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The Olympic Tower

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This past weekend, Becky and I took a trip up to [Montreal](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal). Becky’s parents had given us [Marriott](http://www.marriott.com/) gift certificates for Christmas so that we could have one last getaway before our baby was born. Neither of us had visited Montreal before, and it was a place we both wanted to go, so even though it’s a bit cold this time of year, up we went!

Highlights of the trip:

– Discovering that rural Quebec is much like rural Ohio.
– [SpringHill Suites Old Montreal](http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/YULSH), our hotel. Great location, cozy suites, nice free breakfast. A much fancier hotel than we would normally stay in, but since we didn’t have to pay for it… 🙂
– Dinner at [Restaurant du Vieux Port](http://www.restaurantduvieuxport.com/). Delicious peppercorn steak, cozy atmosphere, right around the corner from our hotel.
– [Montreal High Lights](http://www.montrealenlumiere.com/), a festival designed to light up the cold dreary nights of February in Montreal. We did the [Ice Slide](http://www.montrealenlumiere.ca/english/action.lasso?&-response=DetailsImpression.lasso&-Token.NoTitre=1581) and saw [Choreography for Snowplows](http://www.montrealenlumiere.ca/english/action.lasso?&-response=DetailsImpression.lasso&-Token.NoTitre=1514) (like [Blue Man Group](http://www.blueman.com/) with snowplows).
– The [Underground City](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Underground_city%2C_Montreal).
– The [McCord Museum](http://www.mccord-museum.qc.ca/en/) of Canadian History.
– [Parc Jean-Drapeau](http://www.parcjeandrapeau.com/accueil.asp).
РThe [Montreal Biosph̬re](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Biosph%C3%A8re).
– [Casino Montreal](http://www.casino-de-montreal.com/montreal/nav/en/home). We didn’t gamble, but we did enjoy their buffet!
– [Parc Olympique](http://www.rio.gouv.qc.ca/), site of the 1976 Summer Olympics. We took a ride up the funicular to the Montreal [Tower Observatory](http://www.rio.gouv.qc.ca/pub/visiter/accueil.jsp), as well as a guided tour of the stadium. Very cool!
– [Poutine](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poutine). Not a dish I would regularly want to eat, but an interesting regional delicacy nonetheless.
– [St. Joseph’s Oratory](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Joseph%27s_Oratory). Second largest basilica dome next to St. Peter’s.

We’d definitely like to visit Montreal again, but next time we’ll do it when the weather is a bit warmer!

You can see all of our photos from the trip [here](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/travels/2006/montreal/).

We’re back in Beverly after a long, tiring, but fun road trip. We would like to thank Kevin, Susie, Mom, Dad, Kirsten, Mark, and Melanie for being wonderful hosts and hostesses, and the Ramada Limited of Collinsville, IL for being so inexpensive.

All photos from the trip are now [online](http://prwdot.org/gallery2/v/travels/2005/road_trip_2005/). Enjoy!

fff|ggg|rt2005_day7/P1050663|Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier|ggg|fff

Today in Chicago we visited the [Field Museum](http://www.fieldmuseum.org/), one of the world’s premiere Natural History museums. The museum boasts the largest T-Rex skeleton, as well as some excellent exhibits and artifacts from the Pacific region. My personal favorite was the exhibit on Tibet. We also had an unplanned surprise at museum admission. Many museums have reciprocal agreements where they will offer free admission to employees of other museums. At the last second, Becky thought to request reciprocal admission. So she whipped out her [Historic New England](http://www.historicnewengland.org/) staff card, and she got us in for free! The admission we got would normally have cost $14 per person! Not a bad deal at all…

We also visited [Navy Pier](http://www.navypier.com/), an entertainment complex that juts out into Lake Michigan. It’s sort of like [Pier 39](http://www.pier39.com/) in San Francisco, and a little bit like [Faneuil Hall Marketplace](http://www.faneuilhallmarketplace.com/) in Boston. Shops, restaurants, games, rides, entertainment, etc. We rode on the giant Ferris Wheel, walked around the Crystal Garden, watched a few kids’ entertainment shows, and sat outside on the waterfront to enjoy the nice sunny day.

We wrapped up our day by visiting some television and movie filming locations. UIC Medical Center, where “er”‘s exterior shots come from, and the Randolph/Wabash El stop, where scenes from “While You Were Sleeping” were filmed. “It’s an express?”

Check out our [photos from the day](http://gallery.prwdot.org/rt2005_day7). Tomorrow we’re driving back to Ohio, and Sunday we’re driving back to Massachusetts. And right now, I’m headed to bed. Phew!

p.s. If you’re on Eastern Daylight Time, remember to subtract one hour to get the actual time that I wrote this post (and other posts since Tuesday evening).

fff|ggg|rt2005_day6/P1050550|Sears Tower from Millenium Park|ggg|fff

We spent today in the city of Chicago doing touristy stuff. Melanie drove us to Midway Airport, where we took the Orange Line in to the city. We took an Art Deco architecture walking tour, run by the [Chicago Architecture Foundation](http://www.architecture.org/). There are some really amazing Art Deco buildings in Chicago, and our docent gave a great tour of the outsides and insides of buildings around the downtown area. After the tour, we had lunch at [Giordano’s](http://www.giordanos.com/) – traditional stuffed pizza pies. Very tasty. For you Vineyard folks, they’re not related to [that Giordano’s](http://www.giosmv.com/). After lunch we walked around [Millenium Park](http://www.millenniumpark.org/), an incredible combination of landscape design and modern architecture. From there, we walked quite a few blocks to visit the [Sears Tower Skydeck](http://www.the-skydeck.com/homeDefault.htm). I’d been up to the top many years ago, but it was impressive once again to look out from the tallest building in the United States, and one of the three tallest buildings in the world. After the Sears Tower, we made a quick trip to Michigan Avenue to visit some stores. Namely, the [American Girl Place](http://www.americangirlplace.com/agp_chi_splash.php), a must-see for any fan of the American Girl series, and the [Apple Store at North Michigan Avenue](http://www.apple.com/retail/northmichiganavenue/), a must-see for any fan of Apple computers. Finally, we visited the original [Marshall Field’s](http://www.fields.com/common/state_street.jsp) at State Street, the flagship store, and just one of the many sad casualties of the Federated-May Company department store merger.

For photos of our long but very fun day, head over to the (http://gallery.prwdot.org/rt2005_day6).

fff|ggg|rt2005_day5/P1050345|The Arch|ggg|fff

We’re settling down for the night at Melanie’s apartment in the southern ‘burbs of [Chicago](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago), after driving up Interstate 55 from Saint Louis. I’ve uploaded our photos from today’s Saint Louis sightseeing, which included the Gateway Arch and the Old Courthouse, both part of the [Jefferson National Expansion Memorial](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_National_Expansion_Memorial), the [International Bowling Museum](http://www.bowlingmuseum.com/), and the [Cahokia Mounds](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cahokia).

Thursday and Friday we will be spending with Melanie doing some sightseeing in Chicago. For now, you can check out photos from [today](http://gallery.prwdot.org/rt2005_day5?page=1), or look at the photos for the [trip so far](http://gallery.prwdot.org/road_trip_2005).

Becky and I are relaxing in our room at the [Ramada](http://www.ramada.com/) in Collinsville, IL, just outside of Saint Louis, MO. Taking advantage of the free wireless internet access in our room. Tomorrow we’re going to do some sight-seeing in Saint Louis, and then we’re heading up to Chicago. Fun!

I’ve uploaded all of the photos from our trip so far. Check out the [Road Trip 2005](http://gallery.prwdot.org/road_trip_2005) album. No captions yet, but you are welcome to create your own captions by way of leaving comments on individual photos if you happen to know the subject of the photo (or even if you don’t…).

Friday night, Becky and I are heading off on another whirlwind adventure! This time, we’re taking a road trip, the general route of which you can see below:

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We’re stopping briefly in Charlton, MA on Friday to stay with Kevin and Susie, who are conveniently located near the Mass Pike. Saturday morning we will drive straight through to Mount Vernon, OH to spend a few days visiting with my parents, sister, and brother-in-law. From there we’ll be driving to [Saint Louis](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Louis%2C_Missouri) to see the [Jefferson National Expansion Memorial](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jefferson_National_Expansion_Memorial) (i.e., the Arch and its environs), and then we’ll be driving up to [Chicago](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago) to spend a few days visiting Melanie and taking in the sights of the Windy City. Finally, we’ll be jumping back to Mount Vernon, and then back home to Beverly on Sunday, October 23. Phew!

It will be a long and tiring trip, but we’ll be spending it in the best of company. And that’s really what makes any endeavor worthwhile.

fff|ggg|vineyard_20050806/P1040363|Cross at the Tabernacle|ggg|fff

This past weekend, Becky and I took a trip down to Martha’s Vineyard. As always, there was good food, trips to the beach, chatting, sleeping, and relaxing. Very nice as always. I took a bunch of photos related to a super-secret project I’m working on. (Oooooohhh…) The rest of the photos can be seen ***here|http://gallery.prwdot.org/vineyard_20050806***!