A Day Like All Days

MONDAY

Woke up about 4 am to pee and returned to bed. Got up for the day just after seven and turned off my alarm set for 7:30. Around nine we headed downstairs for breakfast at the hotel bar. A group of maybe six or eight were seated at the adjacent table and I overheard a discussion concerning farming or gardening, one couple's location in western Washington, and dealing with US Customs and Immigration. After breakfast we sat briefly in the lobby to plot a course for the day.

Our first stop was the Foshay Building which is shaped like the Washington Monument. We entered through the lobby of the W hotel which currently occupies most of the building, where we were handed a key card and instructed to take elevator 4 to the top (30th) floor. We checked out the exhibits including a march commissioned from Sousa for the occasion of the building's grand opening and the story of Foshay's conviction for mail fraud and subsequent clemency from two Presidents. Next we ascended the short stairs to the observation deck and took pictures. On our way down, a couple of hotel guests entered the elevator at the 17th floor: an admittedly hot bear with a salt-and-pepper beard and his petite brunette wife. He remarked that we were "two big, burly men" and asked if we knew each other, to which Gary responded "for a long time." Meanwhile, his wife read my Dear Dorothy T-shirt and pointed it out to him, and they both chuckled. As we left the elevator, I noticed the back of his T-shirt read "boys can dance too", which explains the curious graphic on the front. We returned the key to the front desk, where Gary overheard the wife telling the desk clerk they needed to extend their stay at least one night to avoid having to go back to Texas during tropical storm Beryl.

Exiting the lobby, we turned right to continue north on Marquette Avenue to the Nicollet Mall station. Gary noticed the Metro Transit service center as we were about to pass it, so we entered and he bought us fare cards loaded with 7-day passes. That settled, we made our way to the station and boarded a southbound train to the Mall of America. We stopped by the restroom, then sat in the Huntington Bank Rotunda to get our bearings and pick a place for lunch. Gary chose Ichiddo Ramen, in the third-floor food court. On our way there we walked through the Nickelodeon Universe theme park. Both there and throughout the mall we spotted many daddy bears with wives and children. When we reached the restaurant, Gary ordered regular beef ramen, egg rolls, and a Mountain Dew, while I ordered spicy miso ramen with pork belly, gyoza, and watermelon coconut milk with Boba. After we'd finished lunch, there was a conga line of young people past our table. We hit the Walgreens in the mall, then took the elevator down to get the train. There were many families with strollers wanting to use the elevator, including a daddy-pup with ink on both arms. I stopped by the restroom and overheard a lady on the janitor's radio who sounded like the teacher in Peanuts TV specials (whose voice was actually a muted trombone).

We boarded the train downtown, headed for the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. The train was nearly empty. We transferred to the 6 bus at Hennepin Station and arrived at the Sculpture Garden, where we were greeted by 1) a Liuna (union) picket line against the parks department and 2) a torrential downpour. We took refuge in the bus shelter and plotted a course to return home. We caught the next 4L bus in the same direction after the rain slacked off, and rode three stops. We crossed the street and checked the shelter but it had a different route from the one we wanted to take. I double-checked on Google Maps and found the correct stop across the street, diagonally opposite where we left the previous bus. When the 17W bus arrived, we took the seats immediately in front of a dude who remarked to his lady companion: first, "Big guy!" as Gary was seated, then, "Two big guys!" as I joined him. He claimed he used to be a big guy himself, but lost weight chasing young females (as best I can paraphrase). A couple stops later, this couple left and a cute otter-pup with a trim beard passed by to take the seat they'd vacated (sitting directly behind Gary). A big and tall young dude in a rose-colored shirt ran through the rain (which had picked up again) to catch the bus at one stop, but at the next stop, a person in a streamlined wheelchair boarded and big bear passed me on the way to a seat behind otter-pup.

By the time we reached our hotel, the rain was still coming down, but at a tolerable pace. We returned to the room to recharge our phones and ourselves, arriving about 3:30. We actually managed to nap for an hour and change before heading downstairs to meet Dan for dinner at Hell's Kitchen.

We bundled into Dan's car and rode the few blocks to the restaurant, where Dan found Doris Day parking across the street. We had a nice meal and a great time catching up. I had a double smash burger with a spicy jelly sauce and chips and queso instead of fries, while Gary and Dan had mac and cheese - Gary with shrimp and Dan with chicken. I tried the local cider on tap, called Loon Juice, which Dan recommended and had a glass of as well. Gary passed on dessert, while Dan and I each had a scoop of their specialty ice cream.

We returned to the hotel and chilled in the room for the evening. We went to bed early, around 11 pm.

SATURDAY

Woke up at 4:45 to finish packing and prepare for the trip. I called for a Lyft about 6:30 and we rode with a fellow named Moses in his Jesusmobile (actually a Nissan Rogue, but he had the radio set to a Christian music station). Still, he was pleasant and helpful so I gave him a $5 tip. We boarded the 512 at Everett Station, where the ORCA reader on the bus was out of service. Aboard the bus I showed Gary an article about bear rapper Chris Conde, who had a video clip (of himself performing in Austria wearing little more than a harness and jockstrap) go viral after a disgusted conservative lady posted it to Twitter. NFLer Antonio Brown retweeted it claiming the performer was Jason Kelce, who responded favorably. I was going to show Gary in the car, but the driver's choice of music indicated it would be inappropriate to discuss for him to overhear. We transferred to the train at Northgate Station, where security was escorting a lady from the train for not wearing shoes. At ID/Chinatown Station, a cute young dude in a snap-brim hat with a well-groomed beard managed to hang up his bicycle with one hand while balancing a coffee and pastry in the other. On arrival at Sea-Tac Station, it was clear and sunny and Mt. Rainier was visible from the platform. The dude in the snap-brim hat and his bike shared the elevator to the mezzanine with us.

Once we reached the airport proper, there was a horrible queue for the baggage drop, but it was moving quickly. Before we joined the queue, Gary noticed our flight was delayed by just over half an hour, so there was no need to rush. I got our bag tags printed, but as it turned out, they fell into the back of the machine instead of coming out of the slot as they were supposed to. The agent was able to retrieve them via the side panel door. We chatted with the family ahead of us dropping off bags, who were headed to Boston. The mother at first thought we were marine biologists because Gary told her we were going to a "coral festival" 😊. When he amended it to "chorus", she told us about a relative who got a solo performance at their Lutheran church in Phinney Ridge. We used the bathroom by checkpoint 5, but ended up bypassing the choke point behind checkpoint 4 and returned to the ticket counter corridor to reach checkpoint 3. We took advantage of the premium line for security and were through in a few minutes. After deciding on the Mocha Cafe over the upstairs bar for breakfast, Gary ordered a hot ham sandwich on an English muffin and grabbed an orange juice, while I grabbed a chicken avocado sandwich on a bagel and ordered an extra large latte with two shots of espresso. There was a bit of confusion when a rather cute dude also named Mike was served my latte instead of the iced latte he'd ordered, but we figured it out quickly. After breakfast we walked to our gate, but a previous flight to Cleveland was delayed boarding so we got settled into our seats a few gates away. A few minutes before we were to board, we walked over to our gate and stood by until we were called.

We left the gate on time according to the revised departure schedule and were airborne less than 15 minutes later. We took off into the north and fairly quickly made the right turn toward the mountains to the east. Our flight attendant, Simon, wore his (possibly prematurely) salt-and-pepper hair in a tight bun, and a tropical-print shirt with an open collar. In between drinks service, I got up to use the restroom and had a surprisingly long pee. Just after that, we were served our drinks (ginger ale), and the traditional ceremony surrounding the pilots' relief break (one flight attendant blocks the aisle while another takes the pilot's place in the cockpit to unlock the door when they're finished) ensued. The first pilot was a big young bear, the second about as tall but leaner. Shortly after that, we were served lunch: Gary had the usual fruit and cheese plate, while I opted for the Tillamook cheeseburger. After lunch I started to nod off until Gary got up to use the bathroom.

On landing, we waited a while for our checked bags, then navigated to the light rail station via a tram and purchased day passes. We just missed a train but the next one arrived slightly early. The automatic announcement system makes the same two-tone "Born Free" sound as Seattle's newer trains. We passed a sign for Minnesota route 5 which looked like an I-5 sign but for its shape (square) and the top stripe being closer to gold than red. As we approached downtown, our minister friend Dan contacted me on Facebook Messenger to save the date for Monday evening to meet up before Festival. When we arrived at Nicollet Mall station, my internal compass got turned around 180° and I mistakenly thought the section of Nicollet Mall that was closed for the Taste of Minnesota was in the direction we needed to go (south). Regardless, there were no buses traveling that direction, so we walked the eight (and a half) blocks south to our hotel, the Hyatt Regency.

We checked in quickly and stood in a line for the elevators with some interestingly dressed people who were here for the Convergence sci-fi and fantasy convention (which started on the Fourth and concludes tomorrow). We got into the room, unpacked, and made immediate plans to shop at Target for distilled water and snacks, then scare up dinner on the way back to the hotel. On the way down to the lobby, we shared an elevator with several people portraying costumed characters (cosplayers). Outside the hotel, we had to dodge more cosplayers on the sidewalk. After grocery shopping was done, we chose an Irish pub called The Local. I had corned beef and cabbage with a couple of pints of Strongbow cider; Gary had a berry, brie, and spinach salad with shrimp added, washed down with ginger ale.

After dinner, we investigated the GALA Festival banners along Nicollet Mall and 12th Street. Right beside the Westminster Presbyterian Church across the street from the hotel was the banner for Seattle Men's Chorus, while the banner for the Rochester Gay Men's Chorus was directly in front of the hotel. I got some pictures and we returned to the room, passing more cosplayers in the lobby. I couldn't wait to take off my support hose and soaking wet polo shirt. I posted the banner pictures to Facebook, first to my timeline and then to Toto's Basket, and finished up my journal while we watched news on TV. After the news was over, we did our evening rituals and got to bed around 11:30.

SUNDAY
I got up to pee at five, after catching myself whimpering over a dream in which I had a bee in my eye. On returning to bed, I was awakened by Gary laughing out loud from a dream, which was a pleasant change. I woke up for the day just before the alarm was to go off, around twenty to eight. Because the weather was expected to be sunny and warm, I decided to forgo the leather jacket.

We left the hotel around nine for breakfast at Eggslut in the Grand Central Market, in the block with the Precinct and opposite Angels Flight. I had a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich with iced coffee and Gary had a sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich with orange juice. A cute young bear called out orders and delivered the food. The sandwiches were delicious but messy, as the eggs were cooked a little runny for flavor. While we were eating, a child ran into a chair at the adjacent table. It sounded nasty, but the child appeared more shaken than injured.

We left the market through the Hill Street entrance, sat briefly to get our bearings, then caught the 28 bus to the Hall of Justice (cue the Ted Knight voice-over from SuperFriends). We got pictures from the Federal Courthouse across the street, then took a break in Grand Park opposite City Hall. A dude in a black suit gave a sermon from the top of the City Hall steps. A mother and father with a little girl passed by; the girl was doing somersaults. A weathered but nicely dressed dude approached us with his phone, made some approving remarks about us being tourists, and took our picture. We waited there until about 10:30, then ascended the stairs to Hill Street and the Civic Center/ Grand Park Station on the B and D lines. At the top of the stairs, we overheard a dude sitting off to the side, who loudly and repeatedly invited the person he was talking with on his phone to suck his dick.

We caught the subway one stop to Union Station for the train to Anaheim for the Angels game. We had to stop short of the station for another train to clear. When we arrived, we hit the bathroom, purchased tickets for the Angels Express, and sat in the waiting room until it was time to board the train. There weren't many people onboard, and unlike Friday we made it all the way to Anaheim without incident. We traversed the parking lot from the train station, navigating around a few tailgate parties and a bunch of kids in Red Sox uniforms playing... football. (?)

We entered the stadium by the right field gate closest to the station and ascended to the top of the ramp to get pictures. The ramp reminded me of Riverfront Stadium and Gary of Shea Stadium. As it happened, despite the bleachers at the top of the ramp being labeled as 200-level seats, we couldn't get to our seats on that level and returned to the terrace level where our seats actually were. We were seated behind a family of five: a young couple with a small boy and presumably the grandparents. Dad was a hot cub and Grandpa (or perhaps Dad's big brother) was simply huge. They wore Angels gear, but there was a huge contingent of Red Sox fans in our section (behind the Sox' dugout) including not one but two big bears in Ortiz 34 jerseys, and a couple dudes behind us shouting (tongue in cheek) "Let's Go Oakland!" Angels pitcher Chase Silseth gave up three solo home runs in the third inning, but after a conference at the mound the manager kept him in. Eventually, though, the Sox scored again in the top of the 6th, which prompted a pitching change (for Jose Suarez, who appears to be a big ol' bear). It didn't help, as almost the next at-bat (Reese McGuire) resulted in a 3-run homer. In the top of the 8th, the Sox had a triple followed by a sacrifice RBI. Mike Trout answered with a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth to nix the shutout. Between innings we stopped by the restroom and shopped for souvenirs at the team store. We'd intended to wait on the concourse, but the ninth inning ran a bit longer than expected so we returned to our section. In the top of the ninth, Boston scored four more runs on a combination of walks and base hits. This prompted two more pitching changes after the second out, with the closing pitcher being first baseman Miguel Sanó. The bottom of the ninth seemed more an effort to save face than a possibility of a win, but the Angels managed a run from third on a wild pitch for a final score of 12-2. The scoreboard was taken down immediately after the last out (perhaps due to embarrassment?) so I took a snapshot of the Bally Sports coverage on the overhead TV instead.

We made our way to the train with about 15 minutes to spare. It was a little complicated because there was no designated pedestrian path across the parking lot, but we managed. The train got underway about 4:30. We parked on track 15 which has no ramp to the station and has a structure blocking the exit from the last two cars of the train, so we had to cross into the next car, exit the train, and walk all the way around the length of the train to reach the station. Fortunately, this also placed us steps away from bus bay 5, where we caught the 40 bus to the hotel.

We arrived about six to recharge phones and plan for dinner, agreeing to leave about seven for Kura, a belt sushi place two blocks east. In the meantime, I called Colleen and let her know how the trip was going, and we wrapped up the conversation so she could put grandson Milo to bed and we could get to dinner. When we got to the restaurant, we were told it would be an hour wait, so we walked around the corner of a little pedestrian mall to Ramen Yamadaya, which featured ramen but also had a selection of sushi. Gary had the chicken ramen, while I had the house specialty and we split a California roll and had strawberry lemonade. There were murals with anime characters and scenes from Japan on the wall behind Gary. On the way back, Gary took a picture of another pedestrian passage with a direct line of vision toward City Hall. At the other end of the passage, named for astronaut Ellison Onizuka, there was a model of the Space Shuttle which neither of us noticed until Gary examined the picture.

We returned to the room about eight, surfed the net and watched hockey on ESPN. Our checked bags were packed by nine and we were in bed by 9:30, with an alarm set for 2:30 am.

FRIDAY
I woke up about 6 am to pee, then got up with the alarm at seven. We had breakfast in the hotel restaurant just after eight. I had coffee and an omelet with a side of bacon, while Gary had an Arnold Palmer and French toast. The young dude seated to Gary's right reminded me of Rene from the Chorus. After breakfast we sat in the lobby and plotted the rest of the day: a visit to the City Hall observation deck, followed by the Academy Awards museum.

We walked the short distance to City Hall and inquired at the security checkpoint whether the observation deck was open, but it was closed for the day. I got some pictures from City Hall Park, then we walked to the Civic Center Station and caught a Purple Line (D) train to the end of the line at Wilshire and Western. At one stop, a dude stood indecisively in the doorway for several seconds before deciding not to board the train after all. I told Gary, "What does he think he is, a cat?" I stopped to tie my shoe at the station plaza, then we skipped the crowded 720 express bus to board the 20 local bus which followed, continuing down Wilshire. The stop at Ogden closest to the museum was closed for construction, so we left the bus at the next stop and backtracked to the plaza of the LA County Museum of Art (LACMA), where we got pictures of the Urban Light exhibit. Since we had about half an hour to wait before entering the Oscar museum, I bought us coffee from an outdoor bar and we sat at a table under a canopy near the LACMA entrance. We approached the door of the Academy Museum on Wilshire, and the nice-looking dude guarding the doors directed us around the Fairfax side of the building to the plaza where the actual entrance was. We picked up wristbands at the front desk and ascended the escalators to the fifth floor, where a rooftop pavilion was attached to the museum proper by the Barbra Streisand Bridge. After a few moments there, we descended to the fourth floor and took in an exhibit on John Waters: Pope of Trash which occupied almost the entire floor. From that exhibit we briefly checked out a video exhibit on independent film that we were warned might be disturbing (and after a few minutes decided not to stay to find out), then skipped the third floor which was mostly closed for construction of new exhibits, and finished up our visit on the second floor with an exhibit featuring "The Godfather" among other films. We returned to the lobby, decided to skip the café for lunch, and purchased a fridge magnet at the gift shop before exiting onto Wilshire.

We walked to The Counter, an upscale burger joint attached to the SAG-AFTRA building, and were seated on the patio. Gary had a chicken Caesar salad and I had a Sonoma Bowl (salad greens with quinoa, pesto, a burger patty and a round of goat cheese) and a cup of chili on the side; we both had blueberry-pomegranate lemonade. We spotted three or four hot bears and a leggy lady in black hotpants, and our waiter was nice-looking as well. A party of older folks exited the restaurant, with one dude in a wheelchair being pushed at ludicrous speed by a younger dude who I presume is his son. It reminded me of having to tell Dad to put the electric scooter on turtle as we returned from the end of Coupeville pier.

We left the restaurant and crossed the street to catch the 20 bus back to the hotel. We were seated in the back corner of the bus, either side of a black lady of a certain age (as she later informed us, 52 😊) who at first kept to herself, but opened up as a crowd of high-school students boarded a few blocks further along. When the kids left to transfer to the train at Wilshire and Western, Gary and I swapped seats, placing me in the center of the back bench beside the lady and Gary in front of her, and she began engaging us in a conversation I would say was entertaining even with its serious or preachy (but well-intentioned) moments. I suspect the oversized can of Modelo Negro beer she snuck sips from as we went helped. Along the way I spotted a hot bear buttoning up his delivery truck and squeezing between it and the bus to be on his way, and a lady with a black dog in a golden jacket with wings. We arrived at 6th and Broadway, where the street was rife with theaters and jewelry stores, to change buses.

We arrived back at our room about 3:30 and took about 45 minutes to recharge, both our phones and ourselves. In the elevator down to the lobby, an Asian lady inquired what the WHL on my Silvertips cap meant. I answered and she guessed (incorrectly) what a Silvertip is so I told her it's a grizzly bear. We caught the 40 back to Union Station, and this time we exited on the west side of the station rather than waiting for the bus to circle around to the transit center. As we left the bus I spotted a Kraken fan in a Tanev sweater walking a bit ahead of us. We bought tickets and hurried to board the train to Anaheim, which was composed of the same Bombardier cars used on the Sounder. As we left Union Station, it was announced that the tracks were closed beyond Anaheim because of what the announcement euphemistically referred to as a "trespasser strike": in plain language, someone got run over by a train. ☹️ We moved slowly all the way to Anaheim, where our train was held at the back of the extended platform behind the previous train.

Since we'd reached our destination, we left the train and made our way through the ARTIC intermodal station to the Honda Center. I beeped in the metal detector but the wand found nothing; I suspect the large assortment of zippers on my leather jacket plus my suspenders were to blame. We didn't see an escalator, only an elevator and stairs, so I strongly suggested we take the elevator up to the fourth level where our seats were. Before the game started, I got Gary a lemonade and myself a horchata from the Mexican place around the corner from our seats. The first period was relatively uneventful, with the exception of a nearly two-minute delayed penalty and the first goal, by the Kraken's Shane Wright with just shy of four minutes left in the period. During the first intermission, Gary went around the concourse in search of a team store, returning to his seat about two and a half minutes into the second period immediately after a second goal by Shane Wright. I agreed with Gary that should Shane score another one, we're not throwing our hats from up here. Gary was amused when they played a segment of "My Own Worst Enemy" by Lit during a break in play, and a good chunk of the crowd kept on singing after play resumed (myself included). The next goal was scored by the Kraken's Matty Beniers with 8:20 left in the second, followed in quick succession by a fight set off by a serious trip by Radko Gudas on Tanev that sent Turbo flying, and a cross-check against Shane Wright by another Duck for a 5 on 3 which wasn't capitalized on. A few minutes before second intermission, Gary got up to get food and I followed him because I needed to pee. A Kraken fan noticed my hat and greeted me with "Go Tips!" Gary was surprised I was there so he returned to his seat to watch our stuff. At the same time, the Ducks scored their first goal. When I was done, it was the end of the second period and Gary suggested I go buy an order of chicken tenders and fries to split, as well as drinks (I got two Diet Cokes). I ordered from the kiosk and we were done eating by the time the third period started. The closing minutes of the game were interesting even though no further points were scored. First, the Ducks pulled the goalie with almost three minutes left, then there was a flurry of penalties (two for Anaheim and one for Seattle) with two and a half minutes left, and finally a loud Kraken fan (quite likely the same dude who'd given me the "Go Tips!" earlier) called coach Hakstol a coward for not putting Shane Wright back in to possibly complete his hat trick. The game concluded with a Kraken win, 3-1.

Afterwards we made our way to the ARTIC to catch the Flix bus back to Los Angeles. Gary wasn't sure what bay we should wait at, so he handed me the ticket and I found the small print directing us to Bay 10. When we arrived, the schedule said the bus would be five minutes late, then ten, before the schedule program gave up. The bus tracker remained accurate, though, and showed the bus stalled in traffic west of the Honda Center for ten minutes at a stretch. It finally arrived about 40 minutes late. On the way, Gary spotted a billboard for a personal injury lawyer that read simply: "WHO HURT YOU?" The trip was otherwise uneventful aside from the fellow behind me asking me to turn off my bright phone so he could sleep, and a stop out behind a casino seemingly in the middle of nowhere, which turned out to be a driver change.

When we arrived across from Union Station, some dude was asking everyone if they needed a taxi as we exited the bus. Gary looked up the bus ride back to the hotel and pointed to some bus shelters diagonally opposite the FlixBus terminal. When we arrived there, we were greeted by a light-brown pit mix dog who was having a marvelous time fetching a stick. The 70 bus arrived about ten minutes later than expected, but we soon realized that was because we were headed the wrong direction on Cesar Chavez St. We left the bus across the street from a wildly decorated shop called Zamora Bros., and I called for a Lyft from there to the hotel. We were picked up by a nice dude named Kevin in a gray Prius, and I appreciated him playing Whitesnake. We returned to the room around one, prepared for bed, and finally got to sleep about quarter to two.

I woke up from a disturbing dream this morning. It appeared to take place in the sanctuary of a modern church where I was attending a group therapy session. Prior to the start of the session, in the vestibule, two new members joined us: a middle-aged woman who I'll call Karen, and a younger dude with stringy beach-blond hair who I'll call Jake. (I didn't know their names during the dream.) While Karen was monopolizing the therapist's time, Jake was wandering around oblivious to what was going on. At one point I noticed Jake's absence and looked up at a monitor, which showed the smoking ruin of a distant part of the church campus where a bomb had gone off, unbeknownst to anyone else present. After the session most of us stayed for the regular church service, which was interrupted by a squad of police officers who had come to arrest Jake for the bombing. I was shocked by the way the officers waved weapons around at innocent actions like holding up a hymnal to sing. After I woke up, I realized I was actually quite frightened, and it occurred to me that I had never actually experienced anything like that before, so where did *that* come from?

FRIDAY

I woke up with the alarm at 7:30, then woke Gary at five after eight when I was done in the bathroom. We headed downstairs for breakfast about 8:30 and returned to the room about 9:30, only to find that housekeeping was busy with the adjacent rooms. Gary decided to bring his book to read and I dressed for the pool. I got my first set of laps in by ten and my second set by 10:45. We returned to the room around eleven, after I woke Gary from a nap on the sofa at poolside. We watched news, fooled around, and napped until 1:30, leaving the room for the day just after two.

I drove to the Banks garage and parked near the block of eateries adjacent to the ballpark. We chose the Holy Grail Tavern & Grille immediately opposite the Reds Hall of Fame and Museum. I had a Reuben sandwich with Tater Tots, and Gary had a chicken Caesar wrap with chips. After lunch we crossed the street to the museum, which featured an exhibit on women in baseball, as players, managers, team owners, and reporters. We saw a documentary film produced by Western Michigan University with interviews of several women who had played in the All-American Girls' Baseball League as featured in "A League of Their Own". The interviewees reminded me of Gary Jones' sister Joyce who had played softball in her younger years. After that we saw a couple more displays on the first floor, then took an elevator to the third floor where the exhibits continued. About the middle of the third floor was a broadcast booth simulation where we recorded a bit of scripted commentary which was emailed to me afterwards. It turned out nice. From there we entered the Hall of Fame proper, where I observed that Ken Griffey, Jr. had a plaque adjacent to Pete Rose's. The final room displayed the Reds' five World Series championship trophies. We descended the elevator to the team store with a couple minutes to spare, then purchased refrigerator magnets and a yearbook before exiting the store on the dot of five.

From there, after stashing our purchases in the car, we took the Cincinnati Bell Connector streetcar to the curiously-named Hanke Exchange Station at Main and 12th (named for the historic building across Main). We walked past Goodfellas' Pizzeria en route to the restaurant James had recommended for dinner, Razzo. Unfortunately it was a small place and was already full, and since we didn't have a reservation we didn't know how long the wait would be. At least we got to interact with the hot young cub who was hosting, named Zach. On the way back we decided on Goodfellas' for dinner. The building is a carefully restored space with the baking and counter on the ground floor and a bourbon bar on the upper two stories (a full floor with a ridiculously high ceiling and a loft over part of the floor). Gary had a slice each of cheese and pepperoni pizza, while I had the Hawaiian and broccoli-artichoke slices. We took our food upstairs to the bar area. There was a family at the next table with an adorable baby and a hot cubby dad.

After dinner we walked a couple blocks west to catch the streetcar on the returning side of the loop to save time. The stop was in the median of Central Parkway opposite Kroger headquarters. The Parkway was built over the old Miami and Erie Canal bed, which allowed for subway tunnels to be constructed beneath. The canal, in its day, became known as "the Rhine" by the mostly German immigrants who settled in Cincinnati, which led to the neighborhood north of the Parkway being called Over-the-Rhine to this day. This tradition is also reflected in the name of the model Kroger store across from headquarters: Kroger on the Rhine.

We boarded the streetcar and rode all the way back to the Banks, then walked past the ballpark to the arena, arriving just after 6:30 so the doors were already open. We passed the merchandise booth on the way in, figuring we'd buy what we wanted later. We took our seats and Gary observed there were too many bears present. Two of note were the simply huge dude who passed us in the aisle and the fellow with the Skyline Chili mascot jersey, (the Coneys) with Twister's number F5 on the back. Two young and kind of cute dudes in Cyclones replica jerseys sat directly in front of us. The National Anthem was played by the Indian Hill High School orchestra, who stood by in the section immediately above ours (the upper bowl was otherwise closed and tarped off) so we all turned around to face both the flag and the orchestra. As the players were introduced, Gary and I thought the name Zack Andrusiak sounded familiar, so I looked up his career record and found he'd completed his WHL career with the Everett Silvertips after a short stint with Tri-City and a much longer one with the Seattle Thunderbirds. The game got off to a decent start with an early goal by the Cyclones, but that was quickly answered by two goals by Iowa. The lead kept swinging back and forth. At the first intermission I went in search of Shutout the Hate T-shirts and a puck for Gary, plus a drink for me. At the second intermission, after Chuck a Puck, I got my free refill. Early in the third period, the officials broke up an incipient fight, and the long-haired, thick-bearded dude across the aisle yelled, "They're stopping the hate!" as though that was a disappointment. 😊 At the end of regulation the score was tied at 4 so there was a seven-minute overtime period. About two minutes in, the Cyclones scored a goal to win 5-4.

We left to return to the hotel about 10:30 and I half-watched the 11 PM news with Gary and completed my journal for the day about 12:30, then prepared for bed.

WEDNESDAY

I woke up about 5:30 to pee, then went back to sleep until my 7:15 alarm. I let Gary sleep in while I showered and dressed, then woke him about eight. We went downstairs about quarter after. There was a hot bear seated at the back of the breakfast room who reminded me of Brian Bolt from SML. Gary also had a reminder for me: "No." 😊

After breakfast we sat in the lobby surfing the net and half-watching the TV, and around quarter to ten I suggested we return to the room and prepare to work out. Gary went downstairs first as I wanted to finish my coffee. While he was on the elliptical machine, I got in my first set of ten laps in the pool. We sat poolside for a few minutes, and I plotted a course for a park I'd visited a few times in my high-school years, then returned to the pool for another ten laps. After a brief break to dry off, we returned to the room to get dressed for outside... and Gary nodded off, so I set an alarm for 12:45 PM and napped myself.

Colleen called me around 12:30 to pick a restaurant for dinner - Ford's Garage in Norwood - and I needed to use the bathroom anyway, so I shut off the alarm and plotted an alternate course for the neighborhood park where I grew up. I woke Gary and asked him if he wanted pizza or bar food for lunch. He chose pizza, so I plotted a course for LaRosa's flagship pizzeria on Boudinot Avenue in Western Hills, where I'd worked delivery in college. We drove across town and arrived there around 1:30. I was used to parking in the lot north of the restaurant, but soon discovered that dine-in customers were intended to park on the other end of the building, so I walked back to the lot to move the car and met Gary at the door. He seemed a bit taken aback when I mentioned I used to work there. We were seated at a table by the window, and ordered hoagies rather than pizza since we knew dinner would be big and early. As we were eating, a simply huge young bear with thick, dark hair and beard was seated in a nearby booth without any difficulty, so I suppose we need not have worried about the fit.

After lunch, I drove us to the new Greenwell Road entrance to Delhi Park, where a new (to me) attraction called Floral Paradise Gardens had been constructed on the site of an old greenhouse adjacent to the park proper. We left the car there (the driveway doesn't connect with the rest of the park) and followed the walking trails across the park to Delhi Park Lake (also new to me, as I remembered it as a pay lake for fishing with a now-demolished tavern on site). We sat on a bench and watched a flock of geese, possibly the largest I'd ever seen close up and personal, swim to the shore of the lake and march off into the adjacent fields to forage, accompanied by a few resident ducks. A few minutes later, the ducks apparently realized they were outnumbered, as they began taking flight in twos and threes to return to the lake. As we made our way back to Floral Paradise Gardens, Gary had to stop and tie his shoes, and I got an email notification on my phone. It was the Polyclinic with my prostate biopsy results: 11 of 14 samples were benign and the remaining 3 were malignant, but not invasive. We realized we had about half an hour before we needed to leave for the restaurant, so we finished climbing the hill and found another bench with a nice view of the park proper. There I shared the news with Gary. I'm not going to dwell on this because I won't be able to evaluate treatment options until I see the urologist in two weeks.

Around 4:20 (whoa, *dude!*) we got in the car and headed to the restaurant for dinner. Since we were already on Greenwell Road, I drove past my childhood home and was amused to see a simply huge camping trailer parked in the driveway. When I made the left turn on Mt. Alverno Road, I noticed the road had been recently repaved and curbs installed. There was also construction on Fairbanks Avenue at lower Delhi Pike. I also noticed the absence of the steel structure at the junction of River Road and the Sixth Street Expressway, the Waldvogel Viaduct, which had been replaced by a concrete structure with pylons painted a deep red. Traffic on Fort Washington Way was backed up in the one lane I had to cross to get from US 50 on the left to I-71 on the right, but I managed.

We actually arrived early at the restaurant and waited for Colleen and Sheila on a bench constructed from a tailgate of a Ford pickup truck and some hubcaps. Overhead, a series of Model T replica car bodies traveled around the room on an overhead chain. When they arrived, we were seated at a high table at the back. I noticed the waiters were all nice-looking dudes with thick, dark beards and wearing mechanics' uniforms. Gary ordered the shrimp mac and cheese, Colleen and Sheila ordered the meatloaf, and I had the pulled pork mac and cheese. I shared the test results with Colleen and Sheila and the conversation soon moved to more pleasant topics. Gary finally got to tell them the story of traveling without his driver's license.

After dinner we met up again at Colleen's for coffee and more conversation. I showed Sheila the actual chart and she was especially relieved to see an absence of invasion in the results, which means it was caught early. Kate was there trying to wrangle children and plan a graduation trip for Alyssa and her in December. They'd narrowed it down to New Orleans vs. Asheville, NC. Consensus seems to be that Asheville will be safer, but colder. Asheville is also close to Saluda, the mountain town where our cousin Corinne lives.

Around 9:30, Sheila indicated she needed to get home, and Gary suggested that we should go as well, so we offered her a ride home since she'd ridden with Colleen to the restaurant. From there we returned to the hotel, with a stop at the Shell station on the corner for beverages and snacks.

When we arrived in the room, we found the towels had been changed and the trash disposed of. I went to get ice, and on the way noticed a tall young ginger dude in shorts struggling to open his room door with his hands full of bagged snacks (🎶 He got legs... 🎶), and an equally tall dude with a thick, dark, and curly beard. We watched the World Series game, which the Rangers won 5-0 to take the Series four games to one, and followed the post-game celebration on the web and then on TV. I got to bed at 12:30 and listened to the tail end of the World Series coverage until I fell asleep.

MONDAY

I woke up about 4:30 AM to pee, then got up with the alarm at 7:30. I took care of the one critical issue from work I'd been expecting, then showered and dressed. Gary was awake and surfing the net in bed when I was done in the bathroom around 8:30, so I suggested he get dressed for breakfast and shower later.

At breakfast I noticed a lady in brightly colored clothing and a tall dude on crutches. After breakfast we sat briefly in the lobby watching TV, then returned to the room about 9:30. Since the room hadn't been serviced, I decided to hit the pool and Gary took a walk on the elliptical machine. I did a set of five laps and followed up with another set of ten; Gary got in a mile in 16 minutes. After my second set of laps, Gary joined me at poolside and nodded off in the lounge chair. I texted Colleen to see how she was feeling; she said she was much better, and was on her way back to Matt's house where she was babysitting Milo. I got dressed and woke Gary to return to the room briefly before lunch.

I changed out of my swimming trunks, then we grabbed jackets and headed to Frisch's Big Boy for lunch. Gary had a club sandwich platter with coleslaw and cottage cheese; I had a Super Big Boy burger with the soup and salad bar. Before the burger arrived I had a bowl of bean soup, and after finishing the burger I had a salad and fruit. The waitress liked my Dear Dorothy T-shirt. After lunch, we went shopping at Walgreens at Reading and Glendale-Milford Roads, southeast of the hotel, as this was closer than the usual Walgreens we shopped at.

We returned to the room to find it hadn't been serviced (as it happened, it would not be serviced all day), so we hung out in the lobby and I drank several cups of coffee from the urns by the front desk. I went to use the bathroom in the lobby and as I was washing my hands, my phone rang. It was Sheila, making plans for the evening. We chatted briefly, and she mentioned a German restaurant in Cleves, Kreimer's Bier Haus, which Colleen had recommended. We agreed to meet there at 5:30, and returned to the room about 3:30 having given up on getting it serviced. I napped while Gary watched the replay of Sunday Night Football. At 4:40 my alarm went off, and I went to the bathroom and noticed there was almost no toilet paper left, and no hand soap. On our way out the door for dinner, I told the fellow at the front desk we needed both items and gave him the room number.

We drove to the restaurant, but were stopped just short due to what we later learned was a car crash on the shoulder of the road right in front of the place. A fire truck and command car which had been blocking the other side of the road left the scene, and as I reached the driveway I signaled the turn and the officer directing traffic waved me into the lot. I texted Sheila to let her know we'd arrived and the restaurant was open despite the wreck. We went inside and sat on a bench waiting for Colleen and Sheila to arrive. We were seated quickly and ordered soon after. Gary had chicken in a sweet sauce, and I had the special: two huge, bone-in pork chops and broccoli in beer cheese sauce. We chatted about Colleen and Sheila's trip to Ireland in September, our trip so far, and other topics. We decided to meet again after dinner at Sheila's house for coffee. On the way out, I spotted a sign that read "It's all fun and games until someone loses a weiner!" with a cartoon of stick figures roasting weiners over a fire. Across the driveway, a cat sat under the bumper of a pickup truck and meowed.

Around 7:30, we arrived at Sheila's before Colleen (who had driven Sheila to the restaurant), so I rang the doorbell and Len let us in just as Colleen arrived. So he went to open the garage door which they usually use to enter the house. This confused Colleen and Sheila, because the car we were driving leaves its lights on for about half a minute after the doors are closed and the key removed; so there was an empty car with lights going and an unseen hand opening the garage door, with the two of us nowhere to be seen. We sat around the kitchen table for a couple hours conversing, and left at ten. Google Maps routed us over the Cross County Highway to I-75 instead of over 275.

We arrived in the room and noticed the toilet paper and soap hadn't been replenished, so I filled the ice bucket and went downstairs to ask for the needed supplies. When I arrived at the front desk, there were two bearded dudes who looked like they worked construction checking in, and a big and tall bear waiting to check in who likely was driving a truck, based on his build and the camouflage shorts he wore. While the other two were occupied at the desk, tall bear and I kept turning around to keep tabs on the Monday Night Football game across the lobby. When tall bear reached the desk to check in, the clerk asked if we were together, and I said no and stated my errand. The clerk handed me a roll of toilet paper and a tiny bar of soap, and I thanked him and returned to the room.

We watched the end of the game (Detroit over Las Vegas 26-14), plus the World Series game (Texas over Arizona 3-1) and the Kraken game (Seattle over Tampa Bay 4-3 in overtime). When all the games were played, we watched news and I completed my journal for the day. I prepared for bed around 12:15 and turned in around the bottom of the hour.

SATURDAY

Set alarm for 7:45, turned off and went back to sleep. Rose about an hour later, showered and dressed before waking Gary about 20 after nine. About quarter to ten we went to breakfast at the hotel buffet. I had a very full meal of oatmeal, scrambled eggs, potatoes, a waffle, and bacon; Gary had a lighter breakfast of cold cereal and fresh fruit.

After breakfast we chilled in the room for a few minutes, then drove to DXL to see if they had lighter jackets for rain. We were directed by a not-unattractive dude in an Ohio State T-shirt to a small display of Columbia windbreakers identical to the one I'd left at home. We decided to skip the jackets and rely on the heavier leather coats we were already wearing.

From DXL we plotted a course for the Center of Science and Industry (COSI) along the west bank of the Scioto opposite downtown. Google Maps was unaware of some road closures so we ended up circling the block to reach the underground parking garage. We emerged in a neat park filled with brilliant fall foliage and made our way to the entrance. A sign directed us to purchase admission with the COSI app, but I was unable to do so because the app froze before I could pay for the tickets. So we entered the building and I showed the frozen app to the nice young dude at the front desk, and we were able to purchase the tickets in the normal way. He also stamped our parking ticket for a flat rate of $10 instead of an hourly rate. We began our tour on the second floor with Gadgets, followed by Progress and Life. As I was showing Gary the anechoic chamber, two small boys ran from the room and one of them collided with me at just the wrong height. ☹️ We then descended to the mezzanine level and played with the hot air balloons, watched a young dude riding the skywire unicycle, and checked out the planetarium. As we approached the latter, I noticed a bearded dude wearing a T-shirt bearing an American flag with an assault rifle superimposed on it. Oy. We noticed a show would begin in 20 minutes, so we decided to return to the first floor and check out some more exhibits while we waited. A few minutes before the appointed start of the show, "Reef Encounter", we took seats in the planetarium and watched the tail end of the previous showing. Between shows, there was a slide show asking science questions like "What natural metals are not silver in color?" and "What is the largest planet in the solar system?" (The answers are "gold and copper" and "Jupiter".) The show itself was quite impressive. Afterwards, as it was 3 PM, we decided to skip most of the first-floor exhibits, and retrieved our jackets, checked out the Foucault Pendulum, and returned to the car.

We drove to the Marconi Garage where I'd purchased a prepaid parking reservation for the hockey game, and walked toward the arena in search of a place to eat a late lunch or an early dinner. We chose the latter, at Ted's Montana Grill. We each had bison burgers of various descriptions with fries and Arnold Palmers.

After dinner we had some time on our hands, so we walked around McFerson Commons. We spotted a tall blond dude standing at the top of the stairs I wanted to use. At first Gary thought he was up to no good, but I soon spotted his white Westie dog who was sniffing the plants nearby without a leash. Nevertheless, we detoured to the end of the park and discovered two historical markers. We sat for a few minutes, then made our way to the Tim Horton's café attached to the west end of the arena. As we had coffee and Timbits, we heard a commotion in the street and I went outside to take pictures. It turned out to be a march for free Palestine, with a crowd of at least 200 people and about a dozen vehicles. They passed us headed west on Nationwide Boulevard, then after we'd finished our coffee and left the café, returned eastbound.

We walked to the park east of the arena entrance just ahead of the marchers, and took a seat on a bench to wait for the arena doors to open at six. As the crowd began to line up to enter the arena, Gary was a bit frustrated with something we've long since forgotten, and I suggested he concentrate on the hot white-haired, long-bearded, cigar-smoking daddy bear walking by at the moment, who reminded me of Ed from Auburn (of Ed and Keith) writ large. We both observed too many daddy bears - meaning literally fathers with wives and children - walking by or waiting in line.

Once the doors opened, the line moved quickly and we were soon ascending the escalator to our seating level. We found our seats, and I proceeded to use the bathroom and purchase a large Mountain Dew in a souvenir cup. At the end of the pregame festivities, the goal-celly cannon was fired which we weren't expecting; it was LOUD. At the same time, the display clock (which had been counting down to face-off time) froze with about a minute left, then when it was reset to the start of the game, it ticked off one second and froze again. They decided to play on, with the PA announcer calling the time every 30 seconds or so until the clock was corrected about 10 minutes into the first period. A very nice-looking bear and his presumed wife were seated directly in front of us. Toward the end of the first period, the Islanders scored the first of two goals. During the first intermission, two teams of Future Jackets (grade-school-age players) competed between the blue lines with miniature goal nets on either side of the rink. There was no scoring in the second period. I did notice both goalies were quite aggressive in defense of the crease, forcefully shoving any opposing player who lingered there after play moved to the other zone. The second intermission featured a Halloween costume contest: the winners were Mr. Puck Head for the children's division, Bob Ross for the adult division, and the Muppets for the group competition. I left after that and purchased a T-shirt and a commemorative puck for this evening from the mini team store on our level. The music featured a lot of spooky tunes like "Monster Mash", "Monsters" by All Time Low and blackbear, "Frankenstein" by Edgar Winter, the theme from "The Exorcist" (Tubular Bells part 2 by Mike Oldfield), and, oddly enough, "I'll Be There For You" from Friends; the latter, we soon discovered, was in tribute to Matthew Perry whose death was announced on social media during the game. The Islanders scored a second goal late in the third period, just before the Blue Jackets pulled the goalie. It didn't help, though, and the final score was 2-0 in the Islanders' favor.

We returned to the garage and retrieved the car. We had some difficulty with Google Maps because many streets around the arena were closed and Gary's phone had been silenced. However, we made it back to the hotel in one piece, and watched sports (Ohio State beat Wisconsin 24-10) and news until it was time for bed.

MONDAY

Gary got up to use the bathroom about 6:30 and couldn't go back to sleep so he surfed the net in bed. I took the opportunity to go myself and went back to sleep until Gary's alarm went off about 7:15. I turned off my 7:30 alarm and waited for Gary to finish in the bathroom before taking care of my morning routine. Around 8:30 we went across the street to Mo'z Cafe for breakfast. The dude behind the counter was very friendly. Gary had the French toast with cranberry juice, and I had the corned beef hash with poached eggs and a latte.

After breakfast we returned to the hotel and spent some time in the second-floor playroom shooting pool (Gary won by two) and assisting a lady with the two-story plinko game on the wall opposite the front desk. We returned to the room around ten and watched the Price Is Right tribute to Bob Barker (which had also aired Thursday night) while we polished off the remaining beverages from the fridge and double checked the room for any unpacked items.

At eleven we checked out of the hotel and caught BART to the airport. We sat facing a nice-looking bearded dude the whole trip. When we arrived at the International Terminal to catch the Airtrain, about four or five people jumped onto the escalator between Gary and me. When we got in line for security, a little girl stopped to retrieve a water bottle from her animal backpack while her parents moved along and then had to stop and wait for her to catch up. She ended up going down the wrong aisle so her dad picked her up and carried her over the low partition, and they proceeded into security without further incident. Gary had something in a pocket so they told me and a couple others behind me to go through the magnetometer instead of the scanner. I watched Gary's belongings while retrieving mine from the belt. It took a bit longer to get recombobulated because of the crush of people at the belt, making it necessary for me to hang onto my shoes and suspenders and put them on elsewhere. I stopped by the Brookstone store to pick up a new headset for work; the one I've been using is fine for listening to music, but the microphone doesn't work. We found seats at the gate next to ours where we could charge phones, and waited for our plane to arrive, empty out, and board. I noticed a big and tall bear of possible South Asian origins passing by on a couple of occasions. Gary snoozed while I surfed the net and chatted with Zach, who is leaving for St. Louis with his other half on Wednesday.

When it came time to board, we had to scramble a bit, but we managed to find space for our roller bags and settled in our seats. A cute cubby dude in a SF Giants cap was seated in front of Gary. We took off to the north over the bay shore and soon crossed the bay during initial ascent. I spent much of the flight completing my journal. As we approached Everett, the clouds were low enough that we could only see the tops of the mountain peaks. We caught a Lyft home and watched TV for the rest of the evening, with a pause for dinner which I picked up from Jersey Mike's. All in all, a fine weekend getaway.