We Live In The Country!

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Road Trip: Illinois Railway Museum, Indiana, & Wisconsin

Our next day on the road we had a real "railroad day"- beginning and ending the day with trains! We found- by simply following road signs heading north out of Chicago- THE BEST RAILROAD MUEUM EVER: the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, IL http://www.irm.org/ As “railfans” with the Elkhorn Inn www.elkhorninnwv.com, an historic inn catering to railfans, we are always either chasing trains or on the lookout for things having to do with trains, so we were stunned to realize that we didn’t even know this great museum existed! The Illinois Railroad Museum is not only an educational and historic preservation organization, it has what is probably the largest operating demonstration railroad showcase on the North American continent! This museum is truly a Museum in Motion: little streetcars clang across Depot Street on the car line, a thundering steam train whistles past on the mainline, and gleaming streamliners whisper by! The main passenger boarding and alighting area is built around an 1851 depot (from Marengo, Illinois), the oldest continuously operating passenger station west of Pittsburgh. Another visitor boarding point is the 50th Avenue rapid transit station built in 1910 and removed from Cicero, Illinois. This is truly an “interactive” museum- their artifacts don't just sit there gathering dust, they move! We had a lot of fun walking though many of the barns to see their amazing collection of railroads and engines, and talking with the volunteers who restore the engines and keep them running, and getting to tour and sit in the driver’s seat of a snow plow train. We even took a ride on one of the main-line trains!

Chef Dan, back in the galley!

Getting a tour of the snowplow train

Elisse in the driver's seat of the snowplow train!

We stopped at the Warm Glow Candle Company http://www.warmglow.com/, basically so I could be photographed with The Biggest Candle In the World:

But wound up not only having a really great lunch there, but buying some incredibly cool hand-made Halloween light bulbs, made locally in Indiana!

It's a huge, fun store with a gazillion things to look at, touch, and smell, and we loved that everything was made right there in Indiana by real people!

On our drive north through Illinois and Indiana to Wisconsin, where we spent the night, we drove through some very, very beautiful countryside: fields of corn and farms and cows, the light changing and lighting up the fields in different ways as the day lengthened...

See? We really Did make it to Wisconsin! LOL

We had dinner in the Wisconsin Dells after Eagle-Eye Dan spotted a sign for Buffalo Phil’s http://www.buffalophilsgrille.com/, a restaurant offering “your dinner delivered by train”! We thus got to end our day of trains bringing back my happy 1960s childhood memories of The Hamburger Train diner on Queens Blvd. in NY! J Our super-nice waiter took pix of me with the train delivering our beers and food, too- after our phone, Nexus, AND camera batteries all died simultaneously! So much for the wonders of modern technology!

Buffalo Phil's train, delivering beer and burgers!

Thank you to our wonderful waiter for this photo of me with the Buffalo Phil Burger Train!

Next: heading north again!

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Road Trip Days 2 & 3: Chicago!

Dan is a Chicago boy. He hadn't been "home", however, in about 30 years, so I deliberately routed our trip to Canada through Chicago, so he could see family and show me the Chicago of his youth- and we could eat a little Italian Beef, too!

We had a voucher from Hilton for our two-night stay at the Chicago Waldorf-Astoria , and upon checking in they upgraded us to a high-floor suite for being “Diamond” Hilton Honors members- so now you understand why we’re loyal- and that made it a truly great stay! The view from our balcony was spectacular, both at night and during the day when we could see the “fields” on the roof garden opposite our room! With both a fab shower and Jacuzzi for two, a fireplace, the full-size-bottle bar with ice, REALLY nice service, and (best of all) that delightful balcony offering a totally splendid view of The Windy City, we have to say that Hilton really made our limited time in Chicago the best it could be…

The first thing we did when we hit Chicago was eat Italian Beef at world-famous Al’s Italian Beef http://www.alsbeef.com/ because I had to experience “the real McCoy” Dan had tantalized me with for over 10 years! Then Dan drove me around Chicago and showed me his Garfield Park childhood…

Dan's Chicago childhood...

Stuffing our faces with Real Chicago Italian Beef...

Livin' Large at the Waldorf...

What ARE they growing over there!?

Recipe from the Waldorf Mixologist!

Chicago at night- the "Gold Coast" area near the Waldorf...

We had dinner around the corner from the Waldorf at Hugo’s Frog Bar and Fish House http://www.hugosfrogbar.com/ ...

and wandered around the “Gold Coast” area, which felt fun and safe. That evening at the Waldorf's Bernard's Bar, I got to try the Yamazaki (Japanese whisky), and the Waldorf Mixologist, Tom Hogan, invented a delicious drink for me using Illinois liqueurs, crushed pink peppercorns and herbs, and wrote me the recipe!

The next day morning we wandered around the Gold Coast neighborhood and had a leisurely, lovely brunch of croissants and house-made bacon at Little Market American Brasserie:

Dan’s family had the “Dan-apalooza” at his niece’s beautiful house that afternoon: we were late, thanks to that AbFab Chicago Suburbs Rush Hour Traffic From Hell! They had delish Italian Beef from Portillo’s http://www.portillos.com/portillos/ for dinner, so we got to try two of the best versions of Italian beef in the city!

The Waldorf doormen, who told us that they have seen basically Everything, also said that a couple driving a truck with a freezer on the back, who were on their way to go moose-hunting in Canada was a new one... LOL

Our last morning in Chicago we treated ourselves to an elegant gourmet breakfast in the Waldorf's restaurant, Balsan, which I jokingly refer to as probably the most expensive breakfast in the known universe! But the truth is that it was delicious, the service was charming and gracious, and it was worth every dime!

Before leaving town spent a delightful hour at the glorious Garfield Park Conservatory http://www.garfield-conservatory.org/, where Dan has happy childhood memories of warming up on frosty, Chicago school days. We bought some of the conservatory’s coffee and honey, too! And then we were Back On The Road Again!

Road Trip! Flying the Wright B Flyer in Ohio! A travel MUST-DO!

Road Trip Day 1: Flying the Wright B Flyer, Miamisburg, OH

I finally managed to surprise Dan- with a flight on the Wright B Flyer! :-)

I have been trying to surprise Dan since we met in 2001. No chance. It's totally impossible to surprise someone when you live AND work together 24/7! But when I planned out our road trip across the USA to BC, Canada online I Finally found something I thought I could surprise my US Army Retired Aviation hubs with- a flight on the Wright B Flyer, the ONLY flying copy of the Wright Brother's production plane used by the US Army in WWI!
I routed our trip through Dayton, OH, which I knew was "the" aviation capitol of America, and in researching cool aviation things to see and do in the area I found the Wright B! I learned that if you join the museum for $100 you can have a "fam flight",
and I called the museum and booked one for each of us, and kept my mouth shut,
(which was REALLY hard to do...), tantalizing Dan only with the promise of a "surprise" somewhere on the road...
We left Landgraff, WV later than I had hoped, and got to Dayton, OH too late to visit any of the many aviation museums I'd hoped to get Dan to... And when we woke up in Ohio the next morning to rain, I was almost in tears. I had to finally tell Dan what the surprise was Supposed To Have Been, as I was positive there was No Way they would fly us in the rain… We went to the hangar anyway, to at least see the plane, joined the museum for $100 each, and hung around yakking with the pilot and volunteers, hoping for a 5 minute break in the weather... and when it finally happened, the wonderful Wright B Flyer pilot flew us! It started raining while Dan was taxiing, and my flight was totally in the rain, but it was magic! And Dan LOVED it! :-) And I LOVED it! Flying in that plane, even for a few, brief minutes, gives you a TOTALLY NEW appreciation for the true miracle of aviation and the utterly fearless people who made it happen- with cloth and string and sticky tape!! Don't forget- this was a US ARMY MILITARY plane- two seats, foot pedals, and open to the wind and the weather! And not so long ago- my dad was born in 1918, and this was what the US Army was flying!

Dan in the Wright B Flyer- ready for take-off!

Dan, taxiing...

Dan- airborne in the Wright B!

Elisse, getting ready to fly!

Elisse, landing in the Wright B- in the rain!

Each flight was only 5 minutes, as the plane is not allowed to leave the airport, with less than a minute in the air and only about 80 feet off the ground (and I SO wanted it to go on and go higher- even in the rain!), but it was amazing- a truly unique experience- headphones, goggles, rain, and all- that is only available there: the Wright B is the only flying copy of the Wright Brother’s plane in existence, and it no longer travels anywhere. If you are "into" aviation on any level this is total MUST-DO!

The night we arrived we stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Franklin, Ohio (close to Miamisburg and the Wright B), and had a fun dinner at Chappy's Tap Room in Moraine, OH, where we enjoyed some good ribs and a beer sampler:

Elisse w/her ribs and beer-sampler, and Dan with our Captain Morgan's Private Stock!

Review: “Big Country Outfitters”, British Columbia, Canada: NO!

After our 8-day $8500 “fully guided” two-moose hunt with “Big Country Outfitters”, we can definitely say that we do NOT recommend them. They are unprofessional, unprepared, incompetent, and just plain ugly people, who seriously shouldn’t be allowed to deal with the public, much less run an international hunting business. “Big Country Outfitters” advertises themselves as offering fully-guided moose hunts “for all ages and abilities”, and this is NOT accurate. If you don't know how- and can't physically deal with- a 700 lb. moose after you've shot it, this is NOT the hunt for you. Their contract with us was no more than an itemized receipt, and the only tool their website checklist suggests one bring is a “skinning knife”, which is totally hilarious! If not for my US Army Retired, experienced Alaska and Canada big game hunter husband’s knowledge, skills, abilities, sheer physical strength, coupled with our personal set of meat knives and saw, I’d still be sitting in a field with a (now rotting) moose carcass- and I have the photos to prove it. When I finally did get a moose, on the penultimate day of our hunt, our guide, Joe L., who claims to be the partner of the company’s actual owner, Mike Hawkridge, literally had no ability to properly deal with it: all he literally had was a pocket knife. He had no appropriate meat-cutting knives or a saw, no chainsaw, no chains, no winch, no lamps (save for his tiny headlamp), no tools- nothing but a piece of rotten rope and a manual ratchet “come along”, 3 old and rotting pieces of wood, and the dying pick-up truck that he’d had to constantly swap for a tiny Suzuki throughout the week (at the expense of our hunting time), as it repeatedly cut out on him. We were hunting in the tiny Suzuki in the late afternoon when I got my moose, and my husband and I waited for over an hour in the field in the dark (until 10pm) with the gutted moose carcass; no way was I leaving my husband there alone, or leaving the animal to the bears, wolves, and coyotes- we’d already seen bear tracks in the area, including a mama bear and cubs, as well as 6’ tall bear running up the road- while Joe went back to camp to swap out the tiny Suzuki for the pick-up he hoped would run! (I shot a 5-point moose; had I shot a truly large "trophy" moose there is no way he and my husband could have physically handled it). Joe L then cheated us out of our last day of hunting and my husband’s last chance to get a moose, telling us that night, (in lieu of any celebration of my successfully taking the moose), that it was in our contract (a lie) that both of us had to spend the next day dealing with the meat processing of my moose- something that should have taken but a few hours in the early morning at most. Having to listen to- and ignore-Joe L’s pro-Nazi rants for 8 days (“if Hitler hadn’t been in such a rush they would have won”, “America and Canada should have stayed out of it”, “I hate Churchill- he tricked America into getting into the war”, etc.), along with racist remarks (how hot sauce made him “sweat like a n-----“ was one), made it a Truly special week- especially as my name is Goldstein, it’s no secret I’m a Jew, and over dinner the first night, when we were asked about our military backgrounds, the fact that my husband is US Army Retired and I’m an Israeli Defense Forces Veteran was made clear. His stories about point-blank murders ruled “hunting accidents” made the week even More special, and it was topped by his going postal in a foul-mouthed burst of scary ugliness on our final day at the local meat processor- who couldn’t/wouldn’t process our meat, and whom Mr. L. insisted was the only processor in the area, which we found the next day to be yet another lie; we gather this is their racket to get USA hunters to leave them their meat. Mr. L’s ugly outburst was followed by him literally slamming up the tailgate of his truck, jumping in it, and driving away in his supposedly non-working-properly truck at top speed with my moose, costing us the opportunity to plug in our freezer at the processor, which the processor had offered, IF he and my husband would skin and quarter the moose, which they had agreed to do- until Mr. L. went ballistic in their parking lot and drove off in a rage. Although we had booked this hunt over a year in advance (based on sterling online reviews, as well as glowing testimonials from Outdoor Connections, whom we booked though, via TripAdvisor.com, and Hardcore Huntresses, who apparently had their bear hunt comped, and so is still singing their praises), the company’s owner, Mike Hawkridge, couldn’t even manage to do our hunting permit paperwork correctly, and when we arrived we found that both my last name and birthdate on my license were wrong. Hawkridge not only refused to change it, he actually laughed at my concern, telling us that if I had a problem with US Customs I should “tell them to call me”. (And leave a message on his answering machine? He is unreachable most of the time- as he was for 5 days during our hunt). But the icing on the cake was when Mr. Hawkridge finally returned to camp (he was with another hunter couple for 5 days at a “spike camp” and “unreachable”), and learned of all of the above, he was absolutely fine with it, totally unapologetic, and not only did nothing to rectify any of it, but spent hours- while we packed our meat, (my husband having spent the day he SHOULD have spent hunting, quartering and skinning my moose with some help from Mr. L., and driving for hours to buy meat bags and salt, which they didn’t have, either), and belongings- laughing at the top of his lungs with his crew right outside our room to make his contempt for us crystal clear.
We left that night in the rain to find a motel with an electric outlet for our freezer so our meat wouldn’t spoil; their tiny generator which constantly cut out day and night wasn’t an option. My husband getting diarrhea from sandwiches made from canned salmon left in a cooler box or outside for 3 days (they have no refrigeration), wasn’t particularly amusing, either; fortunately that’s all he got. This company’s Very big problems obviously start at the top. In our humble opinion, the damage they are doing to Canada’s tourism hunting reputation needs to be looked into ASAP.

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Glunting, Part II

I was just given, by my BFF Cindy, THE most amazing gift. A gift that literally took my breath away! And as it Perfectly matches RealTree camo, it obviously HAS to go on our upcoming Glunting (Glamorous Hunting) trip! But the question is: which will make the better ammo carrier? I leave that up to you...

Friday, September 6, 2013

We're going Glunting! (Glamorous Hunting!)

By now you've all heard of "Glamping"- Glamorous Camping- but this season's newest, hottest trend is Glunting- Glamorous Hunting! And yes, I am the creator of this term, and I need your help to see that it goes viral!!! I am totally convinced, due to the amazing selection of clothes (from underwear to wedding gowns), shoes (including 6" spikes, such as the ones I'm wearing in the photo below), and accessories (Hello Kitty Camo!) available in RealTree Camo & Pink (not to mention the incredible popularity of Duck Dynasty), that Glunting is THE hot fall trend this year! In honor of The Moose (more on that in an upcoming post...), I set out to attire us appropriately for a big game hunting holiday. And naturally I have to make a Serious Style Statement, too:

Me, wearing RealTree Camo jeans & top (for that slimming "all camo" look), RealTree glittens (hunting mittens with pop-off tops, that have adorable little magnets to hold the tops back), RealTree Pink polarized sunglasses, RealTree Pink rhinestone-encrusted handbag with rhinestone Hello Kitty charm, 6" camo spike platform heels with pink rivets, my Armed Hello Kitty pendant, and, to complete The Glunting Look, Maybelline Color Show nail lacquer in Pinkalicious, & Flirt! lip gloss in Coral Me Fabulous. (Note: You CANNOT mix RealTree and Mossy Oak in one outfit- they clash. LOL) Here's the best part: my US Army Retired, 3.5 tours Vietnam Vet Tough Guy hubs thinks I'm nuts, (of course), BUT he actually went to Wal-Mart to get me the pink nail polish- and got Just the right color! Amazing man! :-) NOTE: Wait till you see the posts of me in my REAL hunting gear: hunting bibs, parka, thermals, Frogg Toggs Rain Suit, wool socks, hunting boots, & Elmer Fudd hat... I look like the Michelin Tire Woman. LOL)

While hubs is a very experienced and successful big game meat hunter, who has hunted in Alaska, Canada, Korea, & Virginia, among other places, I am a newbie huntress, and this will be my first time big game hunting. (I've done some pheasant hunting in upstate NY & with hubs in Korea, but although I shot At pheasants (and ate the pheasants my hunting partners Did land), I never actually landed one myself... Trust me- hitting a bird on the wing ain't easy!) Hunting together is something hubs and I have talked & dreamed about doing for a decade- since we met in 2001, actually- as I've always wanted to seriously learn to hunt for meat, and he is THE guy to teach me! I have "talked the talk" about hunting for decades, because I have hunted and fished, and I know that hunters and fishing folk are THE best conservationists on the planet because they REALLY care about taking care of the environment- but I need to actually "walk the walk" at least once in my life. I need to bring down an animal, butcher it, and eat it. Or find out that I can't. But one way or the other, I have to do this. Steaks do not arrive by magic in your supermarket in a hermetically sealed Styrofoam box. Steaks are animals that are killed and butchered before they wind up on your grill. As carnivores, we owe it to ourselves to "walk the walk" at least once in our lives so we "get it". I've done it with fish, but warm-blooded big game are a whole different kettle of fish, as they say.
But hunting in AK- where we originally wanted to go, as we both Love AK- hubs from living and hunting there for years while in the US Army, and me from 6 amazing weeks with the USCG as an Official USCG Artist (plug in "Elisse Jo Goldstein" and many of my 35 paintings in the USCG Art Collection will come up) and fishing in Kodiak- has become SO expensive that it's now only for the super-rich and independently wealthy: $15,000 PER PERSON for a one week, two person, one animal hunt?! But in Canada, hunts are still affordable for "normal people", and in British Columbia, Canada you can do a 2 person, 2 moose fully-guided hunt for about $8500- which, while expensive, is something that is at least Possible For Normal People to save up for. Over a year ago, when we found what we thought would be a great fully-guided hunt in BC, Canada (through posts I made on TripAdvisor's Canada forums), we decided that we'd better do this ASAP- while 1) we were still in good enough physical shape to do it, and 2) we still Wanted to do it! So Now Was The Time! As soon as we made the down payment on the hunt I went into Serious Trip Planning Mode, which meant plotting the 10-day drive to BC, Canada via www.mapquest.com in such a way that we could both use our 1000s of accrued hotel points for free hotel stays, and see and do a lot of cool stuff on the way! It also meant Shopping. :-) There was a LOT of stuff we truly needed for this hunt, including cold weather sleeping bags (that zip together- because he's my hubs and the love of my life, and I want to sleep in his arms even in the wilderness! ESPECIALLY in the wilderness!), hunting bibs and jackets, long underwear, hunting Glittens (glove-mittens with pop-off-tops), hunting boots, rain gear to go over our hunting bibs, hunting hats and socks, hunting knives, ammo, and a rifle for me that I could shoot accurately, but which wouldn't be so high-powered that it would flip me head-over-arse like Dan's did... (and no, that experience was Not a lot of fun. The blood running down my cheek freaked out a lot of people at the VA winery. LOL) Naturally, I also want to make a Major Style Statement, and so I began hunting on Cabela's and Wingsupply.com, as well as other hunting sites, to find what I Really wanted, and then on eBay & Overstock.com to try to score bargains!
The first thing we did was buy me a rifle- a Lady Savage- at Cabela's. Bob, the really knowledgeable guy at the Charleston, WV Cabela's, was Extremely helpful, and spent a LOT of time giving me a great deal of info and advice over the phone, and so Cabela's won our business. With all my wonderful research I was hoping to buy a used rifle with a short stock at Cabela's- perhaps a "youth" hunting rifle, or a "package" that included the rifle and the scope. Not happening. If you want a rifle with a short stock you have but one choice: a brand, spanking new Lady Savage. I went in expecting to pay $400 for a rifle and a scope, and wound up spending $1000 for the Lady Savage rifle, the Nikon scope, and a "shooting stick", which I can rest my rifle on to help my accuracy. It was great to get it all in one place, but financially it was a Truly Big Ouch... The funny part was seeing the Bubblegum Pink 22 Rifle at Cabela's. It is Too Freaking Cute- the Barbie Rifle to beat all- and I would have opted for it in a heartbeat, but a 22 is NOT going to bring down a moose! So I either have to bling out my Lady Savage with rhinestones and a glue gun, a la Martha Stewart, or just hang my Hello Kitty charm off the strap. LOL
The next thing I did was score the stuff we Truly need for this hunt: After a stupid amount of time-consuming online research (which I actually enjoy, as I am OCD... LOL), price-comparing, & perusing size charts and online reviews, I ordered the following things: zip-together sleeping bags, matching (LOL) RealTree Camo hunting bibs and jackets, pink thermals for me :-), Hunting socks (pink camo for me, normal stuff for Dan), a long-sleeved camo top for me (for that slimming "all camo" look), hunting "glittens" (glove-mittens) with pop-off tops & little magnets... Then I said "wot the hell" and got a roll of camo duct tape (because if I still have to bandage my wounded legs, by gum I am going to do it in style...) & a compact of camo face paint, so I can "be like a tree" and disappear into the woods- or not, depending on where & how I wear it. :-) WingSupply.com was an EXCELLENT source- best prices, and their customer service was superb- I highly recommend them! Cabelas.com was also great, and so was Overstock.com- I really have no complaints about any of the companies I ordered from!
On eBay I scored the Cabela's HER hunting boots and a fur-lined hunting hat (tres Elmer Fudd) that I really wanted, for Way less than retail (good women's hunting gear is Insanely expensive...), and RealTree Camo jeans (Note: I have No Problem with Gently Used Clothes, dating back to my 1975 NYC Antique Boutique days...), as well as some incredibly cool fun stuff: 6" camo spike platform heels with pink rivets, a RealTree & Pink rhinestone-encrusted handbag, RealTree & Pink polarized sunglasses, a huge Hello Kitty rhinestone purse charm & Hello Kitty Camo shirt, & the classic "Hello Kitty with a Rifle" pendant. Yes, Virginia, they really do make this stuff! Google "Hello Kitty Camo" and a LOT of stuff come up. Google "Real Tree Pink" and even MORE stuff comes up. When I saw the RealTree taffeta ball gown on eBay ($220) I almost wet myself with longing! LOL I have a dark brown velvet Coldwater Creek gown I got at Goodwill, which I think will look Absolutely Fabulous with those heels and that purse! :-)
Our plan is to drive from WV to northern BC, Canada, which is a 10 day trip, towing a freezer in the pick-up truck to (hopefully) bring back all that moose meat- moose kebabs are EXCELLENT! So naturally our chest freezer up and died, and Dan had to go out and buy us a new one- one big enough to hopefully bring back 1000 lbs. of moose meat!
After Boo-Boo Goldstein got her very own rifle, Hunter Dan and I piled His & Hers into the UTV & rode up into the wilderness of the McDowell County mountains, had a picnic, stuck targets up on a tree with duct tape, and practiced shooting. And, if I say so myself, I didn't do half bad! I learned that yes, I can still shoot, and still make Very Nice Groupings- meaning I can hopefully hit what I'm aiming at when the pedal hits the metal!