We ended up getting to Chicago last Fri
late in the afternoon. Traffic seemed to be light,
so we drove and bypassed the Toll roads.

It took us 26 minutes to get to the loop,
with nary a soul, compared to any drive
ever before for us. When we reached the Loop,
again hardly any traffic at all. It seemd like an early
morning on a Sat/Sun, rather than a Friday.

We wondered if the high cost of gasoline
is making this change????

It sure was an easy commute, both in
and out of town. Not the usual
amount of backed up traffic.

click to enlarge any image

If you look closely, you will see
many types of information.

We thought of Ched when we saw these.

Although we parked close to our favorite
coffee shop, we did not go in this time.

This VW was in front of us.

Down the street and our first stop whenever
we get to Chicago after 2 pm is
the New Tokyo.

These 2 guys make the best Sushi.......

Since Bernice never had Sushi, she tried
this Tempura Potato Prawns.
She was pleasantly surprised.

Our favorite is Dragon Spicy Eel & Tuna.

The presentation is always top notch.
And so is an empty plate.

A few views that caught our eyes.

Had a chat with Earl at Krispy Kreme Donuts.

Cup on the left was their Espresso.
Looks pretty much like coffee. Tasted pretty bad.
Automatic machines in a place like this is a disaster.
Cup on the right was their coffee.
One thing I noticed, coffee in the hotel dining
area and here was flavorful with no after taste.

No wonder SB is losing customers for regular,
"everyday" (their new slogan) coffee.

I don't know, too me, these donuts
weren't anything special either.
I don't eat them often, but if I did,
I'd have to try something much better.

We never had a Chicago Dog, and thought
we'd never try one, so having Bernice along
pushed us to it.

This is on the South Side of Chicago on
the way out of town.

A few years ago a car drove through
the front here, but as you can see
they rebuilt the store.

They have a unique way of wrapping the
fries with the dog.

It tasted better than we anticipated
and may have to try a place in town
with some sort of reputation.

Bernice was taken to a few places she had never been.
She's not really a big city person, as she mentioned a few
times. We did stop at a Half Price Books before heading
out of town. She found a Quilting book from 2001
that had some photos of her Quilts and her
name mentioned in it. No one asked for
her permission or told her about the book.

Although tired, she seemed to have enjoyed
not only the Quilt Show, but being shown
around some of our favorite places
when we go to Chicago.

Poster - 1900 - 1920

nick & dcb :

As for your question about Chicory Coffee, and
the Brand you mentioned, I have never tasted it.
In that way, I can give no info.
I do know whenever we get Vietnamese Coffee,
the Dumonde brand is what is used in the little
drip pots added with some Condensed Milk.

We usually stop at Intelligentsia,
but, as we had Bernice with us,
we tried not to go where there
was a lot of walking, for her sake.

On our way home we stopped at Peets on
North St, downtown Chicago. Normally a pleasant
stop after we purchase a few items from Whole Foods.

I asked for a Breve, which is half & half as opposed
to regular milk, with espresso.

It seems now Peets has it's own SB way
of ordering and I was educated as to what
kind of milk it was and they then asked
how much milk I wanted.....huh?

What did I get? They charged me for a Macchiato,
and I received a double espresso with a dollop
of foam on top.

So, no Breve ; (

Some photos and such will be added to the top here
tomorrow I believe........

click on any image to enlarge

Today was our friend Bernice's Open House.

This was the little spread Lisa laid
out for her guests.

This quilt was made for a friend of Bernices,
who loaned it back to her for the show.
I believe the lady was head of a Quilt Magazine
or something and has taken the quilt
and shown it all around the world.

If you enlarge the picture, you
might see the places its been.

This is the case under the above mentioned quilt.

If you look close, there's a picture of Bernice
on the right hand page.

She calls this one, Catastrophic.

All her work is by hand, no machinery at all.

This is Max, her hubby.
His dog just died, and in the upper
right corner, is one dog amongst
all those cats. I caught him looking at this
quite awhile. He sure misses his dog.

We took Bernice to Chicago in April
and the post has a photo of her and
maybe in Jan we also took her for a day
in Ft Wayne.

11:20 AM Weather, Sunday: -19 wind chill = Brrrrr

On our way to pick Bernice up, this is what our
drive looked like. Expecting snow and the sky
behind us was getting darker and darker.

Surprisingly, the day was chilly with the wind chill
but stayed sunny most of the day, with no snow.

Bernice (L, Master Quilter) is Lisa's friend and Sat
we took her to our favorite haunts in Ft. Wayne.
She's never been to any of these places.
Of course, we started at our favorite Vietnamese
eatery, (mentioned in an earlier post)
the Saigon, on Calhoun St.

We've been in indy-anna for 11 yrs now.
Further down Calhoun St is this old theater.
It's been appearing that it will be
reconstructed, yet, nothing so far.

Next door to the right is an antique store.

Across the street from the theater is the
Asian grocery we go to.

Across the street from that is this building.
A few years ago it was a car lot, and
a Mexican eatery, now they make
tamales, and sell them out of a truck
in different parts of town.

We've not tried them, but they must be good.

One of the best used book stores
in Indiana, if not the best, is Hyde Bros.

Owners Sam & Joel are very knowledgeable
and helpful and know books like no one else.

Sometime last year they split the business up,
now Sam runs this storefront.

Also working here is Julia Meek, who
has a Sat night program on the local
NPR WBOI station, called:

Folk Tales

and has music expressing different
thoughts and ideas from around the world.

She's also a very good artist.

Joel is the other brother and his store
is a bit more modest.

Yesterday he mentioned that his sideline
is this store, and his real business is the internet.

This just goes to show how the book business,
and book purchasing has changed through the years.

I was amazed to find out early on when we met
the brothers, that Joel lived and worked in San Francisco
while I was growing up there, and frequented the
same bookstores there and in Berkeley that I did.

It's a small world, as they say.

Our last stop was the Firefly Coffeehouse,
the only other place, other than our own
house in indy-anna where we'll
actually purchase a coffee and get
one that isn't disgusting.

Everyone there is very good behind
the counter and very friendly.

There's a young man there who is part
of a duo:

Left Lane Cruiser

The link above is their Myspace page.
If you like the blues, punk,music,
these guys can be fun.

He told me yesterday they are going to Europe
a bit later this year.

I was glad to hear it. They are having fun
and have no illusions to anything more than that.

To the left is also a Health Food Store.

And that was our Sat with Bernice.
===========================================

2 - 10 - 1982

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow,

yet we forget that he is someone today.

Stacia Tauscher

post 450 - for max - RIP 12-9-2010

Have you ever seen someone one minute,
and all is well, and the next, it isn't?

Awhile back, our friends husband Max,
seen in the picture below, was told he had
a cancer growing, then, it disappeared.

2 weeks ago, he didn't feel like eating
or drinking and his wife took him to
the doctor. Long story short, the cancer
is so bad, surgery can not help.

We went and saw him a weak ago Fri,
and although obviously week and
losing weight, he had thanked us
for coming.

Today, he was sleeping and although
sipping at a juice once in awhile, he is
not eating, nor taking any pain pills.

I had many ideas for a collage,
and the above is what I ended
up with.

Max in '08 looking at Bernice's quilts.

Max died 12-9-2010 around
1 AM in his sleep.

See more here

Banksy


Sometimes you put up walls not to keep people out,

but to see who cares enough to break them down.

Unknown

This is Bernice, Lisa's quilter friend.
There is an International Quilter Convention in Chicago
next weekend, and will be her guests.

I will be visiting with Earl from the Peace Train,
having some coffee and perusing a bookstore or two.

This quilt was done by one of the
Sisters Of The Cloth in Ft. Wayne.

I met them last year and was asked to record
a few of them for the African American Museum.

Last evening, Lisa had to set up a booth for
a local quilt show.

While there, I met a gentleman who was
sitting there listening to an Ipod or something.
I asked what he was listening to and a
conversation ensued.

One thing led to another, only to find
out that as he was growing up in Ft Wayne,
his father was a doctor, but somehow or
another was heavy into the Jazz Scene.

Seems that Nat Cannonball Adderley came to
their house and played in their basement
with others who he couldn't remember.

His father is still alive. I passed my card along,
hoping to record him talking about what it was
like back then, not only about the jazz clubs ,
but anything else that happened in that time period.

Here's hoping I get a call.