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January 31, 2022 · 1:56 am

Route 66 gems in the Texas panhandle and eastern New Mexico: Conoco Station/Shamrock Tx, Cadillac Ranch and El Manantial/Amarillo, Tucumcari,NM

(FYI: posting late…forgot to do earlier 😳)

We met an Iowa couple in Amarillo who was on a bucket list-trip, driving their sweet new Winnebago van (Iowa-built) on Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica. Now that’s on my list. We don’t have the same goal this trip, which is instead to get to Albuquerque with a minimum of dawdling.

But today we did get off interstate 40 several times to take in the sights on the occasionally nearby parallel 2-lane Route 66. So glad we did. Shamrock, Texas, just over the Oklahoma border, has a spectacular “Tower conoco gas station (found via audio storytelling travel app HearHere) circa 1936 that was restored for a pretty penny. It looks even more remarkable at night when it is illuminated.

Finally reopened in 2021, the station’s U drop-in cafe was closed because it was a Sunday but we could peak in and see it in all its retro glory. (Traveling on a weekend means a lot is closed, including the tourist office in Tucumcari, NM)

In Amarillo, we could not miss The Big Texan Steak Ranch, a crazy looking roadside mainstay since 1960, where you get your 72-ounce steak meal free if you can wolf it down in an hour. (Not just the 4.5 pound steak but a shrimp cocktail, baked potato, salad, and roll and butter.) The Big Texan 72-ounce Steak Challenge has very precise rules, worth reading for a laugh. http://www.bigTexan.com. To date, there have been: 86,712 attempts, 10,035 champions. How Texas is that?! If you lose the challenge, you pay $72.

We instead found (thank you Yelp) a fantastic Mexican restaurant tucked under a highway underpass near a car shop that promised “we tow and crush.” El Manantial (named after the Mexican telenovela?) was packed with Hispanic families at 2:30 pm on a Sunday and we soon learned why. We had tiny little pork tacos, perfectly seasoned, and a standout speciality, tacos de Birria, lightly fried tiny tacos with red sauce and shredded marinated beef.

Because we were with dog, we found a picnic table at a nearby school playground (the sweet servers at the restaurant suggested). We crunched our way across yellow grass to the metal table for another January picnic. Like our Kansas picnic a day earlier, this one was in 59 degree weather but warmer. No Kansas wind.

On to Cadillac Ranch, a famous public art installation (free!) way out in a field of corn stubble — 10 Cadillacs driven into the ground, nose-down, their rears (once sporting tail fins until they were vandalized which apparently the artists and benefactor were ok with) sticking up from the dirt at an angle, supposedly akin to the angle of the great pyramid at Giza, slathered in many colors of dayglo spray paint. Visitors-in-the-know bring their own spray cans (or buy at a trailer parked nearby). Several were spraying away, creating big coagulated bubbles of red, yellow, green, blue, black paint. Far out! The Cadillac Ranch is the work of San Francisco “art-hippies” bankrolled by an Amarillo billionaire in 1974. Set against a dramatic backdrop of endless land and sky, it was a sight.

We were surprised by how bombed out Tucumcari, NM looked although there are a few cool buildings including a Spanish-style 1926 train station (now a railroad museum) and a building on Main street with lovely decorative terra cotta. Our HearHere audio made the town sound like it was far nicer than it appeared to us so maybe we or HearHere didn’t look closely enough.

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January 30, 2022 · 5:27 pm

Listening to HearHere audio storytelling travel app’s podcasts through Oklahoma and Texas panhandle

Say you’re driving through the middle of nowhere — or so it seems — and wondering where you are. HearHere, a travel app featuring 1-2 minute (about my attention span) audio stories linked to the places you are driving through, can help with that, as we’ve learned today while driving through western Oklahoma. Who knew that El Reno, OK has an annual Fried Onion Burger Festival? Or Clinton, Oklahoma has a Route 66 Museum (not to be confused with the National Route 66 Museum we chanced upon further down interstate 40 in Elk City) and a well-preserved downtown lined with old red brick buildings. Or that Watonga, OK is home of Clarence Nash, the voice of Donald Duck? We learned a lot too about Native Americans, tornados, wind farms, cattle drives.

Scissortale Park, OKC (the scissor-tailed flycatcher is the Oklahoma state bird)

The only problem: the podcasts can end up making your long drive even longer because they frequently made me want to get off the Interstate and see what the podcast was talking about. HearHere is the baby of actor Kevin Costner. After listening to a few audio stories, we bought a year long subscription for $35.

Here’s the NYTimes write up: When contemplating a road trip, any number of images might come to mind — and Kevin Costner probably isn’t one of them. Yet that may be about to change. The actor and director is a co-founder of HearHere, an app that uses your location and interests to play audio snippets (some narrated by Mr. Costner) about the history, culture and natural wonders of the places you’re driving through. There are morsels about the things you see (like landmarks) and the things you don’t, like the people who walked the land before you. The app, which rolled out last year, more recently announced an expansion, blossoming from road trip stories set on the West Coast to more than 8,700 stories across the United States, including details about the early history of Portland, Maine; the burning of Washington by British troops in 1814; and the first racially integrated housing in Philadelphia. Available only on iOS. Cost: Free for the first five stories; after that, $29.99 for 30-day unlimited access; $35.99 for a one-year unlimited subscription; $69.99 for three years.

The sculpture is a take on the weird tail of the Oklahoma state bird.

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January 30, 2022 · 1:34 am

Trump flags, Ibis bakery – Kansas City/ Peter Pan park in Emporia, Kansas

Passing through Kansas City en route to New Mexico, we stopped at a favorite bakery in the Quality Hill neighborhood and found it has a new name but the same fantastic bread. Fervere Bakery is now Ibis Bakery. serving up the same great rustic breads (orchard loaf, crusty, chewy, nubby, packed with apricots and other dried fruit) and pastries, including the caramelized croissant I’ve come to adore, even if I can’t spell or pronounce its French name: kouign-amann. We bought one that had a tart blob of cranberry jam in the middle. Yum.

Sadly, on the outskirts of Kansas City today, we saw what appeared to be the makings of a trump rally – a procession of pickups and motorcycles with flags waving, American and Trump flags. Sobering.

It was almost warm enough to picnic, which is our only option besides eating in the car because we are traveling with dog so we found a pretty little Peter Pan park in Emporia, Kansas to eat our bread with other goodies from our fridge. It was 59 degrees, a welcome change from frigid temps in Des Moines and frisbee golfers wore t-shirts and shorts (the temp got to 66 a few hours later on Wichita). We never found the monument in the park to William Allen White, the famous newspaper editor of the emporia gazette and champion of small-town America who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1928.

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December 1, 2021 · 3:47 am

Gramercy Park, East Village, Dumpling Man, Surprise food trend— NYC

On day two of wandering in NYC, my favorite city activity, I set out for Fotografiska, the New York City outpost of the famous avant-garde photography museum I loved in Stockholm but the weather was walkable, despite a little wet snow, so I opted to neighborhood wander, this time through Gramercy Park, which I haven’t been to in years. Lovely old townhouses surrounding an elegant gated park. Reminded me of London. I ended up in the East Village where I found more empty storefronts than I’d seen in other neighborhoods, perhaps not surprising. But several little independent shops, including one full shop full of lovely Japanese paper products, have survived Covid, so far. Good to see. I had the six-piece sampler (seared) at Dumpling Man, a hole-in-the-wall spot on St. Mark’s Place, perhaps in the same spot where my London friend Anne had a gift shop, The House of Uncommons (geddit?) in the mid-1980s. (Francine, are you still reading?) My favorites were the shrimp (with corn) and the pork. The spinach-green veggie dumpling with a vague green tea flavor won the “most different” prize.

Do you know Dumpling Man?

In addition to dumplings, another perhaps more unlikely trend appears to be something familiar to Iowans or any visitor to the Iowa State Fair…

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November 30, 2021 · 10:24 pm

Sona, Dominique Ansel, Nolita — NYC with Myra!

Monday was Myra Day, one of my favorite days in NYC (or anywhere else). We met at Grand Central, which looked a bit diminished without its annual holiday market and the Scandinavian food court, both presumably casualties of Covid, but the rest of the city was hopping with holiday cheer. We wandered through Soho and NoLita (north of Little Italy, east of Sogo, primo streets:Mott, Elizabeth), both pleasant backgrounds for our annual epic get-together. I returned to Dominique Ansel Bakery, this time for a light lunch (chicken salad with pistachios on a delicious croissant) and these crazy “milk shots,” little chocolate-lined “shot glasses” made of pastry dough, filled with milk. They got a bit soggy but were a delicious take on milk and cookies.

Masked at Grand Central

The holiday market was ON at Union Square, and full of good gift options, from Scandinavia hand towels to Turkish pottery to Ecuadorian scarves. Dinner was at the very chic Sona, a very different Indian restaurant on 23rd street, with different takes on traditional dishes (and much higher prices.) The butter chicken looked the most familiar and was delicious. The chicken korma was unrecognizable – three conical shaped fried dumplings in a shallow pool of creamy green -colored sauce, served with a cheese-filled naan reminiscent of a quesadilla. The best innovation was the saag paneer made with Swiss chard rather than the usual spinach. All served by attentive staff in stylish surrounds with tables that quickly filled with chic New Yorkers who apparently thought nothing of dropping considerable cash on fancy Indian food on a Monday night. I ❤️ NYC.

P.S.across the street from Sona: a popular new Italian restaurant called Rezdora.

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November 1, 2021 · 9:42 pm

Train ride Up the Hudson, Salt Point, 13 Hands Equine rescue – glorious Dutchess County, NY

I’m on the Metro North Hudson Line train heading back to NYC after a quick but lovely and overdue visit with my old friends Merida and Chip. I’ve been visiting their charming 1840s farm house on a hill overlooking a rolling wooded valley for almost 40 years, lucky us.

The train trip is about 2 hours hugging the Hudson which looked stunning yesterday in the fall sunshine. I got off at the end of the line in Poughkeepsie and Merida picked me up and whisked me off to the country where we took long walks through the woods and pastures, past ponds and streams, tromping in the muddy grass in borrowed Wellies with two sweet white dogs who reminded me of my lab Millie. Chip took me over to visit the rescue horses at 13 Hands equine rescue center he volunteers at on a spectacular hillside overlooking a wooded valley with a sweet white farmhouse.

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October 28, 2021 · 6:56 pm

No time for The Met when you need a Covid Test in NYC – lessons learned at MedRite Urgent Care (testing center)

Because I need proof of a negative Covid test (as well as proof of vaccination) in order to attend a family bar mitzvah here, my priority today was finding said test. Not hard but some tricks to it. The first two testing centers turned out to be private pay. One cost $250! I guess that’s to be expected in a well-heeled neighborhood (upper east side), sort of concierge Covid care. Not surprisingly, it was easy to get in, few customers.

But I opted for the much cheaper (I hope) insurance-pay option at one of many MedRite locations (mine was on Second avenue in mid 80s) although I’m not sure if my insurance will pay and like so often with health care, no one could give me an answer when I asked, “hey, what does this cost?”) I did gather it’s free for people without insurance. Damn right!

I had to fill out a few forms, wait about a half hour with about 6 other people in a spanking clean, large white-walled waiting room. The staff were pleasant and patiently answered my questions. The test took a few minutes and no long a-tip inserted way up toward my brain, just a little swirling around each nostril. I ended up getting the rapid test (a text with a negative result popped up on my phone about 15 minutes later) and the more accurate PCR test with results in 24-48 hours via a portal I had to join with a pin and password. Apparently I can check tomorrow morn. The bar mitzvah invitation stipulated that either a PCR within 72 hours of the event or a rapid antigen test within 48 hours were my options but it was tricky working it into my schedule, which included an overnight visit to see a friend in Dutchess county, which I didn’t want to spend searching for a Covid test in the countryside.) I got the PCR test results (negative) 24 hours later.

This adventure left me with no time to visit TheMet, as planned but no matter. I happily window shopped and people watched while strolling along Lexington and Madison avenues on a perfect sunny fall day. A late breakfast/lunch was had at Tal Bagels, at 81st and lex, which has a great selection of bagels, cream cheese spreads, plus tables outdoors and inside separated with plexiglas and a bathroom. My first stop, h &h bagels on 2nd had only counter service.

Celebrating my negative rapid antigen test, ny style at Tal bagels

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October 28, 2021 · 2:05 pm

Dominique Ansel Bakery in soho, “flat knife noodles” in Chinatown – looking good NYC

So great to be back in NYC for the first time since the pandemic began. I expected the place to look more battered than it is given all it’s gone through but I sensed the same vitality on the streets as always. I did what I love doing best in this city (and several others with walkable successions of neighborhoods including San Francisco, New Orleans, London, Paris and Rome). I got off the subway at Prince Street (a shouting, shoeless street person in the car propelled me to depart…the city still has its problems) and wandered east and then south and then back north and a little west back to the 6 subway line at Union Square that leads back to my wonderful Aunt Shelby and her upper east side apartment where I am lucky to stay.

“Tasty hand-pulled Noodles” shop in Chinatown

I wandered up and down streets near soho (I think that’s where Elizabeth Street is), the lower east side (hello Russ and daughters deli, sadly the cafe was closed, maybe more limited hours due to the labor shortage caused by the pandemic?), Chinatown, Little Italy, soho, Greenwich village,/Washington Square (hello tons of kids in Halloween costumes) and Union square (hello Mutsu apples at the green market).

I can’t tell you which streets I walked on. A map of my movements would not look logical or like a route to anywhere. I like it that way. I chose streets that grab my attention with their potential for interesting window shopping or architecture-admiring. I did chance upon a tiny Chinatown street, Doyers street, that had almost turned into a pedestrian alley thanks to the dining huts now in the street (a pandemic feature) with tables and red plastic stools where people sat, slurping noodles, so I joined them. Reminded me of the street food stands in Vietnam but with higher tables and stools and this was Chinese noodles (I had flat “knife cut” noodles, flat and wide with sharp cut, also somewhat resembling the shape of a plastic knife…with shrimp and chicken. Very basic, fresh, starchy, filling.)

Pasties and masks in Soho, I think

At the southern end of soho, I think, on spring street, I found a bakery/cafe full of young people in a long line so I joined them, which turned out to be wise. Dominique Ansel knows her pastries. I particularly liked a crispy chewy pastry I first discovered in DC in May called kouign-amann ( “queen a-man”). Akin to a “caramelized croissant,” Kouign Amann is a Breton pastry with a crispy, caramelized crust. The bakery Aldo had pretty French macaroons,cronuts, sandwiches and fanciful creamy creations. My favorite was a pink bun (the top looked like a little beret) with a big blob of white cream in the middle dotted with big red blobs that looked like giant cut strawberries.)

A set from a Wes Anderson movie? Nope, real place in Chinatown on Doyers street.

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October 15, 2021 · 2:00 pm

And the best part of Ithaca…lakeside with our friends at their cottage

“And some days, they last longer than others
But this day by the lake went too fast
And if you want me, you better speak up
I won’t wait
So you better move fast.” (Rilo Kiley)

Lest I forget to mention, it is the people and the lakes of the Finger Lakes which remain our biggest draw, especially since our dear pals have bought a cottage on Cayuga Lake, near where we used to vacation together with our young kids! On this trip, we visited new-to-me Finger Lakes to the West – Seneca, Keuka, Canandaigua – all with their own charms. The shores of Seneca and Cayuga are particularly well-populated with wineries, cideries, breweries and more foodstuffs. None are more beautiful than my forever favorite lake: Cayuga.

in the garden at Ithaca Beer

Nut ridge

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October 14, 2021 · 9:18 am

Taughannock Park rim trails, South Hill Cider, Hangar Theatre/Dar Williams – Ithaca

We went to our first live music concert since the pandemic in Ithaca, where we saw the wonderful Dar Williams at Ithaca’s Hangar Theater, an intimate space where Dar was singing in what felt like our living room. But we had to show proof of vaccination (fortunately I brought our cards) and ID plus wear masks. We self-social distanced by moving to seats not next to others. Dar Williams was as charming as ever, telling long rambling funny and/or poignant stories before her songs, and her voice was in great shape. It felt like fate that we were there when she invited the audience to sing along during her last song and we people did, belting out through our masks: Iowa…(One of our favorite songs as Iowans but we didn’t know it was so well known by others.)

The last time I was at Taughannock state park 2 1/2 years ago, walking the ground-level gorge trail, I saw a few people walking high above me. Who knew? This time, we walked 3 miles up the north rim trail and back along the south rim trail, seeing the falls like I’d never seen them before, from on high and above, birdseye, and from flat rocks leading to the astonishing drop of the falls. Gorgeous. I have been to taughannock many times but never knew about these trails!

At the bottom of the South rim trail, we passed through a wrought iron gate on a dirt path leading to the Inn at Taughannock Falls, a beautiful old gingerbread mansion where I used to go as a treat with my parents when we visited Cornell. The place has been gussied up with a new events space but looks as lovely as ever. We stopped at a little wooden stand in the woods for excellent fresh squeezed lemonade. Nice touch.

Dinner was unexpectedly on the side of a hilltop south of Ithaca at sunset with a bluegrass band playing under a gazebo and diners scattered in clusters of lawn chairs and picnic tables near apple orchards. We were at South Hill Cidery, which happened to have a fried chicken benefit supper for Hurricane Ida survivors. The chicken was slow to arrive, cooked by volunteers, but surprisingly delicious. And talk about chicken with a view.

A loyal reader of the blog asked how many waterfalls/gorges we visited this trip: seven – and all beautiful in their own way. Treman is my sentimental favorite, the one I visited as a child and associate with my parents. Buttermilk is in that category too – I have fond memories of swimming in the icy water of the pool at the bottom of the falls. Taughannock is the highest, I think, and perhaps most dramatic. Watkins Glen is very tight, winding and mysterious. Cascadilla leads to Cornell, my alma mater and Fall Creek Gorge, is on the Cornell campus, with several spectacular places to view it (the suspension bridge, Thurston Avenue bridge). Letchworth was a whole other beast, with a much larger volume of water crashing down its falls, Niagara-like.

Picnic at Taughannock on Cayuga Lake
South Hill cider

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