The grounds of the 121-year-old Ravinia Festival are constantly buzzing., even when fans of acts from Counting Crows to Maren Morris are nowhere to be seen. And Jeff Haydon, who was hired in 2020 after the season was canceled because of the pandemic, is involved with every aspect.
Read more here.
What strikes one upon entering the Sphere in Las Vegas is its enormity. Even walking past concession stands and such on the way to seats, it’s hard not to look up. Given that it’s dwarfed by casinos on The Strip from the outside, it’s especially surprising.
But the most striking feature is when the show begins for Dead and Co. The visuals behind the stage make it look like a huge wall is opening to the outside. Spectators are transported to Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco before enjoying the amazing feeling that you’re being lifted up and flying through space. There is a reason the Sphere is beyond compare in the world.
Other great spots in Vegas: HaSalon by chef Eyal Shani has insanely good buttery pasta, and the New York sirloin at Wolfgang Puck’s Cut should not be missed.
Though custom hats such as fedoras were ubiquitous in the middle of the last century, creating headwear out of felt, straw and other material in the 21st century is a rare pursuit. Graham Thompson, 53, along with four full-time and two part-time employees, continues the trade on Chicago’s South Side. The wares are sold at his store Optimo, just steps away from the Board of Trade building on Jackson Boulevard.
Read more here.
In its first visit to The Big House since the Eisenhower Administration, USC traveled to Michigan to face the defending national champions on Sept. 21.
“Welcome to The Big House” said just about everyone to this Trojan fan as we walked in for the first time ever following a festive USC party — attended by the band and Song Girls — 10 minutes away.
More than 110,000 saw a bruising Big Ten battle on a perfect summer afternoon, and in a game a long-time Michigan fan told me they didn’t deserve to win, the Wolverines ran up the gut with great success to beat the visitors.
The good news? All Michigan fans were welcoming of and friendly to their Southern California guests. And what a perfect spot to watch college football.
Seth Raynor, the protégé of Charles Blair Macdonald, might be best known in the Chicago area for a course whose formation he had nothing to do with, yet one his mentor had everything to do with – Chicago Golf Club.
https://classicchicagomagazine.com/the-prairie-raynor-a-splendid-book-about-an-exceptional-golf-course/
I just played Sand Valley in Wisconsin for the first time. The seven-year-old course is simply a monumental achievement in what had been a barren area.
The often picturesque sand dunes stretch down every hole. The good news? When you land in one, you may ground your club, unlike a usual sand trap in the United States.
More good news: It’s hard to lose a ball on the 6,500-yard layout. There are a few forests, but an errant shot on most holes that avoids the dunes can be found in foot-high grass.
The views of the Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw design are spectacular. A number of tee shots start at the top of hills. There’s a punchbowl green with nasty breaks on the par-three 17th. After the round, dollar tacos at Craig’s are truly tasty while watching those teeing off the first and 10th holes.
We stayed at Lodges of the Lakes, a clean, comfortable spot about eight minutes away. The price is right compared to Sand Valley (about $340 a night for a two-bedroom cottage with a kitchen).
No doubt I will be returning to play this special golf course.
On a pleasant Friday evening in March, we checked in to the Kimpton Vero Beach Hotel and Spa. Right away at the front desk, we were offered free glasses of champagne — a staple every night at the IHG hotel, along with free wine starting at 4 p.m.
Our two-bedroom suite for the three of us — including my wife and 16-year-old son — was ample in size and featured a balcony overlooking the pool with a view of the ocean. As they slept in the morning, I could quietly head downstairs to grab the daily free coffee and then sneak out to the balcony and answer e-mails when not lured away from the screen to watch the waves.
The staff is truly top-notch. It’s hard to imagine a friendly group, from the valets to the pool man who set up our towels on the chaise lounge. Embarrassed that an engineer had to enter our room to check if an issue elsewhere may have affected us, the staff gave us a $50 credit.
The pool was a great spot for my son and I to toss a football. Even better was the hot tub that had water tumbling over rocks onto our heads. It was impossible not to feel refreshed after five minutes in there. Steps away, bodysurfing beckoned. We simply put our towels and shirts on the beach and tried to ride the waves.
The main restaurant, Cobalt, possesses a first-class atmosphere and features excellent seafood and filets. I ate one breakfast outside, and the view is perfect.
This was our second visit to the spot, and we couldn’t recommend it more. For a place to relax and feel at home — where at the end of eight days we felt like we had just arrived — it’s hard to beat the Kimpton.
Presidential assassinations in the United States are rare, which makes the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in Dallas all the more gripping. The window where Lee Harvey Oswald fired his shots is still surrounded by the book boxes that hid him — the same configuration as the hour the crime scene was discovered.
Read more at https://classicchicagomagazine.com/assassination-museum-grips-visitors-with-rarely-seen-photos-fascinating-facts/
Even having golf star Brooks Koepka bang the Florida Panthers’ massive drum behind their net to rally the crowd didn’t help in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup.
Las Vegas scored less than two minutes into the game and never trailed. Still, our trip to Fort Lauderdale was fun. Among the highlights:
— Our spacious suite at the Atlantic Hotel & Spa meant we were able to stay in comfort. Though the air conditioning was not working in the living room our first night, a technician spent hours putting in a new motor. We were able to use the pool after checking out, a big advantage considering our late-afternoon flight. I tossed the football up in the air in a contest to see which one of my sons would be the first to catch 10.
— For dinner, Steak 954 provided excellent filet mignon — the best my 15-year-old son has ever had — and tasty bernaise sauce. Brunch was superb too; I’d recommend an egg-white omelet with hot sauce on the side and an order of bacon.
A five-digit number for a headline? Yes, that’s pretty strange. But even the town’s newspaper puts that number in large font: it’s the zip code for the barrier island portion of Vero Beach.
It’s hard to imagine a better hotel than the Kimpton Vero Beach Resort and Spa. The staff is ultra-friendly; when the cleaning service didn’t appear one day, we received a $50 food-and-beverage credit. Complimentary wine is poured from 4 p.m.-5 p.m. Steps from the ocean is the restaurant Cobalt, whose filet mignon is what you’d expect from a fine steakhouse and whose bearnaise sauce is sensational.
Leave the hotel, and you’ll find plenty of upscale shops on Ocean Drive, such as Happy Girl Wine Co. The Lemon Tree is the perfect (and extremely popular) spot for breakfast. A 45-minute wait is not unusual.
Welcome to the Sweet Spot 