WALDEN POND

Near Concord, Massachusetts.

Where Henry David Thoreau spent two years, two months, and two days awakening to nature.

And, finally, some serious autumn color.

BOSTON

This pic from an awesome restaurant called Mare Oyster Bar, located in a back-alley called Mechanic Street, adjacent to...

...Hanover Street, restaurant row, in super-cool North End.

CAMBRIDGE, MASS

Winthrop Square

My favorite music these days is when I spontaneously happen upon a busker.

I took a bench (front-row) and got myself stirred by simple yet beautiful renditions of Nowhere Man and Ruby Tuesday.

DC: IF CRYSTAL CHANDELIERS COULD TALK...

North Korea, Trump's future... they know it all.

This one, in the old Washington Hotel, is a stone's throw from the U.S. Treasury and the White House.

AN EVENING IN G-TOWN

First stop, Billy Martin's Tavern, corner of Wisconsin and N, crab cakes in The Rumble Seat.

Next, a stroll down N Street, crisp autumn chill.

And then to Cafe Milano, where Insider Washington meets and greets, and spies abound.

A perch at the bar for watching statesmen and diplomats mix it up (and listen in on their secrets).

JFK's house when he was a U.S. Senator

God bless Carroll Quigley.

WASHINGTON DC !

This is, clearly, the trip that never ends.

So far, seven days, seven places.

There is nothing quite like Georgetown on a autumn day.

Room with a view.

I've been staying at the Georgetown Inn for nearly forty years, and it remains my overnight venue of choice.

INDY AWAKENING

Whether New Orleans or Indy or anywhere else, Norma Jean is always present.

INDY: DAWN CRACKING

INDY BY NIGHT

Indy is a very clean, well kept city, possessing a character all its own.

Kurt Vonnegut Jr. once said that, for him, Indianapolis reflected American values at their best.

Vonnegut also said this...

THE SPIRIT OF VONNEGUT

But I still had not found the spirit of Vonnegut, or rather, Vonnegut's spirit.

I had tried once before, with the artist Van Stein, five years ago this month when we did a road trip from The Exorcist steps in Georgetown (DC) to Salem, Massachusetts, and, along way, stopped first in Baltimore to pay homage to Edgar Allan Poe at the bar where he drank his last drink, The Horse You Came in on Saloon, and where he is buried, and second to feel Vonnegut's vibe at his old brownstone in the Turtle Bay neighborhood of Manhattan and also his favorite park bench and restaurant nearby.

But no Vonnegut.  No spirit of Vonnegut.

So after dining at Bluebeard and draining a beer at The Athenaeum, I returned to the Red Key Tavern...

It was better at night, because at least it was open.

But still no Vonnegut.

So I asked my driver to swing by his childhood home.  I had a feeling that's where I'd find him, and digital photography can only perform this feat in the darkness of nighttime.

Vonnegut had the best answer I ever heard about why you can't go home:

But home, his old house on North Illinois Street, is where I found Kurt.... 

...hanging out with his brother and sister.

INDY: THE ATHENAEUM

The iconic and historic German-American landmark built by Kurt Vonnegut Jr's grandfather, Bernard.

The Athenaeum's Rathskeller

A dark beer in homage to the Vonneguts.

The old Severin Hotel, now the Omni-Severin, built by Bernard Vonnegut

Atop the Severin, my room with a view.

INDY: BLUEBEARD

An Indy restaurant that celebrates Vonnegut, named after a Vonnegut novel.

"There is always a reason to celebrate."  (Bluebeard motto.)

Especially here, where the culinary experience is a farm-to-table treat.

Best caesar salad I ever ate.  

And the pink point oysters on the half-shell (at a dollar apiece)?

Divine.

Bluebeard