Wine and Spirits Travel

After an unexpected day on the river, we had a busy day on and off the American Queen . I got up early and went to breakfast in the dining room. It looked like another picture-perfect day and I sat by the window for my pancake breakfast. My friend Lynn joined me in a little while and then we headed off the boat to Clinton, Iowa . The low water levels on the Mississippi had kept us from Dubuque the previous day and had changed the Bettendorf stop to Clinton on this way.   I had made arrangements to visit Le Claire from our stop in Dubuque. It took some reorganizing, especially since the Clinton stop was shorter than Dubuque, but I was able to keep that appointment. I still wanted to see some of Clinton, so I took my scooter around the scenic waterfront and a bit of the town. I saw the Veterans Memorial and lighthouse in a town that once had more millionaires than anywhere else in Iowa. Lynn met me at the curb in front of the ship, where Bob Schiffe, Executive Director of the...

I did an interview with Desperate Housewives actor James Denton , current owner of Harry Caray’s on Navy Pier and former waiter at one of the chain’s other restaurants. He told me that he first ended up in Chicago because there was so much theater to do. I had heard that too, but I figured it was time for me to check it out myself. My mother was in town visiting me and it just happened to be at the same time that Carrie Fisher’s Wishful Drinking was playing at the Bank of America Theatre in Chicago. I don’t usually make roundtrips there in one day, but the timing just didn’t work out for an overnight stay and we were both anxious to see this show for various reasons. When my mom was a teen, singer Eddie Fisher was her idol. She had pictures of him everywhere, owned his records and even had obtained a few autographs. She was also a fan of Debbie Reynolds and had seen Carrie Fisher on television a few times. For me, the attraction to Wishful Drinking was very different. I ha...