Sloan Park aka Wrigleville West before fans filter in. (J Jacobs photo)
Not sure when our weather predicting ground hogs thought spring was putting in an early appearance but waiting for that warm weather to come to Chicago while sunning in Arizona is looking pretty good right now.
Besides, both Chicago baseball teams are there and won’t be back home until April; the 8th for the Cubs against the Padres and the 4th against the Mariners for the Sox. And their spring training facilities are in good vacation areas.
The Cubs’ Sloan Park, otherwise known by its somewhat similar layout and vendors as Wrigleyville West, is in Mesa.
An easily doable, laid back town with a couple of museums, outlet shopping, and is down the road from good restaurants, mountain scenery, and close to highways.
You’ll know Sloan Park in Wiglleyville by the street signs: Waveland Avenue is on the north, Sheffield Avenue is on the east and Clark street on the west.
Cubs tickets at other teams’ AZ parks might be easier to get than at Sloan and visiting other parks is also fun.
Go to spring training and wave your Chiago White Sox cap. (M Temkin photo)
Camelback Ranch, in Glendale is the spring home of the Chicago White Sox.and shared with the LA Dodgers.
In Glendale, a suburb of Phoenix, visitors get all the advantages of Phoenix’s terrific museums and its famed botanic garden but are close to White Sox action.
At last report, spring training tickets are still available for Camelback Ranch but do check for Sox games in the area
More tips from guest travel writer Arlene Davis who enjoys traveling alone at age 76.
Pack light! (J Jacobs Photo)
Decide what kind of trip you want: Are you a theater-goer, a sports nut, a walker? I spent 3 weeks in London never went to the theater; that just doesn’t appeal to me; I would rather be out walking. By deciding on your type of trip, you can pack accordingly (see “Pack Light”).
Pack light: You don’t need a fresh t-shirt every day. If it’s warm, your shirt may need to be hung outside the closet so it ‘airs out’ a little. A day or two later you can wear it again. While you might not be “out of the shower fresh”, who cares? At some point that shirt will need to go into the outside pocket of your suitcase to be laundered at home, but on this trip it can be worn for several days. The same is true for shorts, slacks, etc. Coordinate tops and bottoms so every top can be worn with whatever shorts or slacks you are taking.
Disposable underwear (don’t laugh): The smartest thing I pack is disposable underwear. They are individually wrapped (look like Tampax) and fit easily into all corners of your suitcase. It’s wonderful not to worry about finding a laundry in some out-of-the-way place. Wear ‘em and toss ‘em. When you add the cost into the total cost of your trip, the expense is negligible.
I purchase mine from the Magellan’s Travel website. If I’m on a trip lasting more than 4 days, disposable undies go with me.
Soap your shoes: Small wrapped hotel-type bars of soap are perfect to keep your shoes smelling fresh. Place 2 bars of soap (still wrapped) into each shoe overnight. You’ll be amazed at how your shoes are ‘ready to go’ the next day. I’ve used the same bars of soap for several weeks. This way you can pack only one pair of sturdy walking shoes. My trips never include ‘dress-up’ days or evenings, so my one pair of cross-trainers is enough to carry me for the whole trip, without having to pack more.
Talk to (almost) everyone: Standing in line in a market, waiting to be seated in a restaurant, waiting for public transportation, etc., start a conversation with someone else in line. While on a bus in a small village in the Costswolds (England), I met a woman who has become a close, valued friend over the last 11 years. Of course, language can be a barrier, but it’s surprising how many travelers know enough English to have a conversation. It makes waiting much more pleasant, and it’s fun to talk to someone from another corner of the world.
American Airlines at O’Hare International Airport. (J Jacobs photo)
Here are five tips from guest travel writer Arlene Davis that make up Part I:
Arlene Davis is a 76-year-old world traveler who took her first trip overseas at the age of 65 where she was clearly hit by the travel bug. These days she loves to explore alone and has picked up quite a few savvy rules of the road along the way. She’s now sharing her best travel trips for women who would like to “go solo.”
Do your homework
Request brochures from travel companies, tourism bureaus, use the library, etc. Decide what you want to see and how much time to devote to each. Figure out what attractions are near each other so you can see more than 1 each day. Have your days planned out, but leave lots of time for unexpected finds along the way. If you’re lucky enough to have more than just a few days, try not to exhaust yourself. You can start out at 10 a.m. after a leisurely breakfast, and plan to be done sightseeing by 4 p.m. Then you have enough time to rest and relax before going out to dinner.
Plan ahead
Prior to my first trip to England, I purchased tickets online to many of the most popular tourist attractions; i.e., Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, etc. I was able to walk past long lines of people waiting to purchase their tickets and be admitted immediately. Most tickets have a 5-7 day window of time to use them. I also had all my train and bus tickets between London, Bath, and the city where I stayed in the Cotswolds.
Be flexible
In addition to advance planning, be sure to remain flexible. I can’t count the number of times I was headed to a particular place and en route something else caught my attention and it was hours before I reached my original destination. These little diversions are one of the great joys of traveling on your own and not being locked into anyone else’s schedule.
Live like (and with) a ‘Local’
Name brand chain hotels are pretty much the same the world over. Try to stay in a small, family-owned hotel/inn. The desk clerk at the name hotel will steer you to all the typical tourist-y places, while the local owner will know exactly what restaurant serves the food you are craving. The accommodations may be a little “quirky” and not what you’d expect in a typical name-brand hotel, but isn’t that one of the reasons you travel? I rely on books by Rick Steves, available at your local library, for recommendations to local inns.
Go with the flow
When things aren’t exactly up to the same standards as in the U.S., remind yourself that you intentionally left the U.S. to absorb a different culture. When the shower’s water pressure feels more like someone dribbling on you, don’t tell the front desk “Back in the U.S. we have …” Delete that phrase from your vocabulary for the entire trip. If it takes an extra two minutes to rinse out shampoo, so what? If the bathroom is so small you have to turn sideways to get into the minuscule stall shower, so what? Enjoy each and every experience, no matter how different from back home, they make wonderful stories to tell.
After the prediction. (Photo courtesy of Woodstock Groundhog Organization)
Maybe the handlers of Punxsutawney Phil in Pennsylvania and Woodstock Willie in Illinois decided the Midwest and Northeast US deserved spring.
But whatever guideline they used from how cloudy it was when they woke their respective groundhogs early in the morning Feb. 2 when no shadow was seen, to possibly consulting the Farmers’ Almanac, they both announced an early spring for 2019.
Hearing Woodstock Willie’s winter prediction. (Photo courtesy of the Woodstock Groundhog Org.)
Maybe you don’t believe that a groundhog, a large member of the squirrel family also called a woodchuck, can predict if spring will come soon or if winter will remain will stay around six weeks past Feb. 2.
The historic background of Groundhog Day, supposedly founded in a European agriculture belief, doesn’t really matter if you loved the Harold Ramis/Danny Rubin movie that came out in 1993.
What should motivate you to travel to Woodstock, IL, about an hour northwest of Chicago, is that the town celebrates Groundhog Day every Feb. 2 by reenacting the movie’s prognostication, showing the movie and giving tours of the movie’s Woodstock sites. It’s fun and free.
Even though the action supposedly takes place in Punxsutawney, PA with groundhog Punxsutawney Phil, most of the movie was filmed around the picturesque square in Woodstock, a location within commuting distance of Harold Ramis’ north suburban home.
The fun begins very early in the morning with groundhog Woodstock Willie taken from his tree-trunk abode. A whispered conference that really depends on if it’s sunny enough for Willie to see his shadow and so scurry back into his hole for six more weeks or cloudy enough for him to stay out because Spring is on the way.
Woodstock Square and ‘Groundhog Day’ movie sites. (Photo by J Jacobs)
It all takes place on the town’s square with a polka band playing in the bandstand as in the movie. Surrounding the Square are such recognizable “Groundhog Day” places as the tall structure that really is Woodstock’s historic opera house, its old-fashioned movie house, the café and the slippery “Bing” stoop
So, go see the reenactment at 7 a.m. Feb. 2, the movie at 10 am Feb. 2 or Feb. 3, the walking tour of movie sties at 1L30 Feb. 2, 12:30 Feb. 3. ending with hot cider at the B&B where Bill Murray as TV weatherman Phil Conners, stayed and woke up to the radio alarm every morning, every morning, every morning. The event will feature actor Stephen Tobolwski who ‘Groundhog Day’ fans know as Ned Ryerson.
Make the trip easy tby snagging a reservation at , the Cherry Tree Inn, the B&B where Phil Conners stayed. (if filled this year, try for next year), or one of the nearby roadside hotels like the Best Western.
NASA photo of a lunar eclipse June 15, 2011. (Photo courtesy of NASA)
Look up the night of Jan 20 into morning of Jan 21. You won’t need a telescope or special glasses. It’s a “Supermoon,” “Wolfmoon,” “Bloodmoon. Ooh, it’s disappearing.
Eclipse Times
About midnight, CT, the full moon will have fully moved in its orbit between the earth and the sun. so it won’t be reflecting the sun’s rays. The total eclipse will last a long time – an hour.
The Adler Planetarium site lists Central Times for when it begins and happens as partial eclipse starting at 9:34 pm, and total eclipse from 10:41 to 11:43 pm, Jan. 20. Then watch as the moon emerges from behind the earth Jan.l 21.
In Universal Time the eclipse will last almost 3½ hours from the beginning of the partial phase at 3:34 UT until it ends at 6:51 UT. Totality lasts 63 minutes, from 4:41 to 5:44 UT.
Moon Names
So why “Supermoon?” “The moon’s orbit is not a perfect circle,” said Adler Director of Public Observing Michelle Nichols. “Sometimes it is closer to earth so it looks larger,” Nichols said. She noted that the closest it will come near the eclipse will be during the day of Jan. 21 at 1:59 p.m. She calls the appearance of the rising moon seeming to loom large, “an optical illusion.”
She suggested viewers use the thumb test. “Put an arm straight out and cover the moon with your thumb. Then, do it again later when the moon is over head. It will be the same size.”
“Bloodmoon” is a term describing the moon’s color during total eclipse. “Sometimes it looks brick red, sometimes grayish. The sunlight is reflecting at the edge of the earth. The earth has blotted out the blue of the sun so sometimes it could be reddish sometimes grayish. It also depends on how dusty the earth’s atmosphere is,” Nichols said.
“Wolfmoon” is a term for the first full moon of the year, acquired over the years similar to Harvest Moon and Hunter Moon. It also has other names such as Ice Moon according to Time and Date
which explains that people often named the full moons according to the seasons and the phenomena they associated with its time of year.
Where to Watch
View outside your abode. See it happening inside on a live stream at Time and Date Live which will be streaming the event on its site.
But to appreciate and enjoy the lunar eclipse with astronomers go over to the Adler for “Lunapalooza.” The outside observing part is free. Inside events, adults $12, children $8 (members free) include seeing the new Adler show “Imagine the Moon” which charts how people considered the moon over the centuries. Lunar eclipse
Chicago Boat Show at McCormick Place (Photo courtesy of Chicago Boat Show)
Time to start thinking about leisure time, outdoor sports and the next vacation. To get ideas or just enjoy the fun parts of two, get-out-and-do-something shows, check out the The Chicago Boat, RV & Sail Show that takes over McCormick Place’s South building Jan. 9 through Jan. 13 and the Chicago Travel and Adventure Show that moves into the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont Jan. 12-13, 2019. They both will likely have you drooling, wishing or planning.
Chicago Boat, RV & Sail Show™ is not just about walking around and admiring boats or having “inchitis” to move up to a larger craft. See the seminars available to learn more about what you are already doing or hope to do.
If you stop by sponsor Progressive’s Boat Club that is working with the Annapolis School of Seamanship you may get some tips on docking techniques (docking pool) and you can experience a Virtual Reality boating session.
As to the travel aspect, Corona will be encouraging visitors to “Find their Beach) at its Beach Bar & Cantina to put you in a boating frame of mind.
Then there is a booth to test your boating skills (A429) and a Build-a-Boat at Chicago Maritime Arts Center’s section for youngsters and adults. Or let the kids (age 12 and younger) fish for free at Huck’s Pond.
Paddle board enthusiasts or wannabees can see demos and get how-to instruction while sailboat racing aficionados and hopefuls can try remote control sailboat racing or take a free sailing lesson with a simulator.
For those visitors who envision traveling now that they are retired or want to travel with their possessions, there is the RV Info Center with models and experts to fit all needs.
DETAILS: McCormick Place South, 2301 S Lake Shore Drive Chicago IL 60616., Jan. 9-13, 2019. Admission is free to age 12 and younger and $15 age 13 and older but save $2 by purchasing tickets online in advance through Jan,. 8. Senior Day is Jan. 9 to pay $10 for ages 62 and older. For hours, other information and tickets visit Chicago Boat Show.
Find out about the places you have only dreamed of visiting. Photo courtesy of Travel and Adventure Show)
The Chicago Travel and Adventure Show is a chance to hear about vacation destinations from Africa, Asia and Australia to closer to home adventures in North, Central and South America.
Visit and chat with exhibitors, hear travel experts and sit in on travel seminars. Some of the fun things to do are take SCUBA lessons in a dive pool and take a camel ride, really!
There will also be a trip door prize and giveaways from many booths.
DETAILS: Chicago Travel and Adventure Show is at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center’s Hall F, 5555 N. River rd., Rosemont, IL 6001 Jan. 12-13, 2019.. Tickets are $15 for one day, $22 two days to ages 17 and older and free to children age 16 and younger. Tickets are available at a discount on line for a limited time. For hours and tickets visit Travel and Adventure Show.
You get the gist of this escape. It’s a trip back to mid last century architecture and homes of famous people who wanted to be within a director’s calling distance of LA studios or not too far from Las Vegas stages.
A mere 119 miles southeast of Los Angeles and about 230 miles from Las Vegas, Palm Springs, CA sits on the always sunny (more than 350 days) western edge of Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert. The events just mentions are a few of the dozens of tours and activities taking place in and around Palm Springs during the town’s annual Modernism Week, Feb. 14-24, 2019.
The bonus is two, really good shows in the Palm Springs Convention Center. Feb. 15-18, 2019. One is the high-end, Art Palm Springs. The other is a dealers’ Modernism exhibit. Feb. 15-18.
The week, actually 10 days, celebrates the area’s reputation for having more mid-last century homes than anywhere else in the world. Here, old homes are not torn down but are instead, preserved for people who appreciate mid-1900s designs. Indeed, the National Trust for Historic Preservation put the area on its America’s Dozen Distinctive Destinations architecture list in 2006.
Modernism Week happens twice a year, October and February. The fall event is small but the February one runs out of tickets to some of the popular tours and lectures. Check Tickets to see what is left and snap them up before you go.
Bus tour of Palm Springs (David A. Lee photo)
Do a bus tour
Definitely get tickets for the Premier Double Decker Architectural Bus Tour. Taking about 2.5 hours, the bus drives around Mid-Century Modern neighborhoods, and past Desert Spanish estates.
Knowledgeable guides tell stories about the stars and are likely to explain that the Palm Springs area was chosen because of what was then the studios’ “two-hour rule.” Actors had to be available within a couple of hour’s driving time for film and photo shoot calls..
It’s where tour guides have been known to say, “There is Frank Sinatra’s home, Twin Palms. When he was ready to party he hoisted a Jack Daniels flag between the palms.”
Mid-century architecture is so valued that the much photographed gas station at the foot of the area’s Tram, is on the tour as a re-purposed Visitors Center.
Presidents Dwight Eisenhower and Barack Obama have gotten away from cameras here but it is also a resort and golf area for folks who like its year-round summery weather.
Go to the Convention Center shows
At the Modernism Show, wander around the booths of dealers who specialize in 20th century design movements to see furniture and accessories similar to what your parents or grandparents cherished that are now back in style.
At the Art Palm Springs show check out the post war and contemporary art works.
Shop, Visit Galleries, Relax
There is so much to do during Modernism Week, that you should schedule in down-time. Stay awhile to explore the area, shop the boutiques and art galleries. One of the best galleries is Heather James in neighboring Palm Desert. Oh, and get in some golf and spa time. The Greater Palm SpringsVisitors Bureau has lots of ideas.
You don’t need half the stuff in your closet and drawers. Emulate travel writers.
On a recent trip to South Padre Island, none of the four of us travel writers had more than a roller board carry-on plus handbag.
The spinner (four turning wheels at the base) is best for easy walking and the handbag strap fits easily over the suitcase’s pop-up handle so you are basically hands free.
Ladies, you probably, strongly disagree but you don’t need to travel with six pairs of shoes. Pare down to a pair of walking/running shoes, a casual pair of sandals and a dressy pair of shoes/sandals.
The carry-ons out nowadays are roomier than you think and they look. There is room for a hanging bag which means you will already have the tops/dresses you like on hangers, ready to hang in the closet when you get there. If you carefully fit at least two tops inside each other they don’t wrinkle as much and you can fit six tops that way into the hanging bag.
Fit makeup (or shaving kit) and underwear on the bottom of the case between the wheel bars, shoes on either side with and then fold the hanging bag with its hangers on top. Really, try again. It does fit.
If not TSA approved, put liquids in the outside zipper compartment for easy access going through airports. You should be TSA approved. If not, apply. You won’t have to take out liquids from your suitcase.
Don’t forget sunscreen. No matter where you’re going you will be outside sometime. Also, pack or wear a hat. Skin cancer is real.
spinner carry-on, hanging bag and cell-phone wallet on a strap. (J Jacobs photo)
Now, for the easy stuff you think you know but often forget. You likely have a smart phone with everyone’s info on it but have you left your itinerary with contact information with friends, neighbors and family back home?
I know people whose basements have flooded when the electricity went off and the sump pump stopped working and people who have had a tree topple on the roof from wind or heavy, icy snow.
Now the handbag/ briefcase know-how.
Make a copy of your driver’s license and or passport. Also make copies of your credit card info and phone numbers to call. Keep it in a zippered compartment attached to your handbag/briefcase, not in a separate wallet that could easily be slipped out.
Wallets are taken out of pockets and purses more often than you may think. The time spent doing this is well worth the time. Even if you don’t need any of that this time you might need it back home because holiday shopping season is also pick-pocket/purse season.
Two examples: In Prague, the American Embassy has a stolen-wallet desk and there are warning signs on public transportation. In Chicago, a friend just had her wallet stolen downtown.
It doesn’t hurt to be old-fashioned and wear a money pouch/belt. It used to be common for travels outside the US but it is still a way to safeguard foreign and US currency.
Or be new-fashioned. Look for a Bandolier or Goldno cell-phone wallet on a strap. I wear one whenever I go downtown Chicago. My buss and train pass fit as do a credit and and couple of dollars.
And guys, you may think your back pockets are so tight a thief can’t access your wallet. Wrong. They are adept at bumping people in crowds and often work with an accomplice.
Because you’re smart and do only carry-ons you shouldn’t have to worry about what happens if your luggage is lost. But if you do check luggage through, put an extra pair of underwear/shirt and small make-up, sewing/ shaving kit into your handbag-briefcase.
If you have a tip to share, please put it in comments. Travel tips are welcome.
Meteors are flying over head that seem to come from the Gemini Constellation. (Photo courtesy of Gregg Dinderman/Sky & Telescope
If it’s the second week of December it’s Geminid time!
Get an armful of warm blankets, a mat and find a place to lie down where there aren’t any street or other lights to interfere with meteor spotting.
Bring a buddy or BFF to help and keep you company because the best time to see the Geminids, a meteor shower that can have 120 meteors racing across the sky, is between 11:30 p.m. Dec. 13 and 2:30 a.m. Dec. 14.
Well actually, the Geminids have already begun but there aren’t as many now as will be seen in a couple of nights. They are named for the Gemini (Twins) Constellation because it seems as if the meteors come from somewhere near the constellation’s star Castor.
No telescope is needed. Just hope that the weather cooperates and the sky is clear and look up. It may take a little while, maybe even an hour, to adjust to the night sky before “catching a falling star (translate that as meteor). But be patient. The meteors are out there.
