Meanwhile, Back In Denver...

I saw in the Denver Post yesterday morning that a bear was found in a tree in Denver's Platte Park neighborhood. The exact location was at East Louisiana Avenue and South Pennsylvania Street, which is just 1 1/2 miles from my condo. Wildlife authorities say they have no idea how it got there, since there have been no recent bear sightings between the foothills, where it is assumed to have come from, and south-central Denver. My guess is Uber, but since I am originally from the Brainerd neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago, where bear sightings are even more infrequent than Denver, I am, of course, not an expert. Wildlife officials tranquilized the bear and removed it to a "more appropriate location," which I hope is nearby Washington Park. I really want to get a picture of that Denver Bear. The only other Denver Bears I have taken photographs of were players on the AAA baseball team of that name that played at the old Mile High Stadium before the Colorado Rockies, a National League expansion team, began playing in Denver in 1993. And it is really not quite the same thing.

The Norton Museum Of Art

My sister Susan and I visited the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, Florida yesterday afternoon. I visited this museum once before, and was very impressed with its photography collection, which includes works by Edward Weston, Henri Carter-Bresson, Richard Avedon, Edward Steichen, Nan Golden, and others, but unfortunately, the photography gallery was closed due to the installation of a new exhibit. No matter - there were some photographs in the other galleries, including a Diane Arbus, and the museum itself is a very pleasant place to just wander around, no matter what is on display. The Norton has a number of impressionist paintings in their collection, but we toured the entire museum without seeing any. Until we were leaving, that is, and discovered them displayed in the very first gallery, near the entrance, right off the closed photography gallery. I was no doubt so focused on the blocked entrance to the photography exhibit that I completely ignored the paintings in that first room when we arrived. That collection includes works by Monet, Cezanne, Dega, and Pissarro, by the way. Not bad for a city the size of West Palm Beach.

Like the Denver Art Museum (The DAM), the collection is pretty heavy on contemporary art. Some I liked, and some I didn't. Jackson Pollock's Night Mist was very nice, although both Susan and I were a little confused when we saw Joseph Beuys "Filzanzug" (felt suit) hanging on the wall. Basically, it was a suit of clothes on a hanger. Susan speculated that a visitor must have left it there, no doubt not needing a felt suit in the middle of August in Florida, but it was definitely part of the collection, no doubt paid for with real money. Go figure. I was happy to see that the Norton had several works by Marc Chagall on display, including the one in the photograph on the right, which I liked very much. I don't think I have seen any works by Chagall since visiting the Art Institute, back when I lived in Chicago.

And one of the Norton's most impressive works, in my opinion, is glass artist Dale Chihuly's Persian Sea Life Ceiling, seen in the photograph on the left. I remember being very impressed with Chihuly's work when it was exhibited at the Denver Botanic Gardens back in 2014, but for some reason, I could never remember Chihuly's name. The only name I could come up with was Gilhooley, who was a character played by Lee Marvin in the movie Donovan's Reef, a John Wayne film from the 1960s. But no matter - everyone knew who I was referring to when I would mention the Gilhooley exhibit at the Botanic Gardens, although it does explain why I could never get a job as an art critic.

Looking For Adventure? The Hotel Evernia Is Just The Ticket!

The other day I was driving down Rosemary Street, the main drag in West Palm Beach's very upscale CityPlace neighborhood, and there was a detour, directing me over to the next street and to drive two blocks before returning to Rosemary. And just before I was about to turn back onto that street, I spotted the Hotel Evernia, as seen in the photograph on the left. This hotel was built in 1925 and is the oldest operating hotel in West Palm Beach, if it is still operating, that is. It definitely looks pretty nice from the outside. Just for fun, I checked online to learn a bit more of its history (I wrote a little bit about it on this blog last year) and happened upon a number of yelp reviews of the place. The latest review was dated May 18th, 2024, and simply said "Horrible Place and Horrible Staff - Do not stay here - RUN." Two of the reviews were in depth stories of the guest's experiences, which were pretty amazing to read. One guy who was attending a nearby conference was pretty detailed about his 3-day stay, mentioning the good and the bad, and pretty philosophical about the experience. Evidently the place had only two staff members who worked 8:30 until 6:30 and then went home, leaving guests on their own. The rooms had no phones, and so if you needed help, you had to use your cell phone to call a number that was provided, which was in New York. When he called, the person he talked to said he would have the person who checked him in call back, which never happened. There was no sink in the bathroom, only in the main room, and no mirror, which made shaving an interesting experience. And at night, lots of street noise. His summary was just to know what you are getting into. "If you are into wild rides, this place will be an adventure. 

Another guest wrote how her husband, who was in town to pick up a service dog, was checked in by a young girl, but then at 10:00 that night a woman began pounding on his door telling him the room was booked by another person and he had to leave, since he never paid. It was quite the back and forth, and when she saw his dog, without its service dog vest, she went crazy. He did wind up staying the night but was very stressed out. Other reviews were about filthy rooms with roaches and bedbugs, and rooms with no bathrooms. However, three of the reviews were very positive, saying how charming the place was. Go figure. In any case, I went to the hotel's web site to try and book a room - as regular blog readers know, I am ALWAYS up for an adventure - but there was an error on the page, and it said to send an e-mail, which I did not do. I also tried booking through some popular online travel sites but kept getting messages saying to find a different hotel. And by the way, the hotel's web site touts the great location and that it is very close to, among other places, the AMC Cityplace 20, which actually closed on April 30th, 2023. And so for all you adventure seekers out there, the Hotel Evernia might or might not still be open. Definitely call first.

Brightline's Future In Stuart And Everywhere Else In Florida - Not So Bright

Martin County's request for $70 million in funding for a Brightline station in Stuart, Florida was dealt a blow the other day when the National Railroad Partnership Program awarded the City of Cocoa $57 million for a station but ignored the request from Stuart. Brightline is a high-speed railway that goes between Miami and Orlando, with plans to expand to Tampa. The City of Stuart had originally partnered with Martin County to build a station in Stuart, but a newly installed Commission backed out of the agreement, leaving the county to seek funding for the station on its own. The City Commissioners did not want to risk taxpayers having to fund the station if it did not receive federal funds, and so it is likely that the station may instead wind up in neighboring Fort Pierce. Who will pay for it there is an open question, but not one I particularly care about asking. I can certainly see the City Commissioner's point of view. Not only would it cost big money to build, but Brightline itself is deeply in debt, to the tune of $5.5 billion. And as the late Illinois Senator Everett Dirkson once said, a billion here and a billion there and pretty soon you are talking real money. Brightline's auditors have warned that the company does not have enough liquidity to pay upcoming obligations, and fares are not high enough to generate sufficient cash flow. And believe me, those fares are much too high right now. And so, what if they built the station in Stuart and the line went bankrupt? Build it and they will come might work for a baseball stadium but probably not for a $70 million parking garage. Although on the bright (not Brightline) side, it would sure end all those fights over parking spaces at the Stuart Market on Main every Sunday. People who regularly attend that event would probably say it was worth every penny.

Ironwood

I just finished reading Ironwood, Michael Connelly's latest novel, which features Sheriff's Detective Sergent Stillwell, who is charge of the sheriff's substation on Catalina Island, located 22 miles off the coast of Southern California. This is the second book in the series, and although I did not think that first book measured up to Connelly's other series, I really enjoyed this latest thriller. The plot centers around two cases Stillwell is investigating. One involves an alleged drug drop at the local airport, which results in the killing of one of his deputies and the wounding of another. Stillwell is ordered to stay away from the case while put on temporary leave during an investigation of the incident. He busies himself with the mundane task of cleaning out the station's lost and found and discovers the suitcase of a hiker who went missing on the island 4 years ago, although the suitcase was only turned in several months earlier. All this leads to the hunt for a serial killer, with Stillwell teaming up with Detective Renee Ballard and the LAPD's Open-Unsolved Unit. On top of this, he learns that the killing of his deputy at the airport was a targeted hit. This is a fast-paced, exciting story which I really enjoyed, and I now have to admit that this series ranks right up there with Connelly's others. Be sure to pick up a copy at your local library for a good summer read.

An Unforgettable Crosstown Series

The Crosstown Series between my South Side heroes, the Chicago White Sox, and their North Side rivals, the Chicago Cubs, ended yesterday afternoon with a 3-0 White Sox victory, after the Sox lost the first two games to the Cubs, each decided by walk-offs. Both teams are contending for the post-season, and all three contests were played with playoff-like intensity. In the first game on Monday night, fights broke out in the Wrigley Field bleachers between Cubs and White Sox fans as emotions ran high. For the record, the White Sox took the first series against the Cubs in the spring, while the Cubs took this one, each winning 3 games against the other for the year. The Cubs are currently in second place, 4 1/2 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central and 20 games over .500, while the White Sox are in first place, 4 games in front of the Minnesota Twins in the American League Central and 6 games over .500. The AL Central is admittedly a weaker division, but while the Cubs were expected to go to the playoffs, the White Sox, with a roster filled with rookies and coming off two 100 loss seasons, are the big surprise in baseball this year, to the delight of White Sox fans everywhere. And yes, that is indeed a White Sox fan wearing his official White Sox Pope Hat to yesterday's game at Wrigley Field. The Sox started winning as soon as Pope Leo, a White Sox fan from the South Side of Chicago, became pope. It is important to give credit where credit is due, right?

Buyers Beware! There Are Only 10 Weeks Until Halloween!

I was walking around the Stuart Centre here in Stuart, Florida yesterday afternoon and stopped in at Five Below, which is a discount store where most items are priced at $5 or less. And the first thing I saw was the Halloween display seen in the photograph above. This is, of course, August 19th, a mere 10 weeks until Halloween, and so I assume people are getting pretty anxious about getting their Halloween shopping done. Even back in Denver, I noticed a Spirit Halloween store already open at a former Big 5 Sporting Goods Store on South Colorado Boulevard. Halloween is a big deal these days for the twenty-something crowd. But then again, it has been for years. The Saturday before Halloween has always been the night for hipsters to dress up in costume and head to Lower Downtown Denver (LoDo) and party the night away. And years ago, the crowds on Boulder's Pearl Street Mall on that same Saturday night grew so large and rowdy that eventually, for several years, police had to seal off the city and allow only residents in on that particular night before finally putting an end to what was called the Mall Crawl. And do they celebrate like that here in Stuart? I suspect not so much, although I must say there are a lot of those 8-foot giant skeletons around, which most people leave up all year long. What is the deal with that? The undead making a statement?