Ladee's Travels

Kalen and I went to the Ringo Starr concert at Dodge Theatre. We were in Section 206, Row 15, Seats 3 and 4. I didn't realize that this would be a collection of artists that make up the band. They all seemed to enjoy touring and playing together. Starr's All Starr band (the 10th to date) included an excellent group of musicians including: Billy Squire, Colin Hay of Men At Work, Edgar Winter, Gary Wright, Hamish Stuart of Average White Band and Greg Bissonette. Each of the band members performed hits from their respective catalogs. This meant Squire sang "The Stroke," Hay performed " Down Under," Wright belted out "Dream Weaver" (a song he said George Harrison partly inspired), Stuart led the band on the funky "Pick Up The Pieces" and Winter's monstrous "Frankenstein" made an appearance. Fun night! I introduced Kalen to "Crazy Jim's" for dinner and the new super secret parking spot. Fast in...fast out. The conce...

At Cricket, Section 203, second section from the stage and in the middle. He is an extremely talented guitarist. It was fun to hear the songs that I knew, but incredible to watch him play. He started with the backup band, but at some point at the end came on stage with only his acoustic guitar and his voice. I was thrilled. Of course, the people in front of me had to stand and dance during the show.

As if I knew who she was. Warm up to John Mayer. Recognized a few songs.

The Phipps Conservatory is filled with beautiful plants, trees and flowers. There was a Thailand exhibit, but it didn't have enough flowers to suit our fancy. They also had a chocolate exhibit, but this seemed to be more for the kids to understand where chocolate comes from and how it is made. We did join in on the "get a free piece of chocolate" part of the exhibit. Yum! The most beautiful flowers is in the section which houses the orchids. I stopped to photography them all! As a very special surprise, we were able to see the Dale Chihuly artwork throughout the gardens. We are fans and admirers and this was a delight.

We started the day with a visit to the Frick House. The home is preserved with its orginal Victorian decore. It is located on "Millionaire's Row" and had been accompanied by the homes of Carnegie, Mellon, and other wealthy Pittsburgh industrialists. This is the last surviving home. You are not allowed to touch anything in the house, as it is about 95% of the original possessions of the family. They did have some "hands on" exhibits to add to the educational experience of the tour. This woman showed us the box that was used to store a fancy beaver top hat. The box closed (under the hat) was used to store cuff and collar stays. It took us about 2.5 hours to finish the 1.5 hour tour, so we decided that it would be best to get a light lunch before moving on to the next stop of our day event. The on property cafe was very nice, and we ate outside. I had Wild Mushroom and Chevry Mousse soup with Insalata Caprese. I wanted the Caprese because it had w...

A very funny show put on by the Civic Light Opera. There is a murder and all of the suspects are on stage. The audience then participates to determine who is guilty. Hilarious! Here I am with the cast. Can you pick me out of the line-up?

Took a 2.5 hour river tour, with the presentation of "Lords of the Mon". We traveled north on the Monongahela River while the presenters discussed the coke, iron and steel mills and the industry. The first photo is of a bridge, called a "Hot Metal Bridge". The hot metal was transported from one factory to the other across the river, and the bridge was reinforced to prevent disasters. Mom told us that her father had been driven some of the trains that did this type of work. This is at the Carnegie Steel works in Homestead. The mill is now a shopping center, but the pump house remains. It is the scene of the great "Battle at Homestead " in July of 1892, complete with locked-out steelworkers, and 300 Pinkerton agents. The link has this summary: "This event was the culmination of failed contract bargaining between the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers led by Hugh O’Donnell and Homestead Burgess John McLuckie, and Carnegie Steel led b...

Ok, so this is not the best picture. We had spent the morning on the river boat, and came back to the William Penn for a Victorian Tea. We were all hungry and didn't think about taking a photo of the finger sandwiches, scones and pastries until it was too late. The service was good and friendly, and the food was excellant. (Reservations required.)

We celebrated Mom's birthday at LeMont. The restaurant has maintained some of the original formal atmosphere and the view is awesome. We were still a little full from lunch, so we ate light. Our appetizer was a brie with fruit. Mom had chicken. Ginan had veal. I had shrimp. The view of the city with the lights on throughout the city.

We parked at river level, and then took the Duquesne Incline to the top of Mt. Washington. This is the way to go to get to the top, for the view is beautiful and these inclines are one of the few left in the country. Great view from the observation deck at the top.

What a surprise. This was a magnificant adventure and I am truly a new fan. We went through the introductory exhibit to understand his life and art, and then toured the six other floors. The Warhol Cafe was in the bottom floor and had surprisingly good food.

I am in Pittsburgh with my sister and mother. The flights today were wonderful, with just a little delay leaving the Dallas airport. We are staying at the Omni William Penn is a great updated room. Check back for photos!

Yes, I am very nostalgic about my trip last year to Paris. It doesn't seem as if it has been a full year. To keep in the spirit, I am joining in on two celebrations for Bastille Day. No, it is not the Eiffel Tower, but this time I get to drink that fine French wine from a glass instead of a plastic container. Curious? See July 2007. On with the celebration of Bastille Day in Phoenix! La Fete de la Prise de la Bastille 5 Course Tasting Menu This was truly a magnificent meal. Dinner reservations were for 7PM and the restaurant was nearly full. Serge seated me at the "table reservation pour deux". I practiced a few of my French phrases as I inquired about his day and wished him well. Then he started a full conversation (the French have a tendency to do this with me when they think that I can chat about more than the pleasantries) and I answered the best I could and switched to English as a sign that he had exhausted my vocabulary. I invited Karl to join me in the Tasting Men...

Ginan was telling me about a woman that she works with and the wonderful discovery of Ethiopian food. It sounded so good and was something that I had never tried. So, during her visit in the early part of June we decided to meet with Kalen and sample the tastes and spices. We were not disappointed, and may be new fans. We ordered the Lalibela Exclusive (suggested for a party of three) so that we could taste everything. It is a big combo platter. This is great because you get to try everything. You get a tortilla like bread and use it to eat the food. See the hand in the picture? That is Ginan demonstrating. I learned from her that you turn the plate to put your favorite thing in front of you. Tricky. The menu describes it as: A combination of doro wat, kye sega wat, alicha sega wat, misir wat, gomen, yebere sega tibs, fosolia, yebeg alicha sega wat, tikil gomen and yekik alicha served with ayeb and selata. Not much help, is it? Here, this may help. This is also from their menu. Do...

Welcome to the Tocasierra Spa! The Tocasierra Spa is at the Pointe Hilton, Squaw Peak Resort. It is on 16th Street North of Glendale Avenue in Phoenix. It is tucked away in the back of the resort and is a fitness facility for locals as well as offering spa treatments. The entrance has the same Spanish architecture as the Point Resort. I used the fitness facility and rode the bike for a mile, and then walked four miles. (I'm trainingfor my 60 mile 3Day walk!) The pool is not close to the Spa, so I decided to relax a bit to prepare for my massage. The waiting room was a little small, with a small couch, two chairs and a three chair/table setting. No place to lounge and fall asleep. The locker room and shower area was clean with plenty of towels, showers, and a steam room. I'm trying to decide what to do to tile my bathrooms in the house, so I always find the resorts interesting. This used very large tiles for the walls, with smaller ones on the shower floor. The stripe about...