Beach week and DC Stopover

My family returned to the Delaware beaches this summer for the first time since 2017. My spouse's sister and her family also came over from the UK and so the vacation was also a family reunion. Moreover, the two families stayed together in a big condo at a golf resort favored by some friends who long ago lived on the same street as my wife and her sister. When everyone got together, as we did for pizza one evening and in various combinations on the beach, with spouses or partners and their mostly young-adult "children," it was a sizeable assembly. 

I'm not really a fan of the sun, or sand, so I did little more along the ocean front than walk along the beach slathered in sunscreen. I did very much enjoy being with family and friends, drinking the regional craft beer (and visiting a nearby brewpub), and consuming the locally grown produce (the corn this year was spectacular). I should not forget to mention the excellent crab cakes my sister-in-law produced one evening nor the excellent novel I read while enjoying the freedom to do nothing. 

On the return from Delaware, my spouse and I stopped to visit one of her oldest friends who lives in Arlington. While in the DC area, I connected with one of my oldest friends who lives in nearby McLean and we spent part of an afternoon visiting the National Portrait Gallery and taking in the special Leonardo DaVinci exhibit at the DC Public Library. Among other attractions at the Gallery was a special exhibition for Frederick Douglas. 

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East Coast Vacation 2017

University of Louisville classes started last week and I already taught two sessions of my senior capstone seminar on "Politics of Climate Change."

Before summer slips away altogether, I'm posting a few pictures of our early August vacation trip -- to Baltimore first for a couple of days, then to the Delaware shore for about a week with extended family.

In Baltimore, an old friend snagged four tickets to the August 2 Orioles game against the Kansas City Royals. The O's won 6-0, unfortunately. We were seated very close to first base, so I snapped this photo of Eric Hosmer. The game was briefly delayed by rain in the early innings, but I still had a great time in terrific seats. Plus, the storm presaged the arrival of moderate August temperatures throughout our visit.

The following day, my spouse and I went to the Baltimore Museum of Art. It turns out they have a cast of Rodin's "The Thinker." The same statue has a prominent position in front of Grawemeyer Hall at UofL. In fact, the one at UofL used to be in Baltimore, but was sold when Baltimore acquired this one.

The BMA also has a number of Andy Warhol pieces, including a version of the "Last Supper." The city's artistic side is also revealed in its tribute to local native John Waters (pink flamingo, pictured below).

As beach preparation, I also bought six packs of local beers Duckpin Pale Ale (brewed by Union) and Penguin Pils (brewed by Brewer's Art). I loved the Duckpin, but found the Penguin Pils overly influenced by Belgian style. I prefer German or Czech pilsners.

During beach week, we visited the Dogfish brewpub in Rehobeth, toured the Seacrets Distillery in Ocean City, and ate our share of fresh crab -- including some caught by family members. The younger generation cousins used chicken necks and nets to catch a family-record number this year! The first one we caught is pictured below.

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Summer vacation

I'm not sure where the summer went. I finished a manuscript and sent it to a journal. I negotiated a car deal for my oldest daughter. My wife and I managed to take a 9 day vacation to Michigan.

Monday, the Dean is leading a meeting of department chairs and the semester will begin.

Here's a pic I took in Bellaire, Michigan:

It made me think of the Duck of Minerva, where I also never post anymore.

Most people seem to go to Bellaire for the Short's brewpub. This is the "big board" from August 4:

I liked this beer so much, I bought a 6 pack. On-tap, it was 9.3% abv, but the bottled version is only about 7%:

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Michigan trip 2012

We're back from our (almost) annual trip to Michigan. This is the lighthouse in Ludington, where we spent a couple of days and one night:

If you ever visit Ludington, I'd recommend taking a picnic to the beach. The local Best Choice Market had a terrific deli for sandwiches and salads, assorted veggies, and a nice selection of local brews.

Speaking of beer, +1000 for Short's Huma Lupa Licious IPA. Wow! 


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Michigan, 2010

Long-time readers may recall that my family often heads north to Michigan in the summer to escape the heat in Louisville. Three-fourths of us returned there these past weeks, though it wasn't quite the same as it used to be.

My oldest daughter, only a year away from departing the nest for college, is in a five week program for Kentucky's talented seniors-to-be. My younger daughter, moreover, spent three weeks in Michigan apart from us at one of the country's finest camps (and schools) for young artists.

Thus, my spouse and I spent most of the past week vacationing without our children -- something we really hadn't done since our 10th anniversary in 2001. Prior to that, we spent time locally car shopping and enjoying some shows and films. Check out "Winter's Bone," which has a Kentucky connection (the lead actress is a former local).

Once in Michigan, on our way to collect our theatre student, we hit the beach for a day, enjoyed the local brews, went for a woodland hike, sampled a variety of tasty local cherry products, and purchased a large box of delicious blueberries for home consumption. We even had a taste of Europe one evening at a very good cafe. That night, we stayed across the street from the Cadillac dealer of Cadillac! My Dad would have liked that.

As a side note, as it has in the past, the nation's political scene intersected our visit to Michigan. However, we once again decided not to attempt to combine politics (my business) and pleasure.

On the beach, I missed the persistent "look at me, Daddy" that our lakeside neighbors got to hear. On the other hand, I was able to complete a very long and interesting novel. And since Interlochen concluded with a fine show featuring my daughter, I got to experience the "watch me" moment nonetheless.

Incidentally, we drove the new Altima Hybrid and got over 37 mpg on the trip.


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Just ducky

Wednesday, at Duck of Minerva, I blogged "Silent coup?" about a recent Washington Post op-ed by former ambassador Thomas Schweich. In his editorial, Schweich warned about the danger of the militarization of US foreign policy. He warned of a "silent military coup" against the US government.

On January 3, I blogged "Foreign Policy and the Blogosphere" about the new Foreign Policy magazine on-line venture, prominently featuring several academic IR bloggers. Congratulations to Marc Lynch (aka Abu Aardvark), Dan Drezner and Stephen Walt.

December 29, I posted "I've never met a man..." which was about my family's trip to the Will Rogers Memorial Museum in Claremore, Oklahoma. It turns out that the well-known populist thought Americans are basically good-hearted liberals.


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Christmas past

My Dad and I are shown playing a friendly poker game with some friends and family, at Christmas-time, 2006. It looks like I had a short stack, but a good beer.


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Roots music in Brighton

I listened to some quality roots music while attending my sister-in-law's wedding on August 23-24 in Brighton. Sunday's band was a local string-heavy group with a classic sound. The original email I received in advance of the wedding said the band would be The Magic Number, which self identifies as playing "Gipsy Jazz Swing based songs." Their myspace page includes a number of music tracks.

However, some of the equipment at the wedding was for The Mountain Firework Company. At least two people are members of both bands so there's a lot of room for confusion. The band's website has this CD review:

In the tradition of the sort of Folk music that tends to come out of the UK, the men of The Mountain Firework Company have their share of fun, whimsical songs, that could inspire the waving of beer before running down the street naked starts to sound like a good idea. Overall, this is a really great record, and The Mountain Firework Company is a really fantastic band. Their melodies are catchy, their lyrics are well-put, and their instrumentation is intuitive and tight.

I liked the band's sound, whether it was The Magic Number or The Mountain Firework Company.

Saturday night the 23rd featured London's Hula Groove, which The Independent on Sunday apparently called a "hugely entertaining and professional soul, funk & disco function band." They had the crowd dancing as they played a great deal of old Motown as well as soul, funk and disco. This video gives you an idea of their look and sound.

Alas, Hula Groove wouldn't let former Beatmaster Richard Walmsley play along.


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Medieval Gitmo

I've been in the UK for the past week, which explains the lack of blogging. Friday, the family and I visited the Tower of London, which is apparently the UK's largest tourist attraction.

About 15 years ago, my wife and I visited the Tower and I mainly recall seeing the Di and Charles wedding video (on a loop) and the crown jewels. Both made a fairly pleasing impression. It was hot that day and we walked to St. Paul's and worked up quite a thirst.

This time, however, we had more time to check out the various towers and I was really struck by what the place represented. At this site, hundreds of years ago, enemies of the state (crown) were imprisoned, sometimes tortured, and even killed for their beliefs. Most prisoners seemed to be held for their strong (and out of favor) religious faith, though all were seen as political enemies as well.

The Tower of London was a medieval Gitmo.

My kids took my picture by the Traitors Gate and we moved on to Covent Garden.


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