One of the reasons we spent time to pack on Monday was that we had planned to visit one more Atlanta attraction -- the Atlanta History Center -- on Tuesday before heading to the airport. The AHC is located about a mile north of our condo, and consists of several components focusing (not surprisingly) on the history of Atlanta, with a special emphasis on the Civil War. It is listed as a "must see" in the AAA guide and the reviews in Yelp were all very high. However, moving forward with that plan proved a little more challenging than we had anticipated. By the time we had breakfast, finished the remaining laundry, completed packing and tidied up the condo a bit it became clear that we had neither the time nor the energy required to do a visit justice. We decided instead to have lunch at the restaurant located on the Center's grounds, the Swan Coach House restaurant, located in what was the garage and servants quarters of the Swan House, a restored 1928 mansion that is one of the Center's attractions. Among other claims to fame, the Swan House is one of the locations where the next Hunger Games movie was filmed. Like Cafe Jonah (see post for Day 26), the Swan Coach House is located a few blocks away from the Buckhead business district--however any similarity between the two establishments ends right there. The Coach House has been converted into a beautifully decorated classic representation of southern gentility, complete with large floral prints on the wall paper, white linen table cloths and a dozen roses on each table. When we visited, the clientele consisted almost exclusively of well-coiffed women dressed in tasteful but not showy outfits (we felt under dressed in our jeans and polo shirts), with the vast majority being of our vintage or older. The food was delicious and the service efficient, and it was easy to see why the restaurant can justifiably bill itself as an Atlanta tradition. After lunch we spent a few minutes driving along West Paces Ferry Road, which the Coach House hostess assured me is "the" Atlanta address. It was easy to see why as we drove past large elegant mansions located on well-groomed 2-4 acre lots for over a mile, and while some of them posted discreet 'for sale' signs, we didn't stop to inquire but I found this online video that will give a sense of what these places are like. We also stopped to take our own photo of the Swan House, then headed back to the condo to finish getting things together, and then we were off to the airport where we turned in the rental car and after spending 28 days, traveling 4407air miles and putting 4487 miles on the rental car, visiting sights in 17 cities or towns (not counting pit stops) in 12 states and one province, and watching 13 complete basketball games and parts of 5 others, we headed home.
We arrived at the stadium early (5:30 for a 9:20 tip off) in part to avoid traffic but mostly to take advantage of a pregame party that had been included in the tickets we purchased online. The party gave us a chance to relax a bit, have a beer and/or drink (no alcohol is sold or allowed at NCAA events) and meet some additional Michigan folks. It also gave me a chance to meet the cheerleaders from Georgia Tech (technically the Georgia Institute of Technology), which is the host school for the tournament, and to scope out some of the more unusual garb at the game. Unfortunately I was not able to get a picture of the middle-aged Michigan fan who was dressed as a Jedi Warrior, complete with a 3' x 6' Michigan flag as a cape. We had arranged to meet our friends Jon & Annette before the game, but had only a few minutes to visit before it was time to head in. The atmosphere inside the stadium was electric, with a large contingent of Michigan fans and a much larger of Louisville fans, which was not surprising given that Louisville is much closer to Atlanta than any place in Michigan. The Wolverines played well, and built a significant lead sparked by Michael "Spike" Albrecht, a 5'11" freshman guard who came off the bench to score 16 points in the first half. Unfortunately, as they had Saturday evening against Wichita State, Louisville came back, and in the second half took control of the game. Michigan didn't give up, but the superior experience of the Cardinals plus some poor foul shooting by Michigan combined for a Louisville 82-76 win. We took solace in the fact that they had come further in the tournament than anyone had expected, and that no seniors played for Michigan. All five starters plus the strong bench should be back next year, and even if Trey Burke decides to opt for the NBA, Albrecht will be a solid replacement at point guard. After the game our decision to park at the stadium paid off, as we made it back to the condo an hour earlier than we had Saturday night/Sunday morning.
One feature of our building that we hadn't explored is the roof top terrace, so after spending some time packing up for Tuesday's return home (and Thursday's departure for San Francisco for Summer's birthday) we headed up to enjoy the fabulous view of the Atlanta area it commands. Then we headed out for a more serious pursuit. Last Thursday was the 45th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who was born, raised and buried here in Atlanta, so it seemed appropriate to pay a visit to the complex of buildings in the Sweet Auburn Historic District east of downtown Atlanta that honors his memory. First stop was the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, the most prominent external feature of which is the long reflecting pool with an island in the middle containing the crypt in which Dr. King and his wife, Coretta Scott King, are buried. There were large floral displays remaining from last week's anniversary, and the air was filled with recordings of Dr. King's speeches. Inside there are exhibits reflecting his work, focusing on the development of his understanding of the power of nonviolent resistance as a force for change. Just down the street is the restored original Ebenezer Baptist Church where King's father was a pastor and where he decided to pursue a career in the ministry, and across the street is the Historic Site which includes more exhibits and films detailing his life and the civil rights movement that he spearheaded. All of the buildings are constructed of red brick, presumably to match the historic church as well as the new much larger church next door to the historic site. A few blocks east is the home in which Dr. King was born and where he lived as a child, but by the time we finished the other exhibits it was way past time for lunch so we decided to save that for our next visit. After our experience with the MARTA on Saturday we had decided to suck it up and drive to Monday evening's game, and were able to reserve a parking space in one of the parking garages near the stadium online. Heading in that direction, we stopped first near Five Points, where we found covered parking for $5.00 -- and that was the rate for all day -- no wonder Atlanta has a traffic problem! The weather had warmed into the 80s so we found a small place which offered outside seating and had what was by that time a very late lunch. Then we headed off to the stadium to get ready for the game.
It should not be surprising that we slept late Sunday morning. After all we didn't get in until 2 a.m. and didn't really settle down to sleep until closer to 3. I went out for a morning Starbucks run and found another beautiful spring day, and after our internal fog lifted a bit we decided a quiet drive out of the city was about all we could muster for the day. First up was a search for a place to have breakfast, but by the time we got out and started looking for places it turned into a very late brunch. After deciding against one place because of the long line waiting outside in the sun we happened upon another unusual eating experience at Cafe Jonah and the Magical Attic, located not from our condo in Buckhead. It turns out that in addition to being a tony residential area (as I described it in the post for Day 24) Buckhead has become an important center for business and shopping area, sort of what Bellevue is to Seattle without the lake of course, complete with gleaming office towers and a shopping center that includes both a Nordstrom and a Saks. Cafe Jonah is located in an old house one block off Peachtree Road, but in many ways the distance is much further--in fact it reminded me of something you might see in west Olympia operated by former Evergreen students. First, there is no hostess to show you to a table; rather the system, if one dares call it that, is to take the food you want from among the variety of dishes presented on the table in what probably was the dining room in a former life and then find an empty table among the eclectic tables and chairs scattered throughout the other rooms of the house, on the back deck or out front. The food looked (and was in fact) quite tasty, and we were assured by hand-written signs posted about that all ingredients were organically grown by local farmers using sustainable practices in their free range gardens. The problem was that when we arrived there were no empty tables, and the laid back attitude of the staff was reflected in the customers, many of whom had obviously finished eaten but were continuing to occupy tables. We finally found an empty table in front of the house on what would have been the front yard had it not been paved over (there was no indication whether the paving process included sustainable practices). That brought us to the second problem: there were also no plates; however we were assured they were being washed and would be available soon, and in due course they were. The food consisted of a variety of salads--kale slaw, quinoa, and the like--as well as bagels and lox, a chicken salad, a wonderful fresh fruit salad, a frittata, a cheese quiche and beautiful juicy beefsteak tomatoes, and it was all delicious. The Olympiaesque touch was strengthened when we noticed that the coffee being served was from Batdorf & Bronson, which we had forgotten has a presence in the Atlanta area, including two Dancing Goats espresso bars. We did not explore the "magical attic" part, which, according to posters prominently displayed at the foot of the stairs, by practitioners of such mystical arts as psychic readings, seances and tarot cards. The crowning Evergreenesque touch came when I went to settle up the bill and was told that customers just paid what they thought the meal was worth, and that the proceeds of every Sunday's business were donated to local charities. After lunch we headed out of the city to Stone Mountain Park located an easy fifteen mile drive east of Atlanta. The park is named after the egg-shaped granite outcropping that rises about 600 feet above the surrounding terrain, includes a number of options, including hiking and biking trails, picnic areas, a stone quarrying exhibit and a 100 year old grist mill. We passed up the doable but challenging 1.3 mile hike up the west side of the mountain, opting instead to take the short cable car ride to the top. The view was spectacular, and included the outline of the skylines of both downtown Atlanta and Buckhead, which can barely be seen if you enlarge the photo above. After the return trip down the mountain I took a short walk to get a picture the Confederate Memorial Carving, which is billed as the largest high relief sculpture in the world, with likenesses of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. ("Stonewall") Jackson. (Some of you may know that my middle name is Lee, and my aunt who shared the same middle name once told me that our lineage was connected to the general's is some manner, but I have not pursued it.) At the foot of the mountain is a large park that includes plaques with information about all of the states that seceded, as well as Kentucky which did not secede but many of whose residents were sympathetic to and supportive of the Confederate cause. We chose not to stay for the evening laser show but before departing we took the lovely drive around the mountain, and then headed back to Buckhead for dinner, and were home in time to catch the season premiere episode of Mad Men. Then we headed to bed so we would be fully rested for Monday's big game.
Spring has come to Atlanta, and that was nowhere more evident than during our drive to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Museum, which is part of the Carter Center located on a beautifully landscaped 35 acre park east of downtown Atlanta. Perhaps sensing our angst about another experience with the Atlanta freeway system, our GPS routed us through a series of residential areas where the trees were green (mostly Georgia pines supplemented with some deciduous trees sporting new leaves) and many flowering plants were in full bloom. The museum was practically deserted when we arrived around 10 a.m., so much so that we initially thought it might be closed, but as a result we enjoyed an uncrowded unhurried visit. The museum traces Carter's early history as the son of a peanut farmer to a Naval officer in the nuclear submarine fleet to his return home and the beginnings of his political career, to his campaign for and service as the 39th president (including a replica of the Oval Office). It also highlights the efforts of the Carter Center to address major global issues, including election reform, health care and, spearheaded by Rosalynn Carter, mental health. By the time we finished our tour the sun was shining brightly in a clear blue sky, and the temperature was a very pleasant 68, quite a change from the low 20s and snow flurries we encountered in Michigan and Buffalo a mere two weeks ago. In the afternoon we connected with Jon & Annette Manger, who we had met two years ago at the Final Four in Houston. Jon is a Duke alum (and thus the connection) and we had an enjoyable lunch and a less enjoyable but successful trip to the games on Atlanta's rapid transit system, MARTA (Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transportation Authority). As some of you may know, MARTA was built, at least initially, largely with federal funds that had been programmed for Seattle, but Seattle voters narrowly defeated a referendum that would have authorized construction and operation of the system, and the money went to Atlanta instead. Not surprisingly, the combination of the two upcoming games, a series of free outdoor concerts being held near the stadium, and the spring weather brought out large crowds, and we were barely able to find standing room on the train. Once we emerged we found the festival atmosphere that is common to large sporting events, and joined the crowds heading for the Georgia Dome, site of the games. The first game of the evening featured the dark horse Shockers from Wichita State and the tournament favorite, Louisville. The Shockers lived up to their name for most of the game, leading by as many as 12 points well into the second half, but Louisville did not quit, and aided by strong play from some of their bench players came back to win a very exciting game by 72-68. The game ran longer than expected, and as a result the second game between our Michigan Wolverines and the Syracuse Orange didn't get underway until around 9:15, about 30 minutes later than scheduled. Although Michigan's start was a little shaky, they soon figured out the Orange's vaunted zone defense, and took a strong, but not commanding lead into the second half. Syracuse chipped away at the lead, but when they got close Michigan would pull out again, but the Wolverines' customarily good free throw shooting abandoned them, allowing the Orange to draw close again as time was winding down. We and most of the 75 thousand others present were on our feet and in full throat during the agonizing last 3 minutes until Michigan scored with about 4 seconds left to put the game away, 61-56. By this time it was 12:30 Sunday morning and by the time we could find a place to stand on a northbound train, we finally arrived back at the condo around 2 a.m., exhausted but excited for Monday night's final game.
The condo we rented via airbnb.com is small but well suited to our needs, with a bedroom, a living room and a nicely equipped kitchen (including orange juice and bagels provided by the owners), and is far less expensive than the hotel room we had originally reserved. It's located on Peachtree St. NE in the Buckhead section of Atlanta, a tony residential area about 5 miles north of the city center. We spent the morning doing laundry, unpacking and in general taking care of the mundane needs of daily life. After lunch we gathered up most of the souvenirs we had acquired along with some of the clothes we won't need immediately upon returning home, and shipped them home. Max had lived in Atlanta for about six months shortly after graduating from Duke and as she remembers lived in an apartment on Peachtree Street, but closer to town. It turns out there are 73 streets, roads, circles, drives, etc. with Peachtree in the name, so we quickly gave up the idea of trying to find her former residence. Instead we drove down our Peachtree Street to find the Margaret Mitchell House, which though constructed as a single family home had been converted to a ten unit apartment complex by the time Margaret and her second husband moved in. It was in Apartment No. 1 (on the lower left in this picture) on the first floorthat she wrote most of "Gone with the Wind," something she said she had done "in a weak moment." We had a most informative tour, which included descriptions of some elements of her personal life (her relationship with her mother, the death of a fiance in war) that are reflected in the characters and/or events in the book. We also got a close up look at the lion's head newel at the base of the stairs right outside Apartment No. 1 that is also referred to in the book. We then left for a Michigan pep rally being held at the headquarters hotel in northwest Atlanta, and soon had a first hand experience with the famous, or should I say infamous, Atlanta traffic, and as a result arrived just in time to see the hordes of maize-and-blue clad fans streaming out of the ballroom in which the event took place. However we did arrive in time to acquire more Michigan paraphernalia, which we hardly needed, and then headed back downtown for dinner at The Varsity, an Atlanta institution which Max remembers as bigger but otherwise the same as it was almost 50 years ago.
We awoke Thursday morning to the kind of heavy overcast skies and drizzle that we have come to know and love in western Washington. However it meant that our plan to visit the site for which Chattanooga is most well-known -- Lookout Mountain -- had to be scrapped, given that we can look out at fog banks pretty much anytime. After doing a little research we decided to skip the International Tow & Recovery Museum (whose mission is to recognize outstanding individuals in the towing and recovery industry worldwide, record the history of the industry, and to collect and display industry artifacts and memorabilia and again I am not making this up). Instead we set out for the Tennessee Aquarium, which according to a 2010 survey was the top aquarium in the country in terms of guest satisfaction (8th overall among all kinds of attractions). When we first arrived we suspected that those who had been surveyed had not attended on a rainy day during spring vacation, but we soon came to see why it is so highly rated. After taking an escalator to the glass enclosed top floor, visitors are led along an extended one way ramp gently spiralling downward that takes them by exhibits illustrating the path followed by water falling as rain in the Smokies down the mountain to the river system and ultimately to the ocean, including displays illustrating the kinds of flora and fauna residing along the way. All of this cleverly built around what appeared to be a series of glass water tanks filled with wide varieties of fish and other water dwelling animals (I suspect it may be one big water tank but the architecture of the building made it difficult to tell for sure). We followed up with a 3D IMAX movie about the important role that reefs play in the ecosystem and the threats they face from global warming and the increasing acidity in sea water. It was beautifully filmed which helped soften the depressive nature of the message, as did the hopeful note on which it ended, citing the ability reefs have to regenerate as demonstrated by the recovery of the reefs near the Bikini atoll 50 years after they were destroyed by atomic and hydrogen bomb tests conducted by the U.S. government. After the movie we had lunch at another place Max found on "Drive-ins, Diners and Dives" called Aretha Frankenstein's located across the river from downtown Chattanooga. We were glad it was a late lunch, as the reviews indicated that waits for one of the four tables and six bar stools can be as long as 90 minutes. The place was funky, the food unusual but good, and we had yet another unusual dining experience. As we headed out of town we stopped and took a driving tour through the Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, which straddles the Tennessee-Georgia border south of Chattanooga. The park was the site of fierce fighting in September of 1963 between Confederate and Union forces for control of Chattanooga, which was considered to be a key to ultimately controlling the deep south. Although the Confederates won, it turned out to be a classic "win the battle but lose the war" situation because the losses suffered weakened their forces significantly, and two months later a reinforced Union army took control of the city, which then became the base for Sherman's march to Atlanta. And the rest, as they say, is history. The battlefield was the first and largest of the nation's military parks, having been authorized by Congress in 1890 and dedicated in 1895, and is replete with substantial monuments to those who fought here on both sides. Following that we headed south, and were soon settled in at the condo that we will call home for the duration of our trip.
As reported earlier we missed the scenery as we drove through the western foothills of the Great Smokies from Lexington to Knoxville, so after doing some catch-up laundry at the hotel we headed out to make up for it, and immediately noticed something we had not yet seen on our trip -- flowering trees -- the first sign that spring is on the way. Before heading to the mountains we decided to checkout downtown Knoxville, which neither of us had visited before although I vaguely remember passing through on the Greyhound bus when traveling back and forth between West Virginia and Tulane during my college years. Most notable (to me at least) was perhaps the prettiest federal courthouse I've ever seen, pictured above. We also drove through the main campus of the University of Tennessee which, like that of the University of Washington is an urban campus crowded onto the hills above a body of water, in this case the Tennessee River, which flows south from Knoxville through Chattanooga and northern Alabama before heading north again and emptying into the Ohio. Then we headed east, toward Gatlinburg, which bills itself as the "Heart of the Smokies," and along the way were treated to vistas of the famous mountain range in the distance, although it was a bit difficult to tell whether the bluish haze was in fact the phenomenon from which the mountain range gets its name or the exhaust from the thousands of cars and RVs trying to get to tourist meccas such as Pigeon Forge to spend spring break. Pigeon Forge, as you might know, is the location of entertainer Dolly Parton's theme park, Dollywood, which after giving it a millisecond's consideration we decided not to visit. Instead we followed Yelp's directions to lunch at what turned out to be the most unusual eating establishment we have encountered on the trip, or at any other time for that matter. The trip took us up some back country roads that were reminiscent of the places we visited with my brother Mike in West Virginia, except that the homes we saw were obviously expensive and well-maintained. We finally ended up at our destination, Friendly Falls Food and Stuff, not so much a restaurant but a shack where you order your sandwich, and then eat on a sturdy deck perched above a series of beautiful waterfalls. The weather had warmed up to the mid-50s, which combined with the heat lamps over the tables made eating outside comfortable. The food was basic but good, but the setting was spectacular and it's the kind of experience that we never could have found on our own. It turned out that there was a more direct route back to Knoxville, which made us even more appreciative of the back road experience getting there because this time we went right through the heart of tourist trap alley, passing such entertainment options as Biblical Times Theater, the Hollywood Wax Museum (complete with an over sized King Kong climbing a miniature Empire State Building on the roof of the building), and my favorite, the Hatfield McCoy Dinner Theater. I promise that I am not making these up, and in fact you can see previews of these and other options online here. After making our way through the maze, we then went west of Knoxville to Oak Ridge, which like Hanford in Washington and Los Alamos, New Mexico was one of the sites of the Manhattan Project, where the atomic bombs that led to Japan's surrender were and the end of World War II were built. Having been born in Richland where my father worked as a civil engineer at Hanford, I felt compelled to check out this seeming twin to my birthplace. Other than having more vegetation and more interesting topography, Oak Ridge was similar to the Tricities in that there was one old (i.e. 1940s) downtown square surrounded by miles and miles of suburban sprawl, interspersed with large research labs and industrial parks. Another notable difference is that Oak Ridge High School's athletic teams are called the Wildcats, and not the Bombers. Most of the visitable sites aren't yet open for the summer, but we found a lovely park with plaques describing each of the phases of the development of Oak Ridge area from a sleepy farm community of 1900 residents to a booming "secret city" of 75,000 in a very short period of time. The park also features the International Friendship Bell, which Max proudly noticed was developed from a concept created by a Girl Scout as part of a Gold Award project. On the way out of Oak Ridge we stopped and visited another remnant from a more shameful period of our nation's history, the Wheat Community African Burial Ground with more than 90 unmarked graves of slaves from nearby plantations. Then we headed to Chattanooga from where, like General Sherman, we will begin our march on Atlanta Thursday.
Tuesday morning we awoke in Lexington to a frosty 22 degrees, but by the time we were ready to leave the hotel the sun was shining brightly and it had warmed up to the high 30s! We wanted to see some of the horse country, and had read in the AAA guide about the availability of various 3 hour bus tours and the Kentucky Horse Park, all of which seemed more horsing around than we were up to, so we headed to the Lexington Visitor Center to seek out alternatives. Turns out there were two: (1) some of the horse farms will provide tours if you make arrangements in advance; and (2) a map with directions for a driving tour of the horse farm areas. It was of course too late to take advantage of the former so we opted for the latter, and spent a pleasant hour and a half driving through beautiful rolling hills which a welcome relief from the flatness of practically every other place we've visited except around Fallingwater. Each farm presented large green fields surrounded by beautiful white or black fences (apparently there is a dispute among horse farmers about which color is easier for horses to see) sporting imposing houses and even more imposing barns, both set too far off the road to get much of a picture (how inconsiderate!). Problem was there weren't very many horses, either because it was still pretty chilly and they're smart enough to stay in the warm barns or (more likely) they've already been transferred to a track as the racing season will be starting soon. Among the highlights of the tour were Three Chimneys Farm, a stud farm whereSeattle Slew spent several happy years after winning the Triple Crown, and the house that author Margaret Mitchell (reputedly) used as the model for Tara in Gone with the Wind. We stopped for lunch at Wallace Station, a funky place recommended by the woman at the visitor center, but also (we learned later) by both Yelp and Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (YouTube clip available here.) We returned to Lexington to visit the Mary Todd Lincoln House which is located right in downtown. Perhaps you knew but we didn't that she was the daughter of a prominent and relatively wealthy businessman and had 10 years of formal schooling, including a couple in a local boarding school where only French was spoken, which of course made her an unlikely match for Abraham Lincoln, the son of poor farmers with only one year of formal education, as did her diminutive 5'2" stature, compared with his 6'4". We also learned more about her post-White House days, including her sole surviving son's successful effort to have her involuntarily treated for mental illness, largely because of hallucinations that, according to our knowledgable tour guide, were most likely a result of the combination of medications she had been prescribed to treat migraines and depression caused by the premature deaths of so many of her family members. Once she was off the medications the hallucinations disappeared and she was released, and subsequently initiated her own legal proceedings to have herself determined mentally competent. Quite a woman. We left Lexington late in the afternoon heading for Knoxville, Tennessee, but stopped along the way in Berea, Kentucky for the Kentucky Artisan Center which is to Kentucky what Tamarack (see entry for Day 7) is to West Virginia. We had dinner at the historic Boone Tavern, a 100 year old restaurant and inn that dates from a time where "tavern" didn't mean "drinking establishment" -- in fact the entire county is dry. The inn, which was beautifully restored in 2009 as part of its centennial celebration, is located adjacent to the campus of Berea College and most of its employees are are students from the college. Berea, if you aren't familiar with it, is the original work-study college. Founded in 1855 as a Christian non-denominational college to serve "mountain youth" with limited financial means, the college has no tuition, and its students work 10-15 hours at campus jobs to earn money for books, housing and food. By the time we left the sun was setting and we were regretting that we had confirmed our reservation in Knoxville, because it would have been fun to spend a night at the Inn and the timing meant that our initial foray into the Great Smokey Mountains in Tennessee took place at night, thus we missed the (reportedly) spectacular scenery.
This morning we loaded up the car and were soon back on I-65 and headed south to Louisville, Kentucky. First stop after crossing the Ohio River, which we last saw in Pittsburgh (see entry for Day 15) was the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory, where because it was opening day of the baseball season there was no admission fee. We took a tour and learned how they turn out more than 1.8 million bats every year for every competitive level from Little League to the majors--very impressive. From there we went to Churchill Downs, site of the annual Kentucky, Derby held the first Saturday of May every year since 1879. We arrived late in the afternoon about 45 minutes before closing, but were able to take in a wonderful movie on a wraparound screen about the history of the race. After the film Max took in the museum and I took a short walking tour that included a visit to (but not on) the track. Of course we picked up a couple of souvenirs for the grandchildren (and others) at both locations. Then we were off to Frankfort, where we had a lovely dinner at a restaurant Max found on Yelp. There was a slight mix-up when the reservation we made through Open Table turned out to be for a restaurant by the same name in Delray Beach, Florida. It was quite startling to have the restaurant call to confirm the reservation while we were sitting having dinner--but once we got it straightened out we all had a good laugh. We left in time to take a photo of the state capitol building in the early evening light, and then headed to Lexington, the self described "Horse Capital of the World" to spend the night before seeing some of the famous Kentucky bluegrass horse country on Tuesday.
Easter Sunday started out with an overcast sky and when I was returning from my Starbucks run a light rain started to fall. I probably should have seen this as an omen of what was to come. After breakfast we decided to pack (and by "we" I mean Max, who does most of the work and is very good at it, my role being limited to lifting, toting and fetching) so we could be ready to leave early Monday morning on the next leg of our trip. After a lunch of leftovers from Saturday's dinner (re-heated in the microwave in our room) we decided to go to the Duke headquarters hotel and watch as much of the Michigan-Florida game as we could before it was time to go to the stadium. We of course were decked out in our Duke togs, me wearing the tee shirt that Max brought me from the 2010 Final Four which Duke won (pictured to the right above). In addition to a number of Duke fans there was a small contingent of Wolverine fans as well as a special visitor shown with Max to the right. As most of you probably know by now, all we had to watch of the Michigan game was the first few minutes, when the Wolverines ran out to a 13 point lead before Florida even scored and then continued to dominate the rest of the game. By the the time we got to the stadium they had won, 79-59 , which means that we will have one team for whom to cheer in Atlanta. Unfortunately Indianapolis was not so kind to the Blue Devils this time around. Notwithstanding the trouble they had with Louisville's press during the first half they managed to keep it close, trailing by only 3 at the half. There was a horrible accident midway through the first half when a Louisville player landed awkwardly and suffered a compound fracture of his leg. We were lucky that it happened on the far end of the court from where we were sitting so that we didn't see it, and of course they didn't show a replay in the stadium. The film is available on YouTube but I wouldn't recommend watching it because it is so horrific. After what seemed like a very long time he was carried off on a strecher and was reported to be undergoing surgery last evening. The game resumed, and during halftime Duke must have figured out how to deal with the press because they didn't have as much trouble with that aspect of their game during the second half. However they soon went into an extended cold shooting streak at precisely the same time that Louisville began hitting every shot they took, regardless of who took it and from where it was taken. Duke ended up losing by a lopsided 85-63 score, a very sad outcome indeed. We left the stadium to find (appropriately) threatening skies, and headed back to the restaurant next door to the hotel for a quiet dinner. Fortunately most of the Louisville fans seem to have headed home immediately so at least we weren't subjected to hordes of red-clad fans celebrating raucously in the downtown area. We were both disappointed, but in the words of a Manchurian expression we picked up from the Albright book (see entry for Day 8) "mey fah zu" -- "there's nothing to be done" -- so tomorrow we begin our southward journey, and plan to arrive in Atlanta Thursday, with several stops in between, including tomorrow in Louisville.
We awoke Saturday morning to find clear blue skies and a brilliant sun, indicating that at last the weather was starting to warm up. With no basketball today we set out to explore the city a bit more. Indianapolis, known locally as the "Circle City," is actually laid out in quadrants, which converge in the traffic circle at the center of downtown a few blocks from our hotel. At the center of the circle is a striking monument to the Indianapolis Volunteers, men who fought in (as described on the monument) the "War for the Union", pictured in the lower photo to the right. Within a very few blocks there are other almost-as-impressive monuments to those who have served in various conflicts, including one dedicated to Hoosiers (the unofficial nickname for Indiana residents) who have been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. A few blocks to the west is the impressive Indiana state capitol, pictured at the upper right. These handsome public structures combined with the stadiums and convention center also located in the city core make for a very vibrant downtown. Our first stop was to tour the Oldsfields-Lilly House, the palatial home of one of the descendants of the founder of Eli Lilly Company, the drug company that is still headquartered in Indianapolis (another Lilly descendant was a classmate of Max's at Duke). Unfortunately the door to the building bore a sign indicating that it was closed until April 1st for renovation, so that effort was foiled, although we will try again on Monday on our way out of town (the website says the house is closed on Mondays, so we're not optimistic that this effort will be any more successful). On the other end of the cultural spectrum our next visit was to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, site of the Indianapolis 500 and several other major automobile races. Although neither Max nor I have any interest in car racing, it was kind of fun to take a bus ride around the track,as well as wander through the display of cars and motorcycles of various vintages, and of course the gift shop presented many options for souvenirs to bring to the grandsons. The day had warmed up quite nicely, and by mid-afternoon we were ready to take a break from playing the tourist, and took in a movie, Admission, which was an entertaining and pleasant way to spend a couple of hours. After having dinner at a local sports bar we returned to the hotel to watch the last few minutes of Ohio State's loss to Wichita State (way to go Shockers!) on TV and then retired to get ready for Sunday's big game between Duke and Louisville, which in the opinion of the sports columnist for the Indianapolis Star will determine the ultimate national championship. Wish us luck here and in Texas, where shortly before the Duke game Michigan will be playing for a trip to Atlanta as well.
Max, still suffering from her cold, slept later than usual on Friday morning, and after breakfast we set out on some shopping errands, primarily to buy a replacement for my gloves, one of which had disappeared somewhere between Richmond and Indianapolis. The temperature had risen into the mid-40s, almost balmy by comparison with what we had encountered a week earlier in Michigan, but by this time we were neither of us willing to assume that the cold would not return. We came back to the hotel mid-afternoon, and while getting our game togs on encountered the first good omen of the day. Flipping TV channels we came across a hockey game between a highly ranked team from the University of Minnesota and one from Lara's alma mater Yale. Because they do not offer athletic scholarships, the Bulldogs were considered to be the underdogs, but notwithstanding their amateur status they managed to beat the Golden Gophers 3-2 in overtime. We left soon thereafter for a party organized by the Duke Alumni Association at a local hotel. We sat with a number of people of various ages and backgrounds, including one woman who had been at Duke during part of the time Max was there and then attended law school at Michigan a few years after I graduated. We had dinner of sorts at the party, and then took the short walk to the Lucas Oil Stadium, the covered stadium that is the home field of the Indianapolis Colts where the evening's games were being held. The north half of the stadium was curtained off and the basketball court turned sideways, thus allowing more than 35,000 people to have seats for the two games of the evening. The vast majority of the people there seemed to be wearing the red of the number 1 seed, the Louisville Cardinals, located a short two hour drive south of Indianapolis. The Cardinals took on the Ducks from the University of Oregon in the first game of the evening, and although the Ducks fought valiantly and we and most of the non-Louisville fans in attendance were cheering for them, they were clearly out manned and ended up losing 77-69. Trust me, it wasn't that close. During the break between games came word from Arlington, Texas that the game between Michigan and the University of Kansas had gone into overtime, which was quite a surprise because the Wolverines had trailed by ten with less than 3 minutes left. I found out there was an area on the other side of the stadium where that game was being shown on TV, and arrived in time to watch the last 52 seconds of the improbable 87-85 Michigan victory. You can read a complete report on the game in the Detroit News here. By the time I got back to our seats the Duke game had begun, and we were relieved to see that the Blue Devils were playing much better than they had when we last saw them in person in Greensboro. The Spartans were a tough opponent, and although Duke led throughout the game, it was never a commanding lead, so we weren't able to relax until the final seconds started to count down with Duke ahead 71-61. We walked the few blocks back to the hotel after midnight, but the combination of the elation over both our teams' victories, the adrenalin from the games and the caffeine from the Diet Coke and other junk food consumed during almost 5 hours of watching basketball, I didn't get to sleep until 2 a.m. But oh, what a day it was! (Unknown to either of us until reading Saturday morning's newspaper, it turned out that the Michigan men's swim team had built a comfortable lead in the NCAA Champsionship meet being held in Indianapolis this weekend as well--go Blue indeed!).
Thursday we had a leisurely morning and then loaded up to head west, stopping first in downtown Columbus for Max to pick up some additional ammunition against her cold. This gave me the opportunity to take a picture of the Statehouse, the headquarters of Ohio's state government. We proceeded west across the state -- as flat and windy as it had been on the south-to-north part of our trip -- and stopped for lunch in Richmond, Indiana, located just west of the Indiana-Ohio line. Among other things Richmond claims to be the smallest city in the nation to have supported both an opera company and a symphony orchestra. The former is no longer operating by the symphony is apparently still going strong. Richmond is also the home of Earlham College, where our friends Lyn and David Kratz went to school. Unfortunately we didn't realize that until we were on our way out of town; otherwise we would have stopped by to see if their considerable aura was still evident. We arrived in Indianapolis and were relieved to discover little evidence of the 9" of snow that had fallen four days earlier. I had not been here before, but Max had come here three years ago with our friend Becky Bogard to watch Duke win the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship, and as soon as we were checked into our downtown hotel she was quite eager to show me the around.
When we awoke Wednesday morning we realized that the snow must have returned in the night, because there was a light covering on the bluff above the Monongahela River opposite our hotel. Neither Max or I had been to Pittsburgh before, although I believe my parents lived there briefly early in their marriage. After doing a little research in our AAA Tour Book, and with our next overnight stop in Columbus a reasonably short drive that could easily be traversed in the mid-to-late afternoon, we decided to explore the city a bit. We left with the conclusion that it is a most interesting city, and one we might want to revisit sometime when we have more time. Pittsburgh, not unlike Seattle, is a geographically challenged city, with the downtown circumscribed by the two rivers and the steep inclines on their respective opposite sides, and especially the Monongahela side, rising sharply so as to make development impossible. The city is known alternatively as the "Steel City" and the "City of Bridges" (there are reportedly 446 of them in the city). However the major bridges across the Monongahela lead directly into large tunnels, so maybe a reference to them should be added to the latter appellation. Because of the cold weather and Max's now-in-full-throttle cold we decided not to take the 30 minute ride up the bluff on one of the city's two operating inclines, but did drive to the top of the bluff over the Monongahela to take in the spectacular views of the downtown area that they offer. The picture at the left above is of a bronze that, according to the plaque posted nearby, depicts a 1770 meeting between George Washington and a leader of the Seneca nation at which they discussed the future of the region, and you can probably guess how that turned out. After lunch at Primanti Brothers, a restaurant near the University of Pittsburgh recommended by Robyn based on an article from the New York Times, where all sandwiches come with french fries and coleslaw built into them, rather than on the side. Max liked it, but I found it tasty but a bit weird, although certainly an efficient way to eat. Following lunch we headed west to Columbus, arriving just in time for dinner at the Cap City Diner, recommended by our token Buckeye friend, Linda Drygas, and then settled in for the final leg on the trip to Indianapolis.
The most direct way to drive from Buffalo to Indianapolis is to go back along the south shore of Lake Erie to Cleveland, and then head southwest to Columbus and then due west to Indianapolis. Naturally we didn't go via that route. Instead, when Robyn reminded us that we were within striking distance of Fallingwater, Wright's most famous design, we decided to take a detour to try to take it in. Our initial thought was to have a leisurely drive on Tuesday, and then tour the house on Wednesday morning; however when we called ahead to make a reservation we discovered that it is closed on Wednesdays. As a result, we had to make a hurried trip to catch the last tour of the day, which meant only a couple very brief stops for gas, lunch, and other necessities. Built as a summer 'cabin' for a Pittsburgh department store magnate, the house is located in a very remote and hilly area southeast of that city, and of course as soon as we got close, it began snowing. Notwithstanding the travails of getting there, and a not inconsiderable trek on foot to get to the house itself, the effort was well worth it. The external views of the house, and especially the one shown here, are spectacular. That said, my overall impression of the interior spaces was that the house is a nice place to visit but not a one in which we would want to live. Not wanting the owners to disturb the views with furniture, Wright designed built-in seating along the lower exterior walls, which had the positive effect of allowing unobstructed views of the beautiful outside scenery. On the other hand, the seats and chairs were so low that if we had been allowed to sit on them, I'm not sure I would have been able to get up. There were many other interesting and in some instances ingenious design features, too numerous to mention here, and overall we were glad to have made the visit--thanks Robyn for the suggestion. As we made the one-hour trip to Pittsburgh the snow showers returned intermittently but didn't pose a real problem. We checked into our hotel on the north shore of the Allegheny River, which joins with Monongahela to form the Ohio at Pittsburgh. During the afternoon mad dash Max started to develop a cold, and by the time we got to the hotel it had settled fully in, so other than an unsuccessful trip to try to find an open drug store, we didn't venture out in the evening.
Buffalo, it turns out, is a very interesting city with lots of sights to see, and we spent most of Monday seeing them. First stop was the Darwin Martin House Complex, one of Frank Lloyd Wright's earlier design commissions (pictured left below). Constructed in 1906, the complex includes a home built for the family of a local businessman, a conservatory connected to the main house by a long covered portico, a carriage house and separate houses on adjoining lots for the owner's sister and for the gardener. The original house is being restored, and the portico, conservatory and carriage house have been carefully reconstructed having been torn down after the house was abandoned for more than 17 years following the depression. We spent the afternoon driving up the Canadian side of the Niagara River to see Niagara Falls, which I had never seen and Max had seen once before as a young girl but has only a sketchy memory of doing so. The temperature had inched up a few degrees but was still below freezing, so we only got out of the car for a few minutes to snap pictures and then headed back to Buffalo. That evening Suzie and Bob took us on a driving tour of Buffalo, including several other less spectacular houses designed by Wright, and a boathouse that he had designed for the University of Wisconsin but was never built there. Recently funds were raised to acquire the design and the boathouse was constructed in Buffalo in 2007. We finished the day with dinner at the Anchor Bar (where we are pictured above), the restaurant that originated Buffalo wings. There was much more to see in Buffalo, but we needed to get back on the road on Tuesday so we could make it to Indianapolis by Thursday for the games Friday and Sunday.
My theory that Ohio was windy
because of the flat terrain was reinforced in spades by the cold wind blowing
off Lake Erie on Sunday morning as we made our way to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and
Museum on Cleveland's lake shore. The hall/museum is housed in a striking new
building (pictured on the right) and includes an extensive collection of
memorabilia of all sorts, including costumes, instruments, programs, posters and
many other items. There's a film at the beginning outlining the development of
rock and roll from its early roots, and I observed to Max that we were probably
the only people in the place who actually remembered most of the events and
entertainers mentioned or depicted in the film. We spent about an hour and a half there,
then again loaded our car and continued east along Lake Erie toward Buffalo, New
York to visit Max's girlhood friend Suzie Neubecker and her husband Bob
(they are also in our wedding pictures as they had made the shorter trek across
the north side of Lake Erie to Ann Arbor for our wedding). They are gracious
hosts, even to the extent of letting us take over the TV for the Duke vs. Creighton game that was
scheduled at the ridiculously late hour of 9:40 p.m. Sunday evening. During
dinner and breaks in the game Max and Suzie had a great time reminiscing about
the good old days in Troy, as well as catching up on friends and acquaintances and
our respective families. As most of you know, Max treats each Duke basketball
game as though it were a life-or-death matter, but in this instance the outcome
would have a direct and immediate impact on us personally. If they won, we
would head to Indianapolis in accord with our (revised) plan; if not, we would
have to revise our plans once again and try to salvage some of what we paid for
the Indianapolis tickets. As it happened, Duke won, although again not easily,
66-50 so we next head to Indianapolis.
Because Michigan's game with VCU was scheduled as the first game of the afternoon doubleheader, we decided to check out of the hotel and head on to Cleveland after the game. Max has been doing a wonderful job of packing so that each day we only have to access a couple of the six suitcases we brought with us. Nonetheless we have been completely unloading the car at each stop, having heard stories of people who lost their belongings when their cars were broken into while parked in a hotel parking lot. After checking our bags with the hotel's front desk, we headed back to the Palace for the afternoon. As you probably know by now, the anticipated battle with VCU never really materialized. Michigan, which leads the country in the fewest turnovers per game department, played almost a perfect game and won handily 78-53. They head off next to Dallas, where they will play Kansas on Good Friday in the South Region semifinals. If they can play as well as they did in Auburn Hills, they could win the entire tournament. We had hoped that Michigan State would have an equally easy time against Memphis, but they were only ahead by a few points at half. Notwithstanding we decided that the lateness of the hour and the prospect of a long drive in the dark dictated that we leave, even though it seemed the outcome was still in doubt (the Spartans took over in the second half and won going away 70-48). We picked up our luggage and headed first south around Detroit and then east along the southern edge of Lake Erie and arrived in a cold and windy Cleveland around 9 p.m. I was delighted to learn that our downtown hotel had its very own Starbucks, meaning I didn't have to venture into the elements for the morning latte!
There was no basketball where we were today, so we had arranged to visit my cousin Vause Carlsen and her daughter Betsy in Flushing, which is near Flint, about an hour northwest of where we stayed in Auburn Hills. We hadn't seen Vause for several years, and as best any of us could remember it had been about forty years since we'd seen Betsy (for those who have seen our wedding pictures, Betsy is the six-year old towhead, the only child present). We left later than planned, and as a result the visit ended later than planned as well, but shortly after noon we were heading back to Ann Arbor, with Max watching the Duke vs. Albany game on my cell phone until we could find a sports bar to have lunch and watch the second half. The Blue Devils played better than they had in Greensboro, and won by a not very comfortable 73-61 score. We spent the afternoon visiting old haunts in Ann Arbor, as well as the new building at the Law School (pictured above), which is an amazing match to the original buildings built 80 years earlier. Friday evening we had dinner at the restaurant where we had held our wedding reception 46+ years ago. Then known as the Lord Fox, it's now Roger Monk's. While the food was nothing to celebrate, our evening was enhanced by a strong dose of nostalgia, and then enhanced again by witnessing the young couple at an adjacent table become engaged, complete with flowers, him on one knee, and two glasses of champagne.
One of the reasons we spent time to pack on Monday was that we had planned to visit one more Atlanta attraction -- the Atlanta History Center -- on Tuesday before heading to the airport. The AHC is located about a mile north of our condo, and consists of several components focusing (not surprisingly) on the history of Atlanta, with a special emphasis on the Civil War. It is listed as a "must see" in the AAA guide and the reviews in Yelp were all very high. However, moving forward with that plan proved a little more challenging than we had anticipated. By the time we had breakfast, finished the remaining laundry, completed packing and tidied up the condo a bit it became clear that we had neither the time nor the energy required to do a visit justice. We decided instead to have lunch at the restaurant located on the Center's grounds, the Swan Coach House restaurant, located in what was the garage and servants quarters of the Swan House, a restored 1928 mansion that is one of the Center's attractions. Among other claims to fame, the Swan House is one of the locations where the next Hunger Games movie was filmed. Like Cafe Jonah (see post for Day 26), the Swan Coach House is located a few blocks away from the Buckhead business district--however any similarity between the two establishments ends right there. The Coach House has been converted into a beautifully decorated classic representation of southern gentility, complete with large floral prints on the wall paper, white linen table cloths and a dozen roses on each table. When we visited, the clientele consisted almost exclusively of well-coiffed women dressed in tasteful but not showy outfits (we felt under dressed in our jeans and polo shirts), with the vast majority being of our vintage or older. The food was delicious and the service efficient, and it was easy to see why the restaurant can justifiably bill itself as an Atlanta tradition. After lunch we spent a few minutes driving along West Paces Ferry Road, which the Coach House hostess assured me is "the" Atlanta address. It was easy to see why as we drove past large elegant mansions located on well-groomed 2-4 acre lots for over a mile, and while some of them posted discreet 'for sale' signs, we didn't stop to inquire but I found this online video that will give a sense of what these places are like. We also stopped to take our own photo of the Swan House, then headed back to the condo to finish getting things together, and then we were off to the airport where we turned in the rental car and after spending 28 days, traveling 4407air miles and putting 4487 miles on the rental car, visiting sights in 17 cities or towns (not counting pit stops) in 12 states and one province, and watching 13 complete basketball games and parts of 5 others, we headed home. 
