The sabbatical diaries

 
- Didn't make it to Hamburger Mary's on Thursday. I couldn't get a parking spot. I will try again and either take Lyft or allow enough time to park at the parking garage. The joys of city living. 

- Doris and I went to the Raj in Fairfield, Iowa. We left Friday and returned today (Sunday). We agreed that we liked it and had a good time but likely will not go back there. The drive was 4.5 hours; if it was maybe half that time then I'd probably think about a return trip someday. Perhaps I will do a longer post on it but here I'll write out a few highlights of the trip in pros and cons:

Pros:

- The place was quaint and pretty, with a nice walking trail out back

- We ate 3 meals there: dinner the first night, then breakfast and lunch the next day. Dinner and lunch were excellent. I'd describe it as healthy, Indian-influenced vegetarian food; not really like the food at most Indian restaurants in the US but along those lines. (Definitely much less oily than what you usually get).

- Everyone was very nice, meaning the staff and the other people staying at the Raj. Though interestingly, the fellow guests were more of a highlight than the staff. They came from all over the country to stay here - we talked to people from New Jersey, DC, Houston, and Baton Rouge. And they were quiet at nighttime. The place has just 15 rooms and is quiet and peaceful. (The last hotel I slept at, after the Alaska show in NYC, had noisy people at 3am in the hallway. None of that here! The Raj's literature even says that bedtime is at 9:30)  :)  

- We liked what we did there. Saturday we had yoga, then our 'treatments', then lunch, then a tour of Vedic city, and then dinner at an Italian place in town. The dinner at the Italian place was a highlight! I had been craving wine and pasta, and it hit the spot. The tortellini Doris ordered was especially awesome. 

- So what is Vedic city? Okay, so long story short - an Indian guru dude has a bunch of followers, they move to this place in Iowa like 40 years ago, they start a university, meditation centers, The Raj where we stayed and where you get Ayervedic treatments, and more. It's in Fairfield, Iowa and I gotta say the town of Fairfield seems fairly awesome. For a place in the middle of Iowa, it's diverse, it has a theater which has plays and ballets, tons of good restaurants, tons of people who meditate, walking trails, small organic restaurants, an art museum, and a big focus on sustainability. So basically they attracted a cool crowd of people. Heck, if it weren't so dang far from Chicago I might even consider retiring there some day! I said to the tour guide that it feels like "the Santa Fe of the Midwest", and she laughed and agreed. It was kinda like a small town with some big city amenities.  

- Given that the place was built up by followers of a person, you might worry that you're walking into a cult or something, but everyone is very 'live and let live'. Our tour guide Saturday told us about the meditation method they use but she didn't try to convert us. The whole place and all the people had a very easy-going vibe.

- Our Ayervedic treatments on Saturday were nice but mostly consisted of people rubbing oil into our hair and bodies. My hair is silky soft now, but their massaging method is much more of a light touch than I like! Oh, and this has nothing to do with the Raj but they told me in advance that you can't have your period during their treatment. (I understand why - you're nude!  - but they did provide disposable panties which I could've worn with a tampon in. In any case, I was relieved....I knew my period was due to start any time. And it started literally 3 hours after the treatments as over! Whew!) 

- This could go under pro or con, but I'll be generous. The yoga room had a few pieces of cardio equipment too. Two ellipticals, 1 treadmill, and 1 bike. They had like 3 sets of light weights. It was nice and it was open 24/7 but on the con side, it was awfully slim-pickings for someone who exercises every day and it made me glad we were only there for 2 nights.


Cons:


- They warned us in advance that breakfast would be just oatmeal and fruit basically. The second morning I drove into the town to get something more substantial. I like savory breakfasts, not sweet ones. 

- Because of the Ayervedic focus, there were a lot of things missing that I would've liked. No caffeine, for example. Another example, if they really want to be a destination spa, you need things like a hot tub or pool. But they don't have that.  

- Although the Raj was pretty, its decor and rooms were nothing to knock your socks off either. A lot of it looked old. Not bad in anyway but the Raj definitely isn't a stunner looks-wise. Perhaps something more modern or gorgeous would've looked out of place smack in the middle of Iowa? 

- We liked the 'live and let live' feel of the place, but their front desk is only staffed from 9:30am-4pm. That's just weird to me. 

- Given Vedic City's emphasis on meditation, I was surprised that there were no group meditation activities. We liked the free daily yoga but I think a place like this also needs a free daily meditation session. 

- The last 2-3 hours of the trip are through farm land on one-lane highways. Thank goodness we only saw 2 pro-Trump signs. (They were nowhere near Vedic City, where thankfully where we saw Bernie and Obama signs. No Hillary signs, but she's just a woman so she can't be president obvs.)