Rock Hill Riverwalk

While in Rock Hill, Fort Mill, and Charlotte this past weekend, we took some time Saturday morning to explore the new Riverwalk in Rock Hill, SC.  The paved trail goes right along the Catawba River, and the trail is wide enough to accommodate bikers, runners, walkers, and dogs.  I took some photos of our stroll on the sunny and beautiful Southern fall Saturday.

 Ben and Dakota

 From death comes life...

 Trail Marker

 Catawba River

 A lone leaf

 Old retaining wall

 Great Blue Heron

 Beautiful fall colors

 Waiting...

 seats from stumps

Fall

The chill that hits through the screen door as the morning walk is again engulfed by the night,

The days begin to fade quicker, an urgent reminder to us the death of winter is lurking near?

Fall back to the standard time the clocks proclaim

an hour of sleep you shall gain

But in this time of shortened days, it is not the sleep we need.

As I walk on leash in hand, the air is crisp, clear.

I think the summer humidity slows our minds, weighs upon us.

I propose for us here South, fall is the awakening of the mind.

The harvest is done, the tourist are gone.

Fall is the time for us.

Independence Cabin

The weekend of August 20th, 2011, Johanna and I joined several of our friends in spending the weekend in the Great Smokey Mountains. Since we have unfortunately delayed in posting this, we will simply attach some photographs for your enjoyment.

Loris Bog Off

Southern writer James Villas describes bog as any stew that contains wet, soggy rice, unlike a pilaf which contains sauteed or seasoned rice. However this highly localized dished can come in many forms but the traditional ingredients are chicken, rice, sausage, onions, salt, and pepper.  For those of you completely lost at this point, trust us this one course dish is truly amazing. So much so that since 1979 Loris, SC has held an annual festival that pits bog chefs against one another in the ultimate bog-off. For one weekend in October Loris, with a population of 2400, explodes into a festival attracting almost 25,000 people. 
This year 13 chefs were competing against each other. After sampling almost all of them, we settled upon two that we felt were amazing. One was just good ole fashion bog with not frills, but a very consistent texture and flavor The other put a twist on the bog by using a mustard base. 
In addition to the chicken bog, the streets are lined with vendors, a car show, animal rides, and tons of fair food if you get tired of eating bog.  

9/11

It has been 10 years and ironically it is again a beautiful clear day. We all know where we were then. As with JFK and the Challenger, 9/11 is one of those moments in our history where all divisions were erased, and we united as one.  While we pause to honor those that died and those that continue to cope, it is our hope that this nation never lose that sense of unity. For it is only through the unity of all that the freedom and diversity of the individual can be protected.

Chicago: Day 6

Our final day was here, and we were sad to see it coming to an end!
We spent a leisurely morning getting ready, packing, and taking it easy.  After checking out, we began to walk towards Navy Pier, and we noticed the increasing fog that was rolling into the city.  We were planning on taking a sky line boat cruise to get some shots of the skyline from Lake Michigan, but the weather obviously was not going to cooperate.  We strolled down Navy Pier, looked at the large stained glass window installation, and rode some rides.  Our ride on the Ferris wheel was a foggy mess!  We looked towards the city, and it was just a big gray blob.  We decided to have lunch and just go over to the Shedd Aquarium.  There was no point in doing much outside because it was so difficult to see, which we realized on the water taxi ride to the Museum Campus.  Boats would just emerge from nothing out of the fog.  It was really spooky.
The Aquarium was a nice change from the gloom outside, and we checked out all of the aquatic life they had on display.  They had some beluga whales, penguins, and Pacific dolphins that we enjoyed watching.
Alas, it was time to grab our bags from the hotel and head to O'Hare to catch our flight.  We both had a wonderful time, and there is so much more of the city to see.  I know we will make it back to explore some more one day!

 Navy Pier

 Stained Glass Exhibit

 Ferris Wheel

 Water Taxi

 Sailboat Emerging from the fog

 Penguins!

Boo!

Chicago: Day 5

Headed out on the L toward the University of Chicago campus first thing in the morning.  I was getting a little worried as we went through some "questionable" areas as we got close to our stop.  When we got off, I was even more concerned.  Where was Google Maps taking us?!?  The area was almost abandoned and very run down, but we continued on through Washington Park and made it to the U of C campus.  We immediately noticed the variety of architecture on the campus, and we explored on our way to Wright's Robie House.  The architectural styles are so extremely different, and the juxtaposition of Gothic to Modern to Classical creates surprise around every corner.  You never know what to expect.  We checked out a Meis van der Rohe building and then we stopped at the Law School, designed by Ben's favorite architect, Eero Saarinen.  This was a gorgeous building, and we snooped around the whole thing, making sure to see the whole place.
After our walk around campus, we enjoyed the tour of the Robie House, although it was not as extensive as the home and studio from the day before.  The house is still under renovation, but still, it is another beautiful Wright designed home.  The stained glass was really beautiful and let in so much natural light to the main living area.  Rafael Viñoly's Booth School of Business building was a nice compliment across the street from the Robie House as well.  The large patio spaces mimicked the linear style of Wright.  After our tour, we had a quick lunch at the cafeteria inside of Booth, and we made our way back through the park to the L.
We decided to stop at the Illinois Institute of Technology campus.  The entire campus was practically designed by Meis van der Rohe.  Another great stop!

We stopped at Millennium Park to see the Bean.  This is a really cool, public art installation, and the public's interaction with it proves it.  We enjoyed taking some silly pictures like everyone else.

Back to the hotel to freshen up, have drinks, and then it was off to an early dinner at EATT before heading out to Lincoln Park.  We went to Lincoln Hall to see the Old 97s.  It was a fun show, and we had a great time.

Only one day left :(

 U of C Cathedral

 Meis 

 Saarinen's Law School building

 Checking out the awesome ceiling

 Robie House

 Sneak Peek of the Robie House Interiors

 Meis at IIT

THE BEAN!

Old 97s