Oct 15, 2022·edited Oct 15, 2022Liked by Paul Daugherty
Atlanta - spot on regarding the Varsity, you'll pay a heavy price after, but worth the price regardless
Pittsburgh - Frank Lloyd Wright House in Falling Water, spectacular and so unique
Miami - Combo Art Deco/Food Tour in South Beach, great eats/see interesting stuff along the way
Dallas - cannot overstate how powerful the Book Depository exhibit is until you've been there yourself
Let me know when you want to do international travel Doc, boatloads I can say about that.
Andy may not have led us to the ultimate prize, but I'm glad we had him here for so long for what he did to elevate our community in ways far more important than winning football games.
Fabulous column. As usual. I have been to almost every one of those cities. My useless commentary:
Arizona - hot.
Atlanta - bad traffic. Stone Mountain is worth the hike. Alpharetta is nice. Virginia Hills very nice.
Baltimore - overrated. Inner Harbor is very nice.. The Farmers Market is very nice and a nice walk.
Denver - Beautiful. Get out of town and go west into Mountains. any ski resort. Even in Summer. Downtown Boulder is great.
Detroit - Somewhat unduly chastised. Greektown has some nice restaurants and a casino. I made it to the old Tigers Stadium before it was torn down. Great old baseball venue.
Houston - I concur. Hot and humid. They have 100 streets beginning with Peach I think. I got lost 10 times going from the airport to my hotel on my only visit there. Who would ever live there?!
Indy - I am biased. I am a Hoosier. No, not IU, a Purdue grad. Great state and great town. Enough said.
LA - Went to 2001 Rose Bowl. Mulholland Drive. Rose Parade. Venice Beach. Santa Monica Pier. Beverly Hills. Hollywood. The Rose Bowl. The weather. You need to go there once.
Minnesota - go when its warm. The one year I went there we got 90" of snow. Not lying. The mosquitos are bigger than a turkey vulture. The lakes are beautiful. Go visit. DO NOT live there.
New England - go in the Fall. Bridgeport. Pittsfield.
Las Vegas - Go with a bunch of guys. Twice the fun for half the cost. Fremont Street is fantastic. Check out the Circa and its 6 pools.
Tampa - Hit the beach. Bradenton. Sarasota. St Pete. Siesta Key. Anna Maria island all good.
Tennessee/Nashville - tons of fun but expensive. Stay downtown. All of the bars are good . As PD says, find Bourbon Street Boogies and Blues in Printers Alley if you can find a seat.
I live N of Charlotte and have a son at Rice, and always strive for the walkable full-of-character neighborhoods when I travel… your list is spot on. (HOU was my least favorite city even before I visited, and the visit reinforced that… strip malls and sidewalks every other block because God forbid you MAKE someone install a sidewalk right in the middle of the city!) Charlotte is suburban sprawl, but Plaza-Midwood is a cool area, at least for a couple years until gentrification takes over. Nothing stays cool here. Agree on Davidson, rare slice of authenticity.
Being born and raised in Upper East Tennessee, I would like to add Neyland Stadium on the University of Tennessee campus, home of the Vols, to your Tennessee list.
Hmm? A little rough on Detroit (But I am a native of Motown - which is the museum you need to visit when you go there). I'd say your take is just about "right on" re: Andy Dalton, though I can't imagine he would have won the MVP if not for that tackle. Go back and look at the four games previous to that one. Downward trending. And yes to Tampa. I'll make it a point to visit you there at your condo. Uh-huh.
St. Louis - Any Italian Restaurant on the Hill, the old Italian section. There are about 25. Been to 4 or 5, cannot remember their names, all great. Yogi Berra and Joe Garagiola grew up there. In Clayton: Blueberry Hill. My sister was a waitress there 45 years ago. Great food, fun atmosphere, owner is the world's biggest groupie - the pictures on the wall make The Precinct and the Montgomery Inn look like the weak baseball card collection of the kid next door.
Doc. We make a point to visit museums when we travel. When you visit your son again, go see the Noguchi Museum and Gardens in Queens. Besides the truly great museums of the world, many obviously in New York, the Noguchi is a real gem of Asian influenced sculpture and design. It’s a calming place dedicated to one guy that made things out of paper, wood, rock, and iron. If minimalism and sculpture isn’t your thing, boating isn’t mine but I once stopped at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath, Maine. Point being…I never cared about boats and the sea but I stayed in the MMM for 3 hours. Simply great. The Noguchi is too. The gardens are free to see.
In addition to the Superstition Mountains, Usery Mountain Park and Roosevelt and Saguaro lakes are worth a visit and relatively close to Supersition Mountains if you're out that way anyway. Gateway Airport, which has nonstops to CVG on Allegiant is in the far east part of the Valley/Metro Phoenix near all those spots.
If you're in Central Phoenix, South Mountain Park/Dobbins Lookout is worth a visit if you can't make it all the way out to the Superstitions or other points of interest in the East Valley. I avoid Scottsdale like the plague and Mill Avenue in Tempe near ASU doesn't have the same college/funky vibe it used to.
Problem is, for the handful of people who come to Phoenix for Reds Spring Training, Goodyear Ballpark is way out in the West Valley. Phoenix isn't nearly as big as LA, but you're going to be spending a lot of time in a rental car trying to get to any of the points of interest Doc mentioned.
As for Houston, Johnson Space Center holds a special place in my heart, but I didn't get the usual tour there most people get. Someone my dad worked with whose father worked at JSC as a contractor gave my girlfriend and I a personalized tour where we got to be on the main floor of mission control for the International Space Station back in 2015. We had our backs turned to the big screen that had whichever astronaut Mission Control was speaking to at the moment while we were getting info from our tour guide.
"He's waving at you," said our tour guide, pointing at the big screen.
Sure enough, and I kick myself for not remembering who it was to this day, the astronaut saw my girlfriend and I and waved to us. We sheepishly waved back. Probably one of the most-humbling moments of my life.
We also got to sit at the terminals in the mission control room for the Apollo program, which at the time was closed to the public (and might still be?). Just being in the room where the engineers and techs responsible for the Moon Landing and Apollo 13 worked was another huge and humbling moment.
Now, I recognize that few civilians will possibly ever get those kinds of experiences. I had no idea what was in store for us during our visit to JSC but as someone who only ever visited Houston once (traffic and freeways there suck), it was a hell of an experience, for whatever that's worth?
For some reason, I love visiting colleges and universities. Vandy is indeed charming, and Nashville has done a lot to spruce up the downtown, but my favorites are the Air Force Academy for the Rockies and the alma mater, UVA, for the architecture and history.
I made a southern tour recently and feel in love with Furman which is worth the investigation if so inclined but small college heaven is Sweet Briar in Virginia. W&L is pretty nice too, Doc. I can’t explain what compels me to drive around strange campuses that I have no connection with. Also, I have no interest in the modern atmospheres contained within but will pull off almost any highway while traveling to see how the others build for higher education.
As for Red, I will never forget the proximity and perfect angle I had of the out pass he threw to the Charger corner in the playoff game that helped turn victory into ultimate defeat. He didn’t even look before he let it go. Then, of course, it started raining for the rest of the day and metaphorically for years.
In my efforts to rehab a barking shoulder this year, I resorted, among other things, to the use of some holistic medical practices in order to get back on the golf course. This proves it is OK to used the word holistic when discussing athletics. The birdie I had the other day on the last hole I played will forever henceforth be referred to as "the holistic birdie." Thangyooveddymooch.
I liked Andy Dalton, mainly his hair. It was SO red. Well, red-orange. It glowed. It looked like his head had just come out of a pottery kiln. He was serviceable, kinda in the way Kenny Anderson was a serviceable QB. Kenny had a much better supporting cast; that's pretty much the difference between them. Had Andy had a great cast, his first 5 years would likely have been pretty bigtime strong. Kenny had some awful years. He's become vastly overrated. Hall Of Very Good awaits Kenny.
That little bike trail joint in The Land Of Love looks pretty good. We are living in the golden age of beer and bourbon. Wine, too, come to think of it. Let the good times roll. Hear, hear.
Have to disagree with the Kenny Anderson comparison. Andy overthrew more passes over the middle in a dozen Prime Time games than Anderson did over the entirety of his career is more the way I saw it.
People forget Kenny had some awful years, maybe worse than Andy. He was great at dink and dunk, but very average on bombs. Both got lots of passes batted down at the line. Kenny was a much better tuck-and-run guy, but he also took a lot of hard hits on sacks. It's fair to say both were very accurate at their best. But both had large gaps in between. People forget Kenny started getting "dancing feet" in the pocket as he got older. Both were somewhat boring guys who were good field generals, but neither was all that spectacular. Bill Walsh made Kenny Anderson.
Anderson did have Walsh. That's a good point. And their mannerisms were definitely similar. But the only bad years Anderson had were '78 and '79 before a awful O line was replaced by the Munoz, Montoya, Walters...
Such a beautiful country to see! Heading out for a ten day quickie train tour in a week or so. We'll be in Chicago just before Halloween.🤞 Then across the plains to I'm sure a chilly Seattle. Head down the coast to San Francisco and then the long trek across the southwest and back to Chicago. Unfortunately, it's on my dime.😂
Atlanta - spot on regarding the Varsity, you'll pay a heavy price after, but worth the price regardless
Pittsburgh - Frank Lloyd Wright House in Falling Water, spectacular and so unique
Miami - Combo Art Deco/Food Tour in South Beach, great eats/see interesting stuff along the way
Dallas - cannot overstate how powerful the Book Depository exhibit is until you've been there yourself
Let me know when you want to do international travel Doc, boatloads I can say about that.
Andy may not have led us to the ultimate prize, but I'm glad we had him here for so long for what he did to elevate our community in ways far more important than winning football games.
Forgot Fallingwater. Special, especially in the fall. Totally agree re Dalton. A very good human being.
Fabulous column. As usual. I have been to almost every one of those cities. My useless commentary:
Arizona - hot.
Atlanta - bad traffic. Stone Mountain is worth the hike. Alpharetta is nice. Virginia Hills very nice.
Baltimore - overrated. Inner Harbor is very nice.. The Farmers Market is very nice and a nice walk.
Denver - Beautiful. Get out of town and go west into Mountains. any ski resort. Even in Summer. Downtown Boulder is great.
Detroit - Somewhat unduly chastised. Greektown has some nice restaurants and a casino. I made it to the old Tigers Stadium before it was torn down. Great old baseball venue.
Houston - I concur. Hot and humid. They have 100 streets beginning with Peach I think. I got lost 10 times going from the airport to my hotel on my only visit there. Who would ever live there?!
Indy - I am biased. I am a Hoosier. No, not IU, a Purdue grad. Great state and great town. Enough said.
LA - Went to 2001 Rose Bowl. Mulholland Drive. Rose Parade. Venice Beach. Santa Monica Pier. Beverly Hills. Hollywood. The Rose Bowl. The weather. You need to go there once.
Minnesota - go when its warm. The one year I went there we got 90" of snow. Not lying. The mosquitos are bigger than a turkey vulture. The lakes are beautiful. Go visit. DO NOT live there.
New England - go in the Fall. Bridgeport. Pittsfield.
Las Vegas - Go with a bunch of guys. Twice the fun for half the cost. Fremont Street is fantastic. Check out the Circa and its 6 pools.
Tampa - Hit the beach. Bradenton. Sarasota. St Pete. Siesta Key. Anna Maria island all good.
Tennessee/Nashville - tons of fun but expensive. Stay downtown. All of the bars are good . As PD says, find Bourbon Street Boogies and Blues in Printers Alley if you can find a seat.
Enjoy!
I live N of Charlotte and have a son at Rice, and always strive for the walkable full-of-character neighborhoods when I travel… your list is spot on. (HOU was my least favorite city even before I visited, and the visit reinforced that… strip malls and sidewalks every other block because God forbid you MAKE someone install a sidewalk right in the middle of the city!) Charlotte is suburban sprawl, but Plaza-Midwood is a cool area, at least for a couple years until gentrification takes over. Nothing stays cool here. Agree on Davidson, rare slice of authenticity.
Charlotte: Stop in Asheville and watch whatever game you were on the way to from the Grove Park Inn...
Being born and raised in Upper East Tennessee, I would like to add Neyland Stadium on the University of Tennessee campus, home of the Vols, to your Tennessee list.
Don’t think he owned it though.
Yep! Just googled it!
Hmm? A little rough on Detroit (But I am a native of Motown - which is the museum you need to visit when you go there). I'd say your take is just about "right on" re: Andy Dalton, though I can't imagine he would have won the MVP if not for that tackle. Go back and look at the four games previous to that one. Downward trending. And yes to Tampa. I'll make it a point to visit you there at your condo. Uh-huh.
Yep a small marker and you have to know exactly where it is to find it.
Doc, I think there is a marker showing where Crosley Field was down on Dalton Ave.
Possibly by the City Gospel Mission building.
St. Louis - Any Italian Restaurant on the Hill, the old Italian section. There are about 25. Been to 4 or 5, cannot remember their names, all great. Yogi Berra and Joe Garagiola grew up there. In Clayton: Blueberry Hill. My sister was a waitress there 45 years ago. Great food, fun atmosphere, owner is the world's biggest groupie - the pictures on the wall make The Precinct and the Montgomery Inn look like the weak baseball card collection of the kid next door.
Chuck Berry played once a month at a joint he owned at least in part. Same Blueberry Hill?
Doc. We make a point to visit museums when we travel. When you visit your son again, go see the Noguchi Museum and Gardens in Queens. Besides the truly great museums of the world, many obviously in New York, the Noguchi is a real gem of Asian influenced sculpture and design. It’s a calming place dedicated to one guy that made things out of paper, wood, rock, and iron. If minimalism and sculpture isn’t your thing, boating isn’t mine but I once stopped at the Maine Maritime Museum in Bath, Maine. Point being…I never cared about boats and the sea but I stayed in the MMM for 3 hours. Simply great. The Noguchi is too. The gardens are free to see.
In addition to the Superstition Mountains, Usery Mountain Park and Roosevelt and Saguaro lakes are worth a visit and relatively close to Supersition Mountains if you're out that way anyway. Gateway Airport, which has nonstops to CVG on Allegiant is in the far east part of the Valley/Metro Phoenix near all those spots.
If you're in Central Phoenix, South Mountain Park/Dobbins Lookout is worth a visit if you can't make it all the way out to the Superstitions or other points of interest in the East Valley. I avoid Scottsdale like the plague and Mill Avenue in Tempe near ASU doesn't have the same college/funky vibe it used to.
Problem is, for the handful of people who come to Phoenix for Reds Spring Training, Goodyear Ballpark is way out in the West Valley. Phoenix isn't nearly as big as LA, but you're going to be spending a lot of time in a rental car trying to get to any of the points of interest Doc mentioned.
As for Houston, Johnson Space Center holds a special place in my heart, but I didn't get the usual tour there most people get. Someone my dad worked with whose father worked at JSC as a contractor gave my girlfriend and I a personalized tour where we got to be on the main floor of mission control for the International Space Station back in 2015. We had our backs turned to the big screen that had whichever astronaut Mission Control was speaking to at the moment while we were getting info from our tour guide.
"He's waving at you," said our tour guide, pointing at the big screen.
Sure enough, and I kick myself for not remembering who it was to this day, the astronaut saw my girlfriend and I and waved to us. We sheepishly waved back. Probably one of the most-humbling moments of my life.
We also got to sit at the terminals in the mission control room for the Apollo program, which at the time was closed to the public (and might still be?). Just being in the room where the engineers and techs responsible for the Moon Landing and Apollo 13 worked was another huge and humbling moment.
Now, I recognize that few civilians will possibly ever get those kinds of experiences. I had no idea what was in store for us during our visit to JSC but as someone who only ever visited Houston once (traffic and freeways there suck), it was a hell of an experience, for whatever that's worth?
https://photos.app.goo.gl/jN5VDRT8y2MG2jtz7
Very cool JSC experience.
For some reason, I love visiting colleges and universities. Vandy is indeed charming, and Nashville has done a lot to spruce up the downtown, but my favorites are the Air Force Academy for the Rockies and the alma mater, UVA, for the architecture and history.
I made a southern tour recently and feel in love with Furman which is worth the investigation if so inclined but small college heaven is Sweet Briar in Virginia. W&L is pretty nice too, Doc. I can’t explain what compels me to drive around strange campuses that I have no connection with. Also, I have no interest in the modern atmospheres contained within but will pull off almost any highway while traveling to see how the others build for higher education.
As for Red, I will never forget the proximity and perfect angle I had of the out pass he threw to the Charger corner in the playoff game that helped turn victory into ultimate defeat. He didn’t even look before he let it go. Then, of course, it started raining for the rest of the day and metaphorically for years.
I love college campuses. Especially on game day
In my efforts to rehab a barking shoulder this year, I resorted, among other things, to the use of some holistic medical practices in order to get back on the golf course. This proves it is OK to used the word holistic when discussing athletics. The birdie I had the other day on the last hole I played will forever henceforth be referred to as "the holistic birdie." Thangyooveddymooch.
I liked Andy Dalton, mainly his hair. It was SO red. Well, red-orange. It glowed. It looked like his head had just come out of a pottery kiln. He was serviceable, kinda in the way Kenny Anderson was a serviceable QB. Kenny had a much better supporting cast; that's pretty much the difference between them. Had Andy had a great cast, his first 5 years would likely have been pretty bigtime strong. Kenny had some awful years. He's become vastly overrated. Hall Of Very Good awaits Kenny.
That little bike trail joint in The Land Of Love looks pretty good. We are living in the golden age of beer and bourbon. Wine, too, come to think of it. Let the good times roll. Hear, hear.
Have to disagree with the Kenny Anderson comparison. Andy overthrew more passes over the middle in a dozen Prime Time games than Anderson did over the entirety of his career is more the way I saw it.
People forget Kenny had some awful years, maybe worse than Andy. He was great at dink and dunk, but very average on bombs. Both got lots of passes batted down at the line. Kenny was a much better tuck-and-run guy, but he also took a lot of hard hits on sacks. It's fair to say both were very accurate at their best. But both had large gaps in between. People forget Kenny started getting "dancing feet" in the pocket as he got older. Both were somewhat boring guys who were good field generals, but neither was all that spectacular. Bill Walsh made Kenny Anderson.
Anderson did have Walsh. That's a good point. And their mannerisms were definitely similar. But the only bad years Anderson had were '78 and '79 before a awful O line was replaced by the Munoz, Montoya, Walters...
Such a beautiful country to see! Heading out for a ten day quickie train tour in a week or so. We'll be in Chicago just before Halloween.🤞 Then across the plains to I'm sure a chilly Seattle. Head down the coast to San Francisco and then the long trek across the southwest and back to Chicago. Unfortunately, it's on my dime.😂
That's a Bucket list trip if I ever saw one!