Ann Arbor redux.

I have been to Ann Arbor numerous times, but it's Nancy's first time, so we tried to fit in all the highlights of my experience here.  On the way to the center of the campus, we drove by the stadium, an impressive brick building that houses about 110,000 people.   This is the main entrance to the stadium.

Other highlights that I wanted to show her were the bell tower, the Germanic/Slavic language area, the Michigan Union and Bob's fraternity house.  We made it to all

What a beautiful sky formed the background for this famous building.

 We spent some time on the third floor of the Language Department.

Frank's RA during his freshman year

  First, we checked out Frank's RA and current German professor, Hartmut Rastalsky.  As we were reading the postings on his office door, another faculty member passed us and told us to make sure to check out the spam haikus, which were hilarious.  Actually, the postings on Hartmut's door were all pretty funny.

One of Frank's Russian professors

When Frank came to Michigan for the first time, they weren't sure where to place him, so he had to take a test.  Of course, he was beyond Russian 3 to start because of his time at Bryn Mawr.  Dr. Makin was the first professor he met, and he enjoyed knowing this man, who was obsessed with ice hockey. 

And then there was Sigma Chi, Bob's fraternity house.  They were kicked off campus for a while, but they're obviously back.  I won't embarrass my husband with telling some of his frat boy stories, but I'll just say that he's totally matured since then!!

One of the interesting things about this campus is that next to many of the water fountains are places to fill up water bottles!

Nancy was able to check out an exhibit on 19th century murders in the Clements Library while I moved the car so that we wouldn't get ticketed. We had a light lunch at a coffee bar in the Union.

 Our next important stop was Middle Earth, a head shop that my family loved!  I was so disappointed - half the store was gone, and none of the awesome, inappropriate t-shirts were on sale anymore.  Bummer.

By this time, I was exhausted, so we came back to the hotel for a rest. After an hour's break, we went to Kerrytown, an interesting shopping and historical district.  We bought some fresh olive oil and balsamic vinegar there. Then we checked out the restaurants on Main Street and chose the Prickly Pear for our dinner.

Gazpacho and margarita!!

  Dinner was really good, and we then motored onto the North Campus to see the engineering area and to view Maya Lin's wave field (the artist who designed the Vietnam War Memorial). It was still really hard to find, but we persevered!!

Nancy taking an arty shot

We then spent way too much time trying to find Delta Gamma sorority house, but we were successful!!  Another frustrating time was spent trying to get back to our hotel, but in the end all worked out well -- we now know how to get on our way tomorrow!!

From State College to Ann Arbor - go Blue.

After a fitful night's sleep for both of us, we got ourselves packed and ready to head out for a long day of driving.  We left State College at about 9:40, ready to tackle I-80 for way too many miles!  

Sue drove first through rural Centre County, a green, lovely drive.

Nancy took over for the rest of Pennsylvania, and I texted her girls when we crossed into Ohio - apparently, Allison always had to call Nancy when she drove into a new state on her way back to Minnesota.  We stopped at the Portage rest stop on the Ohio Turnpike for a healthy lunch - who knew that there were options other than McDonald's and Sbarro's on the turnpike??  Sue took the last leg of our drive, and we arrived in Ann Arbor at 5:40.  After the obligatory bedbug check, we unpacked and set out to drive around campus at the University of Michigan.  Following our noses, we drove past the enormous medical center as well as Sigma Chi, Bob's fraternity.  Without too much trouble, Sue found the place where Frank spent five years of his life - the Geddes Residence in the Oxford coops.

It hadn't changed much at all, although there was no reference to Max Kade on the building.  Frank lived in a German interest dorm.  It wasn't a normal dorm, though.  There were only about 30 students in the building, and when Frank started there, it was a true coop - meals, meal planning, cleaning, everything was planned and done by the students.  He actually stayed an extra semester to spend a year as RA - what a fabulous experience.

From there, we drove to our restaurant choice for the evening: Zingerman's Roadhouse.  It was almost to I-94 on Jackson.  Right away it had that Ann Arbor ambiance.  So many perky waitresses, and the food was varied and delicious. 

Roasted beet and goat cheese salad - delish!

By now, it was 8:30.  Before we went back to the hotel, Sue just had to stop at Weber's Inn, a quirky place her family stayed in at least twice during the 90's.  It was such a weird place, astro turf everywhere and a pool with kid stuff in the center of the hotel.  Half the rooms looked onto the pool, and it was easy to keep track of the kids from our room.  Amazing and fun. 

Wow, quite an update in the pool area!

Going to Michigan wasn't just about Frank.  It was a family event.  We spent four Thanksgivings here, going to the Lions game on Thanksgiving day and then having a dinner either at Weber's or the Gandy Dancer.   A wonderful family memory.

Blue and white memories.

What a beautiful morning awaited us.  The place we're staying has an enclosed outdoor patio, where we had a healthy breakfast while finalizing our plans for the day.  

 After parking on Beaver Avenue, we walked to the campus proper.  Our first stop was Old Main, a lovely stone building set as the center of this part of the campus.  In the early 70's it was the site of Vietnam War protests and various sit ins - quite exciting and often downright silly when you listened to the protest speeches.  Nevertheless, memorable.

On our walk, we saw the obelisk, which is made of building stones native to Pennsylvania in their geological order - very cool.  Myth has it (probably promulgated by some guys) that if a virgin walked past the obelisk, it would crumble.   And the rest is history.  ;)

 We also walked up to the Pattee and Paterno Libraries, which were at the top of a manicured lawn and walkway, beautifully landscaped.

We saw many different buildings on campus, some classrooms of Nancy's and some new buildings, most of which were devoted to various sciences and engineering.  And of course, there's the famous Nittany Lion - there was a LINE of people waiting to take pictures with this sculpture! Sue, of course, was particularly excited to be immortalized with her photo here!!!

After an extended tour of campus, we had lunch at the Inferno - good thin crust pizza and beer.  We feel they missed a great opportunity to use Dante's work to enhance their menu and aspects of the restaurant.   Paolo and Francesca pizza anyone?  Hot out of the fiery ovens from the bowels of the kitchen!

Across the street from the restaurant is the famous mural that until two weeks ago had Joe Paterno's figure with a halo above it.  The halo is gone.  So much for fame and fortune.

Our last Bhutan death march was an expedition to the new site of the Creamery which was not as clearly delineated on the map as it might have been (so claims Nancy).  Thank God there was ice cream at the end of that march!!!   Oh well, we got to see more of the campus!  (picture  to come)

Dinner at the Allen Street Grill capped off a wonderful day seated at a table in the corner of the windowed restaurant with terrific views of the street and campus. 

It was such a beautiful cool evening that we walked up and down College Avenue one last time to take in the scents, sounds, and sights of PSU.  On the way home we took a different route past all of the Frat houses, capturing more memories from 40 years ago; ironically, they haven't changed much and some look as beat up as they once did, but they are still standing!  At the end of the street as we turned left on University Drive, we fleetingly checked out Nancy's old apartment house from her senior year.  Speaking of dumpy - that hasn't changed either!

So driving into the sunset, we mused that it is somewhat comforting to see that one part of my past really hasn't changed much and is still just as enjoyable.

Day one - the sights of Pennsylvania or what you see when you take the time to look.

STARTING MILEAGE: 51807
Leaving beautiful Towamencin Township, we went north through the even more gorgeous hinterlands of upper Montgomery and lower Berks Counties.  Do you know that most barns don't have windows? (JUST CONFIRMING THAT THIS IS A JOINT EFFORT - NOT THE WEED, TWO PEOPLE)  After winding our way through some lovely farms, we reached our first destination after several aborted attempts at finding the elusive Fleetwood Road.  Turns out we didn't even need to use that road...never fully trust an Iphone map direction!

MILEAGE: 51842
Downtown Kutztown was as bucolic as ever.  Because Sue wanted Nancy to experience a true Kutztown dining experience, we had a late breakfast at Letterman's Diner.

 True to the culinary reputation of the Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine, the meal did not disappoint.  After perusing the menu, we ordered a "short stack" of pancakes with various breakfast meats as accompaniments.  We watched the cook place said pancakes on a highly greased grill, and they were GI NOR MOUS.

The pancake tasted way better than it looks - it basically was the size of our two heads combined.  Wow.   Dat's gut nahhh.

While there, a discussion concerning Kutztown cheers from years gone by transpired between the 20-something waitress and Sue, who graduated from said college in 1972.  Yes, the inspiring cheer she remembered is still part of K'town tradition:
"Ring baloney onest,
Ring baloney twice,
Rah, rah, Kutztown,
Cheez, dat's nice." (To be said with a Dutchie accent)

Neither of us finished our carbo-packed pancakes...

Moving on at a distinctly slower pace, we took a drive-through tour of the college followed by a stop at  Old Main, the site of Sue's classes and dorm for three years.  Still looked sort of the same -- I don't remember the furniture looking so tired.

 

How convenient that there were restrooms available before the next part of the day's journey.

Following the ever-trustworthy Iphone directions, we drove a few miles out of the way before continuing to our next destination - State College, PA.

MILEAGE: 51992

The trip going up 322 looked pretty much the same as it did many years ago - not saying how many - when Nancy went back and forth to Happy Valley (not so Happy Valley these days).  The trip was uneventful, and we found our hotel with ease.  After the compulsory bedbug protocols were followed, we brought our luggage to the room and settled in.  Since lunch practically sunk our ships (get used to idiomatic expressions - Nancy is a master), we looked for lighter, purer fare.  And we succeeded at Harrison's Wine Grill on East College Avenue.  

After dinner, we took the scenic tour through State College, arriving back at the hotel to rest up for the next day's adventure!

The vehicle.

We're taking my hobbit-mobile on our trip, a sweet Honda CR-V.  The hobbit part comes from the look of the car, along with its color, green tea, which sort of reminds me of Middle Earth: "The dwarves of yore made mighty spells,/ While hammers fell like ringing bells..."

I LOVE my car, and it has plenty of space for our gear and any souvenirs we may buy (more in Canada, where we plan to load up on some really good wine).

And PS, I will SO be seeing The Hobbit the first week it comes out!!!

About us.

We're both English teachers, one retired and one jealous.  I started as substitute teacher at the high school where we both worked, and during that time we realized that we had gone to the same high school, graduating one year apart (although we're only a MONTH apart in age!).  Nancy retired in 2011, and I have at least another five years to go.  We both attended state schools in Pennsylvania; mine was a small rural college while hers was THE state school.  And we both had children who graduated from Big Ten schools.  So...an idea was born for a road trip to explore those campuses.  Of course, being English teachers, we had to incorporate a literary element.  What better way to do that than to end our trip in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, where there's an awesome Shaw festival and a charming B &B where we've stayed before.

...And a play with some Canadian wine, eh.

I guess I should explain that there is more than one focus to our trip.  We thought it would be fun to visit the college campuses where we and our children were students; Canada also beckoned since it wasn't THAT far out of the way, and we could have fabulous breakfasts, see a Shaw play, and stock up on delicious Canadian wine (I'm not kidding, their wines are really good!!).  So we're covering about 2600 miles total to re-visit these places where we spent quality time (and a quantity of bucks).  Sorry, Rudi, we'll catch you in D.C.!



Peller Estates Winery (Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON) - they have some smooth Chenin Blanc that's got my name on it!!

Six days and counting!

Nancy and I are getting ready for a  semi-Big Ten plus one road trip!  Our itinerary is as follows:

Saturday: Kutztown for lunch - KUTZTOWN (our plus one)   SUE

State College overnight  PENN STATE                                     NANCY
Sunday: State College    PENN STATE                                    

Monday: Ann Arbor       UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN        FRANK (AND BOB, TWO OF HIS SIBLINGS, OUR SISTER-IN-LAW, AND OUR NEPHEW)
Tuesday: Ann Arbor       UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Wednesday: Evanston, IL  NORTHWESTERN                         SAM
Thursday: Evanston, IL    NORTHWESTERN

Friday:  Deforest, WI       UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN     JUST THREW THAT IN AS A DRIVE-BY!

Saturday: St, Paul, MN    UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA    ALLISON
Sunday: St. Paul, MN      UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA

Monday: Wheaton, IL

Tuesday: Port Huron, MI  MICHIGAN STATE (?)                   ANOTHER DRIVE-BY

Wednesday: Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON
Thursday: Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON

Friday: HOME!!