This year’s Thanksgiving travel looks like it’s going to be messy this year, with a Nor’easter bearing down on the, well, Northeast. If you’re flying for Thanksgiving, be sure to pack extra patience and perhaps take advantage of your airline’s travel waivers. Continue reading
I was very sad to learn this morning that Massimo Vignelli has passed away. As someone who loves great design and transportation, Vignelli’s work has always been of great interest to me.
Vignelli’s designs include the iconic American Airlines “AA” logo, New York Subway signage, and the much heralded (or cursed, depending on who you ask), 1972 New York Subway map. Vignelli’s work also includes the directional signage for Washington D.C.’s Metro and the old dinnerware on Alitalia flights. Continue reading
Last week I went through my photos and pulled out my favorite non-aviation photos from 2013, but now it’s time for my favorite aviation photos of 2013. This year was a great aviation-photography year. I experienced the unveiling of the new American Airlines livery (and talked about it with one of the key people behind it), EAA Airventure in Oskosh, WI, planespotting with some consummate avgeeks, American Airlines’ new Embraer E175, and O’Hare Airport’s Run on the Runway. Continue reading
With a few extra vacation days to burn at the end of the year, I’ve found myself with a bit of time on my hands. So I’ve taken to going for a walk in the afternoon and taking photos. For the past couple of days my route has taken me from Millennium Park, up Michigan Avenue and the Magnificent Mile to Water Tower Place. Visitors always tell me they’re surprised that anyone leaves the house during Chicago winters, but there’s plenty to see and do. Continue reading
Every summer my grandparents would pack up their 31-foot Airstream trailer and head from Chicago to the Crescent Lake Camp Ground near the Boundary Waters area of northern Minnesota to assume their roles as Camp Ground Hosts. Continue reading
Growing up I remember sitting in my grandparents living room as my grandfather narrated a slide show of my grandmother and his latest travels. They spent over 50 years together wandering around the world and my grandfather never missed a chance to take a photo (or 50). Lately I’ve been going through his old slide collection and digitizing a large portion so that he can provide captions and stories to accompany the photos. Continue reading
Every year a bunch of people I know take to the streets of Chicago to run 26.2 miles. And while this is an activity in which I would never wish to partake, I do my very best to support them. I cheer, I shout, I urge them along. And it’s a lot of fun. Continue reading
In Part 1 I covered the ticketing and departure experience, now it’s time to talk about the onboard experience. We rejoin our story as I get ready to board for my trip south. Boarding is like the old Southwest model of free-for-all scramble onboard. But at least Southwest made sure that everyone getting off was able to do so before other passengers started getting on. Continue reading
In order to requalify as a Chicago Transit Platinum member for 2014 I recently did a mileage run on the CTA’s Red Line and I think it deserves a trip report. Continue reading
Divvy Bikes, part of Chicago’s new bike share program, have been popping up all over the city and last Wednesday I had the opportunity to try them out. I needed to run some errands and was short on time before a meeting, so instead of walking I decided to hop on a Divvy. Continue reading