Travel, travel... out and back again.
Jul. 9th, 2007 10:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
joegodaSherry and I took a little jaunt this weekend. We went to KC to the Heinlein Centennial. Woo hoo! Getting to KC was very interesting. We got to see the effects of the flood up highway 71. Places that were normally dry were a lake, and there were roads running next to the highway that had been transformed into boat ramps. I didn't have my camera at the ready and we were too busy trying to remember the verses to Harry Chapin anyway. It was a good, uneventful trip upwards. We gassed up, got coffee for me, hit the road at 7 am. Yep. SEVEN am, which may not sound like a big thing, and it really wasn't unless your normal wakey time is 9.
Water, water everywhere. It was pretty sad to see water over the tops of corn stalks that were about five feet tall. It was pretty to see all that water. Like driving through extreme eastern North Carolina, but still....
KC was... Well, it was Kansas City. We drove straight through 71 and Sherry navigated. I told her my road mark is the big Western Auto sign, which for those of you born the last couple of decades and in a place where Western Auto isn't, is a place where you can buy all sorts of nifty stuff for your farm, home, children, adults, tools and pets. Think of it as a general store, like you would see on Smallville.
My memories have it as a place that smelled of rubber from tractor tires, and jingle of cash registers. And American Flyer sleds. And wagons. Just a kinda cool place without a soda fountain.
We made it to the Centennial, and Sherry, bless her heart, had found out that the local folks or those that just kinda wanted to see the exhibits without being bored listening to discertations on how great RAH was or seeing what he has done to further life in our century only had to pay 10.00 to get in. GREAT! I tend to just want to see the show, go OOOOHH and AAAAHH at the pretties and then go do something fun. Like Union Station! Which is exactly what we did.
Heinlein, being a dead guy, didn't complain when we only spent an hour and a half there. We did buy a couple of books, supported the Heinlein foundation buy purchasing some posters, fainted when we saw the leather bound editions of his most famous works, then fainted again when we saw the prices. I mean, Love Ya man, but a 600.00 down payment? And if that's the down payment, you can pretty much guess the price was over and above twice that. And Bless the salesman's heart, he was honest with it. Said "If I wasn't standing on THIS side of the table, I'd just walk away. But, because I'm over here, let me tell you about it." Everything in the book was acid free, had pretty things in it, was guaranteed to last 200 years, and stuff like that. I tipped my hat to the adventurous souls that would purchase them and we walked away.
We was a-getting hungry. We was also a-needing to sit down. Right outside the hotel, there was a nice delivery ramp with benches and nice shade and cool folliage. Right across the street from the Victory Memorial, too. I asked Sherry if she wanted to walk to the top of the memorial, and she said, surprisingly, "no." No caps on that one. Just a no. Which is ok. I didn't really want to either. Union Station and lunch beckoned.
Had a brief talk with a gent from California who moved back to KC while we sat on the delivery ramp benches. I think he was rich. His name was Tod Williams, and he was doing... um... something. He had pretty much followed us around the convention, like some CIA geek. Maybe he was. Maybe being a rich guy was his cover. I dunno. He was interesting, and someday our paths may cross again.
We had choices, after going ooh and ahh at the architecture, of where we wanted to eat. We could eat cheap (popcorn), we could eat fancy, (high priced seafood and steak) or we could eat where *I* wanted to - the relatively NEW Harvey House diner.
Harvey House is where the Harvey Girls from the 1946 Judy Garland movie came from. They yanked out all the stuff that had been there during the years of Union's station's decline and replaced it with a near replica of the actual diner.
We sat at the counter, near the pie cases (ummmm.. pie) and had a young waitress named Heather wait on us. It was a wait, let me tell you! Popular, I guess. If you didn't want to sit at the counter, there was a 15 minute wait. We said, Counter, Please.
Heather was friendly, a bit charming in that not born in the country, but raised by country folk sort of way. I ordered a chili covered open face double patty KC burger. Sherry ordered something more in line with her diet, which still looked really good. I think she opted for a cheese burger and fries.
Hers came (after a rather long wait, but that's ok... I spent the time looking at Things, People, and talking to Sherry) and it was in a BASKET! Not one of those cheap red plastic baskets either. It was a wire mesh basket. Mine came on... umm... a plate. Wish I'd got a basket. Food that comes in a basket just makes me feel special.
The french fries, and this may be a Kansas thing, were long strings of fries. Not those thick meaty fries you get in Oklahoma. It was doable, but I like my french fries to be fries of substance, of depth and character. Not those things that say "Yeah. I know. I'm a French Fried String. So.... Eat me."
Well. There is more. I'll write it up after work. And if I find the space, I'll post pictures! I took bout 45 pictures, of which about 25 or so were ok with me. I'll find the space somewhere.
Till then, love you guys, and thanks for the memories!
Water, water everywhere. It was pretty sad to see water over the tops of corn stalks that were about five feet tall. It was pretty to see all that water. Like driving through extreme eastern North Carolina, but still....
KC was... Well, it was Kansas City. We drove straight through 71 and Sherry navigated. I told her my road mark is the big Western Auto sign, which for those of you born the last couple of decades and in a place where Western Auto isn't, is a place where you can buy all sorts of nifty stuff for your farm, home, children, adults, tools and pets. Think of it as a general store, like you would see on Smallville.
My memories have it as a place that smelled of rubber from tractor tires, and jingle of cash registers. And American Flyer sleds. And wagons. Just a kinda cool place without a soda fountain.
We made it to the Centennial, and Sherry, bless her heart, had found out that the local folks or those that just kinda wanted to see the exhibits without being bored listening to discertations on how great RAH was or seeing what he has done to further life in our century only had to pay 10.00 to get in. GREAT! I tend to just want to see the show, go OOOOHH and AAAAHH at the pretties and then go do something fun. Like Union Station! Which is exactly what we did.
Heinlein, being a dead guy, didn't complain when we only spent an hour and a half there. We did buy a couple of books, supported the Heinlein foundation buy purchasing some posters, fainted when we saw the leather bound editions of his most famous works, then fainted again when we saw the prices. I mean, Love Ya man, but a 600.00 down payment? And if that's the down payment, you can pretty much guess the price was over and above twice that. And Bless the salesman's heart, he was honest with it. Said "If I wasn't standing on THIS side of the table, I'd just walk away. But, because I'm over here, let me tell you about it." Everything in the book was acid free, had pretty things in it, was guaranteed to last 200 years, and stuff like that. I tipped my hat to the adventurous souls that would purchase them and we walked away.
We was a-getting hungry. We was also a-needing to sit down. Right outside the hotel, there was a nice delivery ramp with benches and nice shade and cool folliage. Right across the street from the Victory Memorial, too. I asked Sherry if she wanted to walk to the top of the memorial, and she said, surprisingly, "no." No caps on that one. Just a no. Which is ok. I didn't really want to either. Union Station and lunch beckoned.
Had a brief talk with a gent from California who moved back to KC while we sat on the delivery ramp benches. I think he was rich. His name was Tod Williams, and he was doing... um... something. He had pretty much followed us around the convention, like some CIA geek. Maybe he was. Maybe being a rich guy was his cover. I dunno. He was interesting, and someday our paths may cross again.
We had choices, after going ooh and ahh at the architecture, of where we wanted to eat. We could eat cheap (popcorn), we could eat fancy, (high priced seafood and steak) or we could eat where *I* wanted to - the relatively NEW Harvey House diner.
Harvey House is where the Harvey Girls from the 1946 Judy Garland movie came from. They yanked out all the stuff that had been there during the years of Union's station's decline and replaced it with a near replica of the actual diner.
We sat at the counter, near the pie cases (ummmm.. pie) and had a young waitress named Heather wait on us. It was a wait, let me tell you! Popular, I guess. If you didn't want to sit at the counter, there was a 15 minute wait. We said, Counter, Please.
Heather was friendly, a bit charming in that not born in the country, but raised by country folk sort of way. I ordered a chili covered open face double patty KC burger. Sherry ordered something more in line with her diet, which still looked really good. I think she opted for a cheese burger and fries.
Hers came (after a rather long wait, but that's ok... I spent the time looking at Things, People, and talking to Sherry) and it was in a BASKET! Not one of those cheap red plastic baskets either. It was a wire mesh basket. Mine came on... umm... a plate. Wish I'd got a basket. Food that comes in a basket just makes me feel special.
The french fries, and this may be a Kansas thing, were long strings of fries. Not those thick meaty fries you get in Oklahoma. It was doable, but I like my french fries to be fries of substance, of depth and character. Not those things that say "Yeah. I know. I'm a French Fried String. So.... Eat me."
Well. There is more. I'll write it up after work. And if I find the space, I'll post pictures! I took bout 45 pictures, of which about 25 or so were ok with me. I'll find the space somewhere.
Till then, love you guys, and thanks for the memories!
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(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-09 04:25 pm (UTC)Rubber tires, axle grease, linoleum tile, and bicycles in the window. The building is still there, but now it's a featureless cookie-cutter auto parts store.
(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-09 04:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-09 04:34 pm (UTC)Judy Garland
Date: 2007-07-09 05:54 pm (UTC)Judy is pure magic on these shows. The group also has audio files of her first concert at The Palladium in 1951, as well as both her songs from Valley Of The Dolls, taped phone conversations, interviews, radio spots, and more! The group membership includes Garland family members, authors, people who have made movies about Judy, other celebrities, and fans of all levels.
Truly, the most eclectic membership of any of the Garland groups or clubs. The only thing missing is you! Please stop by our little Judyville, once you visit you may never want to leave!
http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/thejudygarlandexperience/
Re: Judy Garland
Date: 2007-07-09 09:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2007-07-09 06:46 pm (UTC)