Category Archives: 2) Frequent Destinations

November 25, 2013 · 1:31 am

Dreaming of Good Asian food in Des Moines

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Just back from yet another disappointing “Asian” meal in Des Moines. in recent years, Des Moines restaurants in general have definitely improved but there are still some major holes in the offerings, especially when it comes to Asian food …especially Chinese. When I was a kid in the the 1960s and 70s, Chinese good was the major option available in suburban Detroit. Cantonese….I’m talking the kind of dishes mentioned in Jennifer 8. Lee’s wonderful 2008 book The Fortune Cookie Chronicles (a history of American Chinese food/restaurants that oddly begins and ends in Des Moines), dishes like egg foo young, egg rolls, sweet and sour pork, lo mein, General Tsu’s chicken, Mongolian beef,  Kung Pao Chicken, Beef and Broccoli, Chow Mein…nothing too fancy. But the food seemed fresh, with real meat and vegetables.

Later in the 1970s, we started getting dishes like moo shu pork (photo above). But in Des Moines at least, Chinese has been overtaken by Thai and Vietnamese and of course sushi, which is probably the most available and, at a place or two, the best Asian option here. But our favorite Thai restaurant has gone downhill. The Vietnamese place everyone goes to here has never impressed us (we far prefer Saigon Market in Wichita. Yes Wichita.) And Chinese in Des Moines, well I give up after yet another bad meal last night. My major complaint has to do with the poor quality of the meat at  Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese restaurants. The Vietnamese restaurants’ pork tends to be gristly. At the Chinese and Thai places, the chicken and beef are so over tenderized that they hardly resemble meat. The texture is all wrong, sort of vapid, melt in your mouth. Ick. And the favors are either way too salty or way too sweet. And the sauces too thick and goopy.

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November 19, 2013 · 10:59 pm

Pickle & Rye moves to a new location in Mortlake (London UK)!

Remember that cute young American couple I told you about last summer who run a terrific American-style sandwich shop in the southwest London borough of Mortlake? She’s from Iowa, he’s from Delaware. Word from my British friends in Mortlake is that they have indeed opened another location right across from the Mortlake station and it’s going gangbusters (not sure that’s a British term…but yanks will get it.)

Very glad to hear. Not sure if there original store on the main drag in Mortlake will remain open. But wish them well!!

The new Pickle & Rye American Sandwich shop in Mortlake (london)

The new Pickle & Rye American Sandwich shop in Mortlake (london)

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November 19, 2013 · 2:52 am

Ragbrai 2014 with the Brits!!

Just talked to our dear friends in London, Francine and Russ, and they want to do Ragbrai 2014! We’re thrilled and this time hoping my husband and son will want to do as well!! Registration has just opened for Ragbrai as has the unveiling of the way-cool Ragbrai 2014 biking gear (corn camouflage…clever!) although no word on the route for awhile.

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November 17, 2013 · 7:58 pm

Tips on flying Southwest out of Des Moines

Southwest Airlines Logo.png
IATA
WN		 ICAO
SWA		 Callsign
SOUTHWEST
Founded March 16, 1967

As word comes from today’s DMRegister that there’ s talk of trying to expand the selection of direct Southwest flights out of Des Moines (Orlando and St. Louis but no promises and would happen, at the earliest next summer), I’ve been thinking about advice I’d give to people flying Southwest out of DSM right now – based on my first trial run earlier this month. And here it is:

– Although Southwest offers no fee to check your luggage (how refreshing), I am glad I didn’t check mine because if I had I wouldn’t have been able to switch flights in Las Vegas at the last minute after my LAX flight was delayed and I hopped aboard a Burbank flight. Or so I gather. The first question the counter agent asked me after I inquired about switching was whether I’d checked my luggage. I hadn’t and miraculously I was en route to Burbank minutes later. When I got to Burbank, I received another update on my original LAX flight. It still hadn’t left Vegas, delayed over 2 hours and counting…

– Paying the extra $12 or so to get priority boarding was definitely worth it!! Otherwise it is essential to check in as close as possible to exactly 24 hours before flight time so you get a good position in line, preferably A group or failing that B group but NOT C group. Those folks get the middle seats and there’s less likelihood, if the plane is booked, of getting an overhead spot to stow their luggage. The one flight I didn’t take and pay the extra $12 I got an A44 number in line – not bad. And I ended up with a good aisle seat close to the front of the plane (so I could exit quickly and make my connection).

– Speaking of connections, in Las Vegas my flight arrived in the C terminal and I had to haul a** to make my connecting flight in the B terminal, which seemed like miles away (with only a few moveable walkways). The slot machines strewed in the corridors didn’t help as I had knots of people to get around while dragging my suitcase. I don’t know if this is always the case on the DSM-Vegas-LA flight. (The one I took was at noon on a Friday out of DSM.)

– My connection at Chicago’s Midway was much much better – the Seattle-Midway flight landed in a gate only three gates away from the Midway-Des Moines flight. Yippee!! (This was on the 2:30 Wednesday flight from Seattle to Midway and the 9:30 pm flight from midway to dsm.)

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November 11, 2013 · 12:42 am

Malibu, Topanga Canyon, glorious

It was about 80 degrees and sunny midday in Malibu where we had a perfect lunch at Malibu Seafood, a unassuming little shack on the side of busy Highway 101 overlooking The beach and Ocean. We had crispy fish and chips, grilled mahi mahi and soaked up the scene. fortune lay we arrived at 11:30 and got in and out quickly, placing our order then eating at an outdoor picnic table, feeling very lucky to suddenly have some Californians in the family to lure me back to Los Angeles after, um, at least 25 years. We drove about 10 miles north to a hidden gem of a beach my cousin Scott, who lives here, recommended that’s such a hidden gem I am reluctant to reveal its name. Okay, it’s Las Pescatores.

There was only one other car in the small dirt parking lot and when we walked through some brush we found below us a brilliant ocean cove with soft white sand, a few jagged boulders in a glistening Ocean and no one but us and way in the distance, a fisherman on some rocks. Odd that this year has found me unexpectedly on coastlines I haven’t visited in decades, Cape Cod last month and now Southern California. the beach today was more rugged, almost masculine compared to the Provincetown beaches, white rather than tan sand, jagged mountains rather than soft grassy dunes, wind whipped trees and lush vegetation rather than grasses and low bushes.

we drove back to the valley through Topanga Canyon which had the same hippie vibe I remembered from the 1980s. We stopped at a classic Topanga haunt, cafe mimosa. Perfect outing.

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November 10, 2013 · 7:43 am

Thanks for being flexible Southwest Airlines

Another thing to love about Southwest: their flexibility. Yesterday when I realized that my connecting flight from Vegas to LA was going to be delayed yet another hour due to mechanical problems with the plane back in Tucson, I decided it was time to act. I tried to get on an earlier LAX flight which was oversold but the airline said I could give it a shot…and not loose my seat on my scheduled flight. No extra cost. No hassles. What a delightful change from other airlines which are rarely so flexible and would charge extra to change my ticket. Even more amazing, as i was,rushing back across the airport to see if I could get,on the earlier LAX flight, I passed a gate where a flight to Burbank was boarding. I remembered that my brother lived even closer to Burbank than LAX so,I dashed over to the desk, asked,if there were any seats left and once again, was told it was oversold but worth a try. A few minutes later , my name was called and an hour later I was at the Burbank airport when I got a,text saying my original flight still had not left Vegas. Even though Burbank was more expensive, no one said a word about charging me more or not letting me on the flight. Talk about a good way to build brand loyalty! meanwhile here (see photo) is the reason why I am now staying in a sweet bungalow in Toluca Lake with my brother and his family. Beautiful,area by the way. We walked in some lovely residential areas, passing houses owned by movie stars like Steve Carrell and even sawmthe house that was used as the exterior for the brady bunch!

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November 3, 2013 · 4:54 pm

Rooting for the Hotel Pattee and the Whiterock Conservancy – Perry/Coon Rapids Iowa

The DM Register has a good profile of the new owner of the Hotel Pattee – a one-of-a-kind gem of a boutique hotel in Perry, Iowa, about 45 minutes west of Des Moines. Here’s hoping he succeeds! In another Register section is a story about the Whiterock Conservancy – a developing tourist attraction about 30 miles west of  Perry in Coon Rapids that will offer trails for mountain biking, hiking and horseback riding (more  below – it would be great to visit on a perfect fall day like today in Des Moines where the autumn foliage is spectacular this year!).  Put these two together and maybe there’s a successful weekend travel package (which has been part of the issue with the Hotel Pattee…since there are limited things for tourists to do there).

In 2000, when I wrote a story for the NYTimes travel section Historic Hybrid in Iowa, NYTimes 11/26/2000 about a stay at the historic Garst Farm in Coon Rapids (which now falls under the umbrella of  Whiterock Conservancy and is still a lodging option from what I can glean from the website whiterock conservancy website )  we went on a very memorable 2.5 hours horseback ride with our kids. They were very little (ages 8 and 7) to be riding on such big horses by themselves so I was a bit of a wreck but they survived. I ended the account of our trip with a visit to the Hotel Pattee. It can be done!

Another good activity option near Perry is the High Trestle Trail with it’s awe-inspiring 13-story high bridge, hidden in the middle of nowhere, spanning a  glorious river valley.

WHITEROCK, CROSSING A THRESHOLD

Next summer Whiterock will embark on the construction of our long-planned 35 mile backcountry trail!
The entire new backcountry trail will be open to walkers and hikers as it meanders among the forested slopes above the Middle Raccoon River. Sixteen miles of the trail will be a winding single track designed specifically for mountain bikers. bicycle riderAnother seven miles will be for equestrians.The final twelve miles will be double track shared by all users, including those using low power vehicles to allow those with mobility restrictions the opportunity to enjoy nature. horses and riders Trail users will also be able to access nine miles of other existing trails which connect to downtown Coon Rapids and many more miles of river upstream.

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October 20, 2013 · 3:53 pm

Touring the world without leaving Iowa! Visit Rome, Madrid, Jamaica (Iowa) and more

Location of Madrid, Iowa
Coordinates: 41°52′32″N 93°49′12″W

Kyle Munson has a very entertaining story in today’s DM Register about two Iowans who decided to tour the world without leaving Iowa by visiting all – or most  – of the towns in the state named after famous foreign cities  Around the world in Iowa?.

We’re talking about towns and cities in Iowa named  Madrid, Rome, Paris, Manilla, Turin, Melbourne, Persia, Denmark, Hamburg, Macedonia, Wales, Luxemburg,  and Sidney (not Sydney but close enough).[No word on whether they made it to Brooklyn or Nevada, Iowa…maybe that’s another trip – Iowa cities sharing the same name as more-famous U.S. cities.]  The two Iowans who visited some 22 cities in four days decided to have even more fun by jumping out of their car to take a photo beside the town side, each place they visited – and wearing appropriate clothing (ex: Rasta duds and a joint – fake we’re told – for Jamaica; dyed dish towels to use as a shroud for Turin). They also tried created a passport of sorts, which they  tried to get it stamped in each city – which was a problem since several places were so small they no longer had a post office. And they created little stickers with the name of each place they visited – akin to those old school travel stickers from times past – to slap onto their old school suitcase.

And as any Iowan – native or in my case veteran transplant – knows, the pronunciation of the Iowa version of these places can vary.  Madrid is MAD-rid   not Muh-Drid. (And Nevada, Iowa,  is pronounced here as Ne-VA-duh not Ne-vah-duh.) I’ve gotten so used to this that when I encounter the original or more famous Madrid or Nevada, I have to stop myself from using the Iowa pronunciation. (When I went to the real Peru last year, I was tempted a time or two to use the pronunciation used by  the city of Peru, Illinois, i.e. Pee-Ru.)

Kyle also included some fun information about the unlikely way   some of these towns got their copycat names – and mentioned a book on the topic I’ll need to track down. Here’s a snippet below:

  • Madrid (pronounced MAD-rid), settled by Swedes, happened to be named after the Spanish city as an intended insult to one of the town’s founders.
  • Jamaica allegedly was named when the mayor of what then was known as Van Ness was blindfolded and randomly placed his finger on a world map.
  • Manilla in Crawford County was decided in a tug of war that might have resulted in a dot on the map called Paupville.
  • (Check out “A Dictionary of Iowa Place-Names” by Tom Savage of Muscatine for a full A-to-Z rundown of such name-origin oddities.)
  • Luxemburg, Iowa
    City

    Location of Luxemburg, Iowa
    Coordinates: 42°36′17″N 91°4′36″WCoordinates: 42°36′17″N 91°4′36″W
    Country  United States
    State  Iowa
    County Dubuque

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October 14, 2013 · 1:59 pm

There is a detour to get around the closed section of the Neal Smith trail in DSM

We weren’t exactly sure where the closed section of the Neal Smith Trail was, so when we arrived on the trail yesterday – a gorgeous fall day for a bike ride – at the Sycamore Access Trailhead just north of Interstate 80 on NW66th in Johnston and found a big barrier and closed for construction sign, we were bummed. But a man with a strong German accent peddled up and told us how to get around the closed segment, giving us classic Iowa instructions: continue east to the Casey’s (a gas station), turn right, ride for awhile til you get to a short bridge over the Interstate, then take the first right, go past two white farmhouses and you’ll see a black pickup parked next to the trail entrance.

Sure nuf’!

We peddled east on NW 66th, turned right on what my map suggests is NW26th, through a strange no man’s flatland of fields and sandpits and the occasional old house, across a short bridge with battered pavement over I-80 and took the first right at the old white farmhouse (on a street that is NOT on my map) and voila – the trail. OPEN!

Funny that we got this information from a visitor to Des Moines. He spent his first 30 years in Munich but now lives in Wisconsin and was rendezvousing in Des Moines for a bike trip with his brother, who lives in Omaha – and also has an equally strong German accident….He peddled up soon after we started talking. Good to see out-of-staters enjoying Iowa’s trails – they had rode the day before on the High Trestle Trail, the one with the stupendous bridge.)

Just fyi: This from the DNR: A portion of the Neal Smith Biking and Hiking Trail will be closed for repair beginning Aug. 21. The trail will be closed from the Sycamore access to Morningstar Drive in Polk County, a distance of about three miles. Trail repair is expected to be completed in late October, depending on weather conditions.

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September 29, 2013 · 4:03 pm

The “Southwest effect” in Des Moines – fares down but I still haven’t flown Southwest

A young man dancing, swiveling his hips. He has dark hair, short and slicked up a bit. He wears an unbuttoned band-collared jacket over a shirt with bold black-and-white horizontal stripes. Behind him, on either side, are a pair of barred frames, like prison doors.

So according to the DM Register there has indeed been a “Southwest effect” in Des Moines – i.e. fares have dropped about 6 percent since Southwest FINALLY decided to grace us with its presence. Southwest-effect-slashes-Des-Moines-prices. And that’s great! Oddly I’ve yet to fly Southwest. Up until yesterday Southwest only flew to Chicago from DSM  (twice daily). But  today it will begin flying to Las Vegas which should open up western routes to places like Tucson/Phoenix and L.A. where I need to fly. An Elvis impersonator and Vegas showgirls will be on board to kick off the new Vegas flight!

On the few occasions when someone from my family has opted to fly to Chicago (vs. drive or take the Megabus) they’ve opted for other airlines that have dropped their prices as a result of Southwest’s arrival – and as I recall they’re lower or more convenient times than Southwest. Still I would like to thank Southwest by flying the airline sometime – should it prove cost-efficient and convenient.

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