Category Archives: 2) Frequent Destinations

August 11, 2011 · 11:03 pm

Traverse City hotspots

We were staying very close to Traverse City Michigan when we were up north a year ago, bunking in a sweet little lakeside cottage in Glen Arbor, but we never made it into the big city, although I wanted to. Just ran out of time – too much to do in the small lakeside towns in the area. But now comes the NYTimes Travel section with some recommendations for TC which I will duly note here for our next trip there – which I hope will be soon!

– Artisandesign network, new gallery with local artists’ and designers’ work, especially furniture and “elegant dining chairs” by Woodbine.

– The Cooks’ House, a farm to table restaurant now in new larger location.

– Right Brain Brewery, 16 tap brew pub with all local ales. Must try the Black Eye P.A.

– Mana, “soul food” including the Divine Swine pulled pork sandwich.

– State Theater, site of TC Film Festival started by local resident and filmmaker Michael Moore

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August 9, 2011 · 9:12 pm

London riots – not the city I love.

Just heard from two dear friends in London that they’re safe but very rattled by the rioting that has been raging across England. Makes me think back to 1981 when the Royal Wedding (Charles and Di) was followed by riots in London’s Brixton neighborhood  and Liverpool’s Toxteth neighborhood  (I was sent up to cover the Toxteth riots as a cub reporter, equipped with a notebook, pen, pen knife  and a banana. Yes, a banana given to me by a famous newspaper columnist who was visiting the London Bureau when I worked there. Fortunately I met a very nice magazine photographer on the train who was a riot veteran and we roamed the scary streets together.)

My pal F. reports that one of my old stomping grounds – the first place I lived in England, in 1980 – Ealing Broadway was heavily damaged by rioting and my pal M reports that she almost got caught up in rioting in Tottenham last weekend when she was going to a football match.  YouTube is full of disturbing riot scene videos. And one does wonder how this will affect attendance at the 2012 olympics hosted by London.

This from F.:  Just to let you know – we are okay here in war torn London. Very nasty scenes in the last few nights. Disaffected youth apparently organised by gang leaders are causing mayhem…mostly in inner city areas but sad to say -central Ealing near Ealing Broadway was pretty much destroyed last night by maurauding gangs.  I am pleased to say Mortlake has been untouched! All quiet in London so far but central Manchester and Birmingham are seeing big problems tonight. This is going to make our fragile economy even less likely to recover…and the Olympics is going to look less appealing to foreign visitors!

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August 2, 2011 · 7:03 pm

A visit to the Swamp Fox in Knoxville, Iowa

After touring a reconstructed prairie in 100 degree heat (which was lovely except for some very irritating little flies with a nasty bite), we stopped by the Peace Tree Brewery in nearby Knoxville, which is in an airy old brown brick building, and then ate burgers around the corner at the Swamp Fox, in the town’s cultural center (which were guessing was once an old meeting hall.) Darned good patty melt! We passed a good looking ice cream stand on the way west out of town but were too full to partake. Peace Tree is open officially for samples on Thursday and Friday late afternoon and eves and on the weekends. We’ll have to return sometime.

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July 30, 2011 · 5:03 pm

Great Western Trail from Park Ave./Des Moines to Cumming – quiet friday

As expected, we had the trail almost to ourselves on Friday because 1) it’s a week day 2) so many cyclists were away on RAGBRAI. We had an easy 20 mile ride from Park Avenue in Des Moines to Cumming although we almost had a collision with a fast-moving golf cart when we rode through the golf course. In Cumming, we found a good picnic spot in the local park on a picnic table under an overhang. And got my friend N’s soft tire filled with air at a very cool shop that redoes vintage English sports cars (on tap – a very sweet pale green Jaguar convertible and a jaunty white and red paneled Aston Healy convertible.). Was sorry to hear that the guy who fixes and shows off vintage juke boxes in town – I did a story about him years ago – has retired.

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July 29, 2011 · 2:03 pm

Cycle Central Iowa – great new map with 17 loop rides!

(forgot to post this yesterday): One day after riding a day of RAGBRAI and I’m feeling just fine – maybe a little creakier than usual but not aching at all. So maybe this weekend I’ll set out with the new Cycle Central Iowa map which has mapped out 17 loop rides around central Iowa on bike trails and county roads. They all look great – and the descriptions include handy info on things like where to stay and eat. My one reservation is that we’re somewhat reluctant to ride our bikes on country roads, given the bad reputation they’ve developed for being inhospitable to cyclists. There have been some bad accidents where cyclists were hit by vehicles. Still the loops look like fun – and i far prefer a loop to going back and forth on the same trail. I bought my map for $2.99 (I think) at a local bike store – and it was the last one available but with hope, there are more available. To order contact: info@dsmbikecollective.org

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July 28, 2011 · 12:02 am

My first taste of Ragbrai – why haven’t I done this earlier???

I LOVED IT! Granted I only rode 37 of the 56 miles (from Slater to Altoona Iowa) on one of seven days of RAGBRAI – but I loved everything about it. The scenery – small towns with welcoming residents, from kids offering welcome sprays from water hoses to elderly people sitting in lawn chairs clapping, to farm families rooting by ringing a cowbell as we chugged up a steep hill; picture postcard perfect farmsteads, fields and fields of corn and beans; the scene – riders of every shape, size, complexion, age, attire on all kind of contraptions (a variety of bikes, upright, recombinant,old-fashioned, sleek and modern, tandems, triple-seat bikes, plus the occasional wheelchair), great food (pastafari’s pesto pasta/ariabiatta pasta with sautéed zucchini and grilled salmon outside of Alleman, terrific rhubarb/strawberry pie in Elkhart, a homemade citrus sorbet bar  (which completely hit the spot when we arrived in Altoona in 94 degree heat/humidity completely dripping with sweat). Eating my sorbet bar and watching nine very cute kids do a pretty impressive musical performance where they all danced and played the drums was perfect!  I met people from Brooklyn, Vancouver, Oak Park (Illinois); Oregon, all over really.  I’d really love to go again tomorrow but not sure I’m  physically up for it. Next year, maybe I’ll do more serious training and try to do more of the ride.

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July 26, 2011 · 10:38 pm

Day tripper – on Ragbrai in Iowa

We’re off tomorrow morning to Slater, Iowa about 35 miles north of Des Moines to tag along for a day on Ragbrai – not exactly sure what to expect but figure it’s a good way to get a brief taste of what it’s like to ride bikes alongside thousands of other people through Iowa’s countryside and small towns. We’re only riding 34 miles of the 56 mile route tomorrow but that’s a lot for my friend and I – and who knows, if we enjoy it, maybe we’ll do more next year. (My friend did the entire Ragbrai ride across Iowa last year.) In preparation, I’ve bought an inner tube in case I have any tire issues. Wish me luck.

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July 16, 2011 · 5:46 pm

Another good option for eating out in Iowa City

It’s always hard to choose a place to eat in Iowa City because there are so many good options. Now there’s another – Short’s Burger and Shine. It’s an upscale burger joint on Clinton St. right across from campus – that touts its locally-produced meat and Iowa-produced beer (Millstream, Peace Tree) and cider (Sutliff). It’s also supposed to have good black bean veggie burgers. We stopped for a burger at 7 p.m. on a Friday and got a seat at the bar in the dark, narrow little exposed-brick restaurant. Burger oozing with real cheese accompanied by delicious hand-cut (or some such) fries came out shortly after. We were back on the road – as we needed to be – by 8 p.m. Bartender was a cute kid who did his job well. My only beef: I couldn’t get a rare burger. Closest I could get to rare was medium.

Fun Fact: the name comes from H.D. Short, who ran a shoe shine shop were the burgers now shine! “Expert Workman – best materials used – prompt service” was and remains the motto for both businesses.

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July 1, 2011 · 10:32 pm

Iowa county fairs to visit

Yes, the big kahuna is Iowa’s state fair – and it is all it’s cracked up to be. But here’s some county fairs in Iowa that are worth a visit according to Iowa Farm Bureau’s Family Living publication (which my husband happens to edit…):

– Clayton County Fair (aug. 2-8) in beautiful northeast Iowa, which will have its first “officially sanctioned” bull-riding event (not clear if this is the first or the first officially sanctioned.)

– Cherokee County Fair (july 7-1o)

– Adair County Fair, (july 20-24) with an Ag-themed Olympics and a text messaging contest (not ag-themed). Something for everyone!

– Washington County Fair (july 17-22) and check out the surprisingly authentic, sophisticated Italian restaurant Cafe Dodici in Washington if you haven’t filled up on fair fare.

No mention of the famous Clay County Fair  in Spencer, (sept. 10-18) with is almost as huge as the Iowa State Fair, I’m told.

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June 26, 2011 · 11:40 pm

awe-inspiring new bridge for bikers/walkers on High Trestle Trail – near Woodward, Ia.

Just back from our first official visit to the remarkable new 13-story high, 1/2-mile long bridge crossing the Des Moines River on the High Trestle Trail between Woodward and Madrid Iowa. (We visited unofficially – and possibly illegally – last summer when the bridge was under construction.) The former railroad bridge high high above the river has been turned into a dramatic sculptural passageway where riders pass under 41 rust-brown angular steel beams, kind of like riding underneath a hooped tent. (They represent support cribs within an historic coal mine.) At each end of the bridge are four dramatic 42-foot high towers with dark bands that represent veins of coal in the area.

Not sure this description does it justice, but trust me – it’s well worth a visit on bike or on foot.

And the word is out – the trail was full of riders, enjoying not just the bridge but several other amenities that have suddenly popped up along the 25-mile Woodward-to-Ankeny trail, including a really fun bar on the side of the trail in Madrid called the Flat Tire, in a metal  Quonset hut that has been neatly outfitted with tables, a bar, very nice bathrooms and a pleasant patio. Place was hopping but easy to get a table. Slater also has a bar that caters to cyclists – the Take Down. But our favorite picnic spot is a mile south in a little park in the small town of  Sheldahl. Woodward also has a little cafe in town Cayanne’s, that we’re told has good sandwiches (an egg salad/tuna salad combo…) On the half hour drive back to Des Moines we stopped for an ice cream cone (and super thick chocolate shake) at Heavenly Delight, a cute little shop with a lively neighborhood message board where 12-year-olds babysitters, adult pet sitters and concealed weapons instructors advertise their services…

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