This year has been good for travel. Usually I am jetting up to New York or out to Columbus, Ohio for consulting gigs, but this year has taken me a lot farther north, south and east then ever. The real pity is that I barely get to be a tourist and look around.
Windsor, Ontario and Detroit
Sister cities as different as night and day. Windsor has more of a big town feel then an urban one compared to Detroit's urban decay aesthetic. The differences between Canada and the US is apparent when you compare the two. At a cafe I noticed the warning label on a pack of cigarettes. 510 murders in all of Canada for 1996, that is probably just a little more then the murder rate of Detroit alone. Another unique feature of some Canadian Cities I have seen is the ability to mix strip clubs into the regular business district without creating red light districts. In Windsor I was not sure if some places were dance clubs or strip clubs (maybe both?).

Charlotte, NC
Too bad I was out in the suburbs for this one. On my last day I got to wander around the Fourth Ward, it is like Chestnut Hill with more plants and trees.

Oregon
I finagled being flown into Portland the day before, with my gig being down in Eugene. So, it was to the car rental then off to the coast. Sure Eugene was only 1.5 hours south, but miss the coast are you crazy? My yearning for the coast was fueled by receiving a copy of the American Motorcyclist in the mail the week before with the article "Oregon's Coast Highway"(membership required). The coast lived up to the hype.

While out for dinner in Eugene I happened to bump in to the local scooter club (Top Dead Center SC. A good bunch of folks, next time I will make sure to make their meeting earlier.

-enough rambling for now

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