The Good - Gillette stadium is really nice. It is easy to get in, People are friendly. Signage is very good. Parking is excellent. There is plenty of seating in the club (something the United Club could take note of). The seats are very comfortable and the sight lines are very good. Food choices are very good and the quality is excellent. They could use a better method to get people out of the parking lots. Traffic was very bad getting to the highways.
The Bad - ok this is hard - It is either the Bears Offense or the Bears Defense. As the other one is the Ugly maybe it doesn't matter which one is which. So we will call the Offense Ugly. So the bad is the Defense.
The Ugly - the Offense
As bad as the game looked on the TV it was worse in person. You could only see the person who caught the passes for the Patriots, not the 2 or 3 other people who were open on almost every play. The fans there were very considerate and didn't really taunt us or even go out of their way to rub it in. They even went so far as to apologize for how we must be feeling. OK THAT SUCKED!!!!
Near as I can tell the Bears are playing for a good draft pick. We could use a great safety. Or a cornerback. Or a defensive lineman who can get to the quarterback. Or a new defensive coordinator - can you draft one of them. Or maybe a special teams coach that does not use the excuse that the players he has to work with change every week to justify abysmal performance week after week.
This game had the distinction of being the first time I seriously considered leaving at half time of a game. I have never before left before the end of the game no matter how bad it was. This game almost broke that streak. It was that miserable.
There were fewer Bears fans at this game than any one so far this year. And even given that the staff Gillette stadium commented on how many Bears fans there were there. Apparently the Patriot fans are hard core and almost always use their own tickets. They also stayed through most of the game. At the end of the third quarter, with the blowout happening, rain starting to come down and it getting cold the stands were still about 70-80% full. At the end of the game they still were over 1/2 full. Definitely hard core. Needless to say almost none of the Bears fans left before the end of the game. It is just how we roll.
On to other topics. I will be doing a more detailed review of all the restaurants we went to this season in a summary post over the next few days. It will give you something to tide you over during the bye week.
I close with GO Bears - I am just not sure where I want to tell them to go at this point.
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Saturday, October 25, 2014
Beating the Patriots - Day Minus 1
There were witches - good witches and evil witches, Glinda witches and Sabrina witches, funny witches and sexy witches, young witches and older witches and a few much much older witches. There were even a few wanna be sexy witches that looked more like Glinda's dour old maiden aunt, but with a pointy hat. Everywhere you looked in Salem you saw witches. Well except for where you saw ghosts, or spidermen or power rangers, or Santa Claus. (Don't ask me - if it is good enough for the department stores for them to show decorations before halloween I guess it is good enough for St. Nick to be running around as well.) And then there were to actual witches. Like the ones running the "Ask a Witch Booth" and the "Make a Wand" display. Salem just before halloween is fun and funky, cute and spooky and just a great excuse for a party all day long and well through the night.
As you might have guessed our path took us to good old Salem. Home of the witch trials and current habitat of more witches, psychics, mediums and the like then you can count. It is also the home of at least 8 different witch museums and that is not counting pop up stands like the ask a witch booth. All together a great time, wonderful people watching and lots of fun. I highly recommend it.
We started our day at a restaurant called Dubes. It is a small, bar like place that, surprise surprise, was well decorated for halloween. It also had great service, friendly people, good drinks and WONDERFUL fried clams, scallops and fish. The shrimp, good but not wonderful. Huge portions, good prices, great food, great service and a fun atmosphere. What else can you ask for?
After our sojourn to witch world (well salem anyway) we found out that chair wars is a real thing and lo and behold we were not far from the location of the first largest chair in America. Now apparently this title has gone back and forth between several cities as new chairs are built, torn down and what exactly is a chair is debated. Hey this is serious stuff. But we needed to check out this new place so off we went to see the chair. There is a picture of it below. It is not quite as big as the one in North Carolina and certainly not as fancy. And no president has ever rested his bottom on it, but it is impressive none the less. Not sure why it is sitting in front of a school, but that is where it sits, or stands I guess. Chairs stand and we sit - right?
After that it was getting on into the evening and we headed for 5 Corners Kitchen. There we had some good oysters, wonderful tuna tartare, good squid ink pasta, great skate wing and finally some very nice gelato and sticky toffee pudding. Oh, and some horrible coffee. Oh well it was late at night and I probably shouldn't have been drinking coffee anyway.
And possibly the best thing about both of these restaurants is that I didn't feel like I was 30 years older than anyone else in the place. What is it about trendy good restaurants that only young hipster types go there?
Tomorrow is the big day. Game day and the last regular season away game we will be going to this year. It promises to be a great game and I am counting on the predictions of the experts being as good as they have been so far this year. All of the experts are picking New England to win. Of course they are 21 - 49 for the year in picking the winners. So given that their win percentage wouldn't even make them a top notch hitter in baseball, I am confident that they will again be proven wrong.
GO BEARS
An interesting note, we have seen no Bears fans this week. Usually we see a large number wherever we go, but this week none. I don't know if that means we have not been to the right places, or if we are going to be very lonely singing the fight song after each Bears score, but we will give you all the details tomorrow.
As you might have guessed our path took us to good old Salem. Home of the witch trials and current habitat of more witches, psychics, mediums and the like then you can count. It is also the home of at least 8 different witch museums and that is not counting pop up stands like the ask a witch booth. All together a great time, wonderful people watching and lots of fun. I highly recommend it.
We started our day at a restaurant called Dubes. It is a small, bar like place that, surprise surprise, was well decorated for halloween. It also had great service, friendly people, good drinks and WONDERFUL fried clams, scallops and fish. The shrimp, good but not wonderful. Huge portions, good prices, great food, great service and a fun atmosphere. What else can you ask for?
After our sojourn to witch world (well salem anyway) we found out that chair wars is a real thing and lo and behold we were not far from the location of the first largest chair in America. Now apparently this title has gone back and forth between several cities as new chairs are built, torn down and what exactly is a chair is debated. Hey this is serious stuff. But we needed to check out this new place so off we went to see the chair. There is a picture of it below. It is not quite as big as the one in North Carolina and certainly not as fancy. And no president has ever rested his bottom on it, but it is impressive none the less. Not sure why it is sitting in front of a school, but that is where it sits, or stands I guess. Chairs stand and we sit - right?
After that it was getting on into the evening and we headed for 5 Corners Kitchen. There we had some good oysters, wonderful tuna tartare, good squid ink pasta, great skate wing and finally some very nice gelato and sticky toffee pudding. Oh, and some horrible coffee. Oh well it was late at night and I probably shouldn't have been drinking coffee anyway.
And possibly the best thing about both of these restaurants is that I didn't feel like I was 30 years older than anyone else in the place. What is it about trendy good restaurants that only young hipster types go there?
Tomorrow is the big day. Game day and the last regular season away game we will be going to this year. It promises to be a great game and I am counting on the predictions of the experts being as good as they have been so far this year. All of the experts are picking New England to win. Of course they are 21 - 49 for the year in picking the winners. So given that their win percentage wouldn't even make them a top notch hitter in baseball, I am confident that they will again be proven wrong.
GO BEARS
An interesting note, we have seen no Bears fans this week. Usually we see a large number wherever we go, but this week none. I don't know if that means we have not been to the right places, or if we are going to be very lonely singing the fight song after each Bears score, but we will give you all the details tomorrow.
Friday, October 24, 2014
Beating the Patriots - Day Minus 2
Well it was bound to happen. Tonight we tried one of my hand picked and recommended restaurants and it was just meh. We went to the Island Creek Oyster Bar. The service was good. The environment was very nice. Loud and busy without being too loud or feeling crowded. The oysters were very good. The clam chowder was excellent, and we should have stopped there. We had their two signature dishes, Lobster Roe Noodles and Mrs. Bennet's seafood casserole. The noodles were nice, but nothing all that special and the other ingredients did not at all seem to go together. There were crunchy brussel sprouts. Good, but too strong for the subtle noodles. Lobster that was overcooked and rubbery, braised short ribs that were tasty but again too strong and altogether wrong for the delicate noodles. The seafood casserole had lobster, fish, and other seafood in a light sauce. The lobster was again overcooked, the fish was nice as was the scallop, but the sauce was too mild and had no definition and the rest of the dish was just plain. If I had been served it at Red Lobster I would have thought it an ok dish. For a specialty of the house in a restaurant like this it was just not good. They were out of the squash side dish we wanted and we ended up with Boston baked beans. I have had doctored canned beans that were better. I would not hesitate to go back and get soup and oysters, but the rest of the menu I would probably skip.
Tomorrow we head for Salem and with luck our choices for tomorrow will prove better. I am counting on having a lot of fun people watching. The weather should be good for it and from everything I am reading, Salem should be filled with interesting folks.
Go Bears!
Tomorrow we head for Salem and with luck our choices for tomorrow will prove better. I am counting on having a lot of fun people watching. The weather should be good for it and from everything I am reading, Salem should be filled with interesting folks.
Go Bears!
On the way to Boston
Driving an RV through the hills and low mountains in the fall is just outstanding. The trees are in color and the leaves falling in the streams make great patterns. The reflections of the forests in the lakes are painting worthy. And if you happen to be driving from Chicago to Boston you get one other benefit, you are going to most likely drive near Buffalo NY. Now don't get me wrong, I am not a huge fan of Buffalo. As smaller cities go it is about average. But as a football fan how can you fail to take advantage of stopping by that mecca of football snacking. The home of the start of every great game. I am talking about the Anchor Bar, home of the original Buffalo Chicken Wing. Yes folks this is where it all began. Some 40+ years ago as legend has it the Buffalo Chicken Wing was born. And can you imagine the shambles football would be today if it hadn't. How many tailgate parties never would have been held. How many bars would be empty on a Monday night as hunger fans needed to go someplace else to eat before the game.
Now the question on all of your minds must be, Are they as good as you would hope? Yes, yes they are. They are what every flightless fowl hopes their wings to become. Be it soused in hot, medium or mild, the wing is the thing. Crisp, meaty, juicy it is chicken wing nirvana. And NO they are not breaded (not sure where that mistake of a chicken wing idea ever came from). They are fried or baked until crispy, then tossed in sauce, served with blue cheese and celery and a bowl for the bones. That is how a chicken wing should be done.
Ok end of rant. We now find ourselves in an RV park located about half an hour from Foxboro and about the same distance from Boston. Plans are to explore the stadium area, head to salem for some halloween witchy fun and then have dinner in Boston. I will let you all know how it goes tomorrow.
As a penultimate parting thought (go bears must always be the final parting thought after all), we past by a town called Lackawanna. So would this be the town of the laziest people in the world.
Go Bears, Beat the Patriots Red, Black and Blue.
Now the question on all of your minds must be, Are they as good as you would hope? Yes, yes they are. They are what every flightless fowl hopes their wings to become. Be it soused in hot, medium or mild, the wing is the thing. Crisp, meaty, juicy it is chicken wing nirvana. And NO they are not breaded (not sure where that mistake of a chicken wing idea ever came from). They are fried or baked until crispy, then tossed in sauce, served with blue cheese and celery and a bowl for the bones. That is how a chicken wing should be done.
Ok end of rant. We now find ourselves in an RV park located about half an hour from Foxboro and about the same distance from Boston. Plans are to explore the stadium area, head to salem for some halloween witchy fun and then have dinner in Boston. I will let you all know how it goes tomorrow.
As a penultimate parting thought (go bears must always be the final parting thought after all), we past by a town called Lackawanna. So would this be the town of the laziest people in the world.
Go Bears, Beat the Patriots Red, Black and Blue.
Monday, October 20, 2014
At Home against the Dolphins
You know what is really bad - watching the Bears lose a game in an away stadium and having to put up with the taunts of the home team crowd. You know what I have discovered is worse. Watching the Bears lose yet again at home and do it in a horrible, terrible, no heart manner. And having to put up with the taunts of the home team crowd and the team. Yes that would be us. Bears fans need to support their team, but it is awfully hard to do so when it seems like they are the only ones trying. To then hear the Bears players complaining that the crowd was not loud enough on third downs when the opposing team was on the field and using that as a reason why the defense could not get a stop is simply absurd. I am not sure what excuse they were using in the first half when the crowd was loud and they still couldn't stop the Dolphins. And while I am never a fan of booing the home team, I can almost understand the frustration that led others to do just that.
For those who do not know what this mini rant is about, the Bears lost at home yet again. They are now 0-3 at home for the season. In at least two of the games they should have had a good chance to win, but didn't seem to show any fire or desire. For example 4 dropped passes in a row on the last possession to eliminate any chance of catching up. Bad throws to receivers on wide receiver screens that were out of the reach of the receiver. No blocking by the other wideout on those same screens when the receiver did catch the ball. Four fumbles (two of them lost) and an interception. The list could go on for pages. Basically the defense was not good and they looked like all pro bowl caliber by comparison with the offense. I think we can sum it up by saying before the last drive of the first half the Bears had under 30 yards of total offense.
After the game several Bears players struck out a the fans for not supporting the team by being loud enough and because many of the fans booed the home team after a couple of particularly bad series.
I am not an NFL coach and I won't try and second guess Trestman, but he needs to figure out why the team plays so much better and with so much more passion on the road compared with being at home and he needs to change it. Losing is one thing. Looking like beaten dogs instead of Bears is something else. The only person who really seemed to be fired up Sunday was Ratliff with 3.5 sacks and over a half dozen tackles. Compare that with the week before and ... well their is no comparison.
Enough ..... There was no Dolphins - there is only New England. Bears - Bear Down on the Patriots.
After the game we went to the Publican public house. This is a great restaurant serving small plates (and not so small plates). The food was very good overall and the cured meats and vegetable dishes were great. The Pumpkin Swordfish was outstanding. And the Blood Sausage was also very very good. I would highly recommend that anyone who has a taste for good food, great service, fun atmosphere and unusual dishes give the Publican a try.
For those who do not know what this mini rant is about, the Bears lost at home yet again. They are now 0-3 at home for the season. In at least two of the games they should have had a good chance to win, but didn't seem to show any fire or desire. For example 4 dropped passes in a row on the last possession to eliminate any chance of catching up. Bad throws to receivers on wide receiver screens that were out of the reach of the receiver. No blocking by the other wideout on those same screens when the receiver did catch the ball. Four fumbles (two of them lost) and an interception. The list could go on for pages. Basically the defense was not good and they looked like all pro bowl caliber by comparison with the offense. I think we can sum it up by saying before the last drive of the first half the Bears had under 30 yards of total offense.
After the game several Bears players struck out a the fans for not supporting the team by being loud enough and because many of the fans booed the home team after a couple of particularly bad series.
I am not an NFL coach and I won't try and second guess Trestman, but he needs to figure out why the team plays so much better and with so much more passion on the road compared with being at home and he needs to change it. Losing is one thing. Looking like beaten dogs instead of Bears is something else. The only person who really seemed to be fired up Sunday was Ratliff with 3.5 sacks and over a half dozen tackles. Compare that with the week before and ... well their is no comparison.
Enough ..... There was no Dolphins - there is only New England. Bears - Bear Down on the Patriots.
After the game we went to the Publican public house. This is a great restaurant serving small plates (and not so small plates). The food was very good overall and the cured meats and vegetable dishes were great. The Pumpkin Swordfish was outstanding. And the Blood Sausage was also very very good. I would highly recommend that anyone who has a taste for good food, great service, fun atmosphere and unusual dishes give the Publican a try.
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Falcons Game Day
Falcons stadium (The Georgia Dome) is about middle of the road as far as stadiums go. Parking access is excellent (well except for all the construction in the area) and access to the stadium from parking is quick and easy. We had club level seats in the Verizon Club. The club is nothing special and actually fairly poor as far as clubs go. Concession choices are minimal, hotdogs, hamburgers, tacos, nachos, bbq pork and loaded mac and cheese (mac and cheese with bbq pork or chicken). Food quality was fairly poor and seating was limited to a few small tables and basic metal legged hard chairs. Seats in the stadium were basic and sight lines were good. This was a classic type of stadium with all the seats getting farther and farther from the playing field as the stands go back. Newer stadiums go higher quickly instead of farther back which may be why the Falcons are building a new stadium right next door. This is also why there is so much construction in the area. All in all the stadium was not bad, not great and falls right in the middle of the pack as far as stadiums we have seen thus far are concerned.
Now on to the fun stuff. Bears fans - Bears Fans Everywhere. At the start of the game the stadium was probably 20-25% empty, which is very strange given it was the late afternoon game on a Sunday. We have come to expect that kind of lack of on time crowds from Thursday and Monday games and sometimes from the early game on Sunday, but never the later game. Ultimately the stands ended up filling in midway through the first quarter and on into the second quarter finally ending up at about 10% empty. Then of course they started emptying out again, but we will have more on that in a moment. But the Bears Fans were there from the start. Loud and Proud and determined to make life as a Falcon as difficult as possible. The crowd was loud. I dare say we were close to as loud as the Falcons fans during most of the game and FAR FAR louder come the fourth quarter. I think Jay Cutler may have summed it up best "I'm almost positive that we had more Bears fans than Falcons fans there. I'm serious. Atlanta was in silent count. We were both on silent [count]. They were in silent count like [in the] second quarter. I saw [Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan] him kicking. I was like, 'What the hell is he doing?' Then I realized it's loud in here."
Yep that was us Loud and Loving it. Hey let me brag a bit. It is not often you get the home team to have to take a time out because of the noise the visiting team's fans are making.
The game itself was great, the presence of so many Bear's fans to enjoy it with was icing on the cake.
Somewhere around half time the Falcon fans started leaving. Not sure why that was as their team was not that out of the game Well not yet anyway. By the mid third quarter it was a stream, by the end of the third quarter a torrent. It slowed down in the fourth quarter. It had to. They were running out of fans in the stadium. At this point there were about 80% Bears fans and 20% Falcon fans. We were shouting and chanting our fool heads off. I only hope that some portion of the noise made it through to the viewers at home. Certainly the team seemed to appreciate it. I mean how often do you get to see visiting team defensive lineman urging on the crowd to make more noise.
Leaving the stadium was about as easy as you can imagine. Of course at that point over half the stadium had already cleared the roads and it was only a few hapless Falcon fans and a rowdy group of happy Bears fans left.
We tried to go to one of the restaurants in the area, but they were only serving a limited bar menu. All the other places were packed and so we headed back towards the RV. The Coach found a restaurant out that way called Son of a Greek. So that is where we headed. I will give you a foreshadowing of what is to come. The Coach is no longer allowed to select restaurants. She had selected the Varsity and now this one. Two strikes and she is out of the running for any more selections. I don't think my digestion will survive a third strike.
Son of a Greek is set up like a sports bar with many TVs. The staff there spent the better part of 20 minutes trying to figure out how to get the TVs turned to the Sunday night game. This is after we spent 10 minutes or so trying to explain that we meant football, NFL football, professional football. The game that is on every Sunday night. That game. Eventually they understood that it was not the replay of the college game that we wanted. And that if they did not turn off the Rap music that was blaring from the speakers that we would not be able to hear the game.
Son of a Greek has about 4 "Greek" items listed on the menu. They mostly serve Italian food and Pizza. Apparently the Coach guessed correctly because the chicken alfredo was only bad. And that mad it the best dish we ordered. The Gyro platter was served with tomatoes that past their prime the week before and onions that were halfway fermented enough to be wine. The pizza was thin/thick crusted. On one side the pizza had a thin crust. On the other it was close to half an inch thick. And somehow they managed to cook this without making the thin side crisp. The toppings of the meat lovers pizza might have been meat, the cheese probably was not derived from any dairy product and the sauce needed to improve to make it to really bad.
But we were in a good enough mood that even this disaster of a meal could not dampen our moods.
The next morning we aimed the RV for home so we could get there to watch this weeks trouncing of Miami. Then next week it is off to New England for the last of the road games we will be going to this year. The last three road games are against the Packers, Vikings and Lions and we have been to those stadiums before so we won't be going back to them until the Vikings build their new stadium and we can see the Bears beat them there.
As a footnote, the drive back from Atlanta was a nightmare. Rain, Storms, Tornados and more Rain. At least it provided a distraction from all the construction.
Now on to the fun stuff. Bears fans - Bears Fans Everywhere. At the start of the game the stadium was probably 20-25% empty, which is very strange given it was the late afternoon game on a Sunday. We have come to expect that kind of lack of on time crowds from Thursday and Monday games and sometimes from the early game on Sunday, but never the later game. Ultimately the stands ended up filling in midway through the first quarter and on into the second quarter finally ending up at about 10% empty. Then of course they started emptying out again, but we will have more on that in a moment. But the Bears Fans were there from the start. Loud and Proud and determined to make life as a Falcon as difficult as possible. The crowd was loud. I dare say we were close to as loud as the Falcons fans during most of the game and FAR FAR louder come the fourth quarter. I think Jay Cutler may have summed it up best "I'm almost positive that we had more Bears fans than Falcons fans there. I'm serious. Atlanta was in silent count. We were both on silent [count]. They were in silent count like [in the] second quarter. I saw [Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan] him kicking. I was like, 'What the hell is he doing?' Then I realized it's loud in here."
Yep that was us Loud and Loving it. Hey let me brag a bit. It is not often you get the home team to have to take a time out because of the noise the visiting team's fans are making.
The game itself was great, the presence of so many Bear's fans to enjoy it with was icing on the cake.
Somewhere around half time the Falcon fans started leaving. Not sure why that was as their team was not that out of the game Well not yet anyway. By the mid third quarter it was a stream, by the end of the third quarter a torrent. It slowed down in the fourth quarter. It had to. They were running out of fans in the stadium. At this point there were about 80% Bears fans and 20% Falcon fans. We were shouting and chanting our fool heads off. I only hope that some portion of the noise made it through to the viewers at home. Certainly the team seemed to appreciate it. I mean how often do you get to see visiting team defensive lineman urging on the crowd to make more noise.
Leaving the stadium was about as easy as you can imagine. Of course at that point over half the stadium had already cleared the roads and it was only a few hapless Falcon fans and a rowdy group of happy Bears fans left.
We tried to go to one of the restaurants in the area, but they were only serving a limited bar menu. All the other places were packed and so we headed back towards the RV. The Coach found a restaurant out that way called Son of a Greek. So that is where we headed. I will give you a foreshadowing of what is to come. The Coach is no longer allowed to select restaurants. She had selected the Varsity and now this one. Two strikes and she is out of the running for any more selections. I don't think my digestion will survive a third strike.
Son of a Greek is set up like a sports bar with many TVs. The staff there spent the better part of 20 minutes trying to figure out how to get the TVs turned to the Sunday night game. This is after we spent 10 minutes or so trying to explain that we meant football, NFL football, professional football. The game that is on every Sunday night. That game. Eventually they understood that it was not the replay of the college game that we wanted. And that if they did not turn off the Rap music that was blaring from the speakers that we would not be able to hear the game.
Son of a Greek has about 4 "Greek" items listed on the menu. They mostly serve Italian food and Pizza. Apparently the Coach guessed correctly because the chicken alfredo was only bad. And that mad it the best dish we ordered. The Gyro platter was served with tomatoes that past their prime the week before and onions that were halfway fermented enough to be wine. The pizza was thin/thick crusted. On one side the pizza had a thin crust. On the other it was close to half an inch thick. And somehow they managed to cook this without making the thin side crisp. The toppings of the meat lovers pizza might have been meat, the cheese probably was not derived from any dairy product and the sauce needed to improve to make it to really bad.
But we were in a good enough mood that even this disaster of a meal could not dampen our moods.
The next morning we aimed the RV for home so we could get there to watch this weeks trouncing of Miami. Then next week it is off to New England for the last of the road games we will be going to this year. The last three road games are against the Packers, Vikings and Lions and we have been to those stadiums before so we won't be going back to them until the Vikings build their new stadium and we can see the Bears beat them there.
As a footnote, the drive back from Atlanta was a nightmare. Rain, Storms, Tornados and more Rain. At least it provided a distraction from all the construction.
Saturday, October 11, 2014
Plucking the Falcons - Day Minus 1
Today we thought we would go visit the stadium and get the lay of the land so to speak. We do this so we know where we are going on game day and don't have to fight the traffic to explore around the stadium. Note to future self, always check if the stadium is being used for a college game on the day you go to explore, oh and also check to make sure there is not another college football game being held at another stadium a few blocks away, oh and make sure there is not some convention going on in the convention center adjacent to the stadium you are looking to explore. So after a couple of hours of fighting traffic, I can tell you virtually nothing about the stadium. Guess that will have to come tomorrow when all I have to deal with is just one NFL game and traffic will be much lighter.
On the way to visit the stadium we stopped at an Atlanta institution, THE Varsity. (Yes apparently you must say it with capitals on the The and with authority.) The Varsity is the worlds largest Drive Inn. It currently covers about 5 acres and can accommodate about 600 cars. It has been around since 1928, which is a very good thing because there is no way a place serving food this awful would be able to make a start today. They specialize in chili cheese dogs and greasy fries. The dogs are worse than oscar mayer, the chili is dry and tasteless and the fries are so greasy that they cannot be held by one end and have them stand up. They fall over to the side limp with grease running off them. The onion rings are so greasy that they serve them in a cardboard bowl inside the box they put them in. This keeps the grease from soaking though the service box. By the way if you ignore my advise and actually go there please order Coke. I was tricked into ordering a pepsi product and was given a lecture by my 80 year old car hop on how Atlanta is a COKE town (this included pointing to the Coke name on a local building) and they don't allow pepsi (yes you must say it with all small letters) products. Oh, and just for the record, the chili burger is far worse than the chili dog which is just bad.
After these two wonderful events we decided to regroup and head out later for a dinner at a Southern/Korean fusion restaurant. It was every bit as good as THE Varsity was horrible. The restaurant was named (well is still named) Sobban and it was a wonderful experience. It is located in the building that was the former first Arby's and trust me as an Arby's the building never experienced food this good. We were assisted in our ordering by the Beverage Manager, Daniel. While he is a Falcon's fan and that counts against him, he was wonderfully helpful in suggesting great dishes and wonderful drinks. He is very well versed in the Sake's they sell and made a great suggestion. (Gonna need to get me some more of that Sake when I get home.) The rest of the servers there were friendly and helpful as well and I can't speak highly enough about them. I would highly recommend this place to anyone looking for a good meal and something a little unusual. The coach was particularly impressed with the shrimp and rice grits. I loved the three chili chicken and the rest of the party enjoyed their meals as well. The appetizers that were best loved was the spicy squid with rice cakes and the spreadable salami with kimshi relish. Definitely need to get me some more of that Sake.
So now we are all set for tomorrow to watch the Bears take on the Falcons. The consensus of opinion of both the Bears' fans as well as the Falcons' fans is that this is going to be an offense heavy game. This opinion may be influenced by the general belief that between the two teams they can't field one defense.
Tomorrow will tell - GO BEARS
Plucking the Falcons - Day Minus 2
Tonight we decided to try another interesting Atlanta restaurant. This one was dim sum meets modern cuisine. The restaurant is called Gunshow and has an interesting twist. The seating is again large community tables and we were fortunate to meet some very interesting people at our table. We spent quite a bit of time discussing football and food. Two of my favorite topics. We exchanged names of great restaurants and discussed unusual food. They were a mixed couple - one falcons fan and one saints fan. It is the southern equivalent of a Bears/Green Bay couple.
Anyway, back to Gunshow. The interesting twist of this restaurant is that each of the cooks brings the dish he/she has prepared and presents it to your table and explains it to you. If it sounds good he leaves it for you and if not takes to to the next table to present it. You can ask about how it was prepared, what is in it, and anything else you would like. And the food is overall quite good. As with every restaurant there were a few dishes we didn't like (yes we tried them all), but the great majority were quite good. I would strongly recommend this place to anyone looking for a fun place in Atlanta. But make sure you bring a credit card with a good sized limit. It is not cheap by any stretch of the definition.
Once again we have met up with other Bears fans here in Atlanta. Not quite as many as in some other cities, but we did meet the one from the farthest away yet. Our waiter was from France and a die hard fan.
So GO BEARS
Anyway, back to Gunshow. The interesting twist of this restaurant is that each of the cooks brings the dish he/she has prepared and presents it to your table and explains it to you. If it sounds good he leaves it for you and if not takes to to the next table to present it. You can ask about how it was prepared, what is in it, and anything else you would like. And the food is overall quite good. As with every restaurant there were a few dishes we didn't like (yes we tried them all), but the great majority were quite good. I would strongly recommend this place to anyone looking for a fun place in Atlanta. But make sure you bring a credit card with a good sized limit. It is not cheap by any stretch of the definition.
Once again we have met up with other Bears fans here in Atlanta. Not quite as many as in some other cities, but we did meet the one from the farthest away yet. Our waiter was from France and a die hard fan.
So GO BEARS
Friday, October 10, 2014
Falcons Plucking - Day Minus 3
We have arrived in Atlanta, settled into our campground and went out to explore the Atlanta culinary scene. We landed at a place called Holeman & Finch Public House. This place is known for the exotic foods they serve in a friendly pub atmosphere. They are not know for their signage mostly because they barely have one. Just a small stylized H and F on a black background. We were parked next to the restaurant and didn't know it was there. It looks like a bar in the lobby of a hotel. But it does not matter because there are 30 seats in the main restaurant and a large bar area that had 40 or so people in it and the place was packed. It stayed that way all night long and at 11:00 on a Thursday night they still had crowds of people coming in to eat. About half the seats in the main restaurant are at one communal table, the rest are small 2 person tables and a couple of booths. All of them are close together enough that were you inclined you could sample something from 1/2 the tables without leaving your chair. I suspect had anyone tried they would have gotten their hands stabbed by a fork. No one seemed inclined to want to give up anything they had ordered. They are also known for an unusual practice. They serve burgers. Not a lot of burgers. Exactly 24 cheeseburgers served at 10:00 each night. You need to reserve one of these burgers during that night's service prior to 10:00. We were lucky enough to get the last two reservations - at 8:45.
So we started with some drinks - mine was a very refreshing concoction that tasted of spring and figs. Then we had a few small dishes to while away the time. We had duck ham, veal bunderfleisch, lardo, and parts. Parts are just what it sounds like, Veal Brains, Lamb Testicles, Veal Sweetbreads and Roasted Marrow Bone. There were many others and I only wish I could have had the room to try some others. They were all very good, small portions so you could try many of them and relatively inexpensive. Their main menu had a dozen different items that all sounded great that I was not able to get to and these also are served in a tasting portion size. The most expensive item on the menu was $14 and most items were in the $5-$7 range. Think Tapas or dim sum.
And then came the burger. At 10:00 one of the cooks comes out of the kitchen and in an incredibly loud voice announces through a megaphone that it is BURGER TIME. He repeats BURGER and the crowd responds TIME, and this chant is repeated several times until all who have burgers coming are drooling in anticipation and those who have missed out are contemplating ways to sneak one off of the table of those lucky few.
So, can any burger be worth this hype? Is this all show and no substance? My friends I am here to tell you that this was the best cheeseburger that I have ever had. It was the epitome of the burger art. I have eaten Michael Simon's burgers at B-Spot in Cleveland and have driven out of my way to go back to Cleveland to have them again. Did you here that, driven out of my way to go to Cleveland. I have eaten at the "Best Burger Cafe" in Iowa where they claim to have changed the name of the restaurant because everyone said they had burgers that were that great. I have made burgers in restaurants, at home, and at tailgates and I consider myself a fairly good cook. I have never had anything like this piece of burger delight. The perfect patties, the ideal homemade bun, fantastic tasting american cheese melted just the right amount, great onions that were not too sweet and done just right, 2 slices of pickle because that is the perfect amount of pickle to balance out the other tastes in the burger. I am sitting here now wondering if anyone would think I was crazy if I drove the 45 minutes to the restaurant and put my name on the reservation list for tonight's burger time. Oh and that would also mean sitting there for the next 10 hours. And I am wondering if I care if people would think I was crazy. It was that good!!
Tonight we try a restaurant called Gunshow. I will give a full report tomorrow about that experience and from everything I have read it should be wonderful. But I know, in the deep dark corners of my mind, that I will be wondering if it is too late to run over the H&F and get on the list.
And so now my final parting thought. If we offered these Burgers to the Bears after every victory, would the '72 Dolphins have to stop opening those bottles of Champaign?
So we started with some drinks - mine was a very refreshing concoction that tasted of spring and figs. Then we had a few small dishes to while away the time. We had duck ham, veal bunderfleisch, lardo, and parts. Parts are just what it sounds like, Veal Brains, Lamb Testicles, Veal Sweetbreads and Roasted Marrow Bone. There were many others and I only wish I could have had the room to try some others. They were all very good, small portions so you could try many of them and relatively inexpensive. Their main menu had a dozen different items that all sounded great that I was not able to get to and these also are served in a tasting portion size. The most expensive item on the menu was $14 and most items were in the $5-$7 range. Think Tapas or dim sum.
And then came the burger. At 10:00 one of the cooks comes out of the kitchen and in an incredibly loud voice announces through a megaphone that it is BURGER TIME. He repeats BURGER and the crowd responds TIME, and this chant is repeated several times until all who have burgers coming are drooling in anticipation and those who have missed out are contemplating ways to sneak one off of the table of those lucky few.
So, can any burger be worth this hype? Is this all show and no substance? My friends I am here to tell you that this was the best cheeseburger that I have ever had. It was the epitome of the burger art. I have eaten Michael Simon's burgers at B-Spot in Cleveland and have driven out of my way to go back to Cleveland to have them again. Did you here that, driven out of my way to go to Cleveland. I have eaten at the "Best Burger Cafe" in Iowa where they claim to have changed the name of the restaurant because everyone said they had burgers that were that great. I have made burgers in restaurants, at home, and at tailgates and I consider myself a fairly good cook. I have never had anything like this piece of burger delight. The perfect patties, the ideal homemade bun, fantastic tasting american cheese melted just the right amount, great onions that were not too sweet and done just right, 2 slices of pickle because that is the perfect amount of pickle to balance out the other tastes in the burger. I am sitting here now wondering if anyone would think I was crazy if I drove the 45 minutes to the restaurant and put my name on the reservation list for tonight's burger time. Oh and that would also mean sitting there for the next 10 hours. And I am wondering if I care if people would think I was crazy. It was that good!!
Tonight we try a restaurant called Gunshow. I will give a full report tomorrow about that experience and from everything I have read it should be wonderful. But I know, in the deep dark corners of my mind, that I will be wondering if it is too late to run over the H&F and get on the list.
And so now my final parting thought. If we offered these Burgers to the Bears after every victory, would the '72 Dolphins have to stop opening those bottles of Champaign?
Monday, October 6, 2014
Panthers Game - the day after
Well I woke up this morning and double checked the date. Nope, yesterday was not a nightmare and the Bears really did give up the game. This called for a day of relaxation and forgetfulness. So away we went to see some of the less significant sights around Charlotte. And when I say less significant I am being so kind to these attractions.
We started out heading for Thomasville, NC. This is the home of the Worlds Biggest Chair. A chair with historical significance. A chair that has been the resting place of President's bottoms. How can you pass up an opportunity like that.
Well on the way we came across the historic town of Salisbury. It was coming up on lunch time so how could you not go to a steakhouse and have a famous Salisbury Steak. Well more disappointment. Salisbury apparently is not the home of the dish of so many TV diners, but instead is know as the home of the Confederate prison where over 11,000 union prisoners died and were buried in 4 trenches dug in a nearby cemetery. So sad, I meant the steak, but the prison and prisoners too.
So on to Thomasville, and here is the Chair.
So on to the next attraction. This is the worlds largest chest of drawers located in High Point, which also has dozens of furniture stores, outlets and other home stores. On the way there we stopped at a local diner. It was quite the spot, friendly service, good food, great local gossip and the local hot spot. There must have been 40 people who came in and ordered in the time we were sitting there. So once again the rule, go to the place where lots of local cars are parked to eat held true. Oh, and then we were on to the Worlds Largest Chest of Drawers. I know you have all been waiting so here it is.
Tomorrow is another day and as Belichick said (well he would have said if he was the Bear's coach) there is no Panthers, there is only Atlanta.
On to Atlanta - go Bears
We started out heading for Thomasville, NC. This is the home of the Worlds Biggest Chair. A chair with historical significance. A chair that has been the resting place of President's bottoms. How can you pass up an opportunity like that.
Well on the way we came across the historic town of Salisbury. It was coming up on lunch time so how could you not go to a steakhouse and have a famous Salisbury Steak. Well more disappointment. Salisbury apparently is not the home of the dish of so many TV diners, but instead is know as the home of the Confederate prison where over 11,000 union prisoners died and were buried in 4 trenches dug in a nearby cemetery. So sad, I meant the steak, but the prison and prisoners too.
So on to Thomasville, and here is the Chair.
So on to the next attraction. This is the worlds largest chest of drawers located in High Point, which also has dozens of furniture stores, outlets and other home stores. On the way there we stopped at a local diner. It was quite the spot, friendly service, good food, great local gossip and the local hot spot. There must have been 40 people who came in and ordered in the time we were sitting there. So once again the rule, go to the place where lots of local cars are parked to eat held true. Oh, and then we were on to the Worlds Largest Chest of Drawers. I know you have all been waiting so here it is.
Tomorrow is another day and as Belichick said (well he would have said if he was the Bear's coach) there is no Panthers, there is only Atlanta.
On to Atlanta - go Bears
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Panthers Game Day - Bears Fans Show Up - Defense, not so much
Those of you who read this on a regular basis know I don't comment on the Bears performance or the game itself. That being said, the Bears need to figure out how to play in the third quarter or there is not a chance for any success this season.
Ok, I am done with that. Bank of America stadium is a reasonably good stadium. Nothing special, but nothing terrible either. Parking is fairly sparse, but they make it work. Entry to the stadium is quick and efficient and exiting is about the same. There are multiple ways to get to the stadium so traffic is light coming in and going out. The club is nothing special. Basically some seats and tables, and a few basic concession stands. Burgers, fries, fried chicken sandwich, nachos and personal pizzas. Apparently they used to have four very nice restaurants with views down to the field, but people used to sit in them for most of the game and use them like "poor man's suites" or so we were told. So they ripped them all out and replaced them with real suites that they could then sell. The only slightly unusual offering was a Krispy Kreme donut stand.
Seating was good for the game and for the most part the fans were nice. Concessions in the stands were varied and unobtrusive. About the amount of taunting you would expect from fans who like their team. The stadium was about 20-25% empty at kickoff and by the end of the first quarter maybe another 10% had come in. They claim to have had 119 consecutive sold out home games, but if so their attendance percentage is terrible by comparison with other stadiums. The best feature(s) about the stadium is two very large screens in the end zones. Well that and the cheerleaders.
The Bears fans were out in force and during the third quarter a rousing cheer of "Lets Go Bears" originating in the south end zone and spreading through the stadium was largely ignored by the team. But we fans at least felt like we were doing our part.
As we look forward to Atlanta - Please Lets Go Bears?
Ok, I am done with that. Bank of America stadium is a reasonably good stadium. Nothing special, but nothing terrible either. Parking is fairly sparse, but they make it work. Entry to the stadium is quick and efficient and exiting is about the same. There are multiple ways to get to the stadium so traffic is light coming in and going out. The club is nothing special. Basically some seats and tables, and a few basic concession stands. Burgers, fries, fried chicken sandwich, nachos and personal pizzas. Apparently they used to have four very nice restaurants with views down to the field, but people used to sit in them for most of the game and use them like "poor man's suites" or so we were told. So they ripped them all out and replaced them with real suites that they could then sell. The only slightly unusual offering was a Krispy Kreme donut stand.
Seating was good for the game and for the most part the fans were nice. Concessions in the stands were varied and unobtrusive. About the amount of taunting you would expect from fans who like their team. The stadium was about 20-25% empty at kickoff and by the end of the first quarter maybe another 10% had come in. They claim to have had 119 consecutive sold out home games, but if so their attendance percentage is terrible by comparison with other stadiums. The best feature(s) about the stadium is two very large screens in the end zones. Well that and the cheerleaders.
The Bears fans were out in force and during the third quarter a rousing cheer of "Lets Go Bears" originating in the south end zone and spreading through the stadium was largely ignored by the team. But we fans at least felt like we were doing our part.
As we look forward to Atlanta - Please Lets Go Bears?
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Panthers Game Day Minus One
We are comfortably settled down here in Charlotte, NC. Actually we are about 10 miles away which puts us in SC, but who wants to quibble. We have tried the BBQ here and while quite good, it did not blow us away. We have tried the fried chicken here at Prices Chicken Coop. Prices is regarded as having the best fried chicken around. Again, very good, but to be honest the chicken we had with the waffles at Maxine's in Indianapolis on the way down was better. We went to try the signature dish of Charlotte, but apparently they didn't have one until 2012. In 2012 they decided to have a contest to find the signature dish for the city and the BellyBun Sandwich, made of pork belly marinated in dark (local) beer and a variety of spices, and served on cheesy cornbread biscuit bread, rather than a traditional bun was selected. Not because it was served anywhere, but because it seemed to have "Charlotte-ness," and it used local ingredients. I believe it was added to the menu of a restaurant, the Harvest Moon Grille, but to my thinking that does not qualify it as a signature dish for a city or a region.
We drove over and checked out the stadium and it seems nice enough from the outside. I will give you more details tomorrow after the Bears crush the Panthers. Until then I will leave you with something to ponder. Every time we have gone anywhere in the area we have run into Bears fans. Sometimes many of them together. We also have talked to a lot of people in the area who asked what we were in town for and when we said "The Game" they didn't understand or know who the Panthers were playing. Many of them assumed we meant one of the college games. If a town has that much apathy towards their football team, do they even deserve to have one? Granted they have managed to sell out most of their games for many years, but at this moment there are still a couple of hundred seats left for sale on Ticketmaster. About 1/2 of those are single seats, but there are blocks of 2, 3 and 4 seats together available. By contrast there are 18 tickets available in total for all the remaining 6 home Bears games. 6 of those happen to be in 3 blocks of 2 and are all for the last home game. All the rest are single seats. And I doubt you could go into a dozen different places in Chicago and talk to 20 people between them and not have any of them know who the Bears were playing at home that weekend and if you were wearing the opposing teams Jersey not know what "Game" you were talking about if you said you were in for the game. Maybe I am wrong. I would need someone with a jersey for another team to test this theory.
Anyway, time to sign off - Go Bears
We drove over and checked out the stadium and it seems nice enough from the outside. I will give you more details tomorrow after the Bears crush the Panthers. Until then I will leave you with something to ponder. Every time we have gone anywhere in the area we have run into Bears fans. Sometimes many of them together. We also have talked to a lot of people in the area who asked what we were in town for and when we said "The Game" they didn't understand or know who the Panthers were playing. Many of them assumed we meant one of the college games. If a town has that much apathy towards their football team, do they even deserve to have one? Granted they have managed to sell out most of their games for many years, but at this moment there are still a couple of hundred seats left for sale on Ticketmaster. About 1/2 of those are single seats, but there are blocks of 2, 3 and 4 seats together available. By contrast there are 18 tickets available in total for all the remaining 6 home Bears games. 6 of those happen to be in 3 blocks of 2 and are all for the last home game. All the rest are single seats. And I doubt you could go into a dozen different places in Chicago and talk to 20 people between them and not have any of them know who the Bears were playing at home that weekend and if you were wearing the opposing teams Jersey not know what "Game" you were talking about if you said you were in for the game. Maybe I am wrong. I would need someone with a jersey for another team to test this theory.
Anyway, time to sign off - Go Bears
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Jets Game Day
Sorry about this being posted late. With all the excitement I forgot to hit publish.
Let me start by saying that every bad thing I could say about the 49ers stadium is absolutely reversed for the Jets stadium. Traffic control is great, there are multiple expressways to feed the stadium, signage was outstanding, the staff from the parking attendants to the ticket takers to all the club attendants and the ushers could not have been friendlier or more helpful. We were lucky enough to get tickets to the Met-50 club and it was over the top nice. Not deep pile arm chair mens club nice, but going to a football game in style nice.
We can start with the most unusual feature of this club. It has a section where you can go outside the club and you are standing about 10 feet (or less) from the visiting team bench. Now this is not quite as nice for the Jets fans (there is another club on the Jets sideline with access behind their bench), but for us visiting team fans it was wonderful. You can see all the warmups, the interactions on the bench, the coaching and the action from a totally unique perspective. Well unique unless you happen to be one of the small minority of people who are professional football players or their supporting teams.
The first observation is that from ground level the game is fast - really really fast. Players look like they are all moving at 2x fast forward speed. Punts are really high and the action happens very quickly. Even from our seats on the 100 level 10 rows from the action it takes on a very different perspective. If you think about a video game it is the difference of viewing the racing cars from above the cars or from the drivers seat, but more so.
The United club can take some lessons from the Met-50 club. Little things like having phone charging stations. At the Met-50 club all the food and soft drinks are included with the ticket price and that is great, but maybe the United Club could include just bottles of water for free, or even dispensers with cups. Just something to help justify the outrageous club access fee.
As usual I won't go into the game. You can get plenty of coverage of the game from other sources. But the Jets fans were not that bad in defeat with the exception of a small group of fans who were giving Conte a hard time. Our seats were close enough that shouts could be heard on the bench and they were being beyond acceptable in what they were saying to him.
Oh and the Jets fans, like apparently most east coast fans, cheer when an opposing player gets hurt and do not clap when they get up and walk back to the bench. Instead they are all sure that any opposing player who is hurt is doing it to slow down their team and just took a dive and are not injured. I have now seen this a few times at east coast teams and will be watching to see if the trend continues. I hope it was just an exception because I find the practice to be reprehensible.
Let me start by saying that every bad thing I could say about the 49ers stadium is absolutely reversed for the Jets stadium. Traffic control is great, there are multiple expressways to feed the stadium, signage was outstanding, the staff from the parking attendants to the ticket takers to all the club attendants and the ushers could not have been friendlier or more helpful. We were lucky enough to get tickets to the Met-50 club and it was over the top nice. Not deep pile arm chair mens club nice, but going to a football game in style nice.
We can start with the most unusual feature of this club. It has a section where you can go outside the club and you are standing about 10 feet (or less) from the visiting team bench. Now this is not quite as nice for the Jets fans (there is another club on the Jets sideline with access behind their bench), but for us visiting team fans it was wonderful. You can see all the warmups, the interactions on the bench, the coaching and the action from a totally unique perspective. Well unique unless you happen to be one of the small minority of people who are professional football players or their supporting teams.
The first observation is that from ground level the game is fast - really really fast. Players look like they are all moving at 2x fast forward speed. Punts are really high and the action happens very quickly. Even from our seats on the 100 level 10 rows from the action it takes on a very different perspective. If you think about a video game it is the difference of viewing the racing cars from above the cars or from the drivers seat, but more so.
The United club can take some lessons from the Met-50 club. Little things like having phone charging stations. At the Met-50 club all the food and soft drinks are included with the ticket price and that is great, but maybe the United Club could include just bottles of water for free, or even dispensers with cups. Just something to help justify the outrageous club access fee.
As usual I won't go into the game. You can get plenty of coverage of the game from other sources. But the Jets fans were not that bad in defeat with the exception of a small group of fans who were giving Conte a hard time. Our seats were close enough that shouts could be heard on the bench and they were being beyond acceptable in what they were saying to him.
Oh and the Jets fans, like apparently most east coast fans, cheer when an opposing player gets hurt and do not clap when they get up and walk back to the bench. Instead they are all sure that any opposing player who is hurt is doing it to slow down their team and just took a dive and are not injured. I have now seen this a few times at east coast teams and will be watching to see if the trend continues. I hope it was just an exception because I find the practice to be reprehensible.
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Jets Game - Day minus 1
Well the last couple of days have been a bit of a culinary adventure. We went to one of my favorite restaurants for dinner yesterday and I introduced my companions to soft tofu stew and bbq squid. We also stopped at Carlos's Bakery (not to be confused with carlos bakery which is something completely different). For those of you who do not follow the food channel apparently this is the bakery of the guy who does the show Cake Boss. Good stuff there. Today we ventured to Brighton Beach and ate at Rendazzo's clam bar. Great steamers and wonderful red sauce on the lobster fra diavlo. This bit of food overindulge required us to retire to the RV for the afternoon so we could watch the games and groan a bit in private.
Tonight we went to a restaurant called Takashi. This restaurant serves Beef. All the beef you want in all the ways you never knew you wanted it. We had several unusual dishes. BRAINS - well we all need a zombie fix now and then. The first item served was calf brain cream with caviar, then some bone marrow and crawfish dumplings and steamed shank buns. This was followed by testicargo, and yes it is exactly what it sounds like. Then some stewed beef tendon and we were ready for the main course. Skirt steak (ok not so unusual), beef belly and I had a plate of sweetbreads, beef heart, second stomach, first stomach and lives. I can tell you the order presented is the order in which I enjoyed them. I didn't like liver as a kid and I still don't. But the rest was very good to great. The skirt steak I was told was very good and I can testify that the beef belly was excellent as well.
Now all this going to places required driving. People around here are nuts. I can best describe how well they drive by relating some of the signs that have been put up to help control traffic. There are the signs that say "Wait for green signal to go". I am pretty sure that should have been part of their driving lessons, but apparently people here need to be reminded. We certainly saw enough people go through red lights like they didn't exist. There are also signs like "Take turns merging". Ok, pretty sure that is how Merging is supposed to work. Apparently without reminders they don't know that here. Then there are the do not drive and/or park on shoulders and sidewalks (three different signs) I always thought the nature of sidewalks was they were not part of the road. Driving on them was restricted to the car chase sequences in action movies. And then there is the Light Rail system. Might be a good system, but is missing the Light part of the Light rail. Like no warning lights, gates, swinging somethings, horns - nope nothing like that. The trains just go on down the tracks and the cars go on down the streets and the streets cross the tracks and you hope your timing is good and you don't meet in the middle. Had one train about 10 feet from our car and we pulled up on the track and there he was. If I hadn't seen him and floored the gas we would have been run through. Would have said it was my fault and I should have looked for the train, but come on - it is a blind corner and there are tracks across streets everywhere. I would get rear ended by some car if I stopped before every track.
Now I am not saying everyone in New York and New Jersey is trying to kill me, I can't say that because I have yet to meet everyone in New York and New Jersey. But I can say that when it comes to driving, I am more than willing to think muggers in the subways must be the safer option.
Tomorrow the game. Packers lost today, Vikings lost today, and with our win tomorrow we go into a tie for the lead of the division with the Lions. Next week we crush the Packers and .... well maybe I am getting ahead of myself. One game at a time. Tomorrow it is J E T S lose lose lose.
Tonight we went to a restaurant called Takashi. This restaurant serves Beef. All the beef you want in all the ways you never knew you wanted it. We had several unusual dishes. BRAINS - well we all need a zombie fix now and then. The first item served was calf brain cream with caviar, then some bone marrow and crawfish dumplings and steamed shank buns. This was followed by testicargo, and yes it is exactly what it sounds like. Then some stewed beef tendon and we were ready for the main course. Skirt steak (ok not so unusual), beef belly and I had a plate of sweetbreads, beef heart, second stomach, first stomach and lives. I can tell you the order presented is the order in which I enjoyed them. I didn't like liver as a kid and I still don't. But the rest was very good to great. The skirt steak I was told was very good and I can testify that the beef belly was excellent as well.
Now all this going to places required driving. People around here are nuts. I can best describe how well they drive by relating some of the signs that have been put up to help control traffic. There are the signs that say "Wait for green signal to go". I am pretty sure that should have been part of their driving lessons, but apparently people here need to be reminded. We certainly saw enough people go through red lights like they didn't exist. There are also signs like "Take turns merging". Ok, pretty sure that is how Merging is supposed to work. Apparently without reminders they don't know that here. Then there are the do not drive and/or park on shoulders and sidewalks (three different signs) I always thought the nature of sidewalks was they were not part of the road. Driving on them was restricted to the car chase sequences in action movies. And then there is the Light Rail system. Might be a good system, but is missing the Light part of the Light rail. Like no warning lights, gates, swinging somethings, horns - nope nothing like that. The trains just go on down the tracks and the cars go on down the streets and the streets cross the tracks and you hope your timing is good and you don't meet in the middle. Had one train about 10 feet from our car and we pulled up on the track and there he was. If I hadn't seen him and floored the gas we would have been run through. Would have said it was my fault and I should have looked for the train, but come on - it is a blind corner and there are tracks across streets everywhere. I would get rear ended by some car if I stopped before every track.
Now I am not saying everyone in New York and New Jersey is trying to kill me, I can't say that because I have yet to meet everyone in New York and New Jersey. But I can say that when it comes to driving, I am more than willing to think muggers in the subways must be the safer option.
Tomorrow the game. Packers lost today, Vikings lost today, and with our win tomorrow we go into a tie for the lead of the division with the Lions. Next week we crush the Packers and .... well maybe I am getting ahead of myself. One game at a time. Tomorrow it is J E T S lose lose lose.
Friday, September 19, 2014
Leading up to the Jets Game
I have not had a chance to post anything the last few days. We left San Francisco on Monday and have been pushing pretty hard to get to our campground just outside NY by today. Actually we didn't quite make it and we will be getting in tomorrow morning - we are about 3 hours outside NY. It has been quite the trip going coast to coast this week. You can understand about how big and different this country is intellectually. But until you drive up a set of mountains, across the wide open nothing of Wyoming, through the salt flats of Utah, across the miles and miles of corn fields in Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio, across the hills in Pennsylvania and then the smaller mountains until you end up across the river from NY it does not really hit home. Seeing them all go past in the last few days has been fantastic and just makes me want to do it again, but much slower and see everything I had to speed past in more detail. The trip is just under 3000 miles across the country and that leaves room for just under 300 construction zones. Well everything about travel isn't great, even in an RV.
Tomorrow we will settle into our campground by the city. It will give us a chance to check out the new stadium and do some off beat sightseeing. More on that tomorrow and Sunday.
But for now - Go Bears - The Jets are ripe for a takedown.
Tomorrow we will settle into our campground by the city. It will give us a chance to check out the new stadium and do some off beat sightseeing. More on that tomorrow and Sunday.
But for now - Go Bears - The Jets are ripe for a takedown.
Monday, September 15, 2014
GAME DAY 49ers
Today was a bit strange for a football day. Football starts at 10:00 out here on the coast. It threw off my whole timing for the day. Anyway - game time was 5:30 and we knew we had a potential hour to hour and a half drive to get to the stadium. We wanted to get there early so we could look around the new stadium and enjoy the club seats we had for the game, so we planned on leaving at noon. That way we would get to the parking lot at about 1:30 or 2:00 and then to the stadium by 2:30 or 3:00. The gates were set to open at 3:00 so I thought this would work. Little did we count on the absolutely abysmal traffic controls and signage at the Levi Stadium.
To start with as you are flying down the highway there is 1 small sign to let you know where you should go for each color parking pass. This sign displays 2 lines so Red Lot 1 / Exit at Lawrence Drive, then Red Lot 2&3 / Exit at .... I don't know what it said because by then you have passed the sign. There are Red, Blue, Green, and some other color lots and 1, 2 and 3 for each of them. Unless you get incredibly lucky you will never be able to find out where to exit for your lot. So we guessed and got off at the next exit. Once you are on the streets, there are no signs telling you where to go until you are right at the lot. This leads to a lot of people making left turns from the left lane, the center lane and the right lane. All trying to get into one lane on the new road. Traffic jams abound. Traffic control officers are nowhere to be found. Bottom line, we got into line for our lot at 12:30. We made great time getting down to the stadium. Then we sat in line until we finally entered the lot (a drive of .7 miles) at 3:45. Yes that means it took over 3 hours to get into the lot. At that point you get to hike to the actual stadium. It is just under 1.5 miles from the blue 1 lot to the gate. And blue lot 1 is not the farthest of the lots. It is about in the middle. Once you get into the stadium it is fairly nice. I actually thought the Steelers stadium and the Eagles stadium were nicer than Levi Stadium. Oh and that will be the last nice thing I ever say about the Eagles stadium or fans.
The interesting thing about Levi stadium is they don't have a club, they have 7 or 8 clubs. And depending on where your seats are and if you have signed up for membership in a club and paid the fee, you get access to different clubs. Of course your tickets don't tell you which club you have access to and the people there are not totally sure which club you have access to other than if you don't have access to the one they are in front of. This creates a bit of confusion.
Prices at the stadium are a bit more outrageous than most stadiums. $5.75 for a small water, 8.50 for a small fries, $9 for a plate of 6 chicken wing pieces. 9.50 for a hot dog. 6.50 for a small soft drink, Gatorade or ice tea. $11.50 for a beer. A bit pricy.
The fans are actually quite nice. They welcomed us to the stadium with a little good natured ribbing on how the Bears were going to get killed, but that is to be expected. No one was rude or made us feel uncomfortable. So that is great. We have found that to be the case most everywhere other than Philadelphia. (See I said I was done saying anything nice about Eagles fans.)
Once the game is over comes the experience of leaving the stadium. I can generally summarize my feelings by saying once you are in the stadium it is nice, but they are way short on direction signage. Outside the stadium, they are short on everything except crowds. It is my usual practice to wait about 15 minutes or so after the game to let the crowds die down a bit. This did not prove to be long enough. The exit from the stadium is great, several escalators bring you down to the ground level with minimal waiting. Then you hit THE BLOCKAGE. As 75% of the parking lots are to the west of the stadium as well as the light rail lines, most everyone exits to the west. There is one bridge at the exit that is about as wide as the tunnel to get to the Waldren deck at Soldier field. Except now you have 75% of the much larger crowd from the game all converging on the one bridge. It took over 20 minutes to walk across the bridge one shuffling step at a time with all 40,000 of my new close friends. By the way, if you want to get high, just decide to breath as you walk. No problem at all, everyone is more than willing to share. After that it is time to walk back to the car. Now fortunately we did not take public transportation, because the person doing crowd control on the entrance to the light rail line indicated it was about a 2 hour wait to get to the platform and board a train.
Once you make it to the lot you find out that every lot is exiting in the same direction to the same 2 streets, because that is the only way to get to highway 101 and highway 101 is about the only way out. After all this stadium is not in downtown San Francisco, it is in Santa Clara and everyone needs to get back to somewhere near San Francisco to get home. Imagine the Bears playing in Rockford as an example. Most everyone is going to want to get on 90 back to the Chicago area. Well that is the same situation here. 2 hours later we finally got to exit the lot (we were parked near the front of the lot, the lot was still over 3/4 full when we exited). Another 45 minutes saw us getting to the entrance to the express way. Then a short 35 miles and we were able to get back to our RV. Piece of cake. (Stale cake from sitting in the car so long, but cake nonetheless.)
The Bears Won. All is good and on to the Jets.
Sunday, September 14, 2014
Days before Game Day - Part 2
Today was a great day. Sun was shining, the breeze was gently blowing, the wine was flowing. Not much wrong with a day like that, but to make it even better everywhere we went we met Bears fans. And I MEAN EVERYWHERE! There were fans at the wineries, fans at the restaurant we went to for dinner, fans as we were walking down the street. As our waiter put it - Bears Fans Represent!
We had the opportunity to check out a few of the wineries in Napa and there was one I would like to highlight. We went to Razi and I can't begin to explain how great this winery was. It is not a fancy winery or a huge one, but the owner was as friendly as can be and walked us through his wines, the process and all sorts of other information on the area. He also happens to be a Bears fan but that was only a bonus. Razi is one of the few wineries where they don't make the tasting process a profit maker. While they ask that you call for an appointment for a tasting, they were more than happy when we just stopped by. Fred sat us down in his tasting room and started pouring his wines and letting us know everything we could have wanted to know about them. He kept pouring wines and if you looked like you enjoyed one of them particularly he would pour you more of it. Overall a great experience, and he has some pretty good wines as well. If you are in the area you should definitely check out Razi wines.
Dinner was at Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc. For those who are not familiar with this restaurant it is the hight of restaurant efficiency and serves some pretty good food as well. There is one menu each night. You get what they are serving or you don't eat there. The menu changes each day. You do have a couple of options. Sometimes they have an add on course you can select, you can order cocktails, you can order the wine pairing and they offer soft drinks, coffee and tea. That is pretty much the whole deal. The menu tonight was an Iceburg lettuce wedge salad with their house made thousand island dressing, heirloom tomatoes, olives and bacon. By the way, the thousand island dressing is nothing like the stuff you used to get out of a bottle as a kid. This was followed by Grilled New York sirloin with roast vegetables, polenta and a great reduced sauce. The second item was catfish fish and chips. The breading was great, but I can honestly say the F&C at Camelot the day before was better. The cheese course was a Comte and then a Pecan Tassi. Oh and everything was served with great bread from Boudin Bakery. So just that would make it a very good meal, but the best part in my opinion was watching the efficiencies built into the way the restaurant operated and how that translated into superb service for the customer.
For those people who are not interested in dissecting how business run you can skip the next paragraph.
It starts with how they bring water to the table. They have 2 taps for pouring water into carafes next to each other. The server puts a carafe under each tap and pulls the handles to fill them. Right next to the taps is the bread station with sliced pieces of bread and the baskets. The server puts 5 or 6 pieces of bread in a basket along with a tub of butter and takes it and both carafes to the table, fills the customers glasses with one of them and leave the other at the table for the customer so they have a full carafe. Elapsed time under 40 seconds to fill the water and bread and head for the table. The bar is located in the center of the serving area right next to the path to and from the kitchen so there is no wasted effort for the servers to have to go to another area to get the drinks while the food may be waiting to be served on the other side of the restaurant. Having a single set of items coming out of the kitchen obviously simplifies the ordering as well as the serving process and lets the servers concentrate on making sure the customers are fully taken care of. Everything in the entire restaurant is done in the same efficient, but efficient aimed at taking care of the customer, way. It is refreshing to see a business that does things well from a business as well as from a customer standpoint.
Tomorrow is the big day - GAME DAY! We will be heading down to the stadium early and will give a full report on this new football location. One thing we can report is that there is a LOT of discontent with the stadium being located in Santa Clara about 50 miles out of San Francisco. We will let you know tomorrow if the new stadium lives up to the press.
We had the opportunity to check out a few of the wineries in Napa and there was one I would like to highlight. We went to Razi and I can't begin to explain how great this winery was. It is not a fancy winery or a huge one, but the owner was as friendly as can be and walked us through his wines, the process and all sorts of other information on the area. He also happens to be a Bears fan but that was only a bonus. Razi is one of the few wineries where they don't make the tasting process a profit maker. While they ask that you call for an appointment for a tasting, they were more than happy when we just stopped by. Fred sat us down in his tasting room and started pouring his wines and letting us know everything we could have wanted to know about them. He kept pouring wines and if you looked like you enjoyed one of them particularly he would pour you more of it. Overall a great experience, and he has some pretty good wines as well. If you are in the area you should definitely check out Razi wines.
Dinner was at Thomas Keller's Ad Hoc. For those who are not familiar with this restaurant it is the hight of restaurant efficiency and serves some pretty good food as well. There is one menu each night. You get what they are serving or you don't eat there. The menu changes each day. You do have a couple of options. Sometimes they have an add on course you can select, you can order cocktails, you can order the wine pairing and they offer soft drinks, coffee and tea. That is pretty much the whole deal. The menu tonight was an Iceburg lettuce wedge salad with their house made thousand island dressing, heirloom tomatoes, olives and bacon. By the way, the thousand island dressing is nothing like the stuff you used to get out of a bottle as a kid. This was followed by Grilled New York sirloin with roast vegetables, polenta and a great reduced sauce. The second item was catfish fish and chips. The breading was great, but I can honestly say the F&C at Camelot the day before was better. The cheese course was a Comte and then a Pecan Tassi. Oh and everything was served with great bread from Boudin Bakery. So just that would make it a very good meal, but the best part in my opinion was watching the efficiencies built into the way the restaurant operated and how that translated into superb service for the customer.
For those people who are not interested in dissecting how business run you can skip the next paragraph.
It starts with how they bring water to the table. They have 2 taps for pouring water into carafes next to each other. The server puts a carafe under each tap and pulls the handles to fill them. Right next to the taps is the bread station with sliced pieces of bread and the baskets. The server puts 5 or 6 pieces of bread in a basket along with a tub of butter and takes it and both carafes to the table, fills the customers glasses with one of them and leave the other at the table for the customer so they have a full carafe. Elapsed time under 40 seconds to fill the water and bread and head for the table. The bar is located in the center of the serving area right next to the path to and from the kitchen so there is no wasted effort for the servers to have to go to another area to get the drinks while the food may be waiting to be served on the other side of the restaurant. Having a single set of items coming out of the kitchen obviously simplifies the ordering as well as the serving process and lets the servers concentrate on making sure the customers are fully taken care of. Everything in the entire restaurant is done in the same efficient, but efficient aimed at taking care of the customer, way. It is refreshing to see a business that does things well from a business as well as from a customer standpoint.
Tomorrow is the big day - GAME DAY! We will be heading down to the stadium early and will give a full report on this new football location. One thing we can report is that there is a LOT of discontent with the stadium being located in Santa Clara about 50 miles out of San Francisco. We will let you know tomorrow if the new stadium lives up to the press.
Saturday, September 13, 2014
Days before game day - Part 1
San Francisco is a great city. The people are friendly (if a bit strange at times), the scenery is great, the food choices are outstanding and who doesn't like listening to the roar of the waves crashing on the beach. We were able to spend today just wandering down the coast highway after taking care of the business side of RVing (dumping tanks, shopping for groceries and the like). Breakfast (well lunch) was at a great little British Pub we found in Pacifica. Called the Camelot, the shop was opened in the late 60's by a couple from England and they have been serving great fish and chips ever since. Well I can't testify that they have been great all along, but I can say with no lack of certainty that they are great today. I have had the opportunity to sample many a fish and chips in London and the product being served at Camelot is better than most anything served back in the Jolly Old. Combined with a large selection of draft beer including Guiness, Bass, Smithwicks and Shocktop, as well as a good selection of Ciders I find myself trying to find a time to fit a return visit in before we have to leave this coast.
Well enough about Breakfast (lunch, must remember to say lunch if I had a beer with my meal). We then went for a drive on the coast and found some great places to pull over and enjoy the view as well as to relax and listen to the sounds on the shore. We did however find a couple of odd sights.
The first odd sight was Jurustic park. This was a large group of rust colored dinosaurs that were made from scrap metal. The tallest of them was about a 13' tall T-Rex and he (or she) was surrounded by a good dozen of his friends and meals, ah prey - um well other dinosaurs in any event. At this same location we were able to spot a carving of a Bear. Now this was not just any Bear. This 6' + tall Bear had a football and a cat that ate the "canary" grin. In this case the Canary must have been a Green Bay player, because the remains of the meal, in this case the helmet, was sitting at our satisfied Bear's feet. Now anyone who has walked through the tunnel from Soldier field towards the Walden deck and South lot areas knows that no matter who the Bears have played, there is always a rousing chant of "Green Bay Sucks" that breaks out. Apparently that spirt has come all the way west with us because in California, just off the coast road Green Bay's popularity is just as in evidence.
Tonight we went to Scoma's. This is a restaurant on the waterfront that serves the best, in my opinion, Cioppino in the area. The food was great and the service wonderful as well. If you are ever in the area I would give Scoma's my hearty recommendation as a good place for some seafood. Now getting there is another story.
At 10:00 on a Friday night the traffic in San Fran is bumper to bumper. We are going slower than a person can walk. I know this because I was passed repeatedly by a young lady walking along in flip flops. During the course of the mile and a half we drove, she walked and the last I saw of her was her turning onto another street about a block in front of us. But all was good because we got to enjoy the very active night scene as we crawled along. We also got to give a hard time to a Packer's fan we saw at one street corner. Somehow he seemed surprised by the Coach chanting Green Bay Sucks out the car window. Well serves him right for wearing a Green Bay jacket. Between that encounter and a couple of more rude and rowdy, but good natured, exchanges with some 49er fans we ended the night on a positive and enjoyable note.
Now if the Bears can only live up to all the promises we made in their name. Well tomorrow is another day and I hear Napa calling so I will be signing off today.
GREEN BAY SUCKS!
Well enough about Breakfast (lunch, must remember to say lunch if I had a beer with my meal). We then went for a drive on the coast and found some great places to pull over and enjoy the view as well as to relax and listen to the sounds on the shore. We did however find a couple of odd sights.
The first odd sight was Jurustic park. This was a large group of rust colored dinosaurs that were made from scrap metal. The tallest of them was about a 13' tall T-Rex and he (or she) was surrounded by a good dozen of his friends and meals, ah prey - um well other dinosaurs in any event. At this same location we were able to spot a carving of a Bear. Now this was not just any Bear. This 6' + tall Bear had a football and a cat that ate the "canary" grin. In this case the Canary must have been a Green Bay player, because the remains of the meal, in this case the helmet, was sitting at our satisfied Bear's feet. Now anyone who has walked through the tunnel from Soldier field towards the Walden deck and South lot areas knows that no matter who the Bears have played, there is always a rousing chant of "Green Bay Sucks" that breaks out. Apparently that spirt has come all the way west with us because in California, just off the coast road Green Bay's popularity is just as in evidence.
Tonight we went to Scoma's. This is a restaurant on the waterfront that serves the best, in my opinion, Cioppino in the area. The food was great and the service wonderful as well. If you are ever in the area I would give Scoma's my hearty recommendation as a good place for some seafood. Now getting there is another story.
At 10:00 on a Friday night the traffic in San Fran is bumper to bumper. We are going slower than a person can walk. I know this because I was passed repeatedly by a young lady walking along in flip flops. During the course of the mile and a half we drove, she walked and the last I saw of her was her turning onto another street about a block in front of us. But all was good because we got to enjoy the very active night scene as we crawled along. We also got to give a hard time to a Packer's fan we saw at one street corner. Somehow he seemed surprised by the Coach chanting Green Bay Sucks out the car window. Well serves him right for wearing a Green Bay jacket. Between that encounter and a couple of more rude and rowdy, but good natured, exchanges with some 49er fans we ended the night on a positive and enjoyable note.
Now if the Bears can only live up to all the promises we made in their name. Well tomorrow is another day and I hear Napa calling so I will be signing off today.
GREEN BAY SUCKS!
Friday, September 12, 2014
2014 The Journey Contines
It is time once again for the Bears to venture out and battle to reestablish their reputation as the Monsters of the Midway. While the opening salvo with the Bills did not quite turn out as we all could have hoped, Sunday is another day and we can look forward to their beating up on the 49ers.
The Coach and I have loaded up the RV and set sail for San Francisco. It is just over 2100 miles and we made the trip in just 3 days of driving. After leaving Monday late afternoon we drove each day as long as we felt comfortable and stopped when we got tired. Come Thursday late afternoon we arrived at our campground. Total elapsed time 73 hours.
So we have a couple of days to bum around San Fran. We will go to a couple of our favorite restaurants, wander the wharf, head up to Napa and see the sights, and maybe taste a bit of wine and generally relax. Maybe a cable car ride will be in order as well. Then off to the stadium for the Game on Sunday.
Monday we will pack up and head for the East coast and the Jets game. We have 7 days to make the trip, but we are shooting to get there in 5 days. It is about 3000 miles, so it should be possible if traffic and the weather cooperate. Net trip all told will be about 6000 miles by the time we get back to Chicago for the next home game. A good start for the season. We will see part of the country and with luck a couple of Bears wins. Madden had it right. RV and Football goes together like Football and Tailgating. It is just right!
This year we will continue to sample the signature dish for each city or area. For San Francisco it will be Cioppinno and probably some Sourdough bread.
One final note and I will close out this opening entry for this year's blog. On the way here we passed the Donner Pass state park. It contains a memorial statue to the ill fated Donner party most of who's members died trying to get through to California. As you may recall they became snowbound in the pass and ended up resorting to cannibalism in order to survive. Well in some ones brilliant idea of a good marketing ploy you will see a couple of signs advertising the memorial and featured prominently on each of them is an enticement to come and dine at the Donner Monument Restaurant. Seriously people A Restaurant at the memorial to a group of people who embraced Cannibalism. SO WRONG!
GO BEARS! We are so ready for some football!
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