Category Archives: 2) Frequent Destinations

January 16, 2011 · 9:59 pm

A little culture to escape the Des Moines winter

The DM Register wisely, thoughtfully, ran a list of upcoming cultural activities that should make it worth leaving the cabin even in subzero weather. On my list:

– Philobolus Dance Theater, the acrobatic contortionists, who will be at the Greater DM Civic Center on Jan. 26, kicking off a first-time (i think) three group dance series. Not my favorite companies but a good start.

– Middle States, an exhibit starting on Jan. 28 at Drake University’s Anderson Gallery of paintings by six contemporary Midwestern artists. Regionalism in the vein of Iowa’s own Grant Wood  and Thomas Hart Benton might not be cutting edge but who cares? I like rural landscapes and small-town street scenes. Always have.

– Anselm Reyle show opening Jan. 28 at the DM Art Center – a high-profile show of an up and coming German artist who does odd things with Mylar foil, mirrors, bits of plastic, LED lights etc. We shall see.

– Next to Normal – the rock musical that won the 2009 Tony at…the Civic Center March 15-20. Cool!

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January 6, 2011 · 11:16 pm

NYC recommendations from a friend

A friend just returned from a trip to NYC and reports enjoying:  “Bloody, Bloody, Andrew Jackson”, the Stieglitz, Steichen, Strand exhibit at the Met and Upright Citizen’s Brigade.

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January 1, 2011 · 7:46 pm

New big-budget bohemain spots in Paris

The new bohemian spots in Paris (p0ssibly not for long since they’ve just been outed by the NYTimes) include two neighborhoods – Belleville and Pigalle (a former red-light district.

Along Belleville’s “steep hilltop streets” are galleries and fashion designers and upscale winebars and restaurants.

In Pigalle, are artsy hotels (the Hotel Amour) , designer boutiques popular with the likes of Lady Gaga (jean-charles de castelbajac) ns of course more great restaurants (Nomiya). The gentrified Canal St. -Martin sounds like a charming place to wander. Also the Du Pain et Des Idees boulangerie.

These must be Bohemians with a big budget. for more see: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/travel/19hours-paris.html

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December 31, 2010 · 3:19 pm

Inexpensive restaurants in NYC

The NYTimes ran a list of the best new inexpensive restaurants in NYC this week so here are a few for future reference. (A list of non-inexpensive restaurants also ran but I’m assuming they’re not in my budget.) I skipped most of  the ones beyond Manhattan:

BAOHAUS  … bun (the bao) brimming with Niman Ranch pork belly, glossy with fat and topped with the classic Taiwanese condiments: sweet pulverized peanuts, pickled mustard greens and cilantro. 137 Rivington Street (Norfolk Street), Lower East Side; (646) 684-3835, baohausnyc.com.

CAFE ‘AT YOUR MOTHER-IN-LAW’ two blocks from the boardwalk; Eastern European, Korean and Uzbek dishes from Russian-speaking ethnic Koreans hailing from Tashkent.  3071 Brighton Fourth Street (Brighton Beach Avenue), Brighton Beach, Brooklyn; (718) 942-4088. (HAS to be better than the awful place we went to in Brighton Beach in 2009.

CAMPO DE’ FIORI pizza and more in my brother’s neighborhood…. 187 Fifth Avenue (Berkeley Place), Park Slope, Brooklyn; (347) 763-0933, pizzacampodefiori.com.

DOS TOROS ….fresh, quick and cheap eating akin to that found at Mexican joints in the San Francisco Bay Area. (Oliver Strand) 137 Fourth Avenue (13th Street); (212) 677-7300, dostorosnyc.com.

HECHO EN DUMBO big flavors of Mexico City  stripped down…short-rib tacos 354 Bowery (East Fourth Street), East Village; (212) 937-4245, hechoendumbo.com.

HILL COUNTRY CHICKEN  fried chicken and other Southern dishes. 1123 Broadway (25th Street); (212) 257-6446, hillcountrychicken.com.

KUTI’S Tmarries West African and Middle Eastern flavors from  Ivory Coast, and insinuates a few French techniques in dishes like shrimp piri-piri,  355 West 116th Street (between Manhattan and Morningside Avenues); (212) 222-1127.

THE NORTHERN SPY FOOD COMPAN Greenmarket-driven restaurant 511 East 12th Street (Avenue A), East Village; (212) 228-5100, northernspyfoodco.com.

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December 19, 2010 · 12:44 am

Best Mexican Food in New Mexico?

My ears perked up today when I heard Jane and Michael Stern on the NPR show The Splendid Table talk about the bext Mexican food in New Mexico but I tuned in too late. Thank heavens for the Internet. On the show’s website I found what they were talking about and even better it’s in Albuquerque where my sister-in-law and her family lives and we visit now and then. The restaurant is Garcia’s Kitchen and a highlight is carne adovada for breakfast or super. Having just butchered a pork belly today to make carnitas here in Iowa, I’m more than ready to have someone else cook the pork for me. This dish is made with chile and smothered in an intensely flavored but not knock-your-socks off heat. Good to know.

We’re looking forward to having some very good authentic Mexican food later this week in Dodge City, Kansas where we’ll be for Xmas (with our New Mexico relatives.)

 

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December 17, 2010 · 2:50 pm

Transportation options between Chicago and Traverse City

We were looking lat summer – with little success  – for mass transportation between Chicago and Traverse City, Michigan. And finally decided the best bet was to rent a car.

But there is another option a reader offered:  an Indian Trails bus (indiantrails.com). It is a fairly long trip (9 hours) compared to driving a car (5 hours), but the advance purchase cost is, we’re told, $50.

The other options: take the train from Chicago to Grand Rapids (which takes about 4.5 hours) and then somehow get to Traverse City. Word has it there’s a bus connection but it takes 12 hours.  (that’s crazy.)

 

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December 15, 2010 · 12:24 am

Urban Plains – “lifestyles of the flyover states”

For ideas of things to do and places to see and eat in the Midwest, check out Urban Plains, the new all-digital lifestyle magazine put out by Drake University’s senior magazine majors.It appears to be primarily about Chicago and the Twin Cities hotspots from what I can tell from a quick browse (not so much Drake’s hometown of Des Moines.)  You can find it at /www.urbanplainsmag-digital.com/urbanplains.

And here’s a commercial on YouTube : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=baJwJ3E15AQ. (which to my surprise includes a shot of a well-known orthodox rabbi in Des Moines…)

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December 6, 2010 · 7:58 pm

Solving your “chip and PIN” debit/credit card problems abroad

A new product could make life – and a plastic charge card rather than cash – much easier for Americans traveling abroad. A currency exchange company called Travelex has begun selling a preloaded debit card that uses the “chip and PIN” technology (the card has an embedded microchip and a PIN number you have to use, like with a debit card) widely used in Europe – rather than the card common in the U.S. that has a magnetic stripe.

I ran into problems with my magnetic stripe credit card when I was in London a few years ago – a few places, especially those off the tourist beaten path, would not accept my card  because it didn’t have the chip and PIN and they didn’t have the machine needed to process my magnetic strip card. (Before this, I didn’t know I HAD a magnetic strip card.)  We also had some troubles in France with this – at gas stations and paying highway tolls at machines that only accept chip-and-PIN cards.

If I’m reading the NYTimes travel story from Dec. 5 about this correctly, the new Cash Passport smart cards will include both the magnetic stripe and the chip and PIN.  They’ll be sold initially at Travelex airport and retail locations and then early next year online. And they’ll be available in euros or pounds and can be used wherever MasterCard is used.  Word has it there’s no fee to buy or use the card from Travelex but some ATM operators abroad may charge fees.  All good but one question: Why don’t U.S. credit card companies adopt the chip-and-PIN technology which I gather better safeguards us if the card is stolen since people can’t use it without knowing the PIN?

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December 5, 2010 · 4:35 pm

Holiday gift idea: a downtown gift card

A few years ago, my dad – at my request – got me a great gift: a gift card I could use to shop in a emerging hip neighborhood of shops and restaurants in downtown Des Moines called the East Village. It was a handy way to shop local AND shop well.  Fielding a request for gift ideas for my son who is a freshman at Northwestern University, I just looked online at the City of Evanston site and found it too has a gift card that can be used for downtown shops. I’m guessing other communities have this too…so worth a look.  My Google search for “downtown gift card”  unearthed cards for downtowns all over – St. Louis, Cincinnati, State College, Pa., Long Beach, California…often this stuff is listed on website for city or local tourism or chamber office.

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December 4, 2010 · 7:45 pm

Old Crow Farm for rescued junk – in Central Iowa

Okay – so here’s the scoop on Old Crow Farm which I found out by trekking to Earlham Iowa today. The three-times-a-year sale that used to happen at the Old Crow Farm is no more I was told. Which was a bit disappointing. It’s been replaced by a soon-t0-be once-a-month sale at Old Crow Farm’s new in-town location, a former 1900’s hardware store that now goes by the name “Rescued Junk” and that’s just what was in there today during the grand opening. Place was packed with people – and there was cider and sweets to mark the occasion. The rescued junk was okay – not as much stuff as I expected, mostly salvaged metal furniture and knickknacks – old tool kits, stools, signs, the kind of old things that were lying around your grandma’s house for years, that need fixing up. The store will be open the next two weekends (Thursday-Saturday)  12/9-12/11 and 12/16-12/18

 

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