BOSTON, January, 2005
With the large attendance at the mid-winter and annual conferences, the American Library Association needs to work with cities in getting the best prices for accommodations and meeting facilities. In saying this, it has become evident that the best prices are in the off-season. Boston, being in the northeast, was colder than Philadelphia was two years ago, so the exploring was limited on this trip. Bev's husband Ed had won a trip to Boston in 2001 (summer) compliments of Sam Adams Brewing, so Bev had already seem a lot of the city. She did, however, want to stop by the Union Oyster House. This is the oldest restaurant in the US and they have the best fried oysters. The fellow pictured was at the restaurant previously, and gave Bev and Ed a full description of how to identify lobsters from various areas of the country.
The Boston Public Library is a municipal public library system in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1848, it was the first publicly supported municipal library in the United States, the first large library open to the public in the United States, and the first public library to allow people to borrow books and other materials and take them home to read and use. The main building is located near Copley Square. Laine and Bev took a tour of the library and then on to dinner at Cheers.
Vinny T’s of Boston is inspired by the neighborhood Italian restaurants found in Boston’s North End, Manhattan’s Little Italy and South Philly circa 1945. This family of restaurants welcomes guests with open arms and attentive service, while serving the comforting Italian specialties and favorites that people have come to love. The atmosphere at Vinny T’s is reminiscent of big family dinners, where everyone talks at once and the homemade food just keeps coming. http://www.vinnytestas.com/about/default.html While we were there, a visiting hockey team was served. Talk about a lot of food being eaten in a short period of time!
The highlight was the subway ride to visit the John F Kennedy Library and Museum. http://www.jfklibrary.org/ This should be on every one's list to visit while in Boston. When we left, it was snowing!!
June, 2005 -- Annual Meeting was held in Chicago -- neither Laine nor Bev attended.
SAN ANTONIO, January, 2006
The City of San Antonio is the second-largest city in Texas and the seventh-largest city in the United States with a population of 1.4 million. In the 18th century, the Spanish church established five Catholic missions along the San Antonio River, primarily to extend its dominion northward from Mexico, but also to convert the native population to Christianity. The city was named for the Portuguese St. Anthony, whose feast day is on June 13, when a Spanish expedition stopped in the area in 1691.
As the first mission established in San Antonio in 1718, the Alamo (San Antonio de Valero) served as a way station between east Texas and Mexico. The Indians themselves built the mission under the supervision of the Spanish priests and it was originally named Mission "San Antonio de Valero." The church was designed without the benefit of a master engineer, the roof collapsed almost immediately, and this portion of the mission was never actually completed.
By 1793, most of the Indians had died from disease and "San Antonio de Valero" was closed as a mission. In 1803, a Spanish cavalry unit from Alamo de Parras, Mexico, was quartered in the mission and it was from this unit that the mission received the name "Pueblo del Alamo." The Spanish word "alamo" means "cottonwood" and may refer to the cottonwood trees that grew along the San Antonio River.
In 1821, Mexico won her independence from Spain and claimed all the land that Spain owned that included Texas. In 1824, Mexico created a democratic constitution based on the United States Constitution. Mexico opened Texas for colonization, offering land very cheaply to new settlers. Many people. both Americans and Europeans, relocated to the area which offered the opportunity for a fresh start.
In 1833, a Mexican general, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, was elected President of Mexico, but it wasn't long before he turned his presidency into a dictatorship.
In the meantime, despite the obvious importance of the Alamo location, Texas Army Commander Sam Houston ordered the Alamo abandoned and destroyed. (The mission was over 100 years old at this time.) Feeling that the outpost was far too isolated, he sent Colonel James Bowie with 30 men to carry out his orders. After arriving in San Antonio. somehow Bowie couldn't bring himself to destroy the old mission. Hearing that Santa Anna was marching toward The Alamo. He became even more determined to save the Alamo. The Battle of the Alamo lasted 12 days.
Just steps from the famed Alamo, the Emily Morgan Hotel is one of the most recognizable landmarks in downtown San Antonio. It was built in 1926 as the Medical Arts Building, the first doctors’ building in the city. The building’s distinctive form and ornamentation are influenced by the Gothic revival style that was popular with skyscrapers in the 1920s.
Being an older hotel, the one challenge was closet space for Laine and Bev during their stay.
Laine, Bev, Deb, Teri and Ken were able to get together one night for dinner and catch up on what was happening in every one's lives. Julie & Jane (right) were dressed in costume for a member party for RAPID participants. 
A large portion of the older section of San Antonio can be reached by following the Riverwalk. According to legend, a Spanish missionary traveling through Texas came upon a tribe of Payaya Indians who lived among the wild grapes and Cypress Trees upon the banks of a sparkling oasis. The oasis they had found was named Rio Saint Antonio de Padua, from whence The San Antonio River derives its name.
La Villita was the first neighborhood and oldest section of the city. It was originally a settlement of primitive huts for the Spanish soldiers stationed at the Mission. After a flood in 1819, stone and adobe houses replaced the earlier structures. In 1836, the area was the site of General Santa Ana's cannon line in the Battle of the Alamo. In the 19th century, European immigrants from Germany and France moved into the area. These pioneers became the city's business leaders, bankers, educators and craftsmen.Plaza De Armas was the Main Plaza and heart of San Antonio dating from 1722. It was the original site of the Spanish Presidio and home of the Spanish Governor when Texas was under Spanish rule. San Fernando Cathedral was founded in 1738, and is among the oldest Catholic parish churches in the southwest.
Besides being a route to many of San Antonio's historic sites, the Riverwalk also has many shops, boutiques, and restaurants.
During the conferences, ALA brings in guest authors to talk about their writing. One of the guest authors was Ron McLarty. Before writing, he appeared on the TV show, Spenser for Hire.Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) described San Antonio as “one of America’s four unique cities.” Market Square plays an important role in this “uniqueness” of San Antonio. It is a favorite place for visitors and natives alike. Market Square truly reflects the flavor that has always been San Antonio. This most colorful area is located between Dolorosa, Santa Rosa, and Commerce Streets with IH-35 serving as its western boundary. A variety of shops and restaurants line the pedestrian plazas within the three-square block area. http://www.sanantonio.gov/dtops/marketsquare/history.asp
NEW ORLEANS, June, 2006
The American Library Association Conference was the first, and only one of a few, that kept their contract with the City of New Orleans after the devastating hurricane/flood that had damaged the city earlier that year. Bev had been to New Orleans previously, and was shocked by the appearance. The city had readied the area around the Convention Center and French Quarters for the conference, but the remainder of the city was in shambles. There was a police presence everywhere to ensure the participants safety. Although the French Quarter wasn't as heavily damaged as other parts of the city, personnel was limited.
Bev had breakfast at the hotel's restaurant each morning. During one of their conversations, the waitress explained that since her home was destroyed, she was fortunate enough to have sent her family north to stay with relatives until she was able to get it repaired. She was currently living in one of the FEMA trailers. The waitress, like other staff members, were courteous, pleasant and positive regarding the recovery of the city.
The group got together this year at Oliviers Restaurant. The waitress informed the group that the owner had re-opened the restaurant just for the conference, and that she had been unemployed because tourism had come to a halt. Everyone was hoping that the ALA Conference would be successful and show that the city was trying to recover. The ALA President was on "The Early Show" talking about the hospitality the city was offering.
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Former Secretary of State Madeline Albrecht was the invited speaker for the General Session. Anderson Cooper was the presenter at the PLA President's Program. Cooper was broadcasting in New Orleans after the hurricane, and gave a very touching description of the turmoil that had occurred at that time.
Bev and Laine joined Jennifer and Teri at the ProQuest Bash, where Mary Chapin Carpenter were performing.
The restaurants in the French Quarter were opened for business and Bev and Laine dined on fried oysters at the Acme House (can't go to New Orleans without visiting Acme) and drinks and dinner at other places like Bubba Gumps, Margaritaville, and Pat O'Brien.
SEATTLE, January, 2007
Friendship is always the call to order when attending the conferences. Dinner with friends is a must to hear about on-going work and home activities.
Historic Snapshot -- Between 1906 and 1907, the cost of onions increased tenfold. Outraged citizens, fed up with paying price-gouging middlemen too much for their produce, found a hero in Seattle City Councilman Thomas Revelle. Revelle proposed a public street market that would connect farmers directly with consumers. Customers would "Meet the Producer" directly, a philosophy that is still the foundation of all Pike Place Market businesses.
http://www.pikeplacemarket.org/visitor_info/market_history
No trip to Seattle would be complete unless one took the monorail to the Space Needle and then the elevator to the top! The artist Edward E. Carlson's, then president of Western International Hotels, space-age image was to be the focus of the futuristic 1962 World's Fair in Seattle, whose theme would be Century 21. Carlson penciled the shape that would become the internationally known symbol for Seattle, the Space Needle.
http://www.spaceneedle.com/
Bev had attended the World's Fair with her family and remembered her first ride to the top.
Bev had attended the World's Fair with her family and remembered her first ride to the top.
One has a 360 degree view of the ocean and mountains surrounding Seattle.
Pat, from Morgan Library, met Bev for lunch. They took a walking tour past the Seattle Central Library and other downtown buildings before stopping at Ivar's for fried oysters. (Ivar's is another place you can't miss while in Seattle.) One doesn't realize how much Seattle is built on a hill until you 'climb' back up to your hotel from the waterfront.
The library opened in 2004 and was designed by Rem Koolhaas and Joshua Prince-Ramus of OMA in a joint venture with LMN Architects and Front Inc. Facade Consultants. In 2007, the building was voted #108 on the American Institute of Architects' (AIA) list of Americans' 150 favorite structures in the U.S. The building received a 2005 national AIA Honor Award for Architecture.
BILL SPEIDEL'S UNDERGROUND TOUR is a leisurely, guided walking tour beneath Seattle’s sidewalks and streets. As you roam the subterranean passages that once were the main roadways and first-floor storefronts of old downtown Seattle, the guides regale you with the stories our pioneers didn’t want you to hear. It’s history with a twist! The tour begins inside Doc Maynard’s Public House, a restored 1890s saloon. Following a short intro, we’ll walk through historic Pioneer Square to three different sections of Underground—about three blocks in all. http://www.undergroundtour.com/index.htmlWASHINGTON, DC, June, 2007
Although having been to Washington, DC several times before, it is always an honor to visit the nation's capital. Whatever time one has to enjoy, there is always something special to see and learn about our nation
The usual list of characters made reservations for dinner at George Brown's Restaurant. Known as of "the soul of Washington, DC for its gourmet low country cruisine. http://www.gbrowns.com/ Bev, Laine and Cathy also found other delicious restaurants within the city.
The National Museum of the American Indian is located on the National Mall between the Smithsonian’s National Air & Space Museum and the U.S. Capitol Building. is a museum dedicated to the life, languages, literature, history, and arts of the native Americans of the Western Hemisphere. The museum opened September 21, 2004. http://www.nmai.si.edu/subpage.cfm?subpage=visitor 
Deb and Ken joined Bev and Laine for a trip to the International Spy Museum. They were able to manuever the subway system without any problems. As the brochure reads, "Your mission if you choose to accept it, is to take an unforgettable hands-on tour of the all-but-invisible profession that has shaped history and continues to impact world events every day. You'll gain access to the world's largest collection of international espionage artifacts. Explore interactive exhibits about weapons, disguise and surveilance. And, discover the history of spying from biblical times to the present. Intrigue and deception, heroes and villains, history and technology -- the museum has something for the spy in all of us." http://www.spymuseum.org/ While at the museum the fire alarm went off -- talk about adding suspense to the overall tour. There had been a reported fire in the restaurant next door. We were able to re-enter and finish being spies.
What is summer without your favorite pasttime -- the Cleveland Indians were in town, so Laine and Bev went to RFK Stadium to see the Washington Nationals play baseball. RFK was the first major stadium designed specifically as a multisport facility for both football and baseball. This would be the last season baseball would be played here as the Nationals were building a new stadium. During the Nationals' tenure at RFK stadium, it was the fourth-oldest active stadium (opened October, 1961) in Major League Baseball behind Fenway Park, Wrigley Field and Yankee Stadium. It was named after Robert Kennedy in 1969 because of the Justice Department's involvement in the racial integration of the Redskins.
A highlight of the day was when the "four presidents" raced around the outside of the field during the 7th Inning stretch.
PHILADELPHIA, January, 08
Back where it all began for Bev. Having taken the history walking tour on the last visit, it opened up the time to visit other areas within the city. City Hall and Chinatown were close by the hotel. Bev and Laine looked for the hotel they had stayed in back in 2003, but it had been razed for a new hotel complex.
The Franklin Institute opened in 1954. It explores the world of science, including a permanent exhibit which displays a giant, walk-thru heart. During the time of this visit, there was an exhibit about the brain. Interactive displays were available to test one's knowledge. http://www2.fi.edu/
The Benjamin Franklin National Memorial features a 20-foot high marble statue, sculpted by James Earle Fraser. It is the only privately owned National Memorial in the country, and it is maintained by the museum.
The Reading Terminal Marketplace was across the street from the convention center. Along with restaurants and shopping, it gave a central locale for convention participants to catch a quick lunch. One never knew who they would run into over "fried oysters." The Hard Rock Cafe was across the street from the hotel, so this also made anorther convenient location to meet friends for a meal.
Other than attending an ARL Statistics meeting and having drinks and dinner with Cathy at the Denver 2009 Midwinter Conference, Anaheim would be Bev's last ALA Conference. Laine has been the perfect roommate and the time has given both a chance for new adventures. Bev enjoyed "crashing" the annual dinners with the other librarians, and enjoyed their friendship and time together.
This would be a "quiet" conference for Bev compared to the ones before. She had spent the prior months setting up her office and closing the library's year-end financials (she's really an accountant), so she could talk off the month of July to travel with his husband on their motorcycle to Alaska. So, between meetings and emails back to the office, Bev spent time catching up on sleep. Although, she and Laine couldn't pass up a trip to Disneyland for a day.
Thanks to everyone who Bev came into contact with during this time.
The Reading Terminal Marketplace was across the street from the convention center. Along with restaurants and shopping, it gave a central locale for convention participants to catch a quick lunch. One never knew who they would run into over "fried oysters." The Hard Rock Cafe was across the street from the hotel, so this also made anorther convenient location to meet friends for a meal.ANAHEIM, CA, June, 2008
Other than attending an ARL Statistics meeting and having drinks and dinner with Cathy at the Denver 2009 Midwinter Conference, Anaheim would be Bev's last ALA Conference. Laine has been the perfect roommate and the time has given both a chance for new adventures. Bev enjoyed "crashing" the annual dinners with the other librarians, and enjoyed their friendship and time together.
This would be a "quiet" conference for Bev compared to the ones before. She had spent the prior months setting up her office and closing the library's year-end financials (she's really an accountant), so she could talk off the month of July to travel with his husband on their motorcycle to Alaska. So, between meetings and emails back to the office, Bev spent time catching up on sleep. Although, she and Laine couldn't pass up a trip to Disneyland for a day. Thanks to everyone who Bev came into contact with during this time.
