2004 Tom
and Daddy Trip
Notre
Dame Seminar for Tom, "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Teens"
We spend a few days driving out to Notre Dame and back. Below is Tom's recap of the trip, written a few weeks afterward. I've inserted a few notes in brackets here and there. [One note is that we did not take many photos this year!]
Tom's recap
Wednesday, July 14: I enjoyed the feel of driving with dad again, and finding out that the first night, we could have gone to Thomas Edison's Birthplace the day we arrived, since the AAA guidebook was wrong. We went to a golf course and dad played, while I drove the cart a lot. Then we went down to Sandusky (just a few miles away), and found that it was deserted. We walked into a bar, and dad had a Guinness…from a plastic cup! Then we went on a pier-like thing (some land stretching out into the lake where boats could land and people could fish), and saw Cedar Point.
For dinner that night, I think we stuffed ourselves at an Outback Steakhouse (although that might have been another night that we did that).
[We enjoyed our upgraded room that night .. they ran out of small rooms. But we weren't allowed to use the Jacuzzi bathtub since we hadn't paid for it.}
Thursday, July 15: Then the next morning, we went to Thomas Edison’s Birthplace (In Milan, OH) [above], and hit the road.
We got to Notre Dame and on our way to the hotel, we looked for Rocco’s, and found that they were closed for vacation. SOMEDAY, we will get up there to have pizza…someday… Then we got settled at the Morris Inn.
[At this point we took a nice walk around campus. Highlights included playing catch with a baseball on the North Quad outside of Zahm, and meeting Father Hesburg for a few minutes in his Library office. He was entertaining some group, having pictures taken and signing his book. We chatted briefly and he told Tom to work hard in school so he could attend ND. I had the feeling that he really wanted to spend more time with us, but duty called.]
Then we decided we would
try to go and play the 9-hole golf course on the Notre Dame campus. A friendly
guard let us drive to the golf course on the on-campus roads, but when we got
to the golf course, it was packed. Then dad decided he would have fun and drive
around campus a bit. We left to check out the world’s largest music store, and
unlike most places/things that claim to be the world’s…largest chewing gum ball
(I’ve never actually seen that claim, and I’m not sure I’d like to see the item
itself)…biggest movie collection (Hmm…I’m sure I’ve heard this one someplace,
but who knows where…)…biggest hole to china (oops, that one doesn’t
exist…)…coolest thing since the word cool itself (actually, I’ve never seen
that claim either…)…I think that this store truly was the world’s largest music
store. It was COOL!!!
Friday, July 16: I went to
my seminar, and learned a lot. I met two other teens, a guy and a girl, and
hung out with them for a good while. At our one-hour lunch break, I decided
that the three of us should go up as high as we can into the golden dome. We
did, and then we were wandering looking for an ice cream store. While we
wandered, Lauren’s flip-flop broke, beyond repair. We walked about a half mile
to the ND bookstore (It was on the other side of campus), and found a pair of
flip flops for $4.99 or so, BUT…they were too small. So then we asked a sales
clerk if they had any bigger ones, and the only ones they had were $29.99 (plus
tax). I had about $30.00, and the other two combined had about 7-ish. I ended
up loaning Lauren $23.00.
[While Tom was in the seminar I enjoyed a leisurely day on campus and in the area. Nice complimentary brakfast at the Morris Inn. Hit balls at the Warren driving range. Lunch at the Huddle. Worked a little on NSF grant reviews. Walked around campus again. I know I did not appreciate this beautiful place enough when I attended here.]
We left
my seminar around 3:00, and made our way to Toledo, OH. It was drizzling, so we
decided that we would go and see how the minor league stadium looked. Oh, and
amazingly enough, the field was called “Fifth/Third Field”…The same name as the
Dayton, OH field, where Dad and I went last year…sounds fishy, doesn’t it? TWO
BASEBALL FIELDS WITH THE SAME NAME????? IMPOSSIBLE IN A SANE WORLD!!!!! You
don’t agree????? Why not????? … IN FACT…They were BOTH MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
STADIUMS!!!!! THE RAGE!!!!!…I DO NOT NEED ANGER MANAGEMENT *dives at
reader*…well, anyway, the field was nice, but the weather wasn’t. We had Subway
subs for dinner, and ate them back at the hotel.
I woke up
in the night, I think between 2-4am, because of dad’s snoring. He sounded like he
was wearing a gas mask or something, and it surprised me BIG TIME! [I don't
snore. He must have been dreaming.] Then we
slept in too late, and had to rush a little.
Saturday, July 17: In
Pittsburgh, we arrived at the Marriott, and unpacked a few things, and then we
went to see Mamma Mia. Then, after the show, we wandered around thinking about
what to eat. We decided to go to the Florida Marlins vs Pittsburgh Pirates game
(In Pittsburgh. We didn’t drive to Florida in an hour…plus, the game was in
Pittsburgh, so why would we drive to Florida?
J) at PNC Park (7:05pm game). For
future reference, Section 127, Row AA, Seat 23 = $24 (that’s in left field…).
Sunday, July 18: On the way home from Pittsburgh, Dad wanted to see the end of the British Open, and we even seriously pondered staying at a hotel, but decided it would be nice to be home again.
[We had to wait until two days later, and a local trip to Villanova, to finish the book-on-tape that we listened to on this trip. We very much enjoyed Prey by Michael Crichton.]
Some mementos:
End of 2004