August 11-12, 2025

August 11-12, 2025

We relaxed yesterday with my sister. For lunch my brother-in-law drove us to one of the many wineries that line the Missouri River. We had a glass of local summer Rose wine while enjoying a Charcuterie board. For dinner my sister made a pot roast with mashed potatoes.

This morning we drove back to the St Louis airport and dropped off the car. American was looking for volunteers to be bumped. Turned out they didn’t need us. So we had an uneventful journey home to Tucson. We ate lunch at TGIF during our layover in Dallas.

August 10, 2025

August 10, 2025

Last night after dinner we walked Main Street Hannibal, MO. We peaked inside the Mark Twain Museum and an attendant waved us in. He said they were open late tonight because the town is hosting their monthly Art Walk. We took a quick run through the small venue. Samuel Clemens aka Mark Twain is considered the Father of American Literature. The museum has a set of displays illustrating many of his novels.

The highlight though is upstairs. Norman Rockwell was hired to do the artwork for an Illustrated version of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. His full-scale drawings were donated to this museum and are displayed here. They are the iconic Twain illustrations. Afterwards we visited an art gallery serving wine and snacks.

After breakfast this morning, we walked around Hannibal again. Right across the street on Hill St. is a collection of historic homes associated with Mark Twain including his boyhood home. The residents of this street were the inspiration for some of his classic novels.

We then walked down to the riverfront to check out the American Cruise ship docked in town today. Next to it is a paddle wheel riverboat similar to one Samuel Clemens piloted. It was his dream job until the Civil War shut down traffic. Mark Twain (i.e. mark two) is a depth-sounding term indicating two fathoms (twelve feet) for safe steamboat travel.

We finished walking Main Street checking out some of the shops. Aimee really liked an antique store. Even with a cruise ship in town, Hannibal is an uncrowded low-key tourist town with very friendly residents. It makes for a very pleasurable stop.

We then left town following the Mississippi south to the next old river town of Louisiana. Tired of the twisty road we skip to the highway and an hour later reach the home of my sister in St Charles, MO. She made us a delicious supper with my favorite, mashed potatoes and gravy.

August 9, 2025

August 9, 2025

We were up early this morning to catch our flight to St Louis. As is so common today, it was delayed two hours. When we arrived, we had to wait for the rental car shuttle. Budget seemed very disorganized and we had to wait in line again for an available car. With this delay we are behind schedule. It would have been faster to drive.

We drove east over the Mississippi River and then north to visit the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument. Biden proclaimed it last year. It seems to be a stretch. At this point there is only a sign in a hospital parking lot adjacent to some train tracks. In 1908 the locals rioted. The catalyst was two blacks accused of rape and murder. The event spurred the formation of the NAACP the following year.

This was not the first or last violence. Labor strife in the US was rampant and unusually violent. This was an era of social change and industrialization. Local workers resented the wage pressure and job loss caused by the sudden influx of immigrants from Europe and southern blacks moving north. We have also visited the Illinois monuments to the Battle of Virden and the Haymarket Riot. We park near the Lincoln Presidential Museum. Across the street is a new sculpture dedicated to this 1908 riot in the shape of charred chimneys.

Since it has been nineteen years, we decided to run through the Lincoln Museum again. Like last time, we have to hurry through it. Fortunately it is designed to be speed-visited. We are still impressed with it nonetheless.

In mid-afternoon, we leave Springfield heading west on I-72. An hour later in the middle of nowhere we find our 400th National Park unit, New Philadelphia National Historic Site. There is only a set of National Park storyboards next to a farm. This field was once the site of a tiny town established by a former black slave from Kentucky. He bought his freedom by working extra hours in a mine and moved here.

We finished the day crossing the Mississippi River checking into our hotel in Hannibal, MO, childhood home of Mark Twain and "Unsinkable" Molly Brown. It has been more than thirty years since our last visit. Aimee and I found a diner serving Fried Catfish. Yummy.

August 8, 2025

August 8, 2025

This morning we had a long breakfast with my family members before checking out for our return to Chicago. From Lake Geneva we first made a detour east to Racine, WI to take a tour of the S.C. Johnson headquarters. It is famous for having been designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Aimee and I are shocked that there are more than forty other tourists joining us.

Samuel Curtis Johnson got started installing wood floors but found selling the floor polish was more lucrative and allowed world-wide expansion. One early Johnson family member famously flew to Brazil in search of Carnauba Palm wax. This family-owned company expanded into a wide range of consumer products, including Raid, Off, and Windex.

Our first stop was the original administration building. It is now a museum. The most notable design feature is the open floor plan with tree-like support columns throughout the space. All the curves of the building are reflected in the curves of the also Wright-designed office furniture. All the windows and ceilings were made of hundreds of pyrex glass tubes. Unfortunately Wright didn’t think through the engineering. They leaked whenever it rained and eventually had to be replaced.

Despite the maintenance nightmare, the head Johnson allowed Wright to next design the research building. We visited this eight-story tower climbing a narrow staircase. I was amused to find it is almost entirely chemical labs. In essence the company is a consumer chemical company. The windows are all the same Pyrex glass tubes. Test tube windows kinda makes sense for a chemical company. Unfortunately putting chemical labs in a high-rise with no elevator and no fire escape is an accident waiting to happen. OSHA shut it down almost immediately. Both Wright and Johnson should have seen this coming.

Our last stop was the underground lobby that has a gift shop and an exhibit containing Wright furniture and scale models of Wright buildings. Aimee and I both enjoyed the tour. I would have given it a top mark if only I would have been allowed to take interior photos.

From Racine we drove to the Woodfield area to visit some Arizona golf friends. Afterwards we stopped by Aimee’s childhood home in nearby Itasca. We were greeted by Aimee’s old neighbors. This short visit was lengthened when we learned about their frustrating legal saga. The golf course owner is trying to rezone the land so a huge new data center can be built in their backyard. The conflict has divided the town and generated lots of lawsuits. The only winners will be the lawyers.

With this delay we had to dash around the corner to the golf course to have dinner with an old college roommate. It has been years since we have seen him and his wife. Aimee felt bad spending money with the enemy of her old neighbors. After dinner Aimee and I went upstairs to see where we had our wedding reception. That day was a blur for both of us.

We returned the rental car to O'Hare and then took the tram to the Hilton hotel across from the terminals. We were checked in by a student from the University of Arizona.

August 7, 2025

August 7, 2025

After breakfast my family car-pooled to the opposite side of Geneva Lake to Yerkes Observatory for a fascinating tour of this historic structure. This Birthplace of Modern Astrophysics was established in 1892 by famed astronomer George Ellery Hale and the newly-established University of Chicago. It was financed by businessman Charles Yerkes who made his fortune building the iconic Chicago L (elevated train) system.

Our tour started in the lobby where we learned this history. We also identified many of the unique architectural details (stars, constellations, & famous figures) carved into the Beaux Arts facade.

This astronomy laboratory had one of the first telescopes to have a camera attached making precise scientific observations possible. The observatory has a huge library of historic photographic plates taken over a hundred years ago. These earliest images of the universe were widely published to the general public.

The next tour stop was inside the huge observatory dome containing the largest (40-inch diameter) refracting telescope in the world. A refractor uses large lenses like in binoculars. It is mounted on a large perfectly balanced equatorial mount. Once aligned with the earth, its motorized movement allows it to easily track stars allowing for all-night photographic exposures. Before installation, this telescope was exhibited at the 1893 Columbian Exposition.

The eyepiece at the end of the telescope is far above the floor. I always assumed astronomers had to climb some cumbersome ladder to view the stars. Remarkably that is unnecessary. Instead the observatory floor is a giant elevator that moves up and down as needed. We watched a demonstration of the still-working mechanism. Very Cool!

The University of Chicago conducted research with this telescope until very recently. Carl Sagan and Edwin Hubble were among the students. Unfortunately refractor technology was obsolete shortly after it was built. George Hale quickly left to build larger reflector (mirror-based) telescopes in California. The cloudy weather of the Midwest is not conducive to astronomy. I had to explain the science to my family.

After lunch and a little more shopping our family took an hour-long boat excursion aboard the Lady of the Lake. Geneva Lake was the summer playground of the Chicago elite. We heard the same names recalled in yesterday’s Chicago River cruise. Unfortunately most of the mansions from that bygone era have all been torn down. The Wrigleys had the largest stretch of shoreline.

In the evening we all had dinner together at an Italian restaurant in downtown Lake Geneva.

August 6, 2025

August 6, 2025

We checked out of our hotel after a relaxing morning and drove north into Wisconsin. Just across the border we turned left to arrive in Lake Geneva. After checking into our hotel we went to the touristy downtown and had a delicious Thai Red Curry lunch. Afterwards we walked along the lakefront and then I followed Aimee around as she shopped.

At 4:30 pm we met all my siblings in the lobby. Nicely the hotel had a free happy hour to host our family reunion. We then went to dinner. We had the waitress take a group photo. Humorously she took the picture with my brother’s head centered on a halo-like round plaque making it resemble the Last Supper.

August 5, 2025

August 5, 2025

From our Niles, IL hotel we had to make a first stop at an electronics store to get an adapter for the phone. Our rental car only has the newest European-regulated USB-C connectors and none of the old standard USB plugs. Amazing the little details that can hinder travel today.

Heading east we made a quick photo stop at the Leaning Tower of Niles, a Pisa knockoff. This almost 100-year old icon was built to hide a water tank.

We continued east towards Lake Michigan but got stymied by road construction and trucks blocking the narrow streets of Chicago neighborhoods. Aimee reminded me there are only two seasons in the North, winter and construction. After slow-going we finally hit Lake Shore Drive. Sadly the skies are strangely hazy. I forgot about the Canadian fires ruining the air quality of the Midwest.

We were confused a little with some signs reading DLSD which Aimee and I didn’t interpret correctly. Apparently this iconic roadway was recently renamed after DuSable, an early settler of the area, who the local politicians suddenly realized had some African blood. They also erected a small bust downtown to honor him. It is kind of a joke since there are no known portraits of him.

Surprisingly LSD is traffic free and we sail past downtown to Jackson Park on the south side. In the middle of this green space we spy a large gold statue called The Republic. It is a permanent version of the statue that graced the Great Basin of the famous 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition that made Chicago famous and drew visitors from around the world. Aimee and I read about the event a few years ago in the book, The Devil in the White City. The only building from that event is now the Museum of Science and Industry. We also see the new Obama Library under construction in a western section of the park.

Next door is the University of Chicago. We park in their hospital garage and then walk through the Quad to the Oriental Institute, only to find it was also renamed, the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures. Aimee told me the word Oriental, which simply means ‘eastern’, is now considered derogatory.

The OI or ISAC is the world famous archeological research arm of the University of Chicago. It has been active in the Middle East for generations and in the past has brought back significant artifacts. They are displayed in this small, but very nice museum.

The first section is on Mesopotamia. The highlight of this hall is a large human-headed bull sculpture that was unearthed a century ago in the throne room of the Neo-Assyrian King Sargon II. It is in beautiful condition and is covered with an ancient script.

We are greeted in the Egyptian hall by a large statue of Tutankhamun. Aimee is more interested in the morbid art of embalming. She is fascinated to learn they removed the brain with a tool shoved up the deceased’s nasal cavity. I am more interested in the artifacts illustrating games, music, art, and jewelry. I also like the many tomb models displaying ordinary work-life like butchering and beer-making.

The last section on Persia had an enormous metal bull’s head. This colossal statue was one of two bulls that guarded the entrance to the ancient city of Persepolis. This is probably the closest I will ever get to this ancient site now in Iran.

This museum has lots of displays on Cuneiform, one of the earliest writing systems in the world. The museum is pretty crowded and shockingly I overhear one guy reading and translating aloud one large inscription for his young son. WOW! I must assume he is a professor here.

On our walk back to the car we detoured south to Midway Park. This was the amusement area of the Columbian Exposition. The U of C football team was the original Monsters of the Midway until they dropped that sports program in 1939 because they thought it was distracting from their academic mission. The Chicago Bears quickly adopted  it. The Midway contains a statue of Carl Linnaeus. He was the Swedish biologist who is considered the Father of Modern Taxonomy because he developed the two-name Latin nomenclature used to describe all species today. (e.g. Homo Sapiens). Aimee is half Swedish. At one time Chicago was the second largest Swedish city in the world.

From Jackson Park we returned north to downtown. LSD is now crowded and I can see that downtown Chicago has added lots of new skyscrapers since we left. Surprisingly most of them are residential. When I worked downtown, nobody lived here.

We had trouble finding a parking spot. The entrance of the parking garage I had keyed in on was closed. Frustrated we circled a few times before I got the bright idea to pull-in anyway. Thankfully the garage door opened automatically. It still took a few circles of the subterranean structure before we found an open spot.

A little frustrated, we relaxed with a quick Burrito Bowl lunch. We followed it with a couple Mickey-D’s cones so we could use their restrooms.

We then walked across the Chicago River to Tribune Plaza but were disappointed that the WGN studio is no longer broadcasting behind glass. We amused ourselves learning that the Tribune Tower facade is decorated with stony remnants of iconic structures that reporters brought back from around the world.

We then walked along the newly constructed Riverwalk. It is modeled after San Antonio and is a great improvement and adds to the new residential nature of the Loop area.

We finished our Chicago Loop revisit with a ride on the First Lady boat tour. It is sponsored by the Chicago Architecture Center. It is well done and provides a nice intersection of Chicago history with the changing trends of architecture. The building spurt started as a result of the Great Fire of 1871 that leveled the city.

Back in the car, we found an easy exit from the parking garage, but found ourselves in the bowels of Lower-Lower Wacker Drive. Fortunately this is my old stomping ground and I knew this underground street existed and found the ramps that take us up to the main levels. GPS was useless. I don't know how a visitor would have found their way out without a long frustrating detour.

We finished north of the Loop at the condo of one of Aimee’s cousins, where we enjoyed a BBQ hamburger dinner. Her nephew who we watched grow up also came with his two babies in tow. Afterwards it was a long drive back to Niles.

August 4, 2025

August 4, 2025

Aimee and I were up well before dawn because we are headed to the Midwest for family reunions. Our flight to Chicago was mostly cloud free and allowed me to see three of the “Biggest” that the US has to offer. We crossed over Davis-Monthan, the biggest airplane boneyard in the world. In eastern Arizona we then passed the Morenci Copper mine. This 80-square mile mine is the largest in the US. In western New Mexico I smiled when we just happened to pass by the VLA (Very Large Array). This set of 27 radio antennas set in a 22-mile wide Y-shaped pattern is the largest astronomical telescope in the world.

The fun stopped as we approached O’Hare. In the middle of our glide path, the pilot suddenly hit the afterburners and we circled around for another approach. The pilot later announced that our runway was still in use. These close calls of airplane travel are getting a little too frequent.

Finally on the ground we had a nice visit with Aimee’s last living Irish aunt. We also got to see Aimee’s sister and cousin.