And they're off!

Last year, good friends took me to my first Belmont Stakes and got me hooked. This year I returned with my friends (even surprising one who didn't know I was back in town!) and also brought my cousin, brother, and sister-in-law to experience their first Belmont.

 

It's tradition to wear a hat to the race so I sported my first hat in years while checking out the delightful hats of my fellow gamblers.

 

We spent a good chunk of the day at the paddock where we could see the horses before each race. For someone like me who knows nothing whatsoever about horse racing, this was how I decided which bets to place. I followed various scientific approaches, such as picking the prettiest horse, choosing the most appealing name, or picking the jockey with the best silks.

 

There had been a lot of hoopla in the lead up to the race because I'll Have Another was on track to be the first triple crown winner since 1978. Unfortunately, the horse withdrew the day before so that was the end of that. Still, there was plenty of excitement for the Belmont Stakes and, for the second year in a row, I bet on the winning horse! Thanks to Union Rags and jockey Johnny V (as we like to call him), I won a whopping $7.50 on a $2 bet! That was almost--but not quite--enough for a Manhattan beer later in the night. Still, I was pretty excited to have won again and to have shared a great day with friends and family.

Cleveland

Taking an eight hour bus ride from Grand Rapids to Cleveland is about as exciting as it sounds. Fortunately, my Ohio friends are well worth the trip! Plus, this is the welcome basket of toiletries that awaited me. Not bad!

 

I stayed with a former college roommate and her husband while our third roommate drove up from Columbus with her two awesome kids for the day. We had so much food at our vegan(!) picnic that we had barely finished it all three days later!

 

Mini Bear got her diaper changed, too.

 

Mini Bear decided not watch, rather than to help, assemble the kite. They figured it out eventually.

 

Playing nice with Mini Bear.

 

The six of us had a fantastic time together.

 

The following day I was admittedly a little sore from picking up and playing with the kids so much but by the afternoon my friend and I had recovered enough to go for a hike in Cuyahoga National Park. It was beautifully green and we had the place pretty much to ourselves.

 

Can you find the frog in this photo?

 

I don't know its height but this is apparently the highest waterfall in Ohio. It's no Victoria Falls but I never would have guessed that such a gorgeous park was so close to Cleveland.

 

I was surprised again the next day when we set off for a tour of northeast Ohio's vineyards. I don't know about you, dear reader, but I had no idea that Ohio even had vineyards. South River Winery was an old chapel that had been slated for demolition when a passerby happened to ask a local about it. The local responded the passerby could have the building for one dollar!

 

Out on the terrace, we dined on our previous picnic leftovers and admired the view.

 

The two of us each sampled four wines at the bargain price of $5.

 

The second vineyard sat right on Lake Eerie.

 

Here we tasted five wines for $5 and each got a free wineglass.

 

The Old Firehouse Winery was our last stop. The family friendly vineyard included a rickety looking ferris wheel and each wine sample was only fifty cents!

 

By the end of the day, Mini Bear had had her fill of wine.

 

With her husband as our ever patient designated driver taking us home, my friend and I cranked my iPod and sang the whole way home.

 

Say what you want about Ohio, but you can't argue with the price of a day of wine tasting!

 

Atlanta

I hadn't been to Atlanta since I was probably eleven years old so it's fair to say this was my first proper visit to the city.

 

I stayed with one of my non-biological siblings and we toured CNN headquarters, home to the world's longest free standing elevator.

 

As a teacher, I can't stand it when nobody volunteers for something, so when the tour guide asked who wanted to read a short news piece from the TelePrompTer in front of the group, I counted to ten in my head and then my hand shot up. Sadly, CNN did not offer me a job as a newsreader on the spot. Their loss.

 

The next day we visited the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site. We started by touring the small indoor museum before seeing the house where King grew up, Ebenezer Baptist Church where he preached, and his burial site.

 

Afterwards, we wandered down the street and stumbled upon a street fair where we eagerly got our faces painted! I really wanted a penguin but the guy said he was really good at dinosaurs, so that's what I got.

 

While my host went to work, I spent the morning people watching in Centennial Park. The park comfortably wove its olympic roots into a relaxing urban space.

 

I crossed the street to check out the Coca-Cola Museum. The museum is a fabulous example of successful marketing: I hate the overly sweet taste of Coke and pretty much all pop, yet I still paid the admission fee to see a museum of a product I don't like.

 

Upon entering the museum, there is an old fashioned Coke truck and a few ten foot tall, theme decorated Coke bottles. I was stunned to see one of them portrayed Uzbekistan! (Although I'm really not sure what era this is supposed to be. I assure you Uzbeks do not dress this way today and the only camel I ever saw there was at a tourist trap.)

 

The museum tells the history of Coke through memorabilia in room after room.

 

The museum most popular room by far is the tasting room where visitors can sample all of the different kinds of pop Coke makes across the world. Thinking forward to my trip to east Africa later this year, I tried one from Uganda and one from Tanzania. They both tasted like liquified sugar to me and I had to rinse my mouth out with water!

 

Upon closer examination of this photo of South America's drinks, I really wished I had tried Honduras's Delaware Punch. What on earth does Delaware taste like?!

 

While in town, I also managed to catch up with two Antarctica friends who hadn't been able to join us in Vegas!