Buckingham Fountain
Category Archives: Art
Chicago Bean and Millennium Park
It was great being a tourist downtown without a set agenda this weekend. It was not muggy, as I feared. The weather was perfect and the evenings were even comfortably warm. I made the mistake of starting out my day this morning with jeans, but it was way too hot to let that continue, so back to the hotel I went for a change of clothes.
I have been coming to Chicago for various events since at least 1996. This was probably my 11th time there.
Saturday Night in Boystown Chicago
It was wonderful to spend time with friends Leo and Keith, who moved to Chicago several years ago. It was nice to meet their friend Jonathan, who himself is also from the Bay Area. He was kind to guide me to some Barbrabilia and other things that facilitated my trip at the queer-health-owned thrift store that he works at. For example, he helped me find a man purse for my long walks around town, another sailboat shirt, another tie for my summit, and most importantly a pair of tennis shoes that helped me deal with my very sore feet from overdoing the tourist spots the day before. We had dinner at a vegan restaurant and then went to a Boba Tea Lounge in Boystown.
Chicago Museum Campus
I went to the Adler Planetarium, which, of course, could not compete with my memories of the HAYDEN Planetarium.
I calculated that I walked at least 15 miles that day. Every time I thought I couldn’t walk the next leg and had to call a cab, I pushed myself. I was constantly hydrating. Even though it wasn’t muggy, I was smart enough to never run out of water. I also refilled my refillable water bottle whenever I passed a fountain.
I was very impressed with the people in the water, on the beaches, and on boats. I had never been to Chicago in summer in the previous 11 or so times I was there. The beaches look so inviting. I’m so glad that they get use within the city, much like I’ve only seen before in Barcelona and other smaller cities in Europe.
I thought the statue of Jane Goodall and a Chimpanzee was very cool. Next time I’d really like to try to get into the aquarium, even though I think I’ll have to compare it to the one in Monterey, which literally interacts with the local water 24 hours a day.
I’m constantly impressed by the landscaping, but I realize a lot of the flowers are grown in greenhouses and strategically placed all over the city. I like the planning that goes into that.
Walking by trees, I heard screeching so loud I was shocked not to see huge flocks of birds. I later found out that the high-decibel sounds were from cicadas!!! I don’t think I ever heard that noise in my life!
Solano County Fair 2025
Pictures from others who were there:
Artichokes and Lemons
We had a wonderful time with fellow Stephanie Miller fan (we’re both Steph-heads), Vallejoan, and progressive activist friend Diane Hume in her gorgeous home and garden. We compared notes on several subjects and check out this beautiful haul I got from her garden! Fresh lemons and artichokes? My favorites!! Diane is another reason why I know I made the right decision when I moved to this city five years ago!
Mare Island Museum’s Annual Sailor’s Cellar
This unorthodox garage sale was in a very cool building and I found a couple of things with my hopefully increasingly honed eye for thrift goods. I used to hate shopping, but I love doing it when it’s my newfound FB marketplace, thrift stores in and around Vallejo, and situations like this, particularly as I’m imagining things in my home under renovation. It took me a minute to realize how gorgeous the building was. I love the sign that says that the crane has been immobilized!
Greg wouldn’t allow me to leave until he had me pose with this book. Maybe I should have read the title before I realized what he was doing? Greg!!!
Inspiring Friends
We had a wonderful visit with Nick Dong. He is a world-renowned master designer/artist/genius and a good friend of many years who, like so many, helped me find some resilience and silver linings in the horrible event from last January (my catastrophic house fire and the loss of five precious canine souls). It was a privilege to revisit his custom home and for Shea to get to know him.
Nick inspires me to manifest my dream house with this rebuild and find ways to live my best life. In the footage Shea took you’ll see a reflection of the three of us in a small sampling of Nick’s mind-blowing kinetic pieces. If you ever get a chance to see the work of Studio Dong in person, don’t miss the opportunity!
One of his two amazing koi ponds with the most friendly fish I’ve ever met in my life!
Xmas morning at Sister’s
This was Shea’s first time meeting my brother-in-law. My niece and sister had stopped by months ago when my daughter was visiting from Florida.
Bonnie made herself at home in Rickie’s bed while Snoopy and Rickie played away.
My sister has some of the work my Zia Antonella from Catanzaro, Italy, painted at her house, so I photographed them. I had some of her paintings at my house which I lost in my January fire.
After a visit to Granite Bay, we made our way to Pittsburg to visit Shea’s family. Sadly we forgot to take pictures there.
Vallejo Car Museum
Yesterday was Shea, Greg, and Steve’s first time at the Vallejo Victorian House tour, which is another Madhatter event. This year the kickoff was at the Car Museum in Vallejo which I had never been to. What an incredible jewel, but sadly I hear it is rarely open to the public and may be closing down. I even heard that many other vehicles have regularly been swapped in and out. I didn’t realize how much I would geek out at car museums until I went to the one in Danville, and now every opportunity I have to see a car show I go to it. I was a Matchbox car fan as a kid, but I was one of those (gay) nerds who never liked them to get dirty like my brother’s Hotwheels cars. Anyway, I hope these exhibits will somehow be shared with the public going forward. This would be such a magnet for Vallejo tourism. Here is just a taste of the exhibits at the lovely welcome reception we had with good food, live music, etc.
