The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has become more of a headache than fun – too many people, too hard to make it to my cousin’s annual parade viewing party at her apartment on the parade route. But today, things went better than expected getting from the East Side to the West Side in the morning. My friend C. and I waited until 10 a.m. and walked across the park to find the parade winding up just passing past 72nd street so there was no crossing Central Park West there. A policeman told us we’d have to walk all the way up to 84th to cross, meanwhile our party was on 74th. We ended walking to 77th where the parade had just passed through and we not only got across the street but managed to walk quickly to 74th. Lots of people but everyone was orderly and there were no big tie-ups or unseemliness. For future reference: the parade starts on the Upper West Side at 9 a.m. and lasts until about 10:30. We crossed soon after.
Category Archives: 2) Frequent Destinations
NYC – new museum, pre-parade craziness and Keith Richards
Went to the New Museum today to see the Last Newspaper exhibit. Strange but worth a visit. Also went to Cafe Habana for lunch – good chicken mole, even if not cuban. major celeb siting tonight at Scaletta Restaurant at 77th and columbus Ave. Keith Richards was sitting with a huge family group, lots of kids. bizarre.
Filed under DINING, New York City
NYC museums – open on Monday?
I often have a free day in NYC on a Monday and want to go to a museum but not all are open that day. Just checked for this month’s trip and there’s good news and bad. Museum of Modern Art – open on Monday! New Museum in the Bowery – not so new. not open on Monday.
Filed under museum exhibit, New York City
Old Crow Farm Antiques in Earlham, Iowa!
I have been wracking my brains (what a strange expression) trying to remember the name of this place – that sells antiques/ “rescued junk” (from country primitives to urban industrial) three times a year displayed in an old barn and the surrounding grounds of a Madison County acreage about 20 minutes west of Des Moines. And finally – I stumbled upon a mention of it in the December Issue of Midwest Living. Old Crow Farm Antiques next sale is on saturday Dec. 4 (“jolly junk vintage market”) and I’d really like to get there. For more info see oldcrowfarmantiques.com and check out the blog.
This sale will also – if I understand the blog correctly – mark the opening of the Old Crow folks’ new shop called Rescued Junk by Old Crow Farm, housed in an old building they’re fixing up in the town of Earlham. It will be the location of monthly “occasional sales” rather than only three sales a year. You can also shop online at oldcrowfarm.etsy.com. The farm is at 2125 130th street. take exit 110 of I-80 south towards Winterset to 130th street then west 1/4 mile.
More Detroit hotspots – pt. 2
I forgot to mention another NYT story in its fall 2010 T magazine about Detroit – this one about “artists in residence” in some struggling Motor City neighborhoods. It likened the city to a modern-day Rome. um, not exactly. But here are more suggestions of things to do, places to see:
Restaurants – Atlas Global Bistro, 3111 Woodward Ave!; The Cass Cafe, 4620 Cass Ave; El Barzon (Mexican-Italian?) 3710 Junction STreet; Russell Street Deli, 2465 Russell Street.
Museums/Galleries: The Butcher’s Daughter, 22747 Woodward Ave.; Detroit Institute of Arts (duh); G.R. N’Namdi Gallery; Heidelberg Project – between Mt. Elliott and Ellery streets heidelberg.org; Lemberg Gallery, 23271 Woodward Ave., Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit, 4454 Woodward; Paul Kotula Projects, 23244 Woodward; Susanne Hilberry Gallery, 700 Livernois. Sad not to see my parent’s gallery, The Rubiner Gallery, in the list but it’s been closed for many years after a long run in suburban Detroit.
Hotels: The Inn on Ferry Street.
More Detroit hotspots
The NYTimes seems to be promoting Detroit as a tourist destination these days and why not. Here’s some suggestions from their latest travel piece on the Motor City:
– Roast – “Detroit’s most talked about restaurant”…..
– Rub BBQ Pub – with a sandwich named after local boy gone rocker Ted Nugent
– Detroit Beer Company – behind the Opera House beer. And my favorite beer name “People Mover Porter” – with chocolate tones.
– Westin Book Cadillac Hotel. Take off the first name and it feels like the good old days. or the bad old days. take your pick but nice to see this place open again after a $200 million renovation. What’s next – the downtown Hudson’s???
Apples in Fort Dodge Iowa and BBQ in Des Moines
I was glad to see that the Community Orchard near the airport in Fort Dodge Iowa is still looking good and doing a bustling business. Having the State Cross County Meet a stone’s throw away probably didn’t hurt business – that’s why we were in Fort Dodge for the first time, in my case, in maybe 15 years. Alas, the orchard was out on Jonathans – which I use to make applesauce in mass quantities this time of year – but they still had plenty Honeycrisps and other varieties. Also pies, carmel apples, apple crisp and a lot more fattening stuff we avoided…although we did try Smokey D’s BB ribs in Des Moines on the way home. The sauce a little too sweet for my Kansas City BBQ-oriented taste, but the service was good, tje ribs meaty and well-smoked. The sides – including homemade potato chips that came in a soon-greasy brown bag served with way-too-good-and-fattening thick ranch dressing, and smokey baked beans with just the right touch of bacon – were good too. Also turned out to be a good place to watch U of Iowa’s football team trounce Michigan State’s!
Filed under Agritourism, Des Moines, DINING, Iowa
Randonnes in the Dordogne!
My brother and his wife made it safely home from France – fortunately flying into Barcelona and out of Geneva during the strikes that crippled French airports and rail. He apparently did okay with getting gas since they did drive across the country. As expected, he loved the Dordogne region and recommends “randonnes” – walks in the french countryside that are well mapped out and marked. Other highlights – the duck confit and “all the delicious stuff with walnuts in it.” Their last two days were in Annecy which they liked too but found a little seedy in parts (that I don’t remember.) They also did a quick tour of Talloires and got a pix of the hotel we stayed at in 1989.
Filed under France
New York on the cheap
As if.
well everything’s relative and I guess that means New York’s version of cheap is Des Moines’ version of not-so-cheap but that said, the NYT had some suggestions for people visiting the Big City on a Tight Budget:
– The Jane – 113 Jane Street (a very sweet street in the West Village that my cousin used to live on)…”50-square-foot cabins” for $99 a night (that’s a single withe shared bath)…www.thejanenyc.com
– The Hotel Chelsea, studio and shared bath for $99…if it was good enough for Sid and Nancy it may be okay for you.
– MOMA is free on Friday nights. Otherwise it’s $25 as I recall painfully.
– for other free events look in the listings of Time Out NY and New York magazine also FreeNYC.net and ClubFReeTime.com
– a seven-day unlimited ride metrocard $27. soon to be $29.
Filed under cost-saving travel, LODGING, New York City
Honeymooning in France during the strikes – it can be done!
My brother and his new wife have made it to Dordogne and are, of course loving it although my brother fears he may be developing gout from all the rich food. He highly recommends the place they stayed La Tour de Cause – which judging from the website looks like heaven. Word has it it’s run by a I highly recommend it. It’s run by a really cool, fun California couple. Next stop in Annecy and Talloire – so hoping he can get there safely without encountering any blockades or major gas shortages. And I’ll be living vicariously…
