We Take Ourselves With Us

Just in case we were looking for validation of our decision to head to Chicago and skip Cedar Point, Mother Nature provided it: an absolutely perfect blue sky day in the (admittedly, still windy) city.  (For the record, it poured all day in Sandusky, and almost none of the rides at CP opened.) I've been to Chicago bunches of times, and we've been here with the kids twice before.  But, we've never stayed as far south as McCormick Place, which gave us a new neighborhood to explore.  After arriving very late Friday (we checked in about 11), we were hungry Saturday morning and set off for breakfast.  Our path took us past the Willie Dixon Blues Heaven Foundation, which featured a lovely garden in tribute to Blues legends (note the sky ... see, perfect!). We were walking up a section of Michigan Ave call the Motor Row District, which is where all the dealerships were located beginning in the early 1900s.  History!  Plus, we also found the historic...

On our last full day in NYC, we decided to split our time between Iceland and France--with a morning at MOMA's Bjork show , dinner at Daniel Boulud's db Bistro , and an evening at An American in Paris . We started with a quickie brekky at everyone's go-to NYC staple: Europa Cafe .  Where nothing is European but everything is brightly lit, fast, and fairly cheap. Why does she make these faces? Sigh. Then, Bjork at MOMA.  This show has been savaged by critics.  I get it--a lot of what's here wouldn't be out of place at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame or the Experience Music Project; swan dress, I'm looking at you.  But, I would argue the criticism of the "songlines" poem that guides one through the exhibit is really off the mark.  The story may seem a bit twee, but it also captures the persona and context that Bjork has adopted and that has remained a clear through line in a varied career.  And, the pacing of the exhibit moves on...