#177 He Endures Jazz Clubs

I hate when vacations are over. I always find myself thinking on and off throughout the following week something like this: "Last week at this time, I was here (fill in random place or excursion of my trip), doing this (fill in related action). Now I'm stuck back here (New Jersey, work, home), doing this (something not so fun) instead." 

It doesn't help that today was a miserably yucky, humid* and rainy day in New Jersey while last Thursday was an almost spring-like day in Chicago.

*It did reach 65 degrees, which was nice, but the exchange for warm weather from cold included stickiness and a spike in allergens.

Getting our car at the parking lot that protected it all night.**

**Confused? Read my last post for understanding.

For the morning, we planned to do a little laid-back shopping. I'm slowly learning my shopping preferences for when I'm traveling in new cities. Though I love shopping in general (chances are I would be content shopping even in a dollar store), when I am on vacation I prefer shopping in two kinds of places: 1. Outlet Malls 2. Independent Boutiques

We managed to squeeze in a quick trip to the Fashion Outlets of Chicago on Saturday before our flight.* From the massive amount of options, we were able to find plenty of boutiques to browse around, and even had time to stop into some luxury shops with ridiculously overpriced items that we may never in our lives be able to afford, nor want to afford.**

*Note: This outlet mall had the best parking lot I have every experienced in my life. Digital signs of how many spaces are left in each area, plus a red or green light over spots to show if they were filled or not.

**Second note: I’m totally lying. If someone offered me the $500 Armani jacket I was drooling over, I’d wear that puppy in a heart-beat. 

Armitage Avenue in Lincoln Park was our first shopping stop. It was lined with all sorts of novelty stores and boutiques, my favorite were the Green Goddess Boutique and Laudi Vidni.

Laudi Vidni is a custom leather handbag store and I was resisting all desire to splurge on one of their 21 originally styled handbags, custom made with fabric and finish of my choice. I took one of their cards to taunt myself with and so that my inner fashionista can have something to crave for the next time we visit Chicago.

Green Goddess Boutique had everything from clothes to antiqued furniture to funky jewelry. With prices ranging from fair to crazy expensive, I managed to find myself two pieces of jewelry that will now and forever always remind me of our trip. The only thing that dragged us away was the need for coffee, and of course, pastries. (Read about it at The Orange Strainer). Here’s a sneak peak of some of our goodies:

Guess you’ll have to read the post to see what was inside…

We spent the early evening shopping along Chicago’s Magnificent Mile, which was basically made just for me. One whole mile of high end, low end, and every kind of designer in between--be still my heart! 

I basically butchered this pretty simple name, each time choosing a different 'M' word to attach with ‘mile’. I wish I could say that they were all at least adjectives, but I'd be lying: Marvelous, Millennium, Maleficent...yeah I have memory commitment issues. 

Simplest way to spread love. Cold? Need a scarf? Take it.

Though its crime rate is surprisingly higher than NYC (at least according to neighborhoodscout.com), the streets of Chicago had a more open and cleaner feel (which I suppose translates to me as safe). Though Hubby swears Chicago had a distinct smell to him upon exiting the airport, I felt overall that this city is doing a pretty good job at dressing to impress.

Naturally, one cannot go to Chicago without trying pizza, and as a Jersey girl it wasn’t just a ‘Should do’ it was a ‘Must do’. We ate dinner at Giordano’s, and though I’ll be blogging about it eventually let me just say this; Chicago puts up a good fight against New Jersey.*

*Don’t worry, Jersey. We still win. You already knew that, I’m sure.

Jazz Showcase was a solid ten-minute walk from Giordano’s. Any longer and this girl might’ve needed a cab because as soon as the sun went down the spring tease we had been getting all morning instantly transformed back into the brisk chill of winter.

Reviews of Jazz Showcase said to get there early for good seats, so naturally we got there early….45 minutes early. In the NYC world, 45 minutes early usually means you will get a good seat, but you might not be the first one there. In Chicago, it means you are the first one there.* The trio was still practicing, so we waited in the lobby with not only some of the staff of Jazz Showcase, but also the founder, Joe Segal, who can be found in the same spot for every show, greeting his guests as they arrive.

*It was Thursday, so perhaps weekends are different.

The ten minute wait before they opened the doors was worth it. There are two different pricings for Jazz Showcase: $25 general seating, $35 reserved. We went for the $25 seating since most of the reviews said that there isn’t really a bad seat in the house, but that you should arrive on time to actually get a seat. They were right. We were escorted in and told we could sit anywhere that didn’t have a ‘reserved’ sign. Half a dozen tables at the front of the room had reserved signs, but the cozy, over-sized couch seating four in the middle of the room was sign-less.

As we settled into our couch I was certain of two things: 1.) I was glad I had purchased the $25 tickets; 2.) I was glad we got there early.

Wouldn’t it have stunk to have to sit on a boring ordinary chair for $10 more when there was an open opportunity to sit on a comfy couch?

Going to a Jazz club always spells love for me because Hubby has a deep, deep hate for the genre in general. This always makes me sad because in another life I would have been a jazz pianist, I’m sure.

Our entertainment for the night was pianist Chuchito Valdes accompanied by bass and drums. I’m always amazed at how these three instruments can blend to make such a smooth, enjoyable sound. As a violinist, I’m fascinated by bass players. Most of the time they aren’t the spotlight, but when they are they shine by covering the neck of their instrument with stretches of their fingers I didn’t know were humanely possible. Towards the end of the performance Valdes played a solo with such a combination talent and emotion that the room was frozen for just that moment in time, awestruck with the place he had taken us and the saddened stillness he was able to convey.

I think, just maybe, even Hubby enjoyed it.

#141 He Doesn't Need Me to Drive

Spoiled is quite the understatement when choosing words to describe the life my husband has created for me.  Over this entire summer, we have collected somewhere near sixty hours of driving time in our travels.  Do you want to know how much of that time I have been in the driver's seat?

Two hours.

T w o.

Again I say, spoiled.

What makes me really spoiled is when Hubby takes me somewhere we've already been....without complaint, with my younger brother, and with driving the entire way.

I suppose I should repay him by never making fun of his fantasy football obsession and watching every Sunday night game with him.

The latter might be pushing it.

But he so deserves it.

Third Stop: Jamestown, NY- I Love Lucy Museum

http://www.lucy-desi.com/attractions/lucy-desi-museum/

Though I Love Lucy was a show of the fifties, my brothers and I grew up alternating between recorded video tapes of Lucy, The Three Stooges, and The Marx Brothers.  

To us, it might as well have been 1950.

Not a one of our friends ever knew what we were talking about when we told them of the shows we watched, but it didn't matter.  It was something we shared and something that still today when we see it we think of home, we think of falling asleep in the living room, and we think of each other. 

This is of course part of the reason I simply couldn't refuse the chance to take Jonathan to the Lucy Desi Museum in Jamestown, NY.

After several hours on rainy highways, we needed nourishment immediately upon entering Jamestown.

With its Lucy memorabilia displayed on shelves, in frames, and on counter tops, Babalu Cafe fit the bill to start our day filled with Lucy.  Used to the lunch break time restraints of the workers in this tiny industrial town, our waitress made sure to inform Hubby that the burger he ordered would take twenty minutes to make.  I could appreciate recognizing that lunch rush diners are most often in a hurry.  

I also appreciated the prices.  No one wants to pay over ten dollars for a sandwich at lunch time, even if they are in Lucille Ball's hometown...that's just silly.  For the three of us, our total bill was under $25.  The only addition I would make to the Babalu Cafe is what Jonathan asked for the minute I told him where we were going for lunch: tables made out of drums.* 

I became a "Cast Member" on this visit.  For a $50 donation to the Lucy-Desi Center for Comedy a few of the perks I received were:

•  Membership card and certificate
• Unlimited free admissions for myself and one guest
• 15% discount on all gift shop purchases
• Lucy-Desi Center bumper sticker
• Lucy-Desi Center Member tote bag
• Laughs, Luck...and Lucy: How I Came to Create the Most Popular Sitcom of All Time written by Jess Oppenheimer

 My membership basically paid for itself because Jonathan and I spent ridiculous amounts in the gift shops.  Regardless, I had planned to become a member this time because I Love Lucy was such a part of my childhood that contributing to the lasting memory and preservation of all things I Love Lucy seemed the thing for me to do.

*Think of the first episode of the Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour: Lucy Takes a Cruise to Havana

There are two different entrances to the museum.  Visitors can either begin on the Lucy-Desi Museum side or the Desilu Studios side.  On both our visits, we started on the left at the Lucy-Desi Museum.  This section is a collection of memories and pieces of Lucy and Desi's childhoods, adult lives, and lives together as a married couple.  While there is some mention to I Love Lucy on this side of the museum, it is not the highlight.

Towards the end of the museum is a room playing a video about the Lucy Festival held every August.*  In the back of the room is a movie projector that was in Lucy and Desi's Beverly Hills home along with a sketch of the layout of their movie room.  Their setup was pretty high tech for the time this must have been used during.  They had a projection room that the projector was hidden in to block out the heat it produced and its noise.  The heat was taken up through chimney stacks that were connected to the top of each projector.  A screen came down from the ceiling when movies were to be viewed.

*We missed going to the Lucy Festival by only a few days!

At the end of the Lucy-Desi Museum you can sign their guest book.  Here is what Jonathan wrote:

Desilu Studios is dedicated to all things I Love Lucy.  I didn't notice any major additions from the time Hubby and I had gone alone.  More than likely, finding new pieces for the museum requires hunting down people who knew Lucy and are willing to part with something of hers or something that was used in her show. 

On this visit, I saw this: 

In case you can't read that tiny print, in 1981 the mayor of Los Angeles proclaimed October 15th to be "I Love Lucy Day" in honor of Lucille Ball and in recognition of the talents of the cast members of the greatest television show of all time.

I think I'll be participating in that holiday from now on.

At the end of Desilu Studios, you can recreate the famous "Vitameatavegamin" scene from the episode "Lucy Does a TV Commercial".  I forced Jonathan to do it.

The museum can be completed in under two hours, and there aren't any glamorous bells and whistles, but if you love I Love Lucy it will certainly find a special place in your heart from the minute you drive into the city of Jamestown.

#73 He Doesn't Disney

I have two stories to tell.

Story Number One:

When I was growing up, my family didn't vacation in the way that typical American families vacation.  We took one trip per year and it was always to Lancaster, PA.  Almost every time we went we stayed at Willow Valley, the most wonderful hotel ever.  (For a kid like me that meant it had an awesome pool).

By the way, do you say "Lanc-US-ter" or "Lan-CAS-ter"?

Lancaster, PA is about a two-hour car ride from our home.  We would leave on a Friday afternoon whenever my dad got done work and get home Sunday afternoon.  One time we broke the pattern and went to Washington, DC with family friends.

And that's about as extravagant as our vacations ever got.  

Story Number Two:

In the earlier years while I was growing up and vacationing in Lancaster, PA my parents gave life to the possibility that we might one day go to Disney World.  They said the money needed to be saved up first...because that's how my parents were.  They didn't take us on any trips or buy anything that they didn't have the money for.  Interesting concept, right?

I recall there being an old coffee can that my brother and I used to put our own savings in for the Disney trip.  Somehow, it ended up only ever having a few pennies and nickels at the bottom.

During this time, we got a Disney Vacation Planning video in the mail.  This was an approximately 30 minute video that covered the complete essence of Disney World from the parks to the wide variety of accommodations available.

Watching that video was my vacation to Disney World.  It was how I spelled fun on a school night.  I was amazed at how vast Disney was.  How it was literally a world of its own.

But then, we never went.  Story number one became my reality and as time went on my brothers and I stopped asking when we would be going to Disney World.  (Okay, we didn't really stop, but we stopped the frequency that we asked to the point that it had gone from a loud shout of asking to a small whisper).

Story Number Three
*Got you!  And you thought there would only be two...

In later years I'd learn that my mom had actually saved up the money for Disney World and that my father in the end opposed the idea.  They had gone themselves long before having kids and he didn't see the sense in the long drive, the large cost for only one trip, and a few other personal issues.  So instead, they used that money to pay for all our short trips to Lancaster over the years.

The me of story number one and two certainly wouldn't be able to understand the logic for why we never went.  Yet, the me of today does and is glad.  In never going to Disney World I've learned a lot.  First and foremost, I've learned a definition of vacation most unlike what others consider a vacation to be.  To me, a vacation is time off from work.  It doesn't require that I go somewhere far away and exotic.  It doesn't require that I spend loads of money.  It is a time of relaxation, anywhere.

I've learned that vacations are not deserved. If you need food on your table, or have massive debt, you probably shouldn't go on a vacation.  Working hard all year does not entitle you to anything except your paycheck.

I've learned to be grateful for the vacations I do get, no matter how short, no matter how close to home.

Lastly, nothing against Disney, but I have learned that I don't want to be defined in life by experiences that are the norm.  I want to be defined by experiences that are unique to me and have helped to sculpt me into the distinctive individual that I am.