Doing Dallas In A Day

As I mentioned in a blog post last week, my sister Susan and I had a hell of a time getting back to Denver from Rome.  We wound up having to spend an entire day in Dallas, Texas.  Mark Twain once famously said that if he owned both Texas and Hell, he would live in Hell and rent out Texas, and I think he had Dallas in mind when he said it.  In any case, Dallas does have a good public transportation system.  We took a shuttle back to the airport from our hotel, checked our bags for the 10:30 P.M. flight, and then headed downtown on their light rail train.

Before we knew it, we were standing in Dealey Plazza, where John F. Kennedy was assassinated back in 1963, a day I still vividly remember. I took a look at the grassy knoll, and was approached was a strange guy carrying JFK memorabilia and a duplicate of the camera Zapruder  used to record the murder, who I think wanted me to hire him for a tour.  I did not intend to do that unless he could produce a second shooter in the flesh.  In any case, I took the photograph on the right of my sister Susan, no doubt calling me to come look at the Texas Book Depository (seen in the background of the photo), where Lee Harvey Oswald fired the fatal shots.  We then walked around downtown Dallas for a while, and found it to be ugly as hell. Surprise!

I went into a tourist office to get a map of the area, and found that the Dallas Arboretum was reachable by public transportation. We headed off there by light rail, only to find that the tourist map was not to scale, and we could not walk to the arboretum on foot.  A very kind woman called the transit line and told us what bus to take, and the driver of that bus told us what bus to transfer to in order to get to the arboretum.  Amazingly enough, it was all worth it, for the Dallas Arboretum is absolutely beautiful.  My sister Susan - who is a fanatical gardener - told me that it was the most beautiful garden she has ever seen.  We had lunch there, and took the bus right in front of the garden back downtown, where we took the train back to the airport and our flight home.  Downtown Dallas might be ugly as sin (and probably most of Texas as well), but they sure know how to put together a garden.

Cubs Win! Cubs Win! Rockies Lose!

Now that I am retired and don't have to show up for a job any more, I decided to go to the rubber game between the Colorado Rockies and Chicago Cubs at Coors Field yesterday afternoon.  I took the light rail train to the ballpark, and was surprised to find all the rail cars packed with Cub fans.  I was somehow able to squeeze into one of the cars, and disembarked at Denver's Union Station relatively unscathed, taking the photograph on the left of those Wrigley Field denizens marching to the ballpark. The local sports columnists seem perplexed about why there are so many Cubs fans here in Denver.  One writer speculates it is because the Cubs were televised on Super Station WGN (with Harry Carey and Steve Stone announcing the games) for many years, and that the Cubs built a following through that.  I myself think that all these fans simply moved to Denver from the north side of Chicago, considering it just part of the far western suburbs of that city, and continue to cheer on their team from here.

As I entered Coors Field, I could not help but notice that there was a significant Denver police presence, and that they had a bomb sniffing dog with them (Cubs fans are crazy, if you don't already know that).  I took my seat in the upper deck right field corner (as seen in the photo on the right) and listened to the announcer tell us that "if we see something, say something," and then watched a video on the scoreboard screen about emergency exits from the stadium.  I think that Colorado Rockies management is beginning to suspect what we south side Chicago White Sox fans have always known about these Cubs fanatics.

It was pretty damn hot sitting in the upper deck in the sun Wednesday afternoon, but that is the price you pay for daytime baseball. Somehow, the Rockies managed to win the first two games of the series, but unfortunately lost the Wednesday contest by a score of 10 to 1, and it was not as close a contest as the score indicates.  The most exciting part of the game was the race between the dental implements, as seen in the photo on the left.  The idea for this contest was stolen from the Milwaukee Brewer's (they hold a race between sausages), but these days there is no honor among thieves, or for that matter ball clubs.  Which brings me back to the recent concept of "dynamic pricing," where baseball organizations raise or lower prices depending on the demand for the tickets.  And let me tell you, Cubs fans will pay through the nose to watch their team.

Sunday Afternoon In Mooseless Nederland

I drove up to Nederland (located in the mountains west of Boulder, Colorado) this past Sunday afternoon on my continuing (and most likely hopeless) quest to spot a moose out in the wild. I read in the newspaper that a man had been attacked by a moose up there because he got too close to it's calf.  I also read that someone had recently spotted two rather "mangy" moose on Ridge Road (the one in Nederland, not the one that runs through Homewood, Illinois, back in Chicago's southern suburbs).  Armed with these insights, I drove up there and cruised Ridge Road from top to bottom (literally), but saw no moose. It was a very pretty area, however, and I was able to snap the photograph on the left at the point where Ridge Road went from a paved to a dirt road.

Since moose no longer seemed to be hanging out on Ridge Road, I decided to drive through Nederland to the small town of Eldora, and beyond that to the Hessie trail, which runs along Boulder Creek and is the place I would hang out in if I were a moose - lots of water and vegetation and woods.  I did find a lot of hikers there, and once again, the scenery was very pretty, but no moose. I have reached the conclusion that if I truly want to see a moose in Colorado (if they do indeed exist here, which I am not convinced of), I would have to stay up in the mountains for a week or so, either renting a cabin or camping out, thus allowing me to be around in the early mornings and at dusk, when they are most likely to be seen.  Kind of like author Bill Bryson spending weeks in the northernmost town in the world to get a glimpse of the northern lights. Ain't gonna happen.

Talking With Joe At The 2019 Summer Art Market

I visited my friend Joe at his booth (as seen in the above photo) at the Art Students League of Denver's 2019 Summer Art Market this past weekend.  Joe is an artist, teaches at the Art Students League of Denver, and also still has time to work at the University of Denver Bookstore on a part-time basis.  I talked with Joe for a bit, who is in the enviable position of doing what he loves for a living, and then walked around the art fair, which is my favorite of all the art festivals in Denver.  It is held over a four block area right in front of the ASLD building at 2nd and Grant, in a beautiful old residential neighborhood.  On my way back to my car, Joe seemed to be doing a brisk business selling his prints, and so I didn't interrupt possible sales in progress.  Joe does truly amazing work, by the way.  Be sure to check out his website at http://www.joehigginsmonotypes.com/.

Stuart On The Trail In Golden

I drove out to beautiful, exotic, and amazingly boring Lakewood, Colorado last week, where I picked up my friend Stuart (seen in the photograph on the left) and headed to Golden for a short hike along Clear Creek. It is a very pretty trail, right in the heart of Golden, and it truly makes you think you are actually out in the wilderness. Afterwards, we headed to the Table Mesa Inn for burritos, and then went to the Golden City Brewery (located in the backyard of an 1870s era house, which I featured in a blog post a few weeks ago), where we had another beer.  It was a very pleasant evening, and the outdoor beer garden had a very mellow crowd, no doubt already in summer mode, as am I - my first summer without a job in many decades.  As Jackie Gleason used to say, "How Sweet It Is."

Soccer AND Photo Day At Coors Field With Mark

I went with my friend Mark to Ester's Neighborhood Pub to watch the European Soccer Championship Game between Tottenham and Liverpool last week. Liverpool won the game 2 to 0, and after the presentation of the trophy we headed straight to Coors Field for Photo Day, where Colorado Rockies players (both past and present) meet the fans and pose for pictures with them.  I took the photograph on the left of Mark with Colorado Rockies legend Vinny Castilla.  Castilla was one of the original Colorado Rockies back in 1993, and was always a fan favorite.

I also took a photograph of Mark with Mark Reynolds, a current Rockies player who is one of my favorites. He plays first base for the Rockies, and always seems to get the clutch hits. However, because of his age (35, which of course means he is almost dead in baseball years) he does not get the respect he deserves.  The Rockies keep trying to replace him with younger players, but they just aren't as good as Reynolds, and he remains in the lineup most days. 

I myself had my photograph taken with the Colorado Rockies manager, Bud Black.  However, this photo was taken less than 24 hours after I returned home from a trip to Europe, and it definitely shows.  I look like I am not sure what country I am in, and perhaps not even sure who I am, either.  I vaguely remember asking Bud if he took euros, at which point he just walked away.  Can't blame him, I guess.  The Rockies won the game against the Toronto Blue Jays 3 to 2, and wound up sweeping the series. Could this be the year the Rockies return to the World Series?  I myself am waiting to place bets until the jet lag wears off, probably around December or so.

The Horror, The Horror (Of Air Travel)

My sister Susan and my flight back to Denver from Rome did NOT go smoothly.  It was a long flight to begin with (eleven hours), and as we approached Dallas, where we needed to change planes, a bad storm resulted in the Dallas Airport being closed.  We circled it for 2 hours before the captain decided to land in "sunny Houston" instead.  There we sat on the tarmac for 2 hours before a customs agent cleared the aircraft for deplaning. After going through customs, we had to stand in a huge line to get re-booked, and then go through security all over again.  When we got to the front of the line, we were told we would fly to Dallas that night and return to Denver the following morning. I asked if we would have to stay in the airport all night, and was told yes, and so made reservations at a Best Western near the Dallas airport. Once we arrived in Dallas, however, we were told we had a voucher for a hotel room, but by then it was too late to change plans (they had my credit card), and so we took a cab to the Best Western.

It was too late to get dinner - plus, there did not seem to be any restaurants in the area that were open that late. We each headed to our rooms, where I was awoken at 3:00 A.M. by a very loud, weird sound.  I could not figure out what it was. I turned on the light, and finally realized it was my cell phone going off.  I answered, and listened to a message that said the flight we were booked on had also been canceled. I did not get all of the message, and was forced to fire up my laptop and check my e-mail, where I discovered about 10 messages from American Airlines (they evidently expect all passengers to keep in constant contact with their e-mail account), the latest of which said our new flight would be leaving at 8:45 A.M. instead of 10:45. Great.  I would have to get Susan up even earlier. However, I suddenly realized that we were booked to leave on Friday, not Thursday, and spent the rest of the evening switching the flight to Thursday night at 10:30 P.M. (we had to pick up Susan's two dogs Friday morning in Fort Collins). We spent the day in Dallas, caught the 10:30 P.M. flight, which was naturally delayed enough to arrive just after 1:30 A.M. in Denver, when RTD (the light rail train) stops running, and took a cab to the RTD parking lot to pick up the car for the drive to Fort Collins. And just the other day I received an e-mail from American Airlines wanting me to tell them how they did. Don't tempt me, guys, don't tempt me.