Category Road Trips

Road Trip: Indiana, 2018

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I like to run distance races. I used to run marathons, but my marathon-runner sports medicine doctor advised me that I wasn’t doing that any more after my last one in 2015; it was apparently a bad thing that my right knee sounded crunchy for six weeks after the race. Half marathons aren’t banned, and I haven’t had that kind of problem after one of those, so I run them.

Sometimes, I run more than one a weekend. In 2015 and 2016, I completed the Midwest Half and Half Challenge by running both the Wisconsin Half Marathon and the Borgess Run for the Health of It in the same weekend. In 2017, I missed the event due to my ongoing recovery from my 2016 ankle surgery, but I returned to the event in 2018.

I didn’t snap many photos in Kalamazoo, because I’ve spent years there. I hadn’t been to Bloomington or Indianapolis, though, so photographs were required. I have family-level friends in Bloomington, so my trip started early enough to allow me to hang out with them.

The real queen of the house in Bloomington is Pearl. She’s a lovely gray-and-white cat with lots of attitude and a solid vocabulary. Pearl is amazing, and here she is:

Bloomington has a lot of great eats and fun places to go. Here are a few of my favorites from the trip.

The Owlery in Bloomington has legit vegetarian poutine, and it is delicious.

This bridge carries the B Line Trail over 3rd Street.

This coffee shop is both excellent and located right along the B Line.

Look at this beauty of an espresso machine! The folks at Hopscotch couldn’t bring themselves to part with it.

Bloomington was fun, and seeing my friends was even more fun, but I had to move on to Indianapolis for race day #1. I didn’t get around much, given that I had a race the next morning, but I had some great views from my hotel room.

White River State Park

All in all, it was a great trip, and I can’t wait until my next visit to both cities.

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Road Trip: Cleveland, 2017

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My wife and I make what seems like an annual pilgrimage to Cleveland to run a 10k hosted by the A Christmas Story House and Museum. It’s a great cause — the proceeds from the race all go into the museum’s charitable work to help improve the surrounding neighborhood — and it’s a lot of fun. We had time to do a little bit of sightseeing, some of which included the house.

It’s a major award!

This is a great scene of “life” in the house. Also, the Look magazine reminded me of a rare stamp from the 1950s that was issued on a special paper and used on mail from Look.

The “Old Man” drove a 1938 Oldsmobile.

Not everything I photographed was in the house, though. I found a little bit of neon, and a couple of other things along the way. I found a few fun pieces of neon artwork, and we toured Great Lakes Brewing. I don’t drink beer, but touring the brewery was a very fun experience.

The Corner Alley has a great neon sign.

So does Mabel’s BBQ.

So does the West Side Market. Also, what a beautiful December day it was!

The remnants of the old Schlather brewery now reside at Great Lakes Brewing.

We enjoy our adventures in Cleveland, and we’ll definitely be back.

Road Trip: Stephen Kellogg in Spring Lake, 2017

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In October, my wife and I made a quick trek across the state to Spring Lake to see Stephen Kellogg in concert at Seven Steps Up, an amazing little music hall right downtown.

This is a lovely bit of neon; I regret not catching a photo after the sun went down.

There’s nothing better than walking up to a music hall and seeing Stephen Kellogg’s name on the sign.

The venue is a nifty site with amazing acoustics. The wood floors add to the ambience, and the staff who work there are amazing. As always, Stephen Kellogg put on a great show. Our seats weren’t conducive to getting great shots of the main show, but we did get to catch up with Stephen before the show during a meet-and-greet event. Here are a couple of photos of Stephen doing what he does best.

Look at that smile!

Seriously, Stephen Kellogg puts on a great show. It doesn’t matter if he has an opening act. It doesn’t matter if he has a band or plays by himself. He’s just great at what he does, and he sure enjoys doing it. Everyone should be so lucky.

Road Trip: Port Huron, 2014 – Part 2

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Because Port Huron is right on the St. Clair River, the trip afforded me the opportunity to snag photos of a few freighters and ships that passed through. I didn’t capture all the names; in some cases, the zoom on my camera phone wasn’t quite enough to allow me to pick up the name here 3½ years later as I finally post these. Oh, well — that’s life.

The tug in the previous photo was pulling this barge.

The Mississagi

The Algoma Navigator

The John J. Boland

The Emilie

The Cason J. Callaway

I hope you enjoy these photos. If you want to see my other photos from this trip, please click here.

Road Trip: Port Huron, 2014 – Part 1

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I spent a couple of days in Port Huron back in 2014. Port Huron is a lovely town with so many great sights to see and photograph.

My hotel room offered a very nice view of the St. Clair River and the Blue Water Bridge.

The lightship Huron is part of the rich history on display in Port Huron.

The USCGC Hollyhock was in her Port Huron home during my visit.

The Port Huron Paint Company has a great sign.

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The view from the observation deck of the Fort Gratiot Light is magnificent.

For photos of the many boats and ships I saw on this trip, please click here.

Road Trip: Two Stephen Kellogg Concerts in Two Days

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One of my wife’s all-time favorite artists is Stephen Kellogg. Over nearly eight years of being attached, I’ve had the privilege of attending a number of Stephen Kellogg shows, including both of his most recent shows in Michigan. My wife and I pulled a couple of very late nights / early mornings, but we enjoyed some great music along the way.

The first concert was in Ann Arbor. Before the show, we had the opportunity to pay a visit to Kelloggtown and hang with Stephen for a few minutes before the show. Hanging out in the dressing room with the headliner was a new experience for me. Stephen treated us to a couple of songs, a bit of Q-and-A, and photo opportunities.

Stephen Kellogg has an awesome voice, and he was kind enough to share it with us before the show.

Before this selfie, Stephen decided he needed to be wearing his track jacket. Twinning is winning! Also, seriously, I live in that track jacket. You should get one, too.

I didn’t carry my rarely used superzoom Canon Powershot with me to the show in Ann Arbor, and the lighting didn’t really make for good photography with my phone. That’s not intended as disrespect to The Ark; it’s a great venue, and it’s not like we were sitting in the front row. We’re too old for that sort of thing, right?

All the guitars. All of them.

Yup. We were front row center for our second Stephen Kellogg show of the weekend, at Acorn Theater in Three Oaks.

My ears remain grateful to Stephen for not rendering me completely deaf. Thank you, sir. Thank you.

Hailey Steele opened both nights, and she did a very good job both nights. Her music grew on us by the second night, and we picked up a signed copy of one of her CDs. I’m not entirely sure how I’ll upload that to my iPod, as my current computer doesn’t have a CD drive. I guess it’s finally time to invest in that external CD drive — but I digress.

Hailey Steele, preparing to country-rock out.

Stephen Kellogg puts on a great show. He engages well with the audience, he’s witty, he’s an excellent storyteller, and he has an outstanding voice which he uses to belt out amazing songs. If you’re lucky, he’ll even FaceTime his daughters during the concert to get them to teach the audience the dance to the song “Big Easy” that he originally recorded with The Sixers. Here are a few shots from the concert.

All in all, between two concerts and a total of 25 miles run (10 on Saturday, plus 15 on Sunday), it was an exhausting weekend, but it was also a heck of a lot of fun. I’m confident that my 42-year-old self will someday recover from my attempt at being a 24-year-old.

Road Trip: Georgia/Alabama, 2014 – Part 3

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Here are a few more photos from this Southern adventure.

My sister’s cat, Phoebe, is amazing and cranky all at the same time. She adopted my sister, literally — she got in the car and wouldn’t get out.

Toe beans.

I ran a half marathon the last day I was in Alabama; amazingly enough, I finished second in my age group and (if memory serves) seventh overall.

That’s all for this trip! If you enjoyed these photos, you can find the rest of the highlights here and here.

Road Trip: Georgia/Alabama, 2014 – Part 2

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After visiting Georgia, we trekked to Alabama. Part of our time there involved a trip to Tuscaloosa. My wife had never been to The University of Alabama, and I managed to snag tickets to Alabama’s game against South Florida. (Later on, you’ll see how tough a ticket that was.) It’s always nice to return to the Capstone, and here are a few photos from that trip.

The historical marker at Tuscaloosa City Hall is kind of worn, but I like it that way.

Evergreen Cemetery is adjacent to Bryant-Denny Stadium, and houses perhaps even more history than its more famous neighbor.

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen more text on one historical marker than I’ve seen on this one for Tuscaloosa’s Evergreen Cemetery.

The entire time I was in school at Alabama, I never ate at Rama Jama’s. I fixed that error.

“Alabama, listen, mother, / To our vows of love….”

The South Florida – Alabama game featured a canine halftime show!

For the first set of photos from this trip, click here or click here for the next set.

Road Trip: Marquette, 2014

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In August 2014, I was part of a quick trip to Marquette, Michigan. It was a quick trip, but it nonetheless took me to several interesting places. Because of the distance involved, the trip north involved a few stops; my favorite was in Clare.

Cops and Doughnuts

Cops and Doughnuts has never disappointed. The baked goods are always excellent, and the staff are always friendly. The shop’s existence is also a great story, with the city’s police officers having bought the bakery when it was at risk of closure. If you’re in the area, it’s definitely worth a stop.

Things got historic in the Upper Peninsula. There are so many amazing sites to visit, and I always feel like I missed so much even when I visit a lot of different places. The ore dock in the lower harbor is one of the great landmarks in the entire UP, in my humble opinion.

Lower Harbor Ore Dock, Marquette, Michigan

Engine House #3 at the Cleveland Mine, Ishpeming, Michigan

Michigan Iron Industry Museum, Negaunee Township, Michigan

The Iron Ore Heritage Trail offers some great views. This one is in Negaunee Township, Michigan.

All trips end one way or another. This one ended with Wembley doing Wembley things in my suitcase after I had (mostly) unpacked it.

He’s so very special.

Road Trip: Mobile, 2017 – Part 3

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The last full day in Mobile featured a fun 5k and some more sightseeing.

Ben Mee branch, Mobile Public Library

This is one of the best-ever backdrops for a race finish.

The Government Street Presbyterian Church is one of the myriad historic sites in Mobile.

All good things come to an end, and we had to take our leave of Mobile and make our way back to Michigan.

This sign needs to be everywhere.

My hotel waffle-making skills are strong.

It’s also nice when someone else makes the waffle. Yes, I had waffles twice in one day. #sorrynotsorry

One does not simply walk into Waffle House and make a breakfast taco. Wait, one totally does that.

No matter how well they treat him, Wembley fears cat-sitters. He was very happy that we returned home.

That’s it for this trip! If you missed the previous parts of this series, you can check them out here and here.