2021 – The Year of Flâneur?
Illinois – The Land of Lincoln: 18-22 June, 2021
NAPERVILLE
Travel writers love to make up lists of the “10 Best” be it for living there or just visiting. I have been fooled before by pretty pictures and a tourist board’s rosy use of adjectives. But in the case of Naperville, the recommendation was what these flâneries needed as a welcome respite from the trees and seas of Michigan.
2021 – The Year of Flâneur?
Yooper Blooper: June 16
“Why would anyone build the most spectacular bridge in the world at the top of Michigan instead of at Detroit where everyone could see it?”
—letter from an irate “troll” taxpayer to the Governor of Lower Michigan, 1980—
The taxpaying troll’s question reminds me of the man who lived close to my hometown in Indiana. In 2011 he wrote to a local newspaper: “A lot of deer get hit by cars west of Crown Point on U.S. 231. There are too many cars to have the deer crossing here. The deer crossing sign needs to be moved to a road with less traffic.”
Perhaps deer are flâneries.
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Yooperland: June 13-15
“The best thing that could happen to the U.P. would be for someone to bomb the bridge.”
—John Voelker, former Michigan Supreme Court Justice and the author of Anatomy of a Murder and Yooper resident—
Well, I have to say blowing Da Bridge might be a little extreme. Permit me to say the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is unique and it is obvious Yoopers want to keep it that way. Too late. Hordes of tourist are upon them each summer. Nancy and I, flâneries at heart, wanted to discover the U.P. This is what we found:
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Da Yooper: June 11-12
“It’s an edgy place… it still hangs on out there like a rawhide flap of the old frontier…The U.P. is a hard place. A person has to want to hurt a lot to live there”.
–— John G. Mitchell, Audubon Magazine, November 1981—
For years I have heard the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is a “must see” destination. Flâneries Nancy and I chose to find out why. As Bette Davis remarked: “Fasten your seatbelts; we’re in for a bumpy night.”
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Wisconsin: June 8-10
Flâneur is a wonderfully descriptive French noun referring to a “stroller, loafer, a lounger,” or as the Italians describe it, enjoying a “passeggiata.” In any language, it describes the passionate wandering traveler. In this, the aftermath of a disastrous Covid 2020, my heart is true but can it be a reality? Can’t go everywhere I want, so, seeking somewhere new, I join my friend Nancy and these Flâneries chose Wisconsin.
First, what’s it like traveling June 2021? I seldom travel during summer tourist season. Add hoards escaping “stay at home” requests and families traveling = challenging.
Read more…Midwest Loop
Since Covid rudely smacked The World down a size, my travel calendar has never been so bare. But travel is like riding a bicycle – you never forget its nuances. At least, it’s pretty to think so.
Arriving at my local airport, I see changes. Parking lots are empty. Of course, that could be because the greedy bastards have stopped issuing annual passes and now charge LA-sized daily parking fees. Truthfully, researching options, it’s actually cheaper parking long-term at LAX. Add hotel cost and cheaper flights, this alternative is something to look into for my next month-long trip.
Read more…2020 COMBO SMACK FROM HELL
If the grand entrance of Covid-19 in the early weeks of 2020 didn’t prove Robert Burns correct, that “the best laid schemes o’mice an’ men” often go awry,” I don’t know what would. Covid would initiate the longest expanse of nontravel I have experienced in decades. Being socially responsible and just NOT wanting to let something like a virus take me, I have remained home. My Travel Calendar has never been this blank. My computer has taken a beating but my genealogy research has soared.
Read more…Cambria Weather
CambriaJuly 25, 2021, 6:19 am
52°Freal feel: 53°Fhumidity: 100%wind speed: 0 mph WSWsunrise: 6:08 amsunset: 8:15 pmPat’s Place
