00

IMG_1855.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

So let me just start out by saying I've never been a big Cheese Steak fan. But I hadn't been to Philly before either. Given all the buzz about their cheese steaks, it was high up on our agenda of things to do in Philly. We found out that two of the most popular places to eat are right across the street from each other.

The first one we hit was called Geno's. The only reason we picked it was because of the added gaudiness of its building. Nice job guys! but we knew we'd be having dinner with a friend of mine in a few hours so we didn't want to get overly full. We decided to split one amongst the three of us for a taste test:

IMG_1853.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

We went pretty plain with ours...just steak, provolone cheese and onions. In a word, I thought it was awesome. The steak had great flavor and the onions were sauteed just enough. The bread also had a little juice in it that reminded me of Italian Beef sandwiches from Chicago. The only knock I had on their sandwich was the amount of stuff in their sandwich...it was a little lean on the filling...

What's funny about this photo?

2006-10-02T19:52:00.000-07:00

IMG_1843.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Give up? Look at the mini SUV in this pic...it's parked in the median! It was the first thing we noticed as we entered Philadelphia. It wasn't the only one either. For the entire length of the street, the entire median was full of parked cars. I've never seen that anywhere so I just had to have a picture of it.

East Coast Tolls

2006-10-02T19:49:00.000-07:00

IMG_1842.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Oh my God...the tolls we hit through Maryland, Jersey, and New York are downright crazy. I'm used to tolls from my Chicago days, but those are nothing compared to these. When you'[re seeing the cost of tolls to be $4.50, $5, and $6 you can't help but have your jaw drop. We were thinking that it might have been smarter to get the Easy Pass instead to save on the cost. At least, we thought it would be like the Illinois I Pass that makes all tolls half of what cash only drivers would have to pay. Nope...not on the East Coast...everyone pays the same amount...the passes out there are just for convenience...ouch...

Boardwalk - Atlantic City,New Jersey

2006-10-02T19:43:00.000-07:00

IMG_1808.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

I could be wrong, but isn't this *the* famous boardwalk? The one that the song that goes "unnnder the booooarrddwalk...down by the sea..." is about? Well, it's nice and all...but if you're looking to get blown away by some majesty about it, forget it. There's a ton of souvenir shops along the way...oh wait...excuse me, I meant overpriced souvenir shops. Need an example? In our ongoing quest to get postcards, I needed to get more stamps for them. I found a machine for stamps in one that offered two $0.24 postcard stamps for $1.00. Yeah, no adjust that for items that aren't just 24 cents and you get the picture.

There are a few big casinos along the boardwalk as well, but even those pale in size to the giant Las Vegas ones. A coworker of mine from Jersey mentioned that no one flies to Atlantic City to go there. The only people that go there are from New York or travelling through on road trips...makes sense to me...

So This Is What This Place Looks Like During The Day

2006-10-01T16:00:00.000-07:00

RoadTripDay11.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

In our mad rush to get out of Baltimore the night before, we had to arrive in Atlantic City at night. On the plus side, you get to see all the bright lights of Atlantic City. It's basically a smaller version of Las Vegas for those who haven't been there. But the next morning was all about exploring under the aid of the sun...

Atlantic City,New Jersey

2006-10-01T11:39:00.000-07:00

IMG_1805.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Overall, we were not impressed with Baltimore. So, we figured why even bother sticking around? We didn't unpack at any hotel, so it was easy to keep on moving. Atlantic City was a good 2 hours away so we got out of dodge right after dinner.

The one thing that started to get us at this point were the tolls. Oh man, now i'm used to tolls from when I lived in Chicago. But even today, the tolls in Chicago are nothing compared to those on the east coast. And the drive to Atlantic City is no different.

There really is nothing in the part of Jersey that we passed through. And even Atlantic City is not that big...But for that night, we just had one thing in mind...Where's the poker room?

Crab Cakes - Baltimore,Maryland

2006-10-01T11:34:00.000-07:00

IMG_1748.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

The road tripping book we had seemed to be spot on about all the aspect of Baltimore to this point, so when we read that we should try the crab cakes there we did...I must say, I'm not a bit crab anything guy. But these were extremely tender. Definitely recommend you try some while visiting there...

Inner Harbor - Baltimore,Maryland

2006-10-01T11:32:00.000-07:00

IMG_1725.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

One of the nicest areas in the city. The harbor has a huge boardwalk where you find a good mix of tourists and regulars. It seems to be a favorite for the local joggers as we saw tons of them. The night we hit it, they also had a street performer doing covers of guitar ballads...not too shabby!

Baltimore,Maryland

2006-10-01T11:23:00.000-07:00

IMG_1714.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Sigh...I had much higher expectations for this city. Everyone had told me about how clean and prety it was...especially around teh harbor area. Well yeah, but that's not at all a good representation of this city. When we arrived into the city, we wanted to find our hotel first. The Streets & Trips we were using found a location for a Super 8 near the city, so we followed those directions.

When we got off the highway, it was looking like the Baltimore I'd heard about (see pic above). But, as we following along the road (I believe it was route 40) things just got progressively worse. The architecture for the city was still very cool, but you could definitely see the area looking more rundown really fast. I felt as though the whole northern part of the city was a ghetto to be quite honest. It was like a Dave Chappelle joke where we just started seeing nothing but liquor stores everywhere. This billboard below just iced it:

IMG_1717.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Are you kidding me? The pretty part of downtown was nice, but it just seemed so wrong how they ignored the really bad parts of town (which is a pretty large part of downtown as we saw it...

Hawks - Ohio River Valley

2006-09-28T18:26:00.000-07:00

IMG_1710.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

So, I've heard a lot of people complain about how boring the drive is along the valley. Personally, I liked it. I think I had an extra thing going for me since I had already passed through so many different terrain types already along the trip. Montana was distinctively different with sharp rocky mountains. The "mountains" along the valley were not sharp at all and filled with trees a lot different from the evergreens we're used to in Seattle.

But the most interesting part of the trip for me were all the hawks you could see along the highway flying around. They looked huge even from our vantage point. Just amazing to see them...

Wheeling,West Virginia

2006-09-28T06:54:00.000-07:00

IMG_1675.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

We stopped here to add to our side job of getting postcards from each state along the way. Luckily for us, there's a 13 or so mile stretch that you have to cross before getting into Pennsylvania from Ohio. The city was very "cute" looking...that is, until I saw they had a sports team called the "Nailers"....wow!

Columbus,Ohio

2006-09-28T06:50:00.000-07:00

IMG_1654.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Ok, I make my fair share of fun of my Ohio State friends and all, but I have to admit, that the city of Columbus is actually quite pretty. They have a decent skyline, but in general the area felt like a smaller Seattle to me without all the hills.

White Castle Headquarters - Columbus,Ohio

2006-09-28T06:27:00.000-07:00

IMG_1650.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Oh man! Am I dreaming? So, some of my Ohio State friends might have mentioned in the past about the White Castle HQ, but I can't remember at the moment. Hey, I'm an Illini, it's not like I'm going to pay *that* much attention about Ohio State stuff! ;o)

Anyway, we decided to check it out in hopes that they might have a tour. The honest truth is they didn't have a tour. It's a corporate office...people don't just go there to see a tour because they don't make the actual food there. But, they made up a tour for us anyway! I swear the people there were so nice to us!

They had a lot of memorabilia of old White Castle stuff and walked us through the whole building except for the testing lab (DARN!). At the end of our tour they even gave us souvenirs:

*White Castle shirt
*White Castle bandana
*White Castle coffe mug
*2 White Castle pens

and all nicely packaged in a White Castle bag. they rock! :o)

Hope Today Is Better Than Yesterday

2006-09-28T06:20:00.000-07:00

RoadTripDay10.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

We really didn't have too high of hopes for our activities in day 10 of the trip. We had made it to Columbus, Ohio a little late the night before in hopes of being able to reach Baltimore a lot earlier the next day.

We were on our trek to find yet another Super 8 hotel but were denied the night before and ended up crashing at a Red Roof Inn. Pretty ghetto, and no free internet, but the rate was really cheap and all we wanted to do was sleep anyway, so it all worked out.

One huge bonus was our accidentally passing the White Castles Headquarters!!! OMG! It's like the angels in the heavans were singing their hallelujahs! Guess where our first visit was going to be??

"Some" Bell - Newport,Kentucky

2006-09-27T14:58:00.000-07:00

IMG_1620.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

If there's one thing we've noticed during our travels is that cities will put up almost anything in their towns to draw attention from tourists. It works with us at least...Now, this bell may have a lot of significence to them, but I just can't remember for the life of me what it was...I'll look it up and update this post later...

UPDATE: Alright, a quick search for this brought up a Wiki site for it. Apparently, the name of the bell is the World Peace Bell. It's teh world largest swinging bell. It's one of the newest attractions we've seen too...looks like they built it in time for the 2000 millenium.

Newport, Kentucky

2006-09-27T14:55:00.000-07:00

IMG_1623.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

This was the city that ran along the other side of the river opposite to Cincinnati. The people there were extremely nice for the small amount of time we were actually there...

Example #1:
HOT girl joggin across the bridge slowed down to say hi to us....yeah...anyone who knows us knows *that* doesn't happen often...

Example #2:
I'm, crossing the street while the light is turning yellow...a car is turning onto the street and almost hits me before breaking hard...they roll down the window and I think they're about to yell at me...nope...they apologized! wow...go Kentucky!

Cincinnati, Ohio

2006-09-27T14:49:00.000-07:00

IMG_1606.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Just wanted to get in a quick photo of the city at sunset...I took this while we were crossing over into Kentucky...nice looking city!

Purple People Bridge - Cincinnati, Ohio

2006-09-27T14:47:00.000-07:00

IMG_1605.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

So after our failed attempts in Indy, we decided to hit the next closest city over in Ohio...Cincinnati that is. I will say that I was mildy surprised by that city. It lies at the southern border of Ohio and is separated from Kentucky via a river. They have a bridge (see name in title) that you can walk across to go into Kentucky if you'd rather do that instead of drive. We figured we'd walk across it and take a picture of the state sign along the way. Wrong...no state sign on the bridge! What's up with that?

Well, Kentucky made it state number 11 for us anyway. And as for the sign photo, we figured we'd just drive over and get it that way instead...

Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Indianapolis, Indiana

2006-09-27T14:43:00.000-07:00

IMG_1569.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

So we read in Sung road trip book that the speedway gives a tour around the track on a bus everyday until 4:30PM. Well, after our late start in Chicago, we hauled buns over to Indianapolis in hopes of reaching the last tour of the day. We ended up arriving with 30 minutes to spare...yay! Or so we thought...

Apparently, we crossed a timezone somewhere along our trip south and ended up being a half hour late for the last tour. Boooo! At least the guard at the entrance was nice enough to let us into the museum's parking lot (which was in the middle of the track) long enough to take some photos of the track.

The Day Where Nothing Seemed To Go Right

2006-09-27T14:37:00.000-07:00

RoadTripDay9.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

So the plan was to get out of Chicago and continue on with the road trip and hopefully get somewhere interesting by the end of the day. Define interesting? Well, apparently that would end up meaning anywhere outside of the state of Indiana. The only thing was that as the day progressed, we kept getting our plans changed on us for various reasons.

For starters, we had to go to Hertz to replace our car because a small crack in the windshield was growing in it. That ended up taking a lot longer than we thought and so we didn't get out of Chicago until after noon. But our hope was to make it to Indianapolis to catch the last tour of the Indy 500 speeday...

Is That Cloud Following Us?

2006-09-27T14:27:00.000-07:00

IMG_1535.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

Man, everywhere we've gone, people have mentioned how the weather has been so nice right up until we arrived. Well, things didn't change a whole lot once we arrived in Chicago. At the very least, the weather got warmer than the frozen tundra Yellowstone turned out to be. We could walk around downtown in t-shirts again! Yay! But the rain came with a vengeance our last night in town.

Field Museum - Chicago,Illinois

2006-09-27T14:21:00.000-07:00

IMG_1434.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

So after the aquarium, Pawan and Sung head out to the field Museum next door. There was a big King Tut exhibit, but they opted to just do the general portion of the museum. Apparently each side attraction in the museum was an extra cost added on top of the initial admission. And those guys being the stingy bastards that they are, opted to not see it. aw well!

Shedd Aquarium - Chicago, Illinois

2006-09-26T07:49:00.000-07:00

IMG_1419.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

I never realized just how awesome the museums are in Chicago until I left. I tried hitting the aquarium in Seattle, and was extremely dissappointed to say the least. If you really want to see a great assortmant of sea life, you'll have to visit this museum!

BTW...photo courtesy of Pawan...

White Castle - Chicago,Illinois

2006-09-26T07:46:00.000-07:00

IMG_1351.JPG, originally uploaded by IlliniJester.

mmmm...How many times must I say how much I love White Castles? Let me count the ways....

We've been talking up White Castles in Seattle for so long and it only got worse after the Harold & Kumar Movie came out. But Sung never experienced the "Drunk Eat At White Castle" moment, so we had to add it to our agenda.

mmmm...I could go for some White Castles right now!