Category Archives: 2) Frequent Destinations

January 30, 2011 · 6:29 pm

Romantic getaways in Iowa-area

The DMRegister today has some ideas for romantic get-aways in Iowa and beyond. Some I know about (Honey Creek Resort in Moravia, Ia. and Suites of 800 Locust in DM). Here are some I didn’t know much about for future reference.

Greenfield, Ia: The Brass lantern at Windcrest Farm. //mysite.verizon.net/res18ndl/ which has the added bonus of a heated indoor poor. (Things to do nearby: Henry A. Wallace Country LIfe Center and Prairie Preserve in Orient; ken Sidey  nature area, south of Greenfield; John Wayne Museum in Winterset – and the Bridges (of Madison County) of course.

Red Wing, Minn: The Golden Lantern Inn (things to do: get your fill of famous Red Wing Pottery at the museum and mall of th same name.

Kansas City, Mo.: Hotel Phillips

Galena, Ill: The Inn at Irish Hollow

 

 

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January 23, 2011 · 9:58 pm

When next in southern Iowa…

The DM Register has a few suggestions for anyone wanting to explore southern Iowa. They include:

— Tassel Ridge Winery in Leighton, Ia.  http://www.tasselridge.com

–McNeill Stone Mansion, a  b&b in a 1909 limestone-faced home. http://www.thestonemansion.com in Oskaloosa. Looks very grand but reasonably priced.

—-Book Vault – and independent bookstore on the town square in Oskaloosa, inside a renovated bank building (books are displayed inside the bank’s ancient valuts. cool idea). Smokey Row, a coffee shop, is next door. There are several Smokey Rows now in Iowa, including a neat one in Des Moines’ Sherman Hill neighborhood.

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January 20, 2011 · 11:33 pm

Dog Collar Museum – in Kent, England

An old friend from London emailed me last week, after we fell out of touch for um, 16 years or so, and it has me thinking about all the adventures we had during the early 1980s when I lived in London.  Mima (my friend) comes from a family that has lived for generations in Herefordshire and had an crumbling ancestral home there, as well as another smaller country house we used to visit a lot.  It was beautiful.

She had a car – which was a big treat for me (a welcome break from hitchhiking) and we used to go exploring near London too. One place we visited was the Dog Collar Museum at Leeds Castle in Kent. I kid you not. I still have a photo of us with her sister Tilly standing in front of it. Now that I have a dog, I think I’d be even more interested/amused by the place and I’m glad to see that it’s still up and running. It has over 100 collars spanning five decades – many of them ornate metal affairs that puts my dog Ernie’s humble mass-produced cloth collar (it is embroidered with power flowers) to shame. I’ll be some of the hounds I watched during the latest episode of the superb PBS Masterpiece Classics series “Downton Abbey” wore these fancy smancy collars.

for more info see:

See: http://www.leeds-castle.com/goto.php?sess=u4120738|p136|n152|c2466436|s0|g1|d0&pg=Dog_Collar_Museum

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January 18, 2011 · 4:33 pm

The Kate and William Walk – in London

First there was the Lady Diana walking tour of London. Now, just in time for the next royal wedding on April 29, comes the Kate and William walking tour offered by Celebrity Planet, a travel company in London. The tour is part Diana-and-Charles, with a stop outside the posh jewelry shop where Charles bought the diamond-and-sapphire ring for Diana that Kate is now wearing (one might consider this bad karma.)

The walk lasts 2.5 hours and costs $24 (15 pounds). There’s also a chauffeur-driven version for $120.  As if.

for more info see: http://www.thecelebrityplanet.com/london/celebrity-tours/prince-william-kate-royal-wedding-walking-tour.html

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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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