I am so thrilled to be back in my favorite place in the world, certainly my sentimental favorite. Ithaca is so full of memories that go back to my childhood when my parents– who met in Ithaca in college and loved this place — took my siblings and me here as kids to Cornell alumni university for a week each summer during the 1970s.
Then there were my own college years here (1977-1981) and then the wonderful summers I spent in the 1990s and early 2000’s with my husband and kids and my dear former college roommates.
After a 10 year absence, I’m back in a sweet cottage high above Cayuga’s waters that our dear friends now own, near the cottages we rented for several summers. Love it! We went to some of my touchstones- the Ithaca Farmers Market, Wegmans (best super market) and cream at the top (best ice cream stand cut into a cornfield: tonight’s flavors White lightening; Guatemalan Ripple).
And I feel particularly fortunate to be here because I almost ended up in Buffalo, a last minute possible diversion after fog hampered our initial landing at Tompkins County airport. our flight almost got diverted to Buffalo at the last minute. 
As we were preparing to land the plane suddenly seemed to be on the slowest landing possible . The pilot finally told us the fog had reached a level that did not permit landing so we were circling the airport in hopes it would clear. If it didn’t clear in 15 minutes we would be diverted to buffalo. (Why buffalo and not somewhere closer like Syracuse?) anyway we finally landed in the dark and still foggy night. Couldn’t be happier to see my old pals!!!
We were on our way to hear 19 – yes 19 – Democrats vying to be the presidential nominee in Iowa’s first-in-the-nation presidential contest. We were braced to be hungry — the Democratic party event in Cedar Rapids promised to be long, with little to no food. So what better time to visit the new cleverly-named Caucus Bistro in the small town of Ladora, Iowa — about midway between our house in Des Moines and the hotel ballroom in Cedar Rapids where Democrats including Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kirsten Gillibrand (see photo op below), Kamala Harris, Beto O’Rourke, Amy Klohbuchar and “Mayor Pete” (so-named because I can’t remember how to spell his last name, although I think I now know how to pronounce it).
Word has it over 900 people showed up last Saturday night (June 1) for the Des Moines Center’s first show to feature the artwork of LGBT&Q artists…The crowd included many members of the “queer” community, some drag queens, no shortage of presumably straight folks and me. It was a great celebration – with food, drink, music – and, of course, work by 15 artists that is well worth a visit to see! Oh and it also won a major prize from Sotheby’s: 
Today, for one last hurrah, my Aunt MAT took me for a delicious lunch at the classy restaurant in the Ritz Carlton. Not too shabby! And now, here at O’Hare, my carryon under-the-seat-only bag with the cheapest fare (aka basic) appears to have passed muster. What a memorable and action-packed trip to Chicago! Thx to my family there!!!
Some of my favorite Manet paintings are not in the new show at the Art Institute of Chicago but that’s okay because 1) I look at them all the time (the poster versions of Olympia and The Balcony) 2) there was so much else to see. The show is small, much smaller than the Bonnard show at The Tate Modern in London that I went to in March. But the lovely colorful portraits of elegantly dressed women and still lives of flowers bounced off the walls. Being in rooms full of these paintings made me happy, although they were painted during a sad period in Manet’s life, when he was sick and nearing death.
We also popped into a nearby room full of American painter’s work including Grant Wood’s American Gothic, a famous Edward Hopper and other great works by Georgia O’keefe, Diego Rivera and Thomas Hart Benton. A few user tips: I was glad we bought fast pass tickets online a few hours before we arrived. Saved us from standing in a long line. What I should have done was bought a membership for $70, rather than tix to the museum/special exhibit which cost $84 for two of us. (I need to do the math to see what it costs to bring a guest as a member.) Members also get discounts at the museum store which has some gear stuff, including jewelry by Chicago artists. And of course members can keep coming back without further payment.
Yes, Bike the Drive was definitely worth getting up at 5:30 a.m.. The chance to ride a bike along Lake Shore Drive with nothing except other bikes, albeit thousands of them, was much-appreciated. The annual event was orderly and well-organized, with lots of helpful volunteers, very little red tape or lines, and plenty of free food (bananas, apples, cliff bars, even designer coffee.) I was riding a borrowed 6-speed Schwinn with a very comfortable wide seat. The only minor challenge was making it up several minor inclines. Otherwise the route was flat and very scenic. I spotted sights along “LSD” I’d never seen during decades of zipping along it in my car.
We got lucky with the weather. The sky was overcast and dark at times but it never rained beyond some drizzle. At points, the sun almost came out and the lake looked beautiful, as did the dramatic skyline. What a treat to see some of the dramatic high-rise architecture along the river leading to the lake from new vantage points. And for a moment you had a feel for what might be if we were all less dependent on our gas-guzzling cars. I did recall, at times, the thrill of riding on some bike-only bridge in Copenhagen and, of course, the temporary bike-only rural roads in Iowa during RAGBRAI.
I rode a few blocks from Emma and Rockets in Edgewater to the BRyn Mawr entrance onto the Drive and rode south 8 miles to Grant Park where I met up wi5 my sister Jill and two of her friends who took the El in from Oak Park. I wanted to keep riding south but we sort of ran out of time (there are some timing issues to keep track of – and I am glad I started at 6:30 am) so we rode back north. next time, I may being my bike and ride all the way down and back, the earlier the better.
This afternoon we went to the Sunday farmers market in Logan Square and to delicious Bang Bang Pie shop, which serves, yes, pie — sweet and savory. We had excellent chocolate caramel pie and key lime pie (they’d run out of strawberry rhubarb) and sampled the chicken pot pie. Also had great homemade lemonade with free refills. We also walked Millie around E & R’s lovely Edgewater neighborhood.
We somehow managed to drive from Des Moines to Chicago last night without directly encountering any of the storms that were popping up all around us. Outside Iowa City on I-80, we saw scary looking white clouds (which may or may not have produced the tornado we learned touched down about 25 minutes before we passed through) and in Illinois, lightning lit up the dark night just south of us and north of us off and on. Needless to say, we were very happy when we got to Chicago around midnight.
Today, the weather was much more pleasant than anticipated in Chicago, sunny and warm instead of rainy. We spent two hours at the scoula on the second floor of eataly, taking a very fun cheese and wine tasting class that emma and rocket got me for my birthday. Great gift idea and we sampled 6 cheeses, and 3 “natural” wines and learned everything we ever wanted to know about to cheese from the cheesemonger.
TakeBetsywithyou 