PJ and I had a fun, funny, memorable (if somewhat short) trip to Chicago and South Bend (on July 5-9). Prompted by an invitation from Voe and Karen Zintak to the wedding of their son (John) in Chicago.
 |
| Voe & Karen Zintak family, right after wedding ceremony. |
Flew into Midway, then started the trip with a visit with John, Ping and children (Patrick and Serena) - I hadn't seen their home before, very nice area (Woodbridge). It was fun to catch up, and they were gracious enough to treat us to a fine dinner at a Korean place they'd discovered (near Patrick's school). So that was nice.
 |
| Sampling of the fine bikes that (with owners) provided some real character to our chain-hotel experience. |
Then over to Voe's place - beautiful backyard - beers, food, conversation, hospitality ++.
Then over to our hotel shortly before 1a. At check-in learned that the hotel had been mostly reserved for a local motorcycle club - the Ruff Ryders - plenty of interesting bikes and bikers in evidence throughout our stay. (Some must have been night owls based on all-night hallway shenanigans.)
 |
| Wandering around St. Mary's Lake. |
Wedding was Saturday afternoon; beautiful outdoor ceremony followed by reception at Janosik Banquet in Hickory Hills. First-gen Polish bride, which was neat. Much enjoyed entire event, very nice to catch up with Pat and Nancy (and their son David), Rita, Jan, etc.
 |
| Where we officially got started on May 24, 1980. |
We had decided to extend the trip by a couple days for a quick visit to South Bend, and we were glad that we did. Our last visit,
described here, was back in 2006; campus continues to change, particularly on the south end. There is something entirely new since 2011 - "Eddy Commons" - we stayed at a Fairfield Inn that is part of this development. Nice shopping and restaurants - you guessed it, "there wasn't anything like this when we were in school." A big improvement.
 |
Attempt at panoramic view inside Sacred Heart Church Basilica. |
Weather very hot and humid. Lots of walking, per our usual style. A great time of year to be on campus - pretty much dead - without the jumpiness of a football weekend, it was possible to dredge up something of the "old days" feeling (a little bit, but nice). Wonderful dinner (and lunch subsequent day) at Cafe Navarre in downtown S. Bend. Met Joe and Jackie Gales for a drink on Monday night - just delightful to have a chance to visit with them.
Wrapped up things on Tuesday, and back to Phoenix - a fun time with my excellent traveling companion.
