September 11, 2013 George & Marcy Visit and The September Social Club Gathering

The Lansing Firefighters Memorial with flags at half mast for 9/11.

Marcy & George walking the dogs around Lansing.

Then we were off to Gary, Indiana and the beautiful Marquette Park...

...for a walk along the beach.

Then we stopped at the recently remodeled Aquatorium.

The picture above was taken from the second floor.

They really have fixed up the entire park including all the buildings.

The Pavilion looks fantastic but we couldn't get inside because they were cleaning the floors.

We ate lunch at Bass Pro Shop's Outdoor World in Portage, IN. Here's a picture of Marcy about to get diddled by a fish.

Then we stopped at the Indiana Dunes State Park. George wanted to see it because our parents took us to this beach when we were kids. It hasn't changed in the 30 years since he has been here...except he finally brought a girl to the beach.

Skipping stones on Lake Michigan

Relaxing on the beach

Then we had dinner with the Social Club at Café Borgia.

Thanks to everyone who came out to see my brother and Marcy.

Here's me with Chrissy & the flower girl from our wedding, Cindy.

September 1, 2013 Two French Dogs, One Texan, One Puerto Rican, Central Beach, The Alamo, Frankfort Fall Festival and a Mexican BBQ

We started our day at the fog shrouded Central Beach.

 

Two old girls walking the beach.

Karen & Ken, the Puerto Rican & the Texan.

Some fine drift wood art on the beach

This butterfly was probably trying to stay warm on a chilly morning.

 

 

Two French dogs with a part Lithuanian, part Romanian, part German, part Polish girl...Chrissy, Roxie & Oslo after a dip in the lake.

Now here's where the day takes a very strange turn. We found this broken stone marker with Alamo 1894 1/2 carved into it. Ken decided to show his pride for his home state of Texas by posing with the Alamo marker that somehow washed up on the shores of Lake Michigan.

Another view of the driftwood artwork.

Another view of Ken.

Oslo shaking what his mama gave him.

Our polar bear, Oslo

Karen & Ken hoping not to fall into a sinkhole. The next beach over is Mount Baldy which has been closed for months after a young boy almost died in a sinkhole on the dunes. All the dunes at Central Beach also had "Area Closed" signs on them too.

We stopped at a used car lot on Route 12 with an interesting sales pitch. Each car had the name of it's country's leader the year it was made.

Ken wanted to buy this Rolls Royce, it was the first one he's seen that he could afford.

Easily the nicest station on the South Shore Line.

 

After the dunes we headed to Frankfort for the Fall Festival which included a huge craft fair, food and beer.

Here's Karen sporting her new hat that she just bought.

After the Frankfort Fall Festival we headed to what Ken called a Mexican BBQ. It turns out that while working in Detroit, he became friends with Noel Garcia from Chicago. Noel invited him to his family BBQ when Ken said he was going to visit us in Chicago. We might have been strangers when we arrived but six hours, many beers, some incredible Mexican food and a few tequila shots later...we were family. This was truly one of my favorite nights of the year. A big thank you for an amazing night to the Garcia family and friends.



August 31, 2013 Relaxing at the Portage Lakefront with my cousins, Karen & Ken

Before I get started, yes that is a person with a surfboard on a beach at Lake Michigan...and right above him is a flying pig but I missed that picture. Now...

...here's Chrissy with my cousin Karen and her husband Ken. Karen flew to Detroit, where Ken is working, then they drove to Chicago to visit us.

We enjoyed a relaxing walk along the beach at the Portage Lakefront & River Walk. This area was part of the local steel mill property but was converted to public beach by the National Parks as part of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore.

Can you tell which one is my cousin? Could it be the one carrying a camera and sticking her tongue out like the smartass punk that I am too.

Chrissy on the beach with a setting sun lighting her up.

 

 

After the beach, we had dinner at the Warsaw Inn. This was Karen's choice because she remembers eating there 25 years ago before my wedding.

Then it was ice cream at Gayetys.

 



September 6, 2013 One Week Until Riot Fest Chicago

I am closer to a dirt nap than I am to being a teenager, but I am more excited about Riot Fest than a preteen girl with front row tickets to see One Direction. There are so many bands playing that I can't wait to see....GBV, Public Enemy, Pixies, Bad Religion, Dinosaur Jr., Rancid, X, Violent Femmes, Pennywise, Bob Mould and the best band of the 1980's...The Replacements. The fact that my little brother and his wife are coming to town just adds more fun to next week. If you are going to Riot Fest let me know...we can grab a few beers and head to the mosh pit. Also just a reminder about the Social Club get together with Georgie & Marcy at Café Borgia on Wednesday Sept. 11th at 7pm. We'll meet in the bar then have dinner...so please let me know if you plan on joining us.