The Lost Weekend: or how Friday in IN became Tuesday in Toronto

I HAD TO GO TO A FOREIGN COUNTRY TO FINALLY GET INTO A YARN SHOP!!! (more about that later so *warning* this is an xlong entry, you might want to get yourself a venti-sized something or other.

[I'll have to add the pics later when PmaK is awake becuase I 'bout killed myself uploading the one I did add by myself.]

OK, so we had to take a little break from blogging to visit family. Visiting family is exhausting (but in a good way :P You need to cram 3 years worth of info into a 16-42 hour time span while trying not to monoplize their clean towels & internet. And the one place on this planet I was sure we would have state o' the art ether access was at Lincoln's, my uber-techno-geek nephew, but more about that later.


The drive from Memphis included traversing the state of Kentucky. I don't want to appear critical but the issue appears to be that they have a signage problem in that state. I can say this because I am a card carrying daughter of a transportation engineer (double breasted pocket protectors, tyvm). Just across the border from TN we pulled off the road to have breakfast at Mannie's. Now Mannie, it turns out, is six years old & oversees his little fifedom in the corner of southwestern KY from the center table closest to the kitchen. This allows him to shout orders to his momma & grannie whenever he takes a break from his video gaming. I'm not sure if Mannie has been sittin' there so long that he has begun to resemble the food or if the food has been modeled after him but if you could personify poufy biscuits & globlulous gravy then you have a good idea of what I'm talking about. Folks were friendly, though. When we asked about getting to Evansville, one of the locals said, "Oh, it's real easy. You just follow the Parkway, to the Parkway, to the Parkway." Well, we apparantly got the "to the" part wrong a couple of times but it was nothing that some AAA maps, my GPS (version 9.12.1985), and caffeine couldn't fix. We got to partake of some lovely views of the countryside and as PmaK said, "It's actually quite pretty here if I wasn't so irritated about still being here." She felt immediate relief upon crossing the border into Indiana.


Best billboard/Tshirt: You lost your temper but he's still dead. Chill. Don't kill. (Memphis)

We got to my brother Barry's red house (Yes, red. It could actually pass for Indiana University Crimson but it's really Panetone something or other.) just in the nick of time to attend the boys' baseball games. I'm talking middle Americana ballpark happenings here, folks, including the encroaching thunder cell. OK let me take a moment to talk about the weather that prevailed during our 3 days in Indiana: if humidity was a family member, it would be that cousin that is grandma's favorite that no one wants to hang around with but she makes you include him in everything you thought would be fun to do. Fortunately he lives 8 states away & you only see him every couple of years.


Saturday was Taste of Bloomington. We wandered around the university & the blazing asphalt (95 degress, 12,076% humidity) feeling knowledge just coursing through our blood streams & gorging ourselves silly on all manner of stuff served in Bloomington restaurants. I will tell you that I will be attempting to make a version of minty pea guacamole at home. You might be suspicious if I'm offering guac in the near future but I really enjoyed this eclectic version. Also had celery pear juice which is much more delish that you would guess. Here I must also confess to a cardinal gastronomic sin we committed: we ate the pulled pork BBQ in Indiana instead of Memphis. LOVED Reverend Peyton & the Big Damn Band performance.
Our smiles belie our drippy pits at the Taste of Bloomington.


Best sight: the little baby apples on Barry's trees


Sunday Creighton presented a special Father's Day rocket blast-off in the empty field behind their house. We had a successful launch & SAR. Yeah, Creighton! (He has put dibs on Stuart's planes, should Stuart ever want to get rid of them.) Hugs & kisses from the King's with Boys and left for Noblesville to visit with the King's with Girls. Caught Chyrise & the girls together for a couple of hours before the girls left for choir practice. After mass we met at the IMAX for a showing of StarTrek. Amazingly cheap: large popcorn & gi-normous soda(pop) for $3.75. Found out Sam is the preeminent female Transformer blogger. She boasts a global following in this arena - even though I was woefully out of the loop. Syd, meanwhile, is aiming for Next Top Model or Project Runway. (I covet the dress form she got for Christmas.)


Best sight: The evening fireflies floating over the grass. (Although I was told if they smack against the windshield they continue to pulsate & glow for a few minutes after impact. E-ew. Also missed seeing the orange teeth of the nutria that live in the area.)


Left for Cleveland, Monday morning in the middle of a rainstorm. Ate breakfast at my first Cracker Barrel on this trip. I (heart) Cracker Barrel!!


Took a little detour to go on a literary pilgrimage to pay respects in Mooreland, IN, hometown of one of our most favorite writers Haven Kimmel. I highly recommend her memoir of growing up in Mooreland (pop. 300) - A Girl Named Zippy. We added to the ambience by playing the audio version of her sequel She Got Up Off the Couch while we "toured" the four square blocks of Mooreland.


Best sight: The Mooreland Friends Church


Got to Lincoln's townhouse in Cleveland Heights in plenty of time to get the drive-thru synopsis of greater Cleveland since most of his favorite places were dark on Monday. The homes, no I mean, estates of Shaker Heights are movie worthy. Ate dinner in Little Italy at a place called Mama Santo's. Saw the fried green peppers on the menu & had to get them in memory of Siro. Shared that Siro had cooked a counter-full of green peppers when Lincoln's parents got married. That still didn't interest him in trying any. However he was pleased with his cheese ravioli and Perris loved her home-made noodles (fettucini). Ultra, state of the art security system at Lincoln's house although I found out the wireless was not ready(!!!!). Did I tell you I was sure the one place in the cosmos I could breathe wireless would be 1785 Lee St? Next time we visit we've been promised wireless, a real bed, & TP. BTW Cleveland had the best weather of our trip to date - worst roads, but best weather.


Tuesday, got up way waaaay before Lincoln is usually conscious and headed for the border. Will elaborate on that later since I'm finished with my venti berry chai & you should be, too. Suffice it to say that even if "all roads lead to the same place" it takes awhile to figure out what all you've seen along the way.