Lobster Knife Fight and Darth Vader

Ft. Leavenworth, KS and Kansas City, MO

I had the assignment of teaching a 10 day class at Ft. Leavenworth, KS. It was really my first visit to the Mid-West, other than driving through on I-80. I didn't see either prison (military or federal) during my time there. But I did spend a lot of time on Post (I learned the hard way not to call an Army installation a "Base") getting my car searched and parking very far away from the training facility.

While I was training in Kansas, I ended up staying in the northern part of Kansas City, MO. It took me about a half an hour to drive to Ft. Leavenworth and it was a great drive. There was no traffic and the drive took me through some lovely farmland. Plus I didn’t have to stay in Leavenworth, where the hotels were a bit sketchier than in Kansas City. Everyday I passed these amazing farm houses. I couldn’t believe how big they were. I also wasn’t freaked out by the farms, which is a sign of real growth. I think I handled the farms with such grace because the land was hilly. Long stretches of flat land freaks me out. I don't know why, but I think it is because I grew up surrounded by hills. I just don't trust those flat horizons.

I don’t think I have ever met so many nice people as I did in Missouri and Kansas. Everywhere I went people were kind, friendly, and helpful. More impressive than the friendliness was the sincerity behind it all. I really felt that everyone wanted me to have a nice day.

Unfortunately, most of my time in Kansas City it rained but I did get a few nice evenings to see the sights. One of the first nights I drove into the city and went to the Savoy Grill. It is a restaurant founded in 1903 and is the oldest restaurant in Kansas City. I love the décor, as it is every early 20th Century. The murals on the walls are original and date back to 1903. While the Savoy Grill specializes in seafood (the lobsters are HUGE) I had a tenderloin steak in mushroom sauce that was fantastic. Although the place is a bit pricy, it was totally worth it for the great food and cool atmosphere.

I used one of the local Kansas City independent newspapers, Pitch, to find good places to eat. Since I love potstickers I decided to try a place called Po’s Dumpling Bar. Po’s is located in the hippie section of Kansas City, right next to the alternative bookstores, incense markets, and vintage clothing shops. I didn’t love Po’s as much as I hoped I would. The pork buns were some of the best I have ever had, but the potstickers and lo mein were not great. The potstickers looked more like Chinese crepes than the more traditional dumpling. The lo mein had way too much garlic. The car smelled for days of garlic from just the ride home. Afterwards I found yet another Half Price Books (I look in every place I visit) and I spent a good amount of time shopping for books I don’t need.

In Kansas City there is an area called the Zona Rosa that has a lot of shopping and restaurants. I decided to go to Abuelo’s Mexican Food Embassy. While I don’t think the food stood out from any other chain restaurant Mexican food, the guacamole and the service were excellent.

On my last day in Kansas City I took a side trip to Liberty, MO. In Liberty is a historical site for the church where Joseph Smith was illegally incarcerated for about 5 months. I generally avoid studying religious history, but I figured I was in the area. It turned out to be a nice hour long tour that was interactive.

After the tour I headed back into Kansas City to go to Arthur Bryant’s BBQ. According Pitch it is the best BBQ in the area. I love pulled pork and theirs was moist and well smoked. I decided to also try the brisket, but I don’t like brisket as much because it generally is a bit dry. Arthur Byrant’s is visited by a lot of celebrities. There were pictures of Sally Fields, Stephen Spielberg, John Lithgow and I just missed John McCain and Sarah Palin by a week. I will say that I didn’t care for the house barbecue sauce as it had a lot of vinegar. I preferred the Hot and Sweet because I like sweeter barbecue sauce.

While I was glad to get home after 10 days of work, I had a good time in Missouri/Kansas. I would love to go back and eat more food.

Next Trip – Chisinau, Moldova

Wolf Trap

In September Shelley and I went to Wolf Trap to see Les Miserables. It is my favorite musical and Shelley had never been. I had seen the production once before when I was 14. My parents gave me tickets to see the play at the Curran Theater in San Francisco. It was the first time I had ever seen a Broadway-level production and I had such an amazing night. I dressed up and went into The City, ate at a nice restaurant, and headed off to a night at the theater. I think very fondly of that night because I felt so sophisticated and grown up.

When I found out that Les Miserables was playing at Wolf Trap I decided that I had to go. While I was willing to go by myself, I was able to sweet talk Shelley into not only coming with me but also forking out good money for expensive seats (sadly Seabreeze was out of town). It turned out to be a good investment as it rained most of the night and the poor saps on the lawn seats got totally drenched.

I didn’t really understand the concept that Wolf Trap was an outdoor theater with some covered seating. While it is really cool to have the outdoors and the theater together in one (it reminded me of the times I went to the California Shakespeare Festival in Orinda) I don’t like getting rained on. Also, being open to the outdoors also means no air conditioning (which I have professed my love for on various blogs). The humidity was killer and I could not fan myself enough. The play, however, was outstanding and worth every penny; Les Miserables never disappoints.

Getting my car out of the parking lot proved to be difficult to the torrential rain. Luckily I plan for every contingency so Shelley and I sat in the car and watched episodes of “The Soup,” until the lot cleared out. God bless Joel McHale for being so hilarious.

Please note that I know I look slightly demonic in this picture. I am a bit freaked out - but there is no reason to punish Shelley because I am not photogenic. We tried to capture some more visually interesting pictures but lighting made it really difficult to capture any of the cool architecture of the facility.
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Prepare Thyself for Merriment - the Maryland Renaissance Festival

My friends Cameron and Lindsay Sanders invited me to attend the “Maryland Renaissance Festival” with them back in September. I had never been to a “RenFest” (as I learned to call it after overhearing some hardcore fans refer to the festival) but I felt it was worth a shot. I also remember a lot of references to renaissance festivals on the show Gilmore Girls. In any event I was not going to miss out on an exciting day of medieval fun.

When Cameron and Lindsay picked me up, there was a guy sitting in the front seat. At first I though they were trying to casually set me up, but no such luck. The guy turned out to be married so I didn’t bother remembering his name. I know that sounds callous, but I have to remember so many names that I am not going to waste my time on some guy that I will never date. No offense dude.

The first thing I remember about the RenFest is the absolute culture shock I experienced. It was surreal and that doesn’t even begin to describe how out of sorts I felt. I cannot believe how much effort people put into getting medieval. They must spend hundreds of dollars on outfits and accessories. Personally I would rather shop at Nordstrom than at a booth at a renaissance festival – but I have my own weird stuff that I do so I am not really in a position to judge. The details that go into the clothing are astounding. The whole festival carries the gravitas of a Goth prom. I left being very impressed by peoples commitment to the Renaissance. One thing I would like eliminate from the RenFest is the bad, fake British accent. It was painful…please just speak in your native accent. A good costume will compensate for the fact that you are not really from 16th Century Britain.

I guess what shocked me most is that I had no idea that this subculture existed. I had heard of renaissance faires but I never knew anyone that attended. I guess this explains all those students that liked to fake swordfight on the lawns at BYU. I also found it kind of refreshing that all these people have found a way to embrace their love of Henry VIII, drinking horns, jousting, and bralessness.

There is also a very predominate “bimbo” subset of the RenFest crowd. So many women saw this as an opportunity to wear little to no clothing. Every culture has their tramp contingent so I shouldn’t have been too surprised. What was strange is that so many people put a lot of effort into wearing so few clothes. I would also venture to say that Renaissance clothing is particularly challenging for the busty gal.

Overall I had a really good time, far better than I expected. Lindsay and I got massages (from local massage therapists so it wasn’t creepy) in this lovely grove of trees. Cameron and the other guy got to see jousting and sword fighting.

I also learned a lot about entertainment and history while I was there. Primarily:
• In olden times, all food was served on sticks. This includes but is not limited to turkey, macaroni and cheese, chicken, fruit, and cheesecake.
• People really like tricks that include swords and whips. I guess that helps to explain some of the appeal to men of the Indiana Jones series. I think for women it is just a young Harrison Ford in a fedora. Yum.
• Medieval humor can actually be funny and quite bawdy. I guess some things that are funny never change.
• Guys find anything made for a woman out of chainmail sexy.
• Drinking horns are far too expensive.

Thanks again to Lindsay and Cameron for the invite. I had a blast. Shelley was so disappointed that she couldn’t go. Maybe next year Cameron and Shelley can go to the RenFest while Lindsay and I go shopping at the Ikea near by. Sound like a good time for everyone.

Jordan

Portsmouth, VA

Instead of teaching a course, I had the opportunity to attend a course by the National White Collar Crime Center on investigating financial crimes. While I tried to attend the course in Anchorage, Alaska my boss wouldn’t go for it. Instead I attended the course in Portsmouth, VA. I decided to drive from Reston to my hotel in Norfolk. A road trip that was supposed to last about 3.5 hours took me almost 5.5 hours. Stupid I-95. I chose to stay in Norfolk, which is close to Portsmouth, because the Hilton there was offering double points. I can’t resist.

Driving in Norfolk and Portsmouth is a lot like driving in the Bay Area. You have to take into account bridges and tunnels. According to MapQuest it should have only taken 13 minutes to get from my hotel to the Portsmouth Police Station. That is not the case as it usually took me between 30-45 minutes depending on traffic. I probably should have stayed a bit closer, but there is not a lot in Portsmouth to make it appealing.

The best part of the course was the fellow attendees. I had so much fun learning from all the police officers and prosecutors in the course. We often went out at night and had dinner together. We even went and walked on the Virginia Beach boardwalk, which I must admit looked a lot better than when I was there six years ago. The statue of Neptune is spectaular. I was a bit of a buzz killer as I was recovering from a sinus infection and didn’t have a lot of energy.

Next trip – Ft. Leavenworth, KS

Mt. Vernon, VA

My friend Evan is awesome. He decided that we (Shelley, Evan, and I) needed to go visit Mt. Vernon, the home of George Washington. Luckily, I was in town for the weekend and the weather wasn’t too terrible for August in Northern Virginia.

Evan picked Shelley and me up and here is where Evan’s awesomeness really came into play: his car was pristine and he packed a cooler of snacks. Anyone that packs a cooler of snack (including waters and soda) is perfect in my book because I rarely think that far in advance.

Now I had been to Mt. Vernon about 12 years ago during my high school DC trip. I wasn’t that impressed by the place and had never been eager to return. Shelley, however, was dying to go and who can say no to that face? Also, the Mt. Vernon Ladies Association just renovated the museums and visitor’s center. Perhaps it was time for me to give Mt. Vernon another chance.

When we arrived we first went to the visitor’s center and watched a movie about George and Martha Washington. The movie was pretty good and I swear there were some actors that I had seen on Law & Order episodes. Pat Sajak also introduced Mt. Vernon and the video. It is always good to see Pat.

Evan arranged for us to take a boat ride up the Potomac. I don’t go on boats often, but I am always glad when I do. It was a lovely ride and the breeze off the water kept us very comfortable. I will admit that the girl reading the narration was not very enthusiastic – but it didn’t ruin the experience in any way.

The new visitor’s center had a lot of cool multimedia presentations. There is one theater that accounts Washington’s crossing of the Delaware. It was an interactive presentation that had falling snow. Now because I am nosy, I overheard that the snow was falling only on the right side of the theater. I was Machiavellian in getting us on the snowy side of the theater, and it was so worth the trouble.

The actual home of Washington is quite lovely with an incredible view of the Potomac. I enjoyed my trip much more this time around. I think I could have lived in that home (as long as I could modernize with air conditioning). Overall I really enjoyed the tour, except for the annoying little kids – but that is a long rant that I won’t repeat.

Evan told us that there was a restaurant at Mt. Vernon that serves colonial cuisine, and Shelley loves colonial cuisine. Unfortunately it was closed for a wedding (stupid wedding). It worked out just fine in the end as Shelley and I took Evan to Kabob Palace, which serves the best kabobs in the DC area. So delicious.

I just want to give a shout out to Evan for planning such a great excursion. I had a blast.