It’s time to pull out my journal from four years ago – or was it five? – when D and I went to the Dordogne region of France during a trip to visit D’s daughter who was doing a junior year abroad in Bordeaux. My brother and his new wife (still getting used to that phrase) are hoping to go their on their honeymoon after a visit to Provence. The only name that jumps out at me right now is the lovely market town of Sarlat – but fortunately I was pretty good about writing done specifics in my journal, safely stowed in a packed-to-the-gills fireproof filing cabinet.
Category Archives: 2) Frequent Destinations
In and out of Indy
Quick trip to Indianapolis for a writing project and I had just enough time to wander around for a few hours in the Mass Ave Arts & Theater District which is still fledgling but has potential. Kind of makes the East Village in Des Moines seem like a long-established hip neighborhood by comparison. It dawned on me today – and I don’t know why it didn’t earlier – that I’m drawn to these revived neighborhoods where small entrepreneurs open up little galleries, boutiques, cafes and restaurants in old renovated brick buildings because my mom and dad did the very same thing in the 1960s when they opened their gallery in a then-very-unhip Royal Oak, Mi. (The hipness there came, alas, after they moved the gallery.)
Anyway, it was a gorgeous day in Indy – in the 70s and sunny so fun to walk the few blocks down Mass Ave. I stopped at a good gift shop – Silver in the city – and bought some tchotkes for friends; then ate at Yat’s, a hippie dippie fast food creole/Cajun restaurant. It had a line out the door at noon – and better yet a fast moving line – so I joined the crowd. Didn’t care much for the jambalaya (where’s the sausage?) but liked the moch chous or macque choux (or”mock shoe”) a lot – a sweet spicy cajun dish made w/carmelized onions, sweet corn and chicken. Also found a cute cupcake store and great old shoe store. I wished I had a bike to ride around some of the residential streets just west of Mass Ave which looked like they were filled with restored wood frame houses re-painted in lovely bright colors. Next time.
Walked past the amazing Soldiers and Sailors Monument/fountain downtown which was full of sunbathing office workers lounging on the steps leading to the tall ornate tower erected in the 1860s to honors Hoosiers who fought in various wars. Reminded me a bit of Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square – so I got some postcards of it to send my London pals.
I stayed overnight at The Canterbury Hotel – (yes, someone else was paying ) a lovely boutique hotel right downtown. I had a tiny room on the 12th floor – the door looked like it would open right into the wardrobe but narrowly missed smashing it. I had a great view of downtown. Ate dinner at 14 West Restaurant – nice ambiance, so-so food – too much mayo-or-cream inspired sauces on things. Word to wise – instead of paying $39 for a cab to the airport (which we did on the trip into town) the best deal around is the $7 airport shuttle which stops near various hotels including mine.
Filed under Indianapolis, London
Healthy Deli?
Yes, it seems like a contradiction in terms – healthy deli – but apparently some Jewish delicatessens are making a stab at providing more healthful food – some even going so far as to ban salami. (Say it’s not so.) A story in the NYTimes about this featured several delis I’ve been at or near recently, including Kenny & Zuke’s, a deli we visited for breakfast last month in Portland. Apparently the thing to have there is the specially-made pastrami – we came close. We ordered a corned beef sandwich which we happily shared – it was huge – in the Denver airport during our trip home.
The story also mentioned Zingerman’s in Ann Arbor which we visited last summer – who knew they made their own cream cheese although I wasn’t surprised they made their own rye bread. (I think we were supposed to have pastrami there too – again, we had the corned beef. Noticing a trend here?)
And earlier this month, we were on the lower East Side of Manhattan, standing outside of Katz’ s deli debating whether to join a long, albeit fast-moving, line at Saturday lunchtime. We decided not – and I guess this is good since the article seemed to single out old-school delis like Katz’s as, of course, serving stuff that’s not good for us (even if it tastes good.)
New Iowa B&B? (or maybe just new to me)
The DM Register’s story on Iowa B&Bs today mentioned some I hadn’t heard of before. One in particular caught my eye because it’s in a town I like to visit – the pretty Northeast Iowa river town of McGregor. The place is Stauer House Bed & Breakfast.
In McGregor, we’ve had good luck with the Little Switzerland Inn. Two summers ago, I stayed there with a friend from London and we got the entire upper floor of the inn, complete with a full kitchen and balcony looking out on the Mississippi. In the past, we’ve rented the 1850’s cabin next to the Inn’s regular building, which is perfect for a family with kids – even if it’s a little strange being in a cabin smack dab on the busy Main Street. (The cabin was relocated, presumably from a more rural location where a cabin would more likely be built.)
Home-cooked meals in Italy – how to find them
I have had the good fortune to visit Italy several times (although not, alas, during the past 20 years) – and some of the best food I had there (which is saying a lot) was during a 1982 visit when I spent the week cooking and eating with a family in Rome. This was not planned. I was supposed to spend that Easter week with our family friends Hugo and Romano but they were called away – far away – when Hugo’s mother died in Cuba.
I was taken in by the upstairs neighbors in Hugo’s modern apartment block – Rudy, Franca and their adorable young daughters Francesca and Veronica. I spoke very little Italian and Rudy was the only one who could speak some English but the family member I saw the least. Instead, I spent much of my time with Franca in the kitchen and at the family table and I could swear we had conversations – even if we didn’t converse in the same language. I knew a little about Italian cooking – she knew a lot more – and that’s what we did together. Cooked. And ate. The result, thanks to Franca (not me) was invariably delicious.
Now comes word in today’s NYTimes travel section that visitors to Italy can find a home-cooked meal via an outfit called Home Food (www.homefood.it) which appears to match tourists with locals cooking amazing home-cooked meals. (The writer had the good sense to pursue this adventure with someone who spoke near-fluent Italian.) The story also mentions agriturismo – ag-themed hotels that are apparently the the Italian version of agri-tourism, something we know a thing or two about here in Iowa.
When I return to Italy (and I swear I will), I am sad to say that I can no longer dine with Rudy and Franca as I did not only in Rome but during two later trips when they lived in Pantigliate, a modern suburb outside Milan. (“Roma bella! Pantigliate brutto!” lamented Franca – and I understood her perfectly.) They are no longer alive. But maybe a Home Food experience will be the next best thing.
searching for that cottage up north part 2
So far, I’ve very impressed with visitupnorth.com – which I’ve been using to find a place to rent in northern Michigan this summer. Within a day of emailing the website, a very helpful woman emailed me back – asked a few more questions and prompted produced several viable ideas (both a place that rents by the week and options if we want to stay just a few days) and valuable information (like how far such-and-such a cottage is from town and a public beach).
What did we do before the Internet? Actually I know what we – or I – did. Fifteen-or-so years ago when I was first looking for a place to rent with friends in upstate New York, I called the local newspaper to see what their want-ads offered and I looked at tourism information brochures. The one place I rented came virtually sight unseen – the owner sent me some fuzzy photographs. What a change.
Filed under Michigan, summer vacation, vacation rentals
Searching for a cottage up north (i.e. northern Michigan)
I’ve just cracked open a new vacation-planning effort – a summer trip possibly to northern Michigan. By this time, our summer plans are usually more solid – but with one kid going off to an as-yet-determined college with an as-yet-determined start date, I’ve had to hold off. Now I’m wondering if I’ll be too late to find a place – especially one in the third week of August, which for now (and this could change) appears to be our best bet for everyone to get away. I do have some good websites to start my search: VisitupNorth.com and Leelanau Vacation Rentals.
Filed under Michigan, summer vacation
downtown manhattan and brooklyn
A gorgeous spring day lured us downtown to ramble around Soho, Nolita, Little Italy, Lower East Side, Chinatown – that mishmash of interesting neighborhoods that bump up against east other downtown. We stopped at Russ and Daughters on E. Houston to pick up rugalach and babka for Sunday brunch; wandered along Orchard Street south of Delancy past the Tenement Museum, which was doing a brisk biz, then to Prince Street where we ate a terrific lunch at Cafe Habana – not the sit down place but the one with a counter and a few tables. Place was packed for good reason – as we suspected (we’d never heard of the place) and soon discovered. Delicious cuban sandwiches, spicy sautéed spinach, corn on the cob doused with some parmesan-like cheese, spices and lime; homemade lemonade.
At night, the big event was my brother’s wedding in Park Slope at the lovely old Montauk Club. Wonderful event, of course, but my new sister-in-law made it extra special with all kinds of thoughtful touches including framed photos for each guest with the bride and/or groom. We danced until they kicked us out and a lot of us ended up at a nearby bar on Flatbush Ave. – Sharlene’s. We didn’t get back to our borrowed digs on the upper east side until 2:30 a.m.
Filed under New York City
Return to the High line:nyc
Another gorgeous day in nyc and D and E had never been to the High Line so I gladly went with them. This time, we stopped for gelato at Chelsea markets. Last night we went to a rehearsal dinner for my brother and H at Craftbar.We were in a private room but the restaurant itself looked interesting – our food and service was very good. That area around Broadway and 20th looks like its full of interesting restaurants including the Gramercy Tavern.
Filed under New York City
High life on the High line: NYC
What better place to spend a gorgeous spring day in NYC than the High Line, the new park that was once an abandoned railbed along the Hudson River. My pal Myra and I found wooden lounge chairs overlooking the water. Great people watching, scenery, landscape, had a nice chat with two young Dutch guys who were touring architectural sights in the city. Stopped by the Chelsea Market on 15th Street, had tea and peruvian something or other – a cupcake shaped savory dish that was very colorful – yellow and green. Yellow turned out to be mashed potatoes, the green avocado, and there was tuna in there. Yum. Then onto the west village which was humming with people – in the early evening, you could just hear the sounds of people celebrating the day everywhere, spilling out of bars with the windows removed and sitting at outdoor cafe tables. We ate at Westville, a tiny place on 10th street that is one of my favs – 6:45 was a good time to go. Only had to wait 10 minutes and tables all filled and line got longer through the night. No one does fresh vegetables better. Another gorgeous day.
Filed under New York City
