Traveling Fool

This is a little different from my usual posts filled with my odd observations and witty advise. It's not an ad, well, it kind of is, but since it's for my own book, I think it's allowed. Back in 2006 I took a trip around the world for 49 days, by myself, before the world went mad. In 2007, I compiled my observations and pictures into a book called Oh, You're a Vegetable . Yeah, there's a story behind that, but you'll have to find out for yourself. I mention it here because this is my travel blog and I hope to use a little social networking to get the word out there. I also need to pay for my mom's couch. The book is available in ebook format and it looks good on your smart phone or your tablet. There are some pretty good reviews on the book and people have said they learned a lot, but also laughed a lot. It's a pretty good deal on Amazon , if I do say so myself. An old fashioned book Thanks for reading the blog(s) and thanks in advance for che...

After four days with my brother in Minnesota, we headed off to Chicago for the Peter Gabriel/Sting concert. I've mentioned before that I like to plan and my brother is a "let's see how it goes" kind of guy. We did have sort of an idea where we wanted to go, but there is so much to do and see and eat in Chicago, I wanted to make sure he had a great visit. We stayed at a hotel near the Midway airport which had a free shuttle to the Orange Line connection at the airport which worked perfectly for us (when I booked the tickets I had NO idea that Taste of Chicago was going on, which is why hotels in the city were booked or really expensive). My brother had not been on a plane in about 10 years, so he was super excited and really wanted a window seat; it was like he was 10 years old again. We got to the hotel and ordered pizza from Giordano's, which was extremely cheesy, but also filling enough for us to finally head into downtown. Chicago is a lot bigger than Cleveland...

My brother came out for a visit on July 4th. I picked him up in Rockford, Illinois, just like when he was little and we drove back to Minnesota. We were welcomed with fireworks from all over the Twin Cities area. We didn't get any good pictures, so you'll have to trust me. He really wanted to go back to the Mall of America, to see how it's changed and see all the stores (I only took him to the old Camp Snoopy; I mean what 7 year old wants to shop?) But, this 22 year old young man was all about the shopping. I think there are over 10 sneaker stores at the mall, and we went into every one. He's a great guy, and maybe one day I'll just write about him. No pictures of the mall, but if you haven't been there, it's an experience; there's plenty to do, tax-free shopping on clothes, the indoor amusement park, food for every taste, and great people watching. A lot of locals avoid it, but I don't mind going for specific things, this was my first real deep dive...