The Sandwich Life

Random Pictures from the Wander

More to come

Purcell, Elmslie, Jenny, and Me

A week or so ago, my friend Jenny messaged me and said she had something to drop off (hmmm did I write about this already? I don't know. That's ok because there's more this time). She came by on a sunny Sunday and gave me a gorgeous book on Prairie architects Purcell and Elmslie. I was utterly delighted with it. Then things got hectic with phones and chemo and preparing for our trip and I set it aside to look at later. Thursday evening as we were driving around Rhinelander, Wisconsin in the rain we stopped at a light. As I glanced to the right I jumped seeing the ornamentation on the building. I knew it wasn't Louis Sullivan because I have all his banks listed in my head. I quickly googled and sure enough, we were sitting next to a Purcell and Elmslie bank! Of COURSE I'd forgotten to bring the book with me!! I was so excited. We went back the next morning when it was merely gray and not raining and grabbed some pictures.

When we got home I read a bit about it in my book. The bank originally wanted to be in the front with two stores behind them. Purcell and Elmslie convinced them to have the two stores have entrances on the front (see the facade) as well as on a hallway that led to the bank behind them. This way all three would have street access and the stores would have windows for display on the street as well as on windows on the hallway. Reportedly the drugstore didn't really get this concept and put shelves up on the window on the hallway.

Delightful. Thank you so much, Jenny!! 

The Week Moves On By

Thursday?  Wow. The week has flown, crawled and seeped by, all at the same time. Monday was chemo. Although I hate not being able to be with Ernie during his treatment, he DID have our trusty Peter Case with him. "Excelsior," as Peter would say.

I was so exhausted on Monday that after the appointment with the oncologist I went home and slept until he was done with chemo. I've been wiped out all week. Anxiety no doubt and my inability to sleep of late. 

On Sunday, before chemo, we did go for a bit of a wander however. We loaded up our masks and some snacks and meandered through a bit of Indiana closest to us.

As I took a picture of this building in a little town that was about a block long, a man rolled by in a golf cart. He yelled out, "50 cents a shot...just leave it on the corner for me." We both laughed, and then he stopped, and said, "They used to have EVERYTHING in there. It was the hardware store. You could get anything you wanted in there." He shook his head, we wished each other a good day and he rolled on.

Onward.

Round Three Pre-Chemo Wander, Day Three: Home Again Jiggity Jig

Huh. I realize that I never posted about the last day of our wander, as we headed home a week ago. We left Fond du Lac, completely forgetting to take pictures of some of the buildings downtown. Next time, Fond du Lac, next time. We headed over to Beaver Dam to get breakfast. WONDERFUL sign and place. I think I should have probably gone with pie, but you know me, I stick to my standards. It was ok, although I requested the hash browns extra crispy and you can't convince me those anemic hash brows are extra crispy. Despite that, we loved the place. A classic. I mean, just LOOK at it!

Then, we headed down the road to Columbus, Wisconsin. Remember, I am planning to visit ALL the Louis Sullivan banks. Of course I was on a Sunday and I couldn't go inside AND the sun was in absolutely the worst position for photos but, hell, I was there, and it was indeed a little jewel box.

A nice little furniture sign across from the bank.

Our plan was to then get on the highway and just zoom home but damn, I couldn't take it. We got off in Belvidere, Illinois which was quite charming. Stopped for nourishment at a cute bar with a charmless bartender and then meandered our way home.

Look at this little beauty.

And then we were home. Both boys came down to ask how it had been and listened so sweetly as I told them FAR more than they wanted to hear. I love them so.

The next morning chemo. And now, another Monday tomorrow.

Onward.

Last Weekend's Wander Continued

After we left Jacksonville we headed toward the Mississippi. We waved to Quincy as we drove by and then headed north. I didn't take a ton of pictures but it was a lovely day. Mid-afternoon we stopped in a little bar in Canton, MO.  Gorgeous old building (originally a bank, but was then the town library for many years according to the bartender) with just absolutely perfect proportions. I gotta say, sitting at a bar in a gorgeous old building alongside the Mississippi, me with a glass of wine, Ernie with his Busch NA, listening to 80's rock oldies was just about perfect. And then, the bartender asked if I wanted popcorn. My heart almost exploded.

We wandered on some, finally settling down in Keokuk for the night. Keokuck had some great buildings...oh, and some stunning houses up on the bluffs over the river, but nothing really caught my eye. We did our check in to the hotel, find a bar kind of thing. The place we ended up was cute enough. It definitely felt like Iowa. A couple of people talking across the bar were discussing hogs and the woman identified herself as the person whose mother had been in the tractor accident (lasted two weeks before she died). It was an immersive experience to say the least. We ended up ordering some food to go, without terribly high hopes. We got back to the hotel, ensconced ourselves and damned if the food wasn't outrageously good. Two grilled pork chops with homemade chips and green beans for me. I guess you can't go wrong with a pork chop in Iowa, I don't know but it was freaking great. Ernie had his standard chicken wings and they were 9's, if not 10's.

You just never know.

The old brewery in Warsaw.

Onward.

Last Week's Wander

We decided to go on a wander last Saturday....to get one in before Ernie's next chemo on Monday. Mid-morning on Friday I suggested that we leave that day instead. Ernie agreed so I rushed through some work and made a reservation at a hotel. I kind of screwed up, thinking the town was further west than it was. I figured away was away though so didn't worry about it. We left mid-afternoon and got to Jacksonville around 5. As per our usual modus operandi, we wandered around town a bit, then went and checked into our hotel. We dumped our stuff and then headed out to find a bar. Found a spot, had a drink, ended up getting some food to go from a chain place. Usually, we try to go local but I wanted salad and sometimes those are hard to find. We headed back to our hotel with our food in the rain and curled up, watching some bad tv. Delightful.

The next morning we had our standard diner breakfast: two eggs, over easy, sausage patties and hash browns. I've stopped ordering them extra crispy as I've been burned, so to speak, so now I take my chances. The plates came out and Ernie predicted a 7. I raised my eyebrows at the eggs and said, "mmmm, maybe a 6." As we ate I confessed I had to nudge the score back up to 7. By the end of the meal, we decided it was a at least a solid 8. Impressive work, Norma's North Star Cafe.

I was utterly smitten with the 1900 Ferris wheel in front of the Ferris wheel factory.

Here's the one in the park from the night before in the rain.

I've become increasingly fond of these vitrolite facades.

More to come.

Very Random Notes from the Sandwich Life

1. I'm an idiot. I ordered some food last night and it turned out the chicken was breaded. I ate it anyway. Geez. So I feel like crap today but I deserve it.

2. Owen's Funeral is taking part in the Great Cover-Up! I told him I'd try to round up the old folks! It's on Thursday, February 13, the night before our house concert and thank God they go on early lol. 8:15 I believe. All for charity too! We'll be there.

3. The always brilliant Mary Sack somehow scheduled the David Olney Memorial for the perfect time in between rounds of chemo. We are going whether we can afford to or not. It will do our hearts good and we'll see lots of folks we love.

4. It's SNOWING. And it's DAYTIME. 

5. By the way...just gotta say that as I write about Ernie's cancer and the day to day of it...I know that there are about a billion OTHER people going through this quietly. I don't think we're special or it's more difficult for us or anything like that. We're not looking for any kind of pity (but will happily accept good thoughts and love). For whatever reason, this is just how I process my life. I hope that makes sense.

A pretty little block along the Mississippi in Warsaw, Illinois.

Onward.

 

 

 

Cole Camp

I posted a picture of an old gas station in Missouri that I'd been smitten with the other day. My dear friend Gisele asked me where it was. I had a whole plan for listing what towns I drove through on that trip, but that only lasted about half a day. I knew roughly where it was though and so I managed to track it down. Cole Camp, Missouri. Here are some more pictures for you, Gisele! I didn't post them to Instagram as too much was missing when I cropped them!

"This is especially true of the ca. 1929 Frederich Oil Station, at the south end of Maple Street, which is styled to match a large porch which was added to the adjacent residential property at the same time the station was built. Both filling stations utilize limited Craftsman styling, with ornamental exposed rafters, and, on the Frederich Station, tapered porch posts on raised piers."

That's from a National Register application for a historic district---lots more in there!

 

A quick review of Missouri day two

Something I ate or some random germ decided to wreak havoc with my stomach so I've had a quiet morning. Stayed in bed late, sipped some water, tried to ease into the day softly. I've got turkey backs from Triple S Farms simmering in a crockpot and I'm thinking about making some vegetable stew later. 

I have a bunch of posts half started about the rest of our Missouri trip, but I never get to finishing them, so for now, I will just post some  images for now.

First up, the Abraham Byrd house....you can just faintly see the 1827 date over the door. Side note, my husband isn't always a fan of my choice of roads. This one did have a kinda scary bridge...well, slab that was pretty much level with the creek running over it. 

I loved this row of birdhouses so I had Ernie stop and I got out of the car with my camera. As I started to take a picture somebody yelled, "HEY!" Honestly, it was more like, "HEY!" I jumped and a guy stepped out into view. I yelled, "I like your birdhouses!" He said,"WHAT?" so I yelled, "I LIKE YOUR BIRDHOUSES!" and pointed to them. There was a long, long pause and he said, "oh." I took a picture, waved at him, and got in the car. Ernie waved to him as we drove off. Not sure if he waved back.

So many old houses in southeasatern Missouri have these double porches.

This motel sign reminded me of one we found near Alton, Illinois.

And God knows why, but this neon propane tank made ridiculously happy!



Not long after that, we wound our way into Springfield, but that's for another post.

Onward.

Sweet Little Smokehouse

First, a few words I just overheard.

Owen: Hey Dad, you ever heard of this guy Dick Cavett?

Ernie: Oh, yeah.

Owen: He's cool as shit.

Ok, anyway....this sweet little thing may have been my favorite find on our whole trip. We were in the middle of nowhere trying to find our way from the 1827 Abraham Byrd house back to where we were supposed to be. We both saw this as we passed by....and went "ohhhh" as Ernie slowed down to turn around. I assume it's a smokehouse. It just has the open door with 1920 above it, and the chimney. No windows. It's like this stunning little jewel in the middle of nowhere. There were no other buildings on that side of the road. Across from it was a trailer kind of thing if I recall correctly, and further back a house that didn't look lived in....probably mid century so well past this little creature's time of birth.

The sun was kind in the wrong place so the pictures aren't great, but DAMN, I love this guy. Somewhere near Williamsville, Missouri as far as I can tell. 

Ernie for scale