October 2016 - Hydeout, Coronado, Cubs

October 2016

Hutchy, Laurel, Megan, Willie, and I were preparing to go to Naples and spend a week at the Hydeout. We were emailing back and forth about all the activities we were excited about trying. Paddleboarding, lots of swimming, hot-tubbing, drinks on the beach, pickleball, bocce, maybe get a little golf in, make some dinners, go out to eat. It was going to be a great vacation. Until ZIKA. Well zika and the fact that we found out we were pregnant with Lincoln 3 days before we were scheduled to leave.

There were a couple cases of zika near Miami but Naples was still under the pregnant women warning. So we scrapped the trip. Megan and I had such mixed feelings; excited and surprised that we were pregnant but incredibly sad that we weren't going to get a week on the beach. Then Hutchy came up with an incredible solution; his family has a house on Coronado Island just outside of San Diego, California. We flipped some flights from Indy to Fort Myers to now be Chicago to San Diego. We even saved a few bucks on the switch which was crazy.

Willie Flying to Cali

We rented a car in San Diego and had some kid stuff rented and dropped off at the house before we arrived. Upon arrival on Coronado Island, we went to Coronado Brewing Company to relax, enjoy a beer, and eat some food. We also made a stop at the grocery store to get supplies for the week.

San Diego

I can't remember the exact order of events but I will tell some of the stories. We went to the San Diego zoo which was a good time. We saw some giant sea turtles having sex. When looking at the snakes, Laurel spilled some water on my arm just as a snake moved and I almost jumped out of my shoes. Also, Willie really enjoyed nature's skyscrapers, the giraffes. After the zoo, we played around in Balboa Park. Willie crawled around and we found some slides and swings.

The Snake that scared the crap out of me.

Turtle Sex

Solid Crawling Form

On Monday evening, the group went to dinner at Nicky Rottens Sports Bar to watch game 3 of the NLDS, Cubs vs San Francisco Giants. The Cubs had won games 1 and 2 and were one win away from reaching the National League Championship Series. We were enjoying the game, along with some drinks and food when Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta hit a 3 run homer to put them up early. When he hit it, the sports bar made a lot of noise, particularly me and Hutchy. The roar made Willie nervous and then eventually cry. It was hilarious and cute. The game eventually went against the Cubs plus it was nearing Willie's bedtime, so Megan, Laurel, and Willie went back to the house. Hutchy and I were dejected and the bar was closing so we left to walk home when we saw on our phones Kris Bryant had hit a homerun to tie the game and send it to extra innings. We quickly found the only other bar that was open and ran inside. We stayed for the extra innings but the Cubs couldn't pull it out.

Willie Celebrating the Cubs

Willie Sad by the Cubs

The next night was Game 4 of the Cubs playoff series against the Giants and the Cubs needed to get 1 more win to advance. I don't remember where we watched the beginning of the game but once again Hutchy and I ended up out later than the ladies plus Willie. We were at the same bar as the night before, McP's Irish Pub, the one that was open late (past 10 p.m.) It was no fun; the Cubs were losing 5-2 and didn't seem to have any chances to score any runs. There were some fans from New York that were chatting us up and I couldn't even talk to them I was so angry. Hutchy was making friends which made me even angrier. Then the 9th inning came around. It was 1 hit by Bryant and then a walk by Rizzo then a double by Zobrist and the Cubs had something going. Now down 5-3 with the tying run at 2nd. Maybe we have a chance...Willson Contreras hit a slow grounder right back up the middle and the Cubs had tied it! Heyward tried to bunt Willy over to 2nd but made it there himself on an errant throw attempting to turn the double play. Then Javier Baez came up and again hit a slow roller to center field which allowed Heyward to score and take the lead. At this point Hutchy and I were out of our minds. How did we turn this around?! 4 runs in the 9th inning. In the bottom of the 9th, we bring in Aroldis Chapman, I'm not sure if I actually felt this way then but looking back it seemed like a forgone conclusion. Chapman struck out the side and the game was over very quickly. The 4 runs and then 3 strikeouts to end it felt like it took less than 2 minutes. To go from down 5-2 to winning 6-5 was incredible. We did shots to celebrate. We talked to lots of people. We hugged. We sang. It was a great night.


On Coronado Island, we did lots of walking. We went to the park just outside of the main drag, which was Spreckels Park. It was beautiful and we enjoyed playing in the luscious grass and going down the slides. We also enjoyed the breakfast at Clayton's Coffee Shop, or at least the take out window, which we then ate at the picnic tables near by. We also walked to the beach a few times, and although the weather wasn't particularly warm, we did dip our toes in the water and gave Willie a chance to enjoy the sand. From the beach we walked towards the Hotel Del Coronado or as locals call it, the Hotel Del. There they had amazing sand castles that were awe inspiring. We also got ice cream at Moo Time and had drinks on the top deck and watched the sunset.

Sand Castles at the Hotel Del

Trav-Hutch Vacation Crew

Willie Enjoying Palm Trees and Manicured Grass

One day we planned to take the ferry across San Diego Bay. After we survived the parking stress, we enjoyed the short boat ride to San Diego. We walked along the waterfront past the USS Midway to Seaport Village which had a bunch of restaurants and shops. Willie went for a short merry-go-round ride with Megan. We also bought some souvenirs and had a little brunch before walking back to the ferry.

Willie and Megan on the Carousel

Coronado Island

On a different day we jumped in the car and drove to see some other sights. We visited the Point Loma Tide Pools and the Cabrillo National Monument. The tide pools were cool but it wasn't a super low tide so we couldn't see as much marine life as was touted but it was still a fun little walk down to the water. The Cabrillo National Monument was a statue to the first European to reach San Diego Bay. It is on the southern tip of the northern peninsula of San Diego. It has amazing views of San Diego. After that we got some In-n-Out burger before heading to La Jolla. After again, we survived the parking stress, we climbed down to the beach to La Jolla Cove to see the seals up close and play around in the sand and water. In the park right next to the cove, Megan and I forced Willed to take his first steps. He had been really close for a couple weeks and why not do it somewhere memorable. After his successful steps, we went to find a drink and snack at Herringbone which was a nice restaurant just up the road.

TIde Pools

Cabrillo

La Jolla

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The next day we packed up the house and cleaned really well, because we didn't want Mrs. Hutch is be disappointed in us. On our return flight, the flight attendant was super helpful with Willie and gave him free reign of the plane.

One Last Beer on the Porch

Willie and the Flight Attendant

European Travels: London

As I have mentioned in my writing and if you've spent time with me you know I mention it often; I lived in London for 9 months in 2010.  It was a very exciting time for me as I got to experience London as a Londoner instead of a vacationer.  Living in "The City" of London which would be considered downtown or the financial districts in most American cities gave me ample opportunity to wander the streets, hop on the tube, and see the sights.  Plus London has 4 international airports along with major rail lines to take travelers to Scotland, Wales, France and Belgium.

However, when I arrived at Heathrow Airport from Switzerland, I knew very little of this.  I knew that my flat was at 19 Leman St and I had no idea how I was supposed to get there.  This is where it came in handy that I was traveling 'on business' because the cab fare from Heathrow Airport to my flat was 90 quid (slang term for Pounds) which was the equivalent of $150.  First London Lesson: if possible take the tube.

It was early afternoon on Sunday and my cab had taken me past Buckingham Palace, St. Paul's Cathedral, and unknown to me stopped just a few blocks from the Tower Bridge, which is where my flat was.  I was living with another guy from the training program who coincidentally went to my high school for a year before moving out East to attend a prep school.  We arrived at essentially the same time and thinking we were staying at an extended stay hotel we were expecting a front desk to check-in.  Well, instead we had a furnished apartment but because of this we had no clue how to get into our flat, or even the building.

After searching through emails and trying to find someone to call on Sunday afternoon we found the directions in an excel file explaining the code to the door and the code to get to our keys.  Now that we were finally in, we dropped our bags and got to relax.  For me the relaxing only lasted a few minutes because I was in freaking London and wanted to explore!  It was mid-January but the sun was out and I was in a brand new place.

I wandered around on foot and found my way to the train station that I would need to be at the following morning to take me to work in Tilbury, which is about 20 miles east of London on the River Thames.

Because I was in London for such an extended period, I can't remember every detail but I want to remember some of the great things that I did and some of the mundane daily tasks as well.

I would take the C2C train from Fenchurch Street Station in London to the Tilbury Town stop which took about 40 minutes.  Fenchurch Street Station was about a 5-7 minute walk from my flat and then I had about a 5-10 minute walk from the Tilbury Town station into the port and all the way to the tiny office that housed 7 people, Scott, Gary, Richard, Thomas, Peter, and Tim.  I used to bring my lunch on most days many times I would purchase breakfast and lunch from Pret a Manger in London before getting on the train.  Most days I would work out a gym in Tilbury with Richard or Scott.  There was a shower in the office that allowed me to clean up after working out.  On Fridays, I would usually walk to the Asda (Wal-Mart) or McDonalds and find lunch there.

Parliament

Some of the memories I have were going on runs throughout London. I would often run down The Strand all the way to Buckingham Palace or Parliament.  I did tours of Westminster Abbey, St. Paul's Cathedral, Parliament, the Tower of London, visited Tate Modern, British Museum, Portrait Gallery, Natural History Museum, Imperial War Museum, Greenwich Observatory and the Prime Meridian and witnessed the Queen's Birthday celebration.

Tower of London

St. Paul's Cathedral

Another of St. Paul

Parade during the Queen's Birthday Celebration

The Queen

Prime Meridian

I went to a Tottenham match at White Hart Lane where they beat Everton 2-1.  I visited Platform 9 3/4 at Kings Cross Station.  I saw a cricket match at the Oval and a rugby match at Twickenham.

Tottenham 2 - Everton 1

Platform 9 3/4

Cricket Match

Rugby Match

My tube station was Aldgate East, which is on the District Line (green) and Hammersmith & City Line (pink).  I remember many nights having to walk from the Liverpool Street Station which was about 10 minutes because the Central Line (red) ran later into the night than other lines.

My flat was in the area known as Whitechapel which is best known for it's famous murderer, Jack the Ripper.  It is also known for Brick Lane and the many Indian and Pakistani restaurants.  A semi-joke that I was told was that Britons might be known for fish and chips but their national dish is curry.  My favorite place to frequent was Tayyabs, which was incredible Pakistani food.  It was also only about 5 minutes from my flat, which means that I went probably 8 times during my stay.  I also stopped at Clifton's which is an Indian restaurant that was just around the corner from my place.  I also would love to get kebabs, chips, and a coke from one of the many places along Brick Lane.

Tower Bridge

On the weekends I would almost every free Saturday or Sunday I would visit a market while out exploring.  My favorite was Borough Market which had two delicious places to eat one sandwich place that was cooking their meats right in front of you and another seafood place that made incredible shrimp taco/burrito things.  I would also visit Brick Lane market and Spitalfields.  On one occasion I made the journey to the West End and Portobello Market.



While in London I tried to enjoy the theatre scene as well.  I saw the play Enron, which was about the fall of the giant energy company.  I also saw The Secret Life of Sherlock Holmes, which started my love of the detective.  I also saw Les Mis as it geared up for its massive 25th anniversary show at the O2 arena.  I also stood outside Leicester Square as Bradley Cooper and other stars made their way into the premiere of the A-Team movie.

Near the end of my time in London I got to witness the raising of the Tower Bridge to let a boat through, which is said to be a lucky event.  I went on a Monopoly Bar crawl with a few friends, which lasted until the wee hours of the morning because the Chicago Blackhawks were playing in the Stanley Cup finals back in the USA and we needed to stay up and watch.  The Vancouver Winter Olympics took place while I was there which was fun because the ensuing summer Olympics were going to be in London so the attention was already starting to focus on London.  The World Cup took place in South Africa during the summer I was in London which was even more fun as England and America were in the same group.  I watched the game at a giant bar with about 10 American and 1,000 English.  When America tied it at 1 on a goalie mistake it was almost sad how distraught all the English fans were.  When the game ended in a 1-1 draw, the fans were mostly angry and we hustled out of the bar to try to find a safer venue.

Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Winter Olympics

During the Super Bowl, I was returning from a weekend trip to Rome and flew in late on Sunday night.  I remember watching the score on my phone as I took the train back to my flat.  When I got home I was planning on watching the Colts play the Saints on my computer but was very happily surprised when the big game was on British TV.  The announcers talked about Reggie Bush pretty much all the time and whenever he touched the ball they were expecting him to score a touchdown.  The weekend prior during the AFC and NFC championship games I watched the Colts play at the American Sports Cafe.

While in London I did a few day trips to Eton and Windsor Castle which was a short train ride away and also out to Stonehenge and the town of Bath.  The later trip was with Megan on her visit.

Windsor Castle

Stonehenge

I made a few friends, mostly people that I had been acquaintances with back in the US and we were all living in the London.  Mollie a friend from IU was studying there and we would have some drinking nights out with her friends.  The place I remember visiting was called The Court and it had something like 6 shots for 10 pounds which was the reason the college students wanted to go to that bar.



If I remember more stories or things, I will just add them to end of this post.