Susan's visit

Susan came to visit the last weekend in January. We had oodles of fun. Her flight was a little late in arriving, so we went right to breakfast at Hell's Kitchen. Wow - Delicious and unusual food. Susan said they had great coffee. I enjoyed a kick ass Bloody Mary. We made an attempt to see the Winter Carnival King Boreas parade, but were stymied by the latest of the hour. We did get to glimpse it through the streets, though.

We spent the afternoon with my friend Ethan and his dog, Riley, at the Art Shanty project on Medicine Lake. Art Shanties take the idea if ice shanties (used when ice fishing) and reinterpret them. There were installations like the huge glass jellyfish and performances. There was a shanty were you could get hot beverages for the price of a story. There was a science shanty, where we saw zooplankton. Just really cool. Only wish I'd worn the right shoes.

Dinner that night was at 112 Cafe. It reminds me of some of the best places I used to eat in Philly. We split a bunch of dishes and a bottle of wine and the whole bill (w/tip) only came to $80 odd. Susan was amazed at the price considering the quality of the dinner.

After dinner, we went to the 400 Bar, where Bob Dylan got his start. We met up with my friend Tilly and chatted for a while. The Hopefuls (formally the Olympic Hopefuls, until they performed for the OC and then got a cease and desist letter from the IOC) were playing that night. We caught the end of the set.

Sunday, Susan decided to join me at the UU church I've been attending. My choir was not singing, so that was just really nice of her. Then we joined my friend Ellen and her husband for brunch at a cute little place near me.

The big event this day was SNOW TUBING! Oh my god...this was so much fun. We drove to a local place (about 30 min away) that has skiing, boarding and tubing. The tubing was dead cheap and came with the tube and a lift ticket for the conveyor belt lift. It was everything great about sledding, without having to climb the hill. Susan did all the dangerous stunts, I was content with just whizzing down the hill. By the end, Susan had figured out how to "tube dance" with me. She could spin us and everything. Now I'm trying to get my work friends to go.

We were pretty much exhausted after the tubing, so we had a quiet dinner at a place near me. Susan got the very last beef tenderloin and it was so good it blew my pumpkin gnocci out of the water.

Monday was our last day. We spent some quiet time chatting at home. Then I got to show off some of the stuff I'd been working on. There was an open house at the warehouse to show off the (90' long) model canal we built for the National Canal Museum and some other of their interactives. Then we headed to the museum to poke around. I showed her where my new exhibit will go and we got a sneak peek at Strange Matter and Science on a Sphere. Before taking her back to the airport, we walked through Rice Park and checked out the remains of the ice sculptures (warm weather pretty much killed them on the same day they went up.)

Too much to do to fit it all in, but we had a blast nonetheless.

Oh, what a beautiful morning...

This was a morning to remind you why it is good to be alive. The air was crisp, clean and tasted of snow. The sun shining brightly from the blue sky warmed my face. Tiny snowflakes were falling, star shape distinct as they dusted the arm of my coat. Exquisite.

Plus - when I got to work, the toys I bought for a couple of guys on the Managing Light team went over like gangbusters. The Light Up Glow worms are gummi worms that glow when you grip them with the special pincers. Cost: $1. Officewide merriment: priceless. (sorry - had to borrow from the ad).