Category Archives: 2) Frequent Destinations

August 7, 2026 · 10:33 pm

Glen Lake Community Library, Joe’s Friendly Tavern, Vic Steimel Park, The Mill, Cottage Book Shop, Grocer’s Daughter — Empire & Glen Arbor, MI

Empire has a beautiful contemporary library (Glen Lake Community) on its main drag, where I had book event #16, which was fun, attended by old friends from high school and people I’d never met. Great combo. Dinner was at Joe’s Friendly Tavern, a local favorite with knotty pine walls, Detroit Tigers memorabilia and big round wood tables quickly filled with one group after another. Terrific burgers, and kid food including nothing fancy but serviceable Kraft Mac and cheese.

Book event pals

This morning we got goodies at the weekly Tuesday farmers market in bustling Glen Arbor, then hit the bike trail (sleeping Bear heritage trail) cycling north past lake houses, the Homestead Resort and pretty preserved farmsteads that are part of the national park shoreline. We got as far as Point Oneida, then turned around. Pyramid point was too far for the ride which began on paved trail but soon became gravel and crushed stone and sand. Not my favorite surface but a gorgeous ride through bucolic farmland and woods. Another day we rode from port Oneida to good Harbor beach, an easy 10 mile ride, primarily paved but with about a mile of gravel.

We had a late lunch at the cafe at The Mill, a hip new place in a restored grain mill bordering a gentle stream. We sat outside on a small deck overlooking the stream and enjoyed a delicious pesto chicken sandwich and inventive watermelon salad with tomatoes, dill, feta, and pistachios. (trust me, it worked!) we liked the place enough to go again for lunch, having a banh Minh sandwich with pork belly and a chilled spicey corn soup.There’s also an outpost called Up River in town near the bike store

The Mill
Lunch at The Mill cafe

Supper (the name of the evening meal) is pricey and reservations can be hard to get but I’d like to try some time time. Emma and rocket enjoyed their meal there. We also brought home an excellent walnut cranberry bread. The place also has three rooms for lodgers. The decor in the dining areas is rustic chic.

Cottage Book shop

Somehow we had never been to the Cottage Book Shop, which turned out to be totally charming, inside a rustic wood cabin and has a fantastic selection of books (including mine, aka Our Diaries, Ourselves)

We discovered there is a Vic Steimel Park in the area. Word has it he was a Leelanau county lifer who owned property on Suttons Bay’s Stony Point, died in 1984, and was the son of George Steimel. Dirck says he had an uncle George Steimel who lived Baltimore but we doubt it’s the same guy.

Inside the cottage book shop

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August 3, 2026 · 2:05 am

Mi casa, The Bakers Burrow, the eatery at Up North Fields, Esch Beach – Honor, Beulah, Benzonia, and Empire,Mi

Empire Bluff trail

Back to glorious northern Michigan where we are staying this time in a lovely mi casa, su casa, a farmhouse in the woods (Airbnb) outside the village of Honor, close to our favorite Beach (Esch), two towns we’ve stayed in before, Beulah and Empire. The Airbnb is shockingly expensive (I’m embarrassed to say how much) especially since one room is unexpectedly uninhabited (sadly because our son and daughter in law had to cancel). But it is nice to have such a great place after some dodgy ones in the past.

The Bakers Burrow

We visited some golden oldies: the empire bluff trail (always spectacular views from on high of the dunes and the varegated blue/green water of Lake Michigan and Esch Beach, which had fun waves. Lunch was at a new place my brother and family discovered in Benzonia- the eatery at up north fields, a cute little food hut with open air dining my area in a flower garden. The brisket Mediterranean bowl was pricey but good. Didn’t like the chicken one as much.

The eatery

Near us, we chanced upon an adorable bakery in a tiny cupboard outside the Honor village center at the edge of Indian Hill road, off Highway 31. It’s called the baker’s burrow, run by mother daughter bakers. We got a delicious looking blueberry muffin.

Inside the Baker’s burrow

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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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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 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 6, 2026 · 12:23 pm

Whitney Biennial, Chelsea market (Takomi Taco, muji)P&T Knitwear, Saigon Social in LES – NYC

Busy and fun NYC day. First stop: a members preview (courtesy of my Uncle) of the Whitney Biennial, with edgy thought- provoking art from across the country. A few impressions of trends: big full-room installations with video and/or sculpture and sound. Lots of sound in general. Unusual materials (dried breast milk and semen in one work), Palestinian theme including a poignant video installation about displacement and longing to return. very small delicate work next to very large work.

Lunch was Japanese inspired tacos at TacomiTaco, in the buzzing Chelsea Market which was even more fun to explore than I remembered. We sat at the counter and ate excellent tacos (short rib, the Japanese curry); bought hard-to-find Candy (Regal Crown sours, Rolo caramels) an outpost of the famous lower east side’s Economy Candy. I could have shopped for hours at Muji, a Japanese home goods and clothing purveyor.

After my book event at the cool bookstore P&T Knitwear on Orchard Street we had excellent food (ribs, dumplings, fried rice) at nearby Saigon Social. (Saltwater cafe turned out to be a good spot to meet an old friend.)

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February 4, 2026 · 5:26 am

Flying economy overseas – win some, lose some; how to fix a global entry cock-up; and thoughts on the new passport biometrics, new required UK ETA visa for US citizens, and global entry pros and cons.

Our flight on United from Chicago to London on a January Monday was surprisingly pleasant. The plane had tons of empty seats so we could stretch out. (I had three seats to myself. I may have even slept for an hour or so.)

San Vincente de La Barquera

Not so lucky on this return flight from Munich to Chicago on Lufthansa today, on a February Sunday. The plane has harder seats and is packed. The big guy in front of me reclined his seat, leaving me cramped and claustrophobic, even when I reluctantly reclined my seat, inflicting crampness on the guy behind me. It felt like the big guy’s seat was in my lap.

Long ancient bridge in San V

When I complained to the big guy, he didn’t budge. He argued that he was reclining because the person in front of him had reclined her seat. She created a chain (reclining) reaction, as the sympathetic flight attendant called it, when I sought her help. Reclining is bad enough but when the recliner is big, there’s even less space for the unfortunate passenger behind him/her. I knocked his seat whenever I got up, by accident of course. Oopsy.

And I got the flight attendant to request that he raise his seat during the meals so I could plausibly maneuver eating. (Truth is I didn’t eat. The food was awful. Except for Lindt chocolates served at the start and end of the flight.)

One more complaint: we had to check our luggage before we got on the flight to Munich, allegedly because our bags were “too big” which is bullshit. Our bags are regulation-small. The real issue was that the plane was full so it was presumably running out of luggage space by the time we boarded in the last group. But there was room in the luggage compartment above us!

I couldn’t find a direct Barcelona-Chicago flight, which explains our connecting flight in Munich. Next time I’ll try harder to avoid this. The first flight was about 2 hours, followed by a confusing transfer in Munich that involved going through passport control, complete with fingerprinting and photographing by a bored agent who blew a bubble with her gum (really) while she was scrutinizing my passport and tapping whatever on her computer. Why is this necessary for a one hour layover in the airport? On the plus side, this 8.5 hour flight is arriving an hour early. Amen!

Baluard bakery, Barcelona

Another good thing: Although D. couldn’t use his global entry on our departing flight to go through expedited TSA pre-select because of a government cock-up (his global entry lists his middle initial while his passport lists his middle name — the two need to be the same to use TSA preselect), he was able to use the global entry line when arriving back in the US. But, as with our October 2025 Italy trip, global entry didnt save much time. The regular line wasn’t long and moved quickly.

Building detail, Barcelona (on “block of discord”)

To correct/fix the global entry name, it’s fastest to go to the office at O’Hare or downtown— no appointment necessary. We learned this only after finding a real human to talk to, which took some time. We couldn’t get a real human on the phone at the two state of Illinois offices. I kept pressing the AI chatbot until I got a 202 number that led to a real human providing real help.

With my English pal!

We’re still getting use to the new biometrics passport control, which means you no longer show your passport or deal with a human when returning to the US. You just wait for your photo to be taken and then get a flimsy piece of paper saying global entry (or regular entry) that you give to an agent quickly and move on. I also miss having my passport stamped when arriving in the UK. Instead it’s all computer and biometrics. We did get a passport stamp when entering Spain and even when entering Germany as we were transferring planes in Munich with a brief layover.

Still another good thing: the newly required ETA (“electronic travel authorization”) Visa to enter the UK for US citizens worked without a hitch. (I brought a paper copy of my proof of Visa, just in case.) Getting the ETA online also was quick and easy, which is as it should be, this new requirement appears to be more about tit-for-tat (if the US requires Brits to get a visa to enter then the UK now requires the same of yanks) and a fees shakedown than about security or immigration control.

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January 25, 2026 · 2:02 pm

Gordon’s wine bar/embankment, lamb & flag pub/ Covent garden, Maison Bertaux/soho – roaming around London with Evan.

We visited some old favorites while visiting with an old friend from Iowa. The weather finally cleared and London’s skyline looked lovely set against blue sky and sun. The whole city seemed to come out from inside, where the grey and rain kept us cooped up. We even ate outside at Gordon’s wine bar which is famous for its dark candle-lit cavernous interior. Instead we sat at an outdoor table with a heat lamp, sipping wine and eating cheese while looking out at a green garden along the Thames.

Maison Bertaux

Next stop Neal’s Yard, a tiny pocket where I used to go to a lovely bakery/tea house in the 1980s. Long gone but the cheese shop is still nearby where we bought some Stilton for the Iberia flight we’re on right now to Madrid, that won’t even give you water unless you pay for it.

Lamb and Flag

On to the Lamb and Flag, a pub from the 1600s in an alley (Rose Lane) in very bustling Covent Garden. Many streets are now pedestrian only, which is pleasant and we even reached a multi-directional crossing at Charing Cross that reminded us of Tokyo’s. We were ready to cross horizontal and then cross vertical when we saw people crossing diagonally and followed suit.

Final stop, maison Bertaux, a tiny French patisserie that oozes character. We found a rickety table upstairs and had tea, coffee, a strawberry tart and a surprisingly dry chocolate mousse cake, which may explain why the server brought us a free cream tea that was better.

London seemed good but our English friends are understandably outraged and aghast at what’s happening in the states, as are we. They have vowed not to visit unless we’re in dire need. At least one friend worried about whether she’d have trouble entering because she has been critical of trump on social media. So I guess we’ll be coming back to see them.

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