"Snots, you roll over and let Uncle Clark scratch your belly." - Eddie, "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation"
Atlantic City, New Jersey, was the only major city that my friend Bob had yet to visit on his long road of traveling America over the years. So this was a must-do city from his perspective. I had absolutely no qualms about seeing this great town either. I’m not much of a gambler, but there was plenty to see and do and eat for the evening we spent here on Monday, June 15, 2009. Read the rest of this entry »
It was about 8:30am on the morning of Tuesday, July 14, 2009, when Bob and I checked out of room 2467 of the Paris Las Vegas hotel. We had had a great two days there, but it was time to work our way back to Los Angeles to continue with my California adventure. We crossed over the border and had made it halfway toward our L.A. destination when we stopped for brunch in Barstow at an eatery known as Quigley’s. Bob had the monte cristo and I went for the breakfast border burrito. We sat near a ‘biddy brigade’ that Bob ended up knowing. Read the rest of this entry »
Ronald Reagan was certainly an interesting choice to elect as our nation’s 40th President. Never before had America sent a former-Hollywood actor to the highest office in the land – when we elected Reagan for two consecutive terms from 1981-1989. Politics of course wasn’t completely new to him as he had served as President of the Screen Actors Guild and later two terms as California’s Governor. Having grown up during the 1980’s, I feel that he is as much a part of the American tapestry of that era as Michael Jackson. Read the rest of this entry »
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that the long-running TV sitcom Happy Days was one of my favorites, but I certainly liked the show very much. Ironically, it was meant to memorialize the simpler times of the a bygone era known as the 50’s – but to me it represents another era long gone…the 70’s! I didn’t much watch the show during its first run, but I caught the reruns during the 80’s and it made me fondly reminisce about the previous decade. I now own three of the available seasons of the show on DVD and have enjoyed watching them. And even though the show eventually ‘jumped the shark’, I’m hoping that all eleven eventually come out. Read the rest of this entry »
Saturday, May 16, 2009 was my last day in Italy. As I laid in bed that morning, I was both reflecting on a great week – our day in Pisa, two days in Rome, two days in Florence, one day in Siena, and one day in Venice – and dreading the process of getting back home. As for the day itself, Chris and Sarah would be taking me to just a few additional places around Florence so that we could effectively ‘wrap-up’ the tour of their current hometown. It was a nice day, but the dreaded trip home was looming ever nearer. Read the rest of this entry »