Author Archives: lenzi

Carlsbad Caverns, Albuquerque and some other odds & ends from New Mexico…

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I often say that I “grew up” in Albuquerque – and while I did spend about five years there (very formative years at that) – seeing as it was only five years, that’s not completely true. Having said that, it was important to me to get back to Albuquerque, and New Mexico in general, on this trip. In many ways, getting back was actually the catalyst of this trip…

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There were many times during the trip when I took a photo and just knew that it wasn’t going to do the site justice. Carlsbad Caverns pretty much epitomized that statement. You walk a mile down to get to the main hall and you’re just in awe the whole time – but getting great images in that darkness isn’t the easiest thing in the world to do! (Plus, I kept wondering when the sleestaks were going to suddenly appear…)

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I saw a lot of cool “Welcome to ________ city” signs as I entered town after town – but nothing compared to the welcome in Roswell, New Mexico. They own this title, that’s for sure…

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I know that this might be a little difficult to see, but I took this pic for a very deliberate reason: I’ve been telling people for years how there were roads in Albuquerque that just stopped and continued only in dirt – and I’d get these looks like I was out of my mind. While this isn’t in Albuquerque, it was in Texas, and I feel it was worth adding to this post…

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True story – the Sandia Mountains have always been one of my favorite memories from my time in Albuquerque. Having said that, I always thought they were due north, when in reality, they’re actually due east, so the entire time I was there, I was directionally challenge – hey, I was like 6-10 when I was there, but, yeah, I’ve got no explanation for that whatsoever.

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The Hiland Theater was my favorite spot to see a movie and we saw some good ones there (Grease, The Shining, Star Wars, Superman, to name a few). We always lived across town from it and it was a pain in the buttisimo to get to, but I’d beg my mom to go there for movies, mainly because it had a great balcony and most theaters simply didn’t have that going for them.

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For those of you who have never been to the Southwest, that is a tumbleweed – more commonly known as the bane of every child’s existence while taking part in recess. Those things fly all over the place and they freaking hurt!

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Loved this mural on the side of a tattoo shop on Route 66.

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You can certainly correct me on this, but I’m pretty sure that everything is better in adobe.

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This set includes a couple from Santa Fe (the train is awesome and so is that stuffed sopapilla from Tomasita’s!) I had had Blake’s Lottaburger built up in my head as the greatest burger ever – um, my memory played tricks on me with that one, we’ll just leave it at that. It’s still a cool sign, though! I spent a lot of time at Albuquerque Dukes’ games growing up, and got a chance to catch an Isotopes (AAA affiliate of the Colorado Rockies now) game while I was visiting. The last pic (bottom left) is the Pit – perhaps most famous for being the site of the famous North Carolina State Championship win over Phi Slamma Jamma in the 1983 NCAA Finals.

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Old Town Albuquerque is also a great spot to spend some time. Just like adobe, I don’t think you can go wrong with kachina dolls or hanging some red chiles.

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It seems like everywhere you turn there’s a cactus of some sort. I included some more shots of the Sandias, including a house at the bottom that I certainly wouldn’t mind owning…

 

 

Trying to capture the sun…

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Contrary to what the average person with his smartphone thinks, capturing a great sunset or sunrise isn’t the easiest thing to do (if you don’t believe that, try to enlarge and print one of those pics you’ve taken with your phone that looks good on social media!) By no means am I a great landscape photographer, and I could have used the polarizer that I left at home to help out, but you gotta give it a shot with what you’ve got. These were some of my favorites from the trip (and yes, some are repeats from earlier posts…)

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Nashville and Memphis and New Orleans…

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Just in case you didn’t know it already, I’ve been doing these posts WAY out of order. I actually started my trip off with these three cities and really enjoyed each. bluebirdcafecollage

I knew that I wanted to get in to see a show at The Bluebird Cafe, and I tried to get tickets online the week before, but had no luck whatsoever on that front. So I showed up about an hour ahead of time my first night for the walk up tickets and was only about, oh, 80th in line for the 14 free tickets they have available. Needless to say, I didn’t let that happen the next day and ended up in the clear. Actually, the 2.5 hour wait in 100 degree heat was not too bad considering there were some cool people in line to talk to. The show was an “in the round show” with Jessica Campbell, JP Williams, Raquel Cole, and Aaron Espe performing. Each was very good, but I was truly impressed with Espe.

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Memphis was equally as impressive — and I’m not sure that I’ve been to a museum as humbling as the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel, where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. It was both fascinating and eerie to stand here, knowing the events that transpired on that second floor walkway, just at that corner.

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The food in both Nashville and Memphis was outstanding, from the doughnut and coffee at Barista Parlor to the ribs at Central BBQ in Memphis, I couldn’t have chosen better. And that dinosaur get up on the side of the road was pretty neat, too.

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I’m not sure that one’s stop in Memphis would be complete without a look at Sun Studios – to think of the music that came out of here – and how it revolutionized music in general? Just, wow…

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Having easy access to seeing the mighty Mississippi sure didn’t hurt my impression of Memphis…

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Frankly, I didn’t think I’d like New Orleans. Thankfully, I was dead wrong on this. I just thought it’d be Bourbon Street and nothing else, but there’s so much more. I loved the architecture and the history that can be seen everywhere you walk. The wrought iron work is just fascinating, and different with each and every building. Oh, and those beignets…

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It wasn’t until I was done with my trip that I realized that these cities – specifically Nashville and Memphis – had the best street art along my route. But if you take a look at the pics above, you’ll see that it would have been tough to top.

 

Chicago…

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I had been to Chicago one time before, but it was while chaperoning students on a Journalism Field Trip, so I didn’t quite get to do all of the things I wanted. I had a blast while there, including getting the chance to visit my Aunt and a cousin and her family, and I can’t wait to get back to spend even more time.

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Chicago is very easy to walk, and I loved getting around by foot even though it was extremely hot and humid while I was there. One of my favorites was people watching as they cooled off at this spot above in Millenial Park. Water came out of that guy’s mouth – and the kids were having a blast with it. I also loved seeing my second Calder piece of the trip (refer back to my Seattle post for the other).

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I took the train out to Wrigley and, even though they weren’t at home while I was there, it became very obvious that Wrigleyville just has to be insane during a home game. It was pretty cool to see Harry Caray and Ernie Banks immortalized in statue form. Having grown up watching afternoon Cubs’ games on WOR, with Caray on the mic, referencing Banks and his famous “Let’s play two” constantly, I was thankful to see these statues.

jclroadtrip-4717Lake Michigan was the last of the bodies of water I saw on the trip and I loved seeing these sailboats at the ready (incidentally, the others were the Mississippi River, the Gulf of Mexico, the Colorado River, Lake Tahoe, and Lake Coeur d’Alene).

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Cloud Gate, or The Bean, as many people call it, is a must see. I was actually shocked and disappointed to see and hear people who were surprised to see the skyline in the reflection, instead being too busy looking for themselves. What a world we live in…

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No trip to Chicago would be complete for me unless it included a few hours at the Art Institute of Chicago. I’ve had the great fortune to visit some incredible museums (The Louvre, Musee d’Orsay, The National Gallery of Art, The Philadelphia Museum of Art, The Guggenheim Museum, The Museum of Modern Art, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, to name more than few), but the Art Institute of Chicago stands out for me, mainly because of that pointilistic Seurat seen above. I’ve been obsessed with Ferris Beuller’s Day Off since it came out and the Museum Scene is one of my favorite one minute and fifty seconds of any movie. This piece, however, isn’t all this Museum has, as can be seen by the Lichtenstein, the Pollock, the Hoppers, the Grant Wood, the O’Keefe, and the Jasper Johns’ piece in the above photos. I absolutely love visiting this spot…

 

Yellowstone National Park…

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I really wasn’t sure what to expect with Yellowstone National Park – I spoke to people along my trip who absolutely loved it. And I spoke to people who were very disappointed, as well, so I really didn’t know what I’d think. While I wasn’t as impressed with the geysers as I thought I’d be (still cool, don’t get me wrong), I absolutely loved being able to see the wildlife so close.

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This old school/tour bus and the Old Saloon were actually right outside of Yellowstone – they take you back to an earlier time period before you even enter the Park, and I really liked this.

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The Midway Geyser Basin was a great stop – there were pools that didn’t seem could possibly be that color and some smaller geysers as well. But, uh, that sulfur…

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While Old Faithful is technically faithful in its regularity, it can sometimes take up to three hours between eruptions. I got really lucky and only had to wait about 20 minutes from the time I got there to see it.

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While the pools and the geysers were great to see, what I was most impressed with was the wildlife. Within two minutes of entering the park I saw the elk above, and it wasn’t long after that I saw a ton of bison. There’s just something exhilarating about seeing these animals in a more natural habitat. The speed limit throughout the park is 25 mph and that’s because of the wildlife crossing — and when they want to cross, they’re going to cross — and you’re going to wait. But even that is cool to see. While in Yellowstone alone, I saw elk, bison, wolves, a moose, deer, and a bear. (One thing that was very disappointing was the way that visitors were acting — the Park and the Rangers are very clear that you are not to approach the wildlife, yet people were doing so left and right — not that I wanted to see anybody harmed, but…)

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Lewis Falls were a sight to see and, located on the way out of the Park on the way to the Grand Tetons, they were a powerful way to end the visit.

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Once again, the pic above gives you an idea of just how incredible the views are while driving through these areas — crossing over the Continental Divide at 8200 feet isn’t too shabby, either.