At the end of February I went to a sociology conference in New York. Unfortunately, Billie had a weekend class and couldn't go. I offered Mom my spare bed but she said that she remembered New York so well from her high school senior trip that she didn't need to fly up from Florida to see it again.
A few pictures from my trip are available on Facebook here.
We now resume our regularly scheduled lack of updates.
Showing posts with label Travels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Travels. Show all posts
Friday, March 16, 2012
Monday, March 12, 2012
IU Basketball in PA
For most of my time in graduate school I had season tickets for IU men's
basketball. After we got married, Billie was also able to have season
tickets for our last year in Bloomington. Since moving to Pennsylvania,
though, we've had to settle for watching games on TV. On Sunday, January
8th we were able to go to a game in person because IU was playing at
Penn State. We decided to go on Saturday to spend some time in State
College and avoid driving five hours in one day just to see a basketball
game. Here are some pictures from our trip:
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| We could see the football stadium from our hotel room window |
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| Joe Paterno's house |
 |
| Ready for the game (we'll pretend this picture wasn't taken when we stopped to eat on the way home) |
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| Bryce Jordan Center |
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| Pre-game warm ups |
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| A rabid dog was on hand to scare unsuspecting children |
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| The pre-game huddle |
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| Tom Crean, looking relaxed, as usual |
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| Ready for the tip-off |
...and then the game happened...
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| Final score: Penn State 82, Indiana 88 - it was nice that they won but if they could have won more decisively the game would have been less stressful |
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| Shaking hands after the game |
Sunday, August 14, 2011
Brent and Billie go to Washington
This summer I taught an Introduction to Sociology class in which some of the students were in Albright's Summer Start program. Summer Start is a program for students who would not normally be admitted but who are given an opportunity to work their way in by going through a pretty intense five week program in which they take a regular class (either mine or a history class) in addition to a study skills class and a life skills class that focuses mostly on reading and math remediation. On the weekends, the students in this program also participate in various social activities. On July 30, the students were going to Washington, D.C. and, because we have only been there for a few hours during the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear last fall, Billie and I decided to go with them.
Our first stop was the Smithsonian National Zoo (as always, click on the pictures for bigger versions):
This is a map of the zoo that also proves we were there.
This gorilla did not look too excited to be there, even with a baby gorilla playing underneath it.
This young gorilla was hanging out in the shade, probably plotting an escape strategy.
Can you spot the tiger?
Some lions lyin' around.
An elephant. I couldn't understand why it wasn't in the water (it was hot outside).
Zebras doing whatever zebras do.
After leaving the zoo we went to lunch at Union Station.
Billie standing in front of the (empty) fountain in front of Union Station.
Billie and Brent in front of the fountain.
The view along the front of Union Station.
Inside, Billie looks for a train (I'm not sure about the history but Union Station is currently part mall and part train station).
Another view of the main lobby.
A view of the "mall" area. We ate at an Asian restaurant to the left of this picture.
After leaving Union Station we went to the Washington Mall. We had been here before for the rally but we didn't get to do much sightseeing at the time. While the students went into some of the museums we decided to walk down to the Lincoln Memorial and then to the Capitol. This map gives you a sense of the distance we traveled.
I can't imagine a better picture of the Washington Monument.
Down by the Washington Monument we could see what looked like a big white house off to the side but we didn't have time to go see what it was.
Billie with the World War II Memorial.
Some words at the WWII Memorial (you can see the Lincoln Memorial in the background).
The Washington Monument from the WWII Memorial fountain.
The WWII Memorial fountain.
The reflecting pool was not doing much reflection on the day of our visit. It is apparently being rebuilt.
The Lincoln Memorial.
Abe Lincoln (not life sized - they were apparently going to make him smaller until they realized that if he was any smaller nobody would be able to see him on the back of a penny).
Billie and Brent at the Lincoln Memorial with the Washington Monument and reflecting dirt in the background.
After a lengthy walk we arrived at the Capitol at the other end of the mall. At this time, congresspeople and senators were inside trying to look up the word "negotiate" in the dictionary so that they could raise the debt ceiling.
This is the front of the Capitol, which faces away from the mall (you can tell it is the front because the statue on the top of the building faces this way). We tried to go inside and solve the country's problems but apparently only congresspeople and senators are allowed to go through the chain across the steps.
Here we are, left outside.
Our first stop was the Smithsonian National Zoo (as always, click on the pictures for bigger versions):
This is a map of the zoo that also proves we were there.
This gorilla did not look too excited to be there, even with a baby gorilla playing underneath it.
This young gorilla was hanging out in the shade, probably plotting an escape strategy.
Can you spot the tiger?
Some lions lyin' around.
An elephant. I couldn't understand why it wasn't in the water (it was hot outside).
Zebras doing whatever zebras do.
After leaving the zoo we went to lunch at Union Station.
Billie standing in front of the (empty) fountain in front of Union Station.
Billie and Brent in front of the fountain.
The view along the front of Union Station.
Inside, Billie looks for a train (I'm not sure about the history but Union Station is currently part mall and part train station).
Another view of the main lobby.
A view of the "mall" area. We ate at an Asian restaurant to the left of this picture.
After leaving Union Station we went to the Washington Mall. We had been here before for the rally but we didn't get to do much sightseeing at the time. While the students went into some of the museums we decided to walk down to the Lincoln Memorial and then to the Capitol. This map gives you a sense of the distance we traveled.
I can't imagine a better picture of the Washington Monument.
Down by the Washington Monument we could see what looked like a big white house off to the side but we didn't have time to go see what it was.
Billie with the World War II Memorial.
Some words at the WWII Memorial (you can see the Lincoln Memorial in the background).
The Washington Monument from the WWII Memorial fountain.
The WWII Memorial fountain.
The reflecting pool was not doing much reflection on the day of our visit. It is apparently being rebuilt.
The Lincoln Memorial.
Abe Lincoln (not life sized - they were apparently going to make him smaller until they realized that if he was any smaller nobody would be able to see him on the back of a penny).
Billie and Brent at the Lincoln Memorial with the Washington Monument and reflecting dirt in the background.
After a lengthy walk we arrived at the Capitol at the other end of the mall. At this time, congresspeople and senators were inside trying to look up the word "negotiate" in the dictionary so that they could raise the debt ceiling.
This is the front of the Capitol, which faces away from the mall (you can tell it is the front because the statue on the top of the building faces this way). We tried to go inside and solve the country's problems but apparently only congresspeople and senators are allowed to go through the chain across the steps.
Here we are, left outside.
Next time we go to Washington we'd like to go for a weekend so that we have more time to go inside of some of the buildings.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Brent and Billie go to Jail
After our tour through the Asa Packer mansion during our trip to the Poconos, we went to see Jim Thorpe's "Old Jail." Despite the boring name, this jail has an interesting history as the site of four high-profile executions during the coal mining days. At that time, the town was called Mauch Chunk because Jim Thorpe had not yet been born. The Molly Maguires, a movie detailing the crimes and executions was partially filmed in the jail.
The outside of the Old Jail.
The upstairs of the cell block. You can see a criminal has escaped from one of the cells.
Don't worry, she got put back where she belonged.
This guy is smiling, so he must be insane.
The outside of the Old Jail.
The upstairs of the cell block. You can see a criminal has escaped from one of the cells.
Don't worry, she got put back where she belonged.
This guy is smiling, so he must be insane.Saturday, November 7, 2009
One Year In: Jim Thorpe, PA
For our one-year anniversary, Billie and I went to the Poconos (where we stayed in a normal Hampton Inn, not some kind of "romantic" hotel). Jim Thorpe, PA is where we spent most of our time and is basically in the closest part of the Poconos to where we live. The picture below is of downtown Jim Thorpe. As you can see, it was cloudy and raining on the Saturday that we were there.
Cold and rain in Jim Thorpe, PA.
Because it is close to us, Jim Thorpe isn't very far into the Poconos. This turned out to be a good thing because some people that I assume were coming from a higher elevation had snow on their vehicles, as seen on the hood of this truck. It was definitely not rafting weather!
To escape the rain for a while we took a train ride. Unfortunately, we did not ride on this steam engine.
We rode on this normal-engined train.
The train was dry but it was not warm. Billie was forced to rely on her winter "scarf over the face" technique.
Despite the cold, there were some nice views from the train.
By the time we got off of the train the rain had mostly stopped, so we were able to walk around without an umbrella. Our next destination was the Asa Packer mansion, which seemed much more intricately detailed than today's mansions. For example, the wordwork in the main hallway was hand carved by a team of craftsmen who worked for 18 months. After the mansion we went to... JAIL!
Cold and rain in Jim Thorpe, PA.
Because it is close to us, Jim Thorpe isn't very far into the Poconos. This turned out to be a good thing because some people that I assume were coming from a higher elevation had snow on their vehicles, as seen on the hood of this truck. It was definitely not rafting weather!
To escape the rain for a while we took a train ride. Unfortunately, we did not ride on this steam engine.
We rode on this normal-engined train.
The train was dry but it was not warm. Billie was forced to rely on her winter "scarf over the face" technique.
Despite the cold, there were some nice views from the train.
By the time we got off of the train the rain had mostly stopped, so we were able to walk around without an umbrella. Our next destination was the Asa Packer mansion, which seemed much more intricately detailed than today's mansions. For example, the wordwork in the main hallway was hand carved by a team of craftsmen who worked for 18 months. After the mansion we went to... JAIL!
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