We may have found the perfect short order takeaway sandwich shop in the restaurant-rich college town of Iowa City. Thank you Yelp and Reddit for sending us to Nodo, a hole in the wall on Dubuque Street near Prairie Lights that is so small we passed it without notice today…and for who knows how long in the past.
The #8 C&P (corned beef and pastrami) is a winner as is the pork Bahn mi, which the cheerful woman behind the counter recommended. It has a kick but is not too spicy. We took the sandwiches to our nearby city park College Green and ate dinner at a picnic table on a hilltop overlooking trees with bright yellow and red leaves. Ahhh, Iowa! Will always love you. Here’s hoping you get the senator you deserve!
A family wedding brought us to the north shore of Long Island, in and around the well-heeled town of Glen Cove.
Squinting into the sun at The Creek
And what a wedding it was, at The Creek, a country club in Locust Valley with a golf course renowned for its design (or so the priest told us during the wedding ceremony at St. Mary’s, a pretty old Spanish Catholic Church in Manhasset.)
Sea cliff view
The rehearsal dinner was in the “main clubhouse” high above the Long Island Sound. The silhouette of one of my former residences, Stamford, Connecticut was off in the distance.
A white sailboat was blown in the blue water. The wedding reception and rocking’ party was a mile north at the club’s “beach house” right on the water. Not too shabby.
Campground
We didn’t have much time to explore but we did go to the pretty small town of Sea Cliff, stopping for coffee at Campground (not the coffee shop with the line, a block away.)
At The Mansion
There’s a few shops among the old house along the main drag, including a decent gallery and ceramics shop. We also picked up nothing fancy sandwiches at Matt’s Deli. The highlight was a small park on high, overlooking the Sound.
Matt’s deli, Sea Cliff
We stayed at The Mansion, a somewhat faded, huge rambling pile of bricks that word has it is haunted and was the summer residence of President Herbert Hoover. Gorgeous grounds with a long tree-lined drive cutting across a huge sweeping green lawn with old trees. Lots of mansions nearby in Jay Gatsby territory.
We rarely went to the famous Moosewood Cafe when we were Cornell students: too far from campus and too pricey. But we all had the cookbook, of course. We had a lovely lunch there. I had a Peruvian Stew that was excellent.
@ Simply Cookie’s
We also had more luck at Sew Green downtown which resells gently used Eileen Fisher clothing. We hoped to get to two other places downtown — odyssey bookstore and Found, antiques —but ran out of time. Same with Food Lab, an interesting looking restaurant downtown.
Dinner was at the golf course up on a hill behind the now defunct Wells College in Aurora, with hearty home cooked meals by a chef named Cookie. Hence the name: SimplyCookie’s Kitchen. Excellent burgers, fries, brisket bowls and quiche.
Dirck and Mike enjoyed the Sims-Jennings Preserve at Cayuga Cliffs, near the cottage, which has an almost 2 mile trail through meadow, woods, waterfalls and gorges. Next trip! Our favorite place was the new porch at our friend’s new improved cottage on Cayuga Lake. A mesmerizing view before and even more so now.
The waterfalls at Watkins Glen were running full as we trekked along the gorge trail, thanks to the recent rains and the views were as spectacular as ever, although the trail was wet and somewhat slippery. We parked at the main entrance which proved to be more convenient than the south entrance. We did the north rim trail back which was fine except at the end when there were lots of steps going downhill.
Lunch was at Grist Iron brewery, yet another brew pub that has popped up along the east side of Seneca Lake. Great views, decent food (bbq brisket, pulled pork, steak sandwiches. Then we drove east to the western shore of Cayuga lake to get some award-winning cheese at Lively Run.
The falls did not disappoint. On a spectacular fall Sunday morning we took in the famous falls from the US/NY side which has a lovely state park (the country’s oldest). The Canadian side has the big garish stuff — high rise hotels, casino, theme park, Ferris wheel.
We drove across the Rainbow Bridge, ehich has stunning views. Then at the park we walked along a gorge-side trail (paved and accessible) to the American falls and then across a pedestrian bridge to Horseshoe Falls. Glad we arrived early (9 am). Still easy to park ($15 on a Sunday; the park is free) but lots of tourists, especially of East Asian descent (and lots of East Asian restaurants on the Canadian side.)
Another highlight: Mississauga Fort and path along the lake in Niagara-on-the -Lake. Gorgeous views at sunset, with the silhouette of Toronto skyline off in the distance, across Lake Ontario. Refreshingly free of other people/tourist and overpriced parking. We did walk along Queen Street, the main tourist drag, which was packed w/ people windowshopping, eating ice cream and visiting bakeries. We ate at one of the two famous pubs, the Olde angel inn, circa 1789, which was atmospheric but very loud. It’s English. “Probably the best pub in the world” boasts the historic looking plaque by the entrance. (The other town pub, the Irish Harp, gets good reviews from our Ithaca pals!) Good pub grub (shepard’s pie and fish and chips.)
At the fort along Lake Ontario
The town is charming with old buildings, lovely public gardens and the Shaw Festival but more developed since our last visit, maybe 15-20 years ago.
American side
GPS took us on pretty rural backroads (apparently to avoid traffic on bigger roads) where we noticed lots of houses flying Canadian flags which we guessed was a reaction to our President’s ridiculous threats.
We’ve been going to traditional red sauce southern Italian restaurants lately: Gian-Tony’s in St. Louis on “The Hill“ last week and this week to Giovanni’s in downtown Detroit, in an industrial area with several large hulking factories. Around since 2958, Giovanni’s has a dark interior with old fashioned decor and servers dressed like wedding ushers in all black. Very good lasagna, chicken piccata, veal masala.
En route to Detroit we stopped at our usual place in Portage,Mi at Cravings, a counter in The Pacific Rim asian food store. We tried several excellent items- a scallion pancake with sliced beef that turned out to be huge and delicious. Easy to share. The pancake was thick and bubbly/crispy (my new go-to entree); the meat sliced lean and good quality, with a light sauce. Also had a nice fresh spring roll and D had the pork chop entree with cracked rice, a fried egg and broccoli.
Both the New York Times and Midwest Living have published glowing articles about tourism in southwest Michigan, around New Buffalo, an area we’ve come to know well thanks to my sister who moved to Bridgman, a short walk from Weko Beach, a perfectly sandy stretch along Lake Michigan, just north of Warren Dunes State Park.
This trip we stopped at Farmette, outside New Buffalo, a farm-to-table food store and bakery with delicious breads and a good selection of cheeses, dips, pastries. No great sandwiches. Farmette reminded me of the Farm Club outside Traverse City.
We returned to the mango dispensary in new Buffalo that, yet again, didn’t have the sleep gummies I like (Camino sours, deep sleep).
We have eaten very well this trip at sophisticated, veg-driven farm-to-table places with lovely gardens and garden ingredients. The “farmer’s Scramble” (eggs, cheese, sautéed onions, squash and tomatoes) at PennyRoyal Cafe on the outskirts of Saugatuck was wonderfully fresh and tasty, served with perfectly browned crispy potatoes and muesli bread.
The place looks humble from the two lane BluE Star Highway, outside downtown Saugatuck but chef Missy Corey is a James Beard award semi finalist producing interesting takes on classic fare, with a focus on quality ingredients. We waltzed in at 1:45 pm on a Saturday and ate in a lovely shaded courtyard with native plants but the small casual dining room is cool – with an open kitchen, copper bar for seating and landscapes by a local artist. Easy in and out, minus the tourist crush in downtown Saugatuck.
Esch beach, Honor, MI
We also made a quick stop at the Fulton Street Market in a transitional neighborhood of Grand Rapids. The open air market is one long corridor, with a roof, packed with Michigan produce. We arrived around 1, when some vendors were looking to unload their produce. We may be eating green beans and basil for days.
Last stop, two cannabis dispensaries (yes, you read that right) in New Buffalo. I’ve been trying CBD/CBN gummies as a sleep aid but both stores I visited (Mango and Bowdega) were sold out of the kind I’ve been using (Camino deep sleep) so I ended up with another brand and a bunch of free samples that I don’t know what I’ll do with!
On our one slightly rainy day (the weather has otherwise been perfect, sunny, in high 70s and low 80s), we took a,pretty 1/2 hour or so drive to Traverse City where we had a lovely meal at a farm to table place called Farm Club that is perched on the edge of a pretty swath of yes, farmland.
Arcadia,Mount Baldy
We shared a fresh vegetable plate with two refreshing dips and delicious onion rings that were surprisingly light, tempura style, crunchy with drizzled hot sauce.At Higher Art, a gallery on Front Street, I found a perfect housewarming gift for a friend who may be reading this.
Airbnb diningAirbnb, HonorFarm Club
The next day we went to Arcadia, a very pretty village south of here,where we took a short hike through the woods and around a sandy bluff to huge dune called Mount Baldy overlooking shimmering blue Lake Michigan,drove around the lovely old Watervale Inn and resort and had a good lunch at the food truck KEtch 22 and neighboring coffee truck.
Ketch 22
There’s another new restaurant, MT Plate Diner, across the street that looked promising. We also stopped at the famous Gwen Frostic studio outside Beulah.
Gwen Frostic
Although this Airbnb maybe too expensive to stay at again, we really liked it. Great location on Martin Road, a pretty dirt road technically in Honor, only a 3 mile drive to Esch Beach. Very ice rooms and porches.An old fixed up farmhouse in the woods.
Farm clubPyramid Point (further north, Glen arbor)
