Why I Oughta...

Just a bit over one year ago, I posted a photo of the new expansion at Silver Beach Pizza in St. Joseph Michigan here on the blog .  They were said to be adding 70 new seats to this place that is ALWAYS packed. On our trip earlier this year in January up to Coloma, we - of course - made a trip to St. Joe's for a little Garlic Greek goodness. While there, I took some time to peek up at the new upstairs addition.  It is a 21-and-older area, which...I'll be honest...I'm not sure what it means. As I said, this place is always packed.  Tuesday afternoon.  There's a wait.  Saturday night.  There's a wait.  So, the new 70 seats will certainly help, but I'm uncertain of the impact on us.  And..since this is *my* blog, this post needs to be about me, right? Well, since it is a 21-and-older section, that means we're not going up there.  We're only ever at Silver Beach Pizza with our kids, so we're not allowed.  But, I'm hoping that the hostesses at

When we were at Disneyland, we made a stop in for lunch at one of the restaurants in New Orleans Square.  While waiting for our table, Nat and I took turns going to the bathroom while the other watched the kids.  Nat went first and when she came back, she pointed out that the infamous Club 33 door was on the way between where we were sitting and the bathrooms.  Of course, I had to investigate. Turns out, there isn't much there.  Just this ornate doorbell/intercom with the number '33' on it.  The story of the Club is of course, interesting.  And, while everyone's imagination goes wild all around the Disney Parks, this secret place that so few get to go ilicits so much ooo-ing-and-ahh-ing from the savvy Disney park visitor.  For everyone else...they probably walk by the non-descript door and not think twice about the shrimp cocktails and manhattans that are being consumed upstairs will the great unwashed devours our Monte Cristo sandwiches at the New Orleans Cafe.  

I wrote back in December about how my parents moved out of our home.  The only home I've ever known .  They moved in there - after building this place - in 1976 (I think.  Might have been 1975?  Either way...before I was born.). That's me and my three sisters along with my Mom and Dad taking one last photo in front of the 'house on the hill'.  My sister Vic wrote a very nice post on the Facebook about her memories that I can't top, but this milestone is hitting me with a long drip of melancholy.  It wasn't a full blast of sadness/memories when they sold and moved.  But now?  The idea that my parents have parted with their house keeps cropping up in my mind.  Perhaps it is because we're going through the house purchase/finding side of things ourselves.  Thinking that where ever we end up is going to be our 'forever house'.  This *was* my parents 'forever house'.  And it was a good one. The house holds many memories.  From holidays to wor

If you're ever looking to risk your life when arriving at a hotel stay, then look no further than the Valet pull-up at the Ace Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles.  Or...DTLA as they're saying these days. I took that photo after getting out of the front seat of our rental car minivan while attempting to unbuckle one of the kids from their carseat in the back seat.  There's about 18 inches of space once the sliding door is open between the light grey area of pavement and the line of traffic on Broadway that zooms by at pretty decent speeds. The drivers on Broadway don't give much bother to you, so you're basically taking your life into your own hands when you're valet parking at the Ace Hotel in DTLA.

 If you head over to Downtown Elmhurst today, you'll find this enormous hole in the ground at the site of the old Plass Appliance building on York Street.  It appears that the plan for the "York Building" - which includes condos upstairs and retail on the first floor is moving forward fast. With the Plass building down, it sure does make that building that holds Nu Crepes look better/more accessible, right?  Hopefully, the design of the new York Building will make that walkway/alley a bit more pedestrian friendly.  That...plus the new garage back there should mean more foot traffic.

A week or so ago, we cleaned out the trunk of Nat's old Honda Accord, which has been sitting in the alley at Equation Boy/Man's house for the past 8 months.  It is being transitioned to a new owner who will be able to utilize the car and we couldn't be more happy for that.   But, one of the happy by-products of cleaning out the car and getting it ready for the new owner was discovering some long-lost treasures.  One of them was a bouncy horse that needs a few springs to get back operational. But another was this Lemax Animated and Exterior Lighted Saw Mill from Menards.  I must have bought this two Christmas'es ago.  Maybe it was post-Christmas when they go on sale?  I can't recall, but I know that I usually won't add a new building to Mantleburg unless it is either awesome or super cheap. Mantleburg didn't come out this year because of our housing situation but once we figure out where we're going to end up, I'm certain that we'll have a n

 That's Santa sliding down what looks like a handle protruding from a chimney adorn'd with a wreath.  There's a lot going on there, eh?  I added this little Enesco pot to the collection and I'm thinking this was a florist piece back in the day where someone would send an arrangement in this pot with a handle.  For us?  It'll probably become a candy cane holder.  But, in order to see the light of day, we have to figure out housing situation out for 2016.  That's an emerging theme.  Can you tell?!?! BTW...this appears to be the final post about this vintage Christmas haul from 2015/2016's trip to Michigan.   Lucky you guys, right?