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Monday, June 26, 2006

Dayna Flies with Delta, But Drinks with the Eagles… And Then Enjoys Renoir, Rodin and Rubens…

Hola!

So, on the heels of the last update and upon rolling out of the WAFFLE HOUSE, my dad and I set out to explore his childhood burb of Maumee, Ohio. (And I’m quite serious about the ‘rolling’ part of things… Damn. Umm, Waffle House ain’t for the faint of heart… I was pretty much full for the rest of the muggy, Ohio day.)

Logistically, Maumee is basically to Toledo as Shoreline is to Seattle. It is, for all intent and purpose, part of the city, but incorporated under its own name all the same. ANYhoo… We spent the majority of the afternoon just driving around so Dad could check out all of his old childhood haunts. We stopped by the home he grew up in and knocked on the door, but no one answered. He had a bunch of pictures of the house from when he was little of which he was hoping to show the current owners. There was a great picture of a newly planted maple tree in the front yard that was now at least a couple of feet in diameter. Too bad they weren’t at home…

We also drove to the town square and walked around a bit. For the record, Maumee is an incredibly quaint town and has definitely retained its classic, town-square sort of vibe. It’s no wonder it was recently awarded the ‘All American Town’ status. There were signs up all around town and they definitely seemed to be quite proud of the whole affair. Viva la Maumee! There's this great old movie house that they’ve completely kept up from when Dad was a kid. He said it looks exactly the same. I’m always impressed when a town works to preserve and take care of their history. While walking around the town square, my dad even bought me an ice cream cone! Awwweeee… :)

Later that night, we met up with a friend of Dad’s that he’s known since 2nd grade. And yes, that’s right – we met up with his friend at none other than the Eagles club. Suffice it to say, I was the youngest person for miiiiiiiiles around. However, once I had at least 6 beers in me, I probably woulda danced a polka with anyone in the room. And hey – that’s exactly what was goin’ on – Polka dancing! WOO! Okay, there were a few hits thrown in from the 40s and 50s, but other than that it was a pretty tame crowd. The band was actually quite well rehearsed and there was a couple engaged in a fairly elaborate ballroom dance display - very impressive! These items kept me entertained for hours while my Dad and his friend reminisced. (And reminisced and reminisced and so on and so on…But I racked up many incriminating stories about Dad, so that was cool… Heh heh heh…)

The next morning after breakfast (Sadly, not the Waffle House…) we drove into Toledo proper to check things out. We drove by Dad’s old art school and saw other various sites of importance. Our ultimate destination, however, was the Toledo Art Museum. Granted, it was a beautiful, warm and sunny day, but my dad and I are both total nerds and we wanted to visit the museum. So there. ™ For the record, I am very glad we went; sunny day be damned!

Not only did they have a decent modern art collection, but they had a fabulous offering from the Renaissance all the way through the Impressionist era. (And all sorts of work from before and after those periods!) I was very impressed with their collection. However, what I was most impressed with and TOTALLY happy about was their display of Monet’s ‘Water Lilies’ Sigh… I have to say that it is one of my VERY favorite paintings of all time. It just about made me cry. Seriously… They also had some very lovely Renoir, Van Gogh, Pissaro, Manet, Gaugin, Picasso, Rubens, Goya… GAH!!! I could go on and on… Yeah, it’s safe to say we had a great time walking around and checking everything out. It was also really cool for my dad to see the museum as he hadn’t been there in about 50 years! It was a hugely influential place for him both artistically and musically and it was very nice to see him return. I was happy to have accompanied him there. (Being that I was just last year finally able to return to the museum that had rocked my world when I was young – And my mom and dad were there…)

After we spent ourselves at the museum, we went back towards the hotel and ended up at the GINORMOUS antique mall that’s right next to the hotel. That place was huge! And a very dangerous place for either my dad or I to be… However, we both did good and didn’t walk out with anything. Well, I guess it’s because our luggage wouldn’t accommodate what we wanted, but WHATever...

Later that night, we took off for my dad’s class reunion. And with that, I will say good night and continue my fascinating update tomorrow. I know, I know – How will you sleep?! How will you get by without knowing what happened next??! It’s SUCH a cliff-hanger…

See ya!

3 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow girl,
What an amazing descriptionist! It is almost like the reader can be right there w/ you. Awesome times w/ your very hip dad, true treasured moments. ;)

A beer when u return for sure.
Leslie

11:37 PM  
Blogger daynasmith said...

Leslie!!! Happy B-day!! I miss you - beer for sure VERY soon!!

4:52 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My blog(s) ;)...


http://www.myspace.com/shardsofsoul

Yes, call me when you return!
Leslie

12:26 AM  

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