The Last Weekend of Summer Vacation

Due to the hiring freeze at the university I only get two weeks of vacation during the summer this year and we can’t have more than two professors gone at any one time. As I was late in arranging my time off I ended up getting the very first slot of the summer. Here it is June 27th and I’m on my last weekend of vacation. That means a long summer to go without any vacation time.

As I said before this is going to be my “on the road” summer and I’ve already done the loop to Minnesota, on to Milwaukee, Chicago, St. Louis, Columbia and back to Kansas City. With no more vacation I’m going to have to come up some local weekend ideas.

Even though the temperature has been in the 100s all week I have already been up early to ride the bike on the Little Blue Trace Trail. I got the Jackson County Parks boat and motor permit today so I’m ready for Lake Blue Springs and Longview Lake.

This Saturday, we started early at the City Market. It was hot and crowded, but you just have to keep it all in perspective. At 10am it was on to the Art Festival at the Power and Light District. The show was different than the normal Plaza and Brookside fairs as it is ran by a private company from Florida. I would agree with one participant that called it a good and bad show; some very good work and some not so good. We made it half way through and stopped for a beer at the Flying Saucer. I tried the special, Anchor Summer, delicious. A great beer establishment but I don’t think Ill be getting the 200 beer gold plate anytime soon. Then we finished up the art festival.


In the afternoon it was on to Grinders (where done of us had been before). Yes, their South Philly Cheese steak is good. Next winter I may have to try their “as seen on TV” specials; Famous Chili Bomb Pie and Bengal Tiger Pizza. Then it was back home for a short nap in the frigid air conditioning. We had planned a late afternoon movie; cool, dark with popcorn and soda. But I got the wrong time, so back again to the house for a light dinner of cucumber sandwiches and watermelon salsa and my special vodka lemonade with Pimms. Ahhh! What a day.

June 29, 2009 Update: To celebrate my first day back at school we ate George’s Hungarian goulash at Grinders with a couple of pints of Urebrough Blanche de Chambly.

At the Lake in Minnesota

Someone in my wife’s family has been spending the summer here since the 1920’s. I have been visiting “the lake” for a few weeks most summers since the summer of 1984. This year the patriarch of her family died and I thought it might be the last of the Minnesota summers.


But come early summer Grandma changed her mind about not opening the lake cottage for the summer every again and here we are once again deep in mosquito land. The all season people have told us that it was an unusually cold winter, like they used to have years ago. And it has been a wet, cool spring. The ice was late leaving the lake this year. The water is still so cold that done of us have wanted to swim. It has been strictly a fishing visit this time.

Our families have decided that it is still fun to come to the lake, and have promised to make some time each summer to meet here again. Times have changed and in today’s fast paced tech society the cottage will no longer be a summer long home for anyone but memories are still to be made as new generations learn to swim and water ski and seine minnows and catch big sunnies off the dock.