July 26, 2026 · 6:31 pm

New Diggings, WI biker bar, AE cottage cheese at Hyvee in Dubuque – RAGBRAI pick up

We lived vicariously during the RAGBRAI stories of son Noah and his friend Glenn after picking them up in Dubuque, where the latest (Des Moines) Register’s Annual Great Bike Ride Across Iowa concluded yesterday. It was a gorgeous day and we easily found each other, to my surprise given that there were thousands of weary bike riders awaiting a trip home by bus or car (no more bikes, although we did see one intrepid RAGBRAI cyclist riding his bike on a hilly road just across the Mississippi in Wisconsin.)

The landscape got pretty and rural in northwest Illinois and southwest Wisconsin where we drove on highways 11 (through southern Wisconsin) and highway 20 (through Illinois, around the nineteenth-century tourist town of Galena). At one point we were on Stagecoach Trail, a two-lane road between 11 and 20 just over the border in Illinois that was especially beautiful — rolling, winding atop ridges, overlooking lush valleys of tall corn.

Bras from the rafter

In New Diggings we chanced upon a very rustic biker bar whose dark wood quarters were packed with drinkers on a sunny Saturday morning. Dozens of discarded bras hung over one rafter. In the original 1844 wood building, it was billed as a general store and inn but we saw no signs of this. We didn’t linger.

In Illinois, we passed through some other small 19th-century railroad villages including Nora (the name of two of nieces) pop.100-107, which was a blink or you’ll miss it place. Lena, Illinois pop. 2,000+, had a little more, an antique store or so, as did Warren. Both have old red brick buildings on their main drag.

In Dubuque, I was delighted to find my favorite cottage cheese – AE (Anderson Erickson) at the local HyVee. I loaded three containers into my cooler (brought for this purpose, in case we got lucky). Although Dubuque is one of my favorite towns, we didn’t linger, given the ragbrai particulars (crowds, weary riders, etc).

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July 10, 2026 · 3:31 am

Lake Geneva, WI – following travel tips from a part-time resident, plus Camp Wandewega

“Did I hear you say ‘Lake Geneva?’” I asked another volunteer at a Chicago soup kitchen. Sure enough! And here’s her recommendations, just in time for our summer visit!

1. Pay the parking meters—they’re ticket happy!

2. Simple Bakery in downtown Lake Geneva. A couple of blocks from main drag, but great pastries!

Lake path

3. Lake path—start at LG public library, follow walk along lake west, away from downtown. At the end, you’ll see restrooms, the lake path begins. No restrooms on path. This path is amazing, clean, along 26 miles around the lake, passing huge summer homes, beaches, old camps. At times we were walking on a narrow path through someone’s waist-high gardens, other times under shady canopies of trees.

More Lake path

4. Green Grocer in Williams Bay for lunch, sandwich.

5. Farmers Market on Thursday in front of Horticultural Hall. 8-1 pm

6. Papa’s Blue Spruce for local vibe, incredible smash burgers. Done! The Cheese smashBurgers were as good as advertised at this spot overlooking Lake Como, smaller and quieter than Geneva. The talk of the town was the July 3-4 storm that tore up trees, knocked out power for days.There was also a horrible boating accident on Lake Geneva.

7. Pier 290 for dinner—on the water

8. Williams Bay public beach – DONE. Pleasant but we’re spoiled by the soft sand and clear water of Lake Michigan at Weko beach in Bridgman, Michigan. The sand here was closer to dirt and there were weeds in the deeper part of the swim area.

We also wandered around Camp Wandewega in nearby Elkhorn, a former summer camp from the 1920s that offers lodging via Airbnb in old cabins. The retro vibe felt like a Wes Anderson film set. The cabins look humble from the outside but apparently have high-end backwoods decor and are pricey. Lake Wandewega was refreshingly sleepy, especially compared to bustling Lake Geneva but lots of algae bloom.

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July 8, 2026 · 10:38 pm

Read Between the Lynes, BratHaus, the Cherry Branch guest house/cherry Tree B&B, Roscoe/woodstock antique mall, oh and “Groundhog Day” (the movie location)— Woodstock,Il

We’re staying at a pretty little guest house (the cherry branch inn) at a rural roundabout in the small charming Illinois town of Woodstock, the more causal offshoot of the Cherry Tree Inn, located in an elegant Victorian manse down the block. The town square is worth the 1.5 hour drive here, north from Chicago. Its perfectly preserved with a wide red brick circular drive around a shady green with cobblestone gates, a fancy bandshell and nearby outdoor gazebo, which was maybe the reason the town served as the film location for Groundhog Day, the 1992 movie starring Bill Murray (which we didn’t like, even though D’s birthday is on Groundhog Day). The movie link was a big enough draw for a young couple from Birmingham, England, who we met at breakfast. They tacked a day here onto their trip to Chicago.

Brat haus

At night the towering yellow and red brick buildings around the square are lined with lights (red, white, blue currently). Lights also set off the stately former sheriff’s quarters, now home to BratHaus, which did indeed serve a wide selection of excellent brats plus decent everything else including a Greek Salad. We enjoyed sitting out on the front patio overlooking the square, blending into the local crowd, watching occasional strollers with dogs or kids.

Opera House, town square park

We are here because the superb local bookstore Read Between The Lynes hosted an event for my book (our diaries, ourselves). The folks there obviously have great taste but the store was even better than expected, with well-chosen and well-displayed books laid out on dark wood shelves, near a huge tree (fake) along a cobblestone path (painted on the wood floor). I’ve been to so many great book stores that hosted events and it’s almost impossible to pick a favorite. I’m impressed and pleased they still exist.

Guesthouse

One of many odes to Groundhog Day (the 1992 film)

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May 6, 2026 · 11:05 pm

Pullman Bar & Grill, Prairie Lights, Oasis Falafel//Iowa City and Moglea/DSM book festival/Beaverdale Books in Des Moines

Wonderful, as always, to return to my former stomping grounds in Iowa — and especially during a book tour for “Our Diaries, Ourselves.” Excellent audiences with thoughtful questions during both events, the first at Prairie Lights and the second at the bustling Des Moines Book Festival held in the former Franklin Junior High in Beaverdale (now the Franklin Events Center).

DSM art center docents!

In Iowa City, we had a quick dinner at Pullman Bar & Grill with friends, conveniently located next to Prairie Lights. Good place for a burger and swift pre-book event service. Next time, I’ll call ahead to put our name on the waiting list if we have a party of more than four people.

It was a kick to have my book event at Prairie Lights, a nationally-known destination for writers thanks in part to the Iowa Writer’s Workshop and one of my favorite bookstores anywhere. The staff working my event couldn’t have been nicer and the crowd kept me on my toes with some sharp observations and questions. And my conversation partner was my longtime friend Veronica Fowler, so lucky me!

The Des Moines Book Festival was packed with people on a gorgeous spring Saturday so kudos to the Beaverdale Books hosts for that! Loved seeing so many old friends at my event there. Andrew Klumpp of the Iowa State Historical Society was a great convo partner.

On the way out of town, we stopped at the boutique paper design company Moglea, whose journals and notecards I’ve spotted across the country at various posh shops. Little known fact: there are sale goods available in the small retail store attached to Moglea’s production facility downtown near Cherry Street. It’s become one of my last minute stops on the way out of town. I also stock up on South Union ciabatta at Gateway market and the incomparable Anderson Erickson cottage cheese at HyVee or Pricechopper.)

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April 20, 2026 · 10:51 pm

red rocks and historic site @ Jemez Springs, Valles caldera, Los Alamos, cafe Pasqual’s & Santa Fe

Not Los Alamos
Not Los Alamos

I’d never been to a city that requires drivers to pass through a security check and show their driver’s license but now I have….outside Los Alamos. Not surprising given its the home of the atomic bomb and today, a national research lab focused on national security and “nuclear stockpile stewardship.” The guy at the security check post told not to turn right as we drove into town because that could be a possible security breach. Okey doke. Los Alamos seemed utterly ordinary after that, at least on the surface, as we drove through.

Not Los Alamos (again)

We preferred to spend our time elsewhere, taking a very scenic drive to Los Alamos from ABQ, stopping several times. In Jemez Springs, we visited the local historic site: the ruins of a Spanish mission church dating to 1621-22 adorning a rugged canyon. Beyond the thick stone walls of the San José de los Jémez church are rudimentary benches underneath a wide open sky, the roof presumably long gone. We followed a short interpretive trail though the ruins of a 700-year-old village established by ancestors of today’s nearby pueblo, at around the same time as Plymouth Rock. We also admired the area’s red rock formations. Next trip to do: self-guided tours of Gisewa Pueblo and San Jose Mission; visit natural hot springs.

The village includes a cluster of shops that might be fun to explore and hiking trails.

We also drove though the Valles Caldera National Preserves, a flat 14-mile wide prairie-like expanse with dramatic patches of dark and light as clouds moved slowly in a bright blue sky. It was created by a volcanic eruption 1.2 million years ago. Hiking, biking, wildlife-gazing, fishing and cross-country skiing are available to those who venture out of their cars. We couldn’t tell if our borrowed car was being photographed to charge us $25 to drive into the preserves or if our national park pass would work! But guessing we (or the person we borrowed the car from) was charged.

In Santa Fe, we wandered around the historic plaza and the railyard district, visiting pricey shops and eating excellent New Mexican food at the famous Cafe Pasquale’s. (Huevos, tacos, lemon meringue tart). Much as I appreciate the beauty and sophistication of Santa Fe, I find it more one-note and less interesting to explore than Albuquerque, one of those underdog cities I’m drawn to maybe because I grew up outside Detroit andlearned to appreciate unlikely places where I’ve lived (Wichita, Des Moines…)

Cafe Pasqual’s

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April 18, 2026 · 4:51 pm

Village Well Books/Culver City, Huntington gardens and Daisy Mint near Pasadena – California

I’m not sure I’ve visited a bookstore as buzzing with activity as Village Well Books in Culver City … and I’ve visited a lot of bookstores lately. On a sunny Sunday late-afternoon, the light airy space was full of people, browsing books, eating in the cafe, sitting at long tables with their laptops, meeting in a glass enclosed room, playing with kids in the children’s area and… listening to me talk about my diary book.

We had a good crowd (for me)… about 40 people, including several young Asian gals and guys. The audience questions were very thoughtful. Bilingual diaries popped up: one woman first wrote her diary in Chinese and then English. Another woman told me she first write in Persian, then in Hebrew and then English.

After the event we went to dinner at a nearby place that has decent food but flakey service. Ex:,The frites to our moules frites arrived after we ate our mussels and only after we asked why we had not received them. They gave us a free dessert to compensate but still.

Today we squeezed in a visit to The Huntington Gardens outside patio which was lovely as ever. Roses were in full bloom and spectacular and lunch was good at a favorite Thai restaurant, Daisy mint.

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April 18, 2026 · 3:05 am

Ihatov/Books on the Bosque/Sawmill Food Hall /abq (art) museum, villa Miriam, Old Town — return to Albuquerque

We’ve been to Albuquerque more times than I can count so most places we visit are revisits. One new places this time: Books on the Bosque, which kindly hosted an event for my new book “Our Diaries, Ourselves.” Nice people and store.

I remain impressed with the Albuquerque Museum, which has a great permanent art collection oabout New Mexico, often by New Mexicans and thought provoking exhibitions including the latest by Delilah Montoya whose photos, prints and installations are about Chicano life and especially our brutal and messed up immigration system sadly are as topical as ever. Next up: an exhibition on the ABQ stretch of Route 66.

Lunch (good salads) at Vinaigrette was as good as ever but in a new location— the former home of another restaurant, Modern General, which is no more. We also had good sandwiches at Villa Miriam.

Sawmill Market

A bunch of storefronts in Nob Hill along Central are vacant so it was good to see the good Japanese/french bakery ihatov (which sounds like Hebrew or Native American but may be Japanese) is still on Central avenue (aka Route 67, on a tarted up but still a little honkytonk stretch.) Excellent morning bun (sort of a busy carrot cake with various dried fruits).

Dinner was at Sawmill market, a hip food court that has long wooden tables and a dizzying array of options. It worked well for our party of six. We all got hamburgers they were closest and easiest but got lunch today we tried the tacos, which were better than the burger.

Vinaigrette

We also enjoyed shopping around the central plaza in Old Town, with its adobe buildings, wooded colonnades with hanging dried chiles, and pretty courtyard gardens.Several shops have interesting work by locals and/or southwest artists – and their wares are refreshingly affordable compared to Santa Fe.

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April 10, 2026 · 5:56 pm

Literati bookstore and cafe Zola in Ann Arbor; Perch and Toadvine in Berkley; Cafe Nini and central public library in Grosse Pointe – book events in Michigan

We still need to explore Ann Arbor more, beyond Zingerman’s deli and its neighbors, but I did get a peek at the terrific Literati Bookstore, inside a century-old brick building downtown during an event there for my diary book.

Also had an excellent dinner with family and friends at nearby Cafe Zola (skirt steak, bolognese pasta).

At literati with high school pals

After excellent lunch (goat cheese, bacon, fig jam grilled sandwich, muffuletta, cheese board with Pleasant Ridge and St.Germain) at The Rind (part of the cheesemongers) in Berkley (the new Royal Oak/Ferndale with interesting affordable restaurants and independent shops), we quick perused Perch, a vintage/contemporary home goods store and Toadvine, jam-packed with quality used books.

The main Grosse Pointe library, where I had another book event, turned out to be impressive in many ways including architectural/artistic. It’s a striking contemporary 1953 building designed by famous modernist architect Marcel Breuer with a large (and real) Calder mobile and mosaic piece by famed Detroit artist/family friend Glenn Michaels. Dinner (lasagna with spinach noodles in an orange bolognese sauce) was very good at nearby Cafe Nini.

AI report:

Grosse Pointe Public Library Central Branch, designed by renowned Bauhaus architect Marcel Breuer in 1953, is a landmark of modernist architecture located in Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan. As one of his first major U.S. public commissions, the two-story brick building features distinctive floor-to-ceiling windows, open spaces, and integrated art, including a Calder mobile. World Monuments FundWorld Monuments Fund +3

Key Details of the Breuer Library:

  • Design & Structure: The building is noted for its unadorned, rectangular design, characterized as a “timeless” modern structure by Michigan Modern.
  • Art Integration: The interior was designed to showcase art, including a large Alexander Calder mobile, a Kandinsky-inspired tapestry, and a 22-foot steel sculpture by Lymon Kipp.
  • Significance: It is the only building designed by Breuer in the Detroit area, and it was commissioned by philanthropist Dexter M. Ferry.
  • Current Status: The Central Branch is recognized for its architectural significance. The Grosse Pointe Library Foundation supports the site through the Breuer Preservation Fund.

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March 15, 2026 · 8:35 pm

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum/cafe G and Far Out “real fruit” ice cream in Boston; AJK Bakery and McIntire Historic District in Salem, weird delays with American Airlines at Boston’s Logan airport.

D and I had not been to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in decades and never together so it was a great to return on a suddenly cold but sunny March day. The interior courtyard with its beautiful plants and flowers, arranged with symmetrical precision, was a psychological boost, a reminder that spring will come soon, if not yet.

Isabella’s palace

In the early 1900s, Isabella collected all sorts of old world artworks and arranged them in the vast and small spaces of her mansion (“palace”) in idiosyncratic fashion, which reminded me of the Barnes Foundation in Philadelphia. The rooms are often dark and gloomy, painted a deep moody blue or red, with large dramatic paintings, antiques, ceramics and sculpture. The windows and balconies lining the three-story courtyard with its Moorish patterns lets in very welcome light, adding an unexpected sunniness.

Isabella Stewart Gardner contemporary addition

A contemporary addition to the main house is also cheerful, with red and orange mod furniture. We had an excellent, albeit pricey, lunch in the restaurant Cafe G (rigatoni Bolognese!) and sat in comfy contemporary chairs in a lounge.

We also visited the edgy contemporary photo exhibit on the second floor, where photographers documented experimenting with their gender and sexuality. Couldn’t help wondering what Isabella would have made of it. One thing’s clear: she wouldn’t have been in it. She didn’t like having her picture taken, and often covered her face with a scarf when photographed.

A 13 minute walk along the Fens got us to the Time Out Market where we went to Far Out for New Zealand style ice cream — soft serve mixed with real fruit. Real Tasty.

On our last day we went to AJK, an excellent bakery with pastries, breakfast sandwiches and sandwiches in Salem walked past beautiful old Yankee homes in the nearby historic McIntire District, dodging a few witch tours here and there. We stopped at the statue of Bewitched TV show star Elizabeth Montgomery so D. could pose with his childhood crush.

Dirck with Bewitched statue in Salem.

Our American Airlines flight home was rocky. We boarded for an on time departure from Boston to Chicago and started moving. Then flight attendants started rushing up and down the aisles. Then the plane stopped and we were told there was a missing passenger. Then we were told there was a passenger count discrepancy. Next thing we know, we’re taxing back to a gate and are told we must deplane with all our stuff, hopefully to soon re-plane — which we did after awhile, complete with another safety demonstration by a flight attendant. Then there was another weird delay — the tow bar (or some such) wasn’t coming off. Strange grinding noise ensued, then stopped, and we flew to Chicago, leaving several hours late, causing several passengers to miss their connections. Our outbound flight on American also began with a short delay that grew longer.

Salem bakery AJK

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March 14, 2026 · 2:22 pm

Peabody museum/Salem, Boston public library/Tatte/warren Tavern/old classmates in Charlestown, my old group house in Somerville

Bunker hill monument

We enjoyed a visit to the superb Peabody Museum in Salem with brother-in-law Steve. A very interesting collection of Native American art, old and contemporary, and early American art; also a step Chinese home called Yin Yu Tang that came from a small rural village west of Shanghai and was reconstructed inside the museum. Built in 1790, lived in by eight generations of the Huang family over 200 years, most recently in 1982. Twenty to 30 people lived in the house at one time. About 40 percent of the objects in the house belonged to the Huang family, another 45 percent were from homes in the region with similar histories. Way cool and reminded us of a old traditional building with a dark wood interior surrounding a central courtyard that we stayed at in Hoi An, Vietnam.

Peabody

During an unexpected return to Somerville (long story), we drove past the group house I lived in several lives ago (1983) at 34 Avon street (I remembered the address) which looked spruced up since my day.

My former residence

On to Charlestown which also has spruced up since my day, complete with an outpost of the excellent Tatte bakery on Warren Street where we had excellent hot chocolate and a morning bun. We were in the shadow of the towering Bunker Hill Monument with streets lined with attractive colonial-era- looking homes and alluring shops on Main Street that I wish I had time to explore.

High school friends represent!

But we were there, instead, for an event for my book Our Diaries, Ourselves at the Charlestown branch of the Boston Public Library! High school friends kindly showed up.

Warren Tavern

We all went to dinner at the very atmospheric Warren Tavern, circa the 1780s, where revolutionary leaders George Washington and Paul Revere dined. (Good burger and Cobb salad, centuries later!)

Charlestown

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