Vegan dinner at Noodles & Co

Not the greatest, but... edible. I'm tired (woke up at 4:15am in Atlanta, flew to DC, ride all over town on their excellent bike share program) then took the Amtrak up here. And it's raining. And the sun is in my eyes...

Good ol' fashioned American hypocrisy

At the Jefferson Memorial.

Busboys and Poets

In Mt. Vernon, Washington, DC. A nice, if undersalted and underspiced, tofu scramble. A little spendy (bottomless coffee, while excellent, is $2.75) but fun place, great vibe, super pleasant people.

Now to rent a bike share and see some sights before the game!

Sad Jeep

This is what your steering column and ignition look like when an amateur car thief tries to steal it. Fortunately we have comprehensive.

Birthday dessert!

Vegan oatmeal raisin cookie (delicious but slightly oily), chocolate cupcake (way too sweet for me but I think J liked it), and a tasty tempeh bacon cheddar scone for breakfast the next morning, all from the lovely vegan Dough Bakery.

Vegan BBQ, Decatur, GA

My birthday dinner at Burnt Fork BBQ. Tasty, kinda fun to get vegan bbq, but not overwhelming.

At the airport now on my way to continue the baseball stadium project in DC and Baltimore. Whee!

Sewing projects

The green ones I've had for at least six years, maybe more. Still goin' strong!

Packing the house and listening to baseball on a rainy July 4. 

Phillies Phanatic Cornhole board!

As alluded to in this admittedly obscure post, here is the final product, with the Phillies Phanatic!

I did the build and line drawing of the Phanatic, while friends & family did the final painting. The build instructions on cornholehowto.com are totally indispensable.

Got garlic?

We do! Join us for dinner! During brand with garlic, broccoli with garlic, grilled corn, and more fun stuff!

Week in review

Phew -- what a week that was! The Rust Belt Baseball Stadium Tour 2013 was a big success. Five games in five cities in two time zones in six days. Tasty vegan food in almost every city.

Only got seriously rained on once: the Twins game in Minneapolis was looking seriously doubtful, as they furled and unfurled the tarps over and over.

 
Got to see the retractable roof close in Milwaukee:

Roof open, beautiful day game.

Roof closing, just ahead of a torrential downpour in the ~6th inning.

Pretty cool. And Miller Field is perhaps the most beautiful stadium of the five I visited (in six days!)

Favorite ballpark: definitely Jacobs Field (aka Progressive Field) in Cleveland. Nicest people, most pleasant atmosphere, easy to get in and out of (none of this bullshit neverending ramp routine that Comiskey (aka US Cellular) does in Chicago to keep the fancy suite and box attendees away from us commoners:

Least favorite ballpark: unquestionably Comiskey, aka US Cellular, home of the White Sox. As I discussed at some length here, it just kinda sucks. Cold, impersonal, concrete, difficult location with few bars or restaurants (or anything) around, obnoxious, unpleasant fans. The scumbags a couple rows behind me were so awful that, in about the only time I can remember, I actually left to get away from them. And since they make it impossible to go to levels you're not ticketed in, I couldn't just stand and watch the game, and so actually left. These miserable people literally used "fuck" in some form in nearly every screaming sentence, lit up cigarettes (though the guest services lady pounced on them, and told them in no uncertain terms that it was their only warning before they would be kicked out), were verbally abusive to the vendors, and just generally were nasty, loud, unpleasant people to be around. When I walked away, I exchanged a look with the guest services lady, who pretty much had to post up near us for the whole game, that was one of those knowing, yeah, you know why I'm leaving kind of looks. I think she wished she could leave too.

As espn.com put it well: "New Comiskey Park: A monstrosity trapped between the ageless classics and the new wave of retro parks."

Favorite city: without a doubt, Minneapolis. Great people, fantastic bicycle infrastructure including a wonderful bike share program, great public transit, great vegan food, great bars, great beer, a great museum. Just great. (Though I did come very close to getting doored by some asshat while biking.)

Here are a couple neat bikes at the Walker Museum:

Least favorite city: without a doubt, Chicago. What the hell do people see in Chicago, anyway? Besides the so-so transit, and a few vegan places in the Loop, the place basically sucks. The South Side (which I walked around extensively) has none of the gritty charm that I love about Rust Belt cities, but all the sadness and unpleasantness. Oh, and the cops are stupid thugs. And the taxi drivers suck.

Walking up Cermak, I did remember a trip a long, long time ago, taking the Greyhound across the country when I was 17. We had an eight hour (or something) layover in Chicago, so when the bus arrived at Union Station, I had nothing better to do than walk all over the city, including all over the South Side. I wandered in to a diner a little after 4am, and ate breakfast with the cabbies and truckers, walked over bridges, looked at buildings, watched people throw trash bags out of tenement windows, forming huge, squalid trash piles on the sidewalks below.

Ah, memories, light the corner of my mind. Back to topic...

Ballparks, in order of how I liked them:

1. Jacobs Field (Progressive Field), Cleveland
2. Target Field, Minneapolis
3. Comerica Park, Detroit
4. Miller Park, Milwaukee
5. Comiskey (US Cellular), Chicago

Jacobs, as I said, is just wonderful.
Target is big and beautiful, but just jam packed with corporate commerce, and a little too damn big.
Comerica is pleasant, and nicely located, but doesn't much stand out.
Miller is a gorgeous facility, and reasonably pleasant to walk around, but is horrifically located. It's out in the eastern suburbs of Milwaukee, not well served by public transit, and a bit of a pain in the ass to walk to.
US Cellular is probably my least favorite baseball stadium I've ever been to.

Alright, an empty fridge, a visit to Hell, and a long to-do list await!

Minneapolis

Minneapolis is definitely my favorite city in the Midwest. This is my Nice Ride Minnesota bike share bike, about to ride over the Mississippi River. No, i didn't walk it.

Walker Art Museum, Minneapolis

 

Proposal, by Dave McKenzie.

Target Field

Rain delay. They pulled the tarps on and off the field three or four times.

Triple Rock Social Club

The curious thing is that there is almost nothing else ironic about this place: it's a grungy motherfucking punk rock bar. And awesome at that.

Nice Ride Minneapolis

It's $6 for unlimited rides under 30 minutes for 24 hours. And there's a station across the street from Hard Times, one literally right outside the door of Town Hall Brewery, and another within a block or two of my hotel, and Target Field.

Excited that a bike share program finally makes sense for me to use!

Oh, Minneapolis

The vegan bahn mi sandwich at the fantastic Hard Times Cafe in Minneapolis. They don't really have a web presence, but here is their wikipedia article and their f*c*book.

Between bike share, delicious vegan food 22 hours a day at Hard Times, and delicious beer at Town Hall Brewery, you make me want to live here. Too bad you're entirely too fucking cold for J for a third of the year.

It's Friday, must be Milwaukee

Random dude with board shorts, headphones, backpack,  and flip flops wandering across the active tarmac at MKE, Milwaukee Int'l Airport. Weird.

Overall MKE feels extremely overbuilt for the very few people actually here.

On my way to Minneapolis for the final installment this week in the Rust Belt Tour of the Baseball Stadium Project.

Whee!

Upon leaving the Brewers game:

Where everyone i was around was quite polite and courteous. Apparently this guy and his buddy (not pictured, in front, also handcuffed) were the exception.

The most amusing part was when some guy with an Orioles cap heckled him, and he tried to posture and glare, and the cop had to scoot him along. Unknown if Orioles Cap had anything to do with the arrests.

Miller Field

Gorgeous stadium, incredibly loud, the stubhub ticket i sold next to me isn't here. Great seats, despite a slightly obstructed view of deep left and center. But it means I'm in the shade for a hour day game, so I'll take it.

Lotta domain to survey

Only a couple of you get the joke...

On ballparks and souls

Ok, that's too deep. I don't mean to call US Cellular Field, home to the White Sox, soulless. Maybe... Cynical. Corporate. Hulking. Generally unpleasant.

It's as though the designers got the checklist for how to build a modern, neo-retro throwback stadium, and checked all the voices that would make money, while skipping the boxes for charm, for warmth, for integrating with the neighborhood.

In fairness, they destroyed Comiskey Park and turned out in to a parking lot across the street in 1991, just before the wave of retro-classic ballparks that are so much more pleasant to go to (Jacobs/Progressive, Coors, Jack Murphy/Petco.)

One of the most alienating things, aside from having some of the highest seats in baseball, is how the 100+ luxury suites are sealed off from most everything: it's one of the only stadiums in baseball that do not allow fans sitting in the upper deck to walk anywhere else in the park. Yes, luxury pods make more money, which is a major reason they destroyed Comiskey in favor of surface parking. No, it doesn't make for a good experience when you access your seats exclusively by a concrete ramp and escalators, with signage and attendants standing at every intersection to ensure the lesser classes don't dare mingle with those passing $200-$400 per ticket for luxury and exclusivity.

BTW, worst fans so far in the major leagues. Granted it was a small sample size in the nearly deserted upper decks, but their behavior made the Yankee and A's/Giants fans look like kittens frolicking on youtube.

The Artist Formerly Known As Comiskey

I'm pretty sure this is the least attended major league game I've ever been to (Mets at White Sox.) US Cellular Field is big and pretty, bye kind of a ballpark is search of fans. I'm literally the only one sitting in my section, and the concourse outside of it is like a ghost town.

Weird.

I'll be here in a few hours!

The Amtrak passes within maybe 100 yards...

Lake Michigan

Been skirting it on the Amtrak Wolverine for hours, but this is our first view of Lake Michigan.

The Wolverine service is somewhat ironically named: you think of wolverines as being fast, don't you?

Amtrak Detroit to Chicago

Guy behind me having loudest conference call in the history of loud conference calls (despite his telling the other people on the phone he had to talk quietly so he doesn't annoy the people around him on the train.) Good way from keeping anyone from wanting the empty seat next to you, though.

Dave Alvin is perfect train traveling music.

White Sox tonight if it's not rained out!

Comerica Field

Stop #3 on the baseball stadium project. He's to hoping the torrential thunderstorms don't ruin it.

Detroit Beer Co.

Two blocks from Comerica Park, with a delicious Belgian Tripel for $3.50, for a full pint? Confidential to Detroit Beer Co: I'm so glad you're now non smoking. And i love you.

Another delicious vegan happy hour

At  Seva in Detroit. Now on to the Tigers game - hoping it doesn't get rained out!

Fuck, yeah.

I love Detroit.

Livin' large

That's right: still livin' the dream, big time:

More cheap Chinese food in a hotel room: this time, Bean Curd Szechuan.

Hey, sometimes it's the most feasible thing, especially if you want to get back to the hotel before the thunderstorms come in.

I'm actually torn about labeling this food porn, but whatever.

We'll see how summer weather in the rust belt midwest impacts the baseball stadium project: 50% chance of thunderstorms in Detroit tomorrow, and Chicago just had a derecho tear through it.

Happy Dog

In Cleveland. It's a Field Roast, with garbanzo bean chili, Yuengling sauerkraut, habernero picked onions, a mustard jerk sauce, and caramelized onions.

Despite all that immensely should-be-flavorful stuff, it was just average tasty, and not at all strong. On balance a disappointment...

Seva

Detroit vegan happy hour @ Seva. This is the delicious Vegan Mac, and mushroom slider with Daiya substituted for the cow juice cheese.

Detroit, i kinda like you.

The Motor City

Indeed.

Thoughts on Megabus

I should start with a disclosure: I hate long distance travel by bus. It is easily, far and away, my least favorite way to travel. I'm just too damn tall for it to be comfortable. Hell, even as much as I love good inter-city public transit systems, I'll go way out of my way, and do far more walking, to take light rail/subway rather than the bus.

But for Cleveland to Detroit, it was 1/5 of the price of Amtrak, so i decided to give it a try.

1) it was late. Not terribly so, but since they tell you to show up 15 min early, i stood around for a half hour.

2) they need the 15 digit reservation number they email you, not the (seemingly more logical) seven digit confirmation number.

3) it's an interesting sign when the first thing from the driver* after boarding is "when you use the bathroom, you have to shut the door. I'll repeat that: when you use the bathroom, you have to shut the door."

*as my friend on the Immigrant Worker Freedom Ride in 2003 explained, when it's a big fancy bus like this,.it's not a bus,it's a motorcoach, and he's not a bus driver, he's a motorcoach operator.

4) double decker motorcoaches are cool.

5) the seats are better than old school Greyhound, but not as nice or as roomy as Bolt Bus, and a far cry from Amtrak. I have to turn diagonally to comfortably use my phone, much less my netbook.

6) fortunately the bus isn't crowded, so everyone has their own row, with a number still open.

7) the wifi doesn't work. boo.

8) what's up with only one electrical outlet per row (i.e., one per two seats) Amtrak sure did that better. I can't remember about Bolt Bus, and haven't been on the new generation of Greyhound.

9) we're sitting in stop and go traffic outside of Cleveland on I-90: point, Amtrak.

10) $10.50 Cleveland to Detroit. Point, Megabus.

11) it smells like all long distance buses motorcoaches do: of recirculated air, chemical disinfectant, and diesel, with a hint of despair and uncertainty.

Jacobs (aka Progressive) Field, Cleveland

Cleveland vs Minneapolis. Good game, super courteous fans, and I'm fucking roasting in the bleachers.

Rolling like a wreck

Sitting at the Atlanta airport on the first day of my six day, five stadium, multimodal tour of the rust belt and upper midwest. Roughly, it's:

fly to Cleveland, see Indians game
megabus to Detroit, see Tigers game
amtrak to Chicago, see White Sox game
drive rental car to Milwaukee, see Brewers game
fly to Minneapolis, see Twins game
fly back to Atlanta

Taking just about every possible mode of motorized transportation wasn't actually a conscious thing, as I looked at every option for every leg, and did what made the most sense for me to get from city to city, in the time that I needed to be there. But kinda neat that it worked out that way.

As of now, I'm 11 stadiums (out of 30) in to my bucket list project to visit every major league baseball stadium in the US. As of a week from now, I'll be a majority (16) down! And in a couple more weeks, two more (Washington and Baltimore) checked off.

Since the last post about this, I've actually found far more obnoxious fans than Yankee Stadium: when it's a cross bay rivalry game between the Giants and As. Watched several very near fistfights in the parking lot waiting for the porta potties after the game, and another near fistfight a couple hours later getting off of the Amtrak in Sacramento.

As for the post title: my body is kind of a mess. Still have badly peeling sunburn on my shoulders from sailing last weekend on Lake Lanier, and on Friday J and I and a few of her workmates went to an indoor trampoline park. My quads and core are sore as hell: it's actually an amazing workout. Oh, and some asshole on the trampoline dodgeball court nailed me in the face, smashing my glasses into my face, and cutting me above the eye. Yeah, that'll be a great story when it scars: no, it wasn't a barfight, it was an indoor trampoline park.

Decrepit physical condition notwithstanding, I'm really excited about this trip. The vegan food options range from plentiful (Minneapolis, Detroit, Cleveland) to difficult (Milwaukee) to almost non-existent (Chicago.) It's not so much that Chicago doesn't have any vegan or very vegan-friendly restaurants, it's that I'll be almost entirely on the south side, where they apparently think vegans are afraid to roam.

Okay, gotta do a few last minute travel things, like confirm that the Cleveland public transit system offers a day pass. 'Cause I think I won't be walking all over Cleveland today.

res ipsa loquitor

right?

Deep Alum

A kinda mediocre seitan vegan burger, with a delicious Ballast Point Sculpin DIPA. Only eating there because very sadly  their neighbor a few doors down, Peace O Pie vegan pizzeria, closed. Tragic: they were awesome.

the Lower Depths

In Kenmore Square. That's BBC Coffee Porter on nitro, and you might be able to peep party of their draft list in the bottom right.

Vegan hotel food porn

Cheap Chinese delivery in a Motel 6 in the southern suburbs of Boston:

LIVING THE DREAM.

Bikes and stuff

Fantastic weekend at my fantastic alma mater, Hampshire. Not enough sleep, but zero other complaint.

A three hour layover in Springfield waiting for my connecting Amtrak to Boston, and I locked out when i literally wandered by the Springfield Museums. 

I only had time for the History Museum, but it was fantastic, with amazing old

bicycles and motorcycles.

Setting up camp

No, J doesn't have to sleep outside. This is her setting up the tent in the empty lot across from our house to let the newly applied seam sealant dry.

Solar panels near Springfield, MA

A great big field if solar panels a little east of Springfield. One of the workers waved to the Amtrak as we passed by.

Solar panel farm... Wow. They're coming a long way here from when i used to work on the ambulance, and had a hard time convincing many of my partners that we really didn't need to leave the diesel engine idling for minutes or hours until we waited for the next call.

Confidential to all those who work on ambulances: your gin rummy, Dunkin Donuts, contracts law, Red Sox game, etc., really don't need to be accompanied by the low roar and stench of diesel.

Travelin'

Here's your hint as to where I'm headed tomorrow. (Well, day after, actually, but the trip begins tomorrow.)

Here's a hint: I'm not going anywhere near Los Angeles.

Setting shit on fire

AKA, food porn. Tofu and onions on the grill!

web comics

Alright, maybe it's not that substantive a post, lacking any food porn or onions or bikes. But here, not in any particular order, are my three favorite web comics:

Questionable Content (by a Hampshire grad!)
Dinosaur Comics
Bear Lawyer

it would be so predictable to list XKCD, but it's pretty great, too.

Bonus points

If you know what this is. But it's a surprise, so i can't say just yet