March 27, 2012 · 3:23 pm

London’s East End adventures

My dear friend Suzette and her family are house swapping with a family in London’s East End (the English family gets San Francisco in exchange – not so shabby) so here’s some East End recommendations: (borrowing heavily from the NYTimes travel section)

– Walking tour of the (former) Jewish East End. I don’t know if this is still available. We did it, um, 20 years ago and there was little Jewish stuff left but what was there, often nearly hidden, was fascinating – including the remnants of an old temple (as I recall) and a still operating kosher restaurant. Look in TIME OUT for walking tours. OR check this out: http://www.londonjewishtours.com or http://www.contexttravel.com/city/london/walking-tour-details/east-end-sunday-market-walk

– Brick Lane – this is now lined with East Indian and Bangladeshi restaurants. It used to be a Jewish area and there still is – or was as of three years ago – a beigel (cq) restaurant (as in bagels…Not Detroit quality but not bad at all.)  This is also the place to get a “salt beef sandwich” (aka a corned beef sandwich.) see: http://www.london-eating.co.uk/2687.htm

– Can’t remember the Bangladeshi restaurant we went to. This street and area nearby also has some funky vintage shops and galleries. This is the setting for Monica Ali’s novel “Brick Lane” (which is a decent movie too.) more info see: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/05/arts/05bric.html

– And then there’s all the new Olympic stuff to check out. for more details see: http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/travel/touring-londons-east-end.html?pagewanted=all

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March 26, 2012 · 2:09 pm

searching for a low-key decor b&b in eureka springs, arkansas

My eyes are blurry after looking at so much floral wallpaper, flowery bedspreads, dark heavy drapery, thick overstuffed couches, beds adorned with stuffed bears and walls with garish art, after searching online for a bed and breakfast to stay at in Eureka Springs. A hotel may be the way to go. I found several more low-key even hip options in “The 100 Best Small Art Towns in America” which I picked up at a used book sale last summer in Southampton, N.Y. I figure if they’ve got good art, they’re worth staying at (I am, after all, the daughter of art gallery owners.) I’ve reserved a room at the Basin Park Hotel (much cheaper rates if you do online although you can’t guarantee you’ll get a nice view or quiet room online.) Other options include  the Cottage Inn and the New Orleans Hotel.

So far, the best b&b options, decor-wise, appear to be Rock Creek Gardens – a cool old motor court motel with the outside walls made of dozens of small rocks – and inside relatively low-key tasteful decor; or 11 Singleton House, which I’ve read is also fairly low-key and run by a very knowledgeable local. I also spoke to the operator of 11 Singleton who books other B&Bs in town – and is a great resource for travel in the area – and she has put me on her list for a “maybe” single night stay during Memorial Day weekend. (Most proprietors, not surprisingly, want to book all three or at least two of the nights; She also said that people aren’t booking ahead as much as they used to – could it be in part because some places don’t allow cancellation without a penalty fee?) The Treehouse cottages – newly built wood tree houses in actual trees – also look pretty cool although again, I’d appreciate more low-key furnishings, but they’re all booked. Book a one night stay on memorial day weekend may also be a challenge.

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March 24, 2012 · 3:40 pm

A Costa Rica transportation tax for a Des Moines to Newark flight – HUH?

I swear, this do-it-yourself online plane-ticket reservations stuff is so confusing. Yesterday, I finally settled on taking a Des Moines to Newark flight on United in April after weighing various other options to get to NYC. (LaGuardia was more expensive; the flight to Newark is direct! etc.)  The ticket was $359 when I first spotted it. (Not cheap, I know.) An hour or so later it was suddenly $396. I wondered why. So I looked at the fine print and saw that the ticket price was still the same ($338) but the additional taxes/fees had increased from $21.60 by $37. So I looked at the breakdown of the taxes/fees and saw that it included a $15.75 “Costa Rica transportation tax.” Say what?

Then all of a sudden the original $359 fare popped up onto my screen so I just grabbed it – no questions asked. Grrrr

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March 23, 2012 · 2:24 pm

To check out: the St. James Hotel in Red Wing, Minn. – ghosts and all

Friends spent a few days earlier this week exploring the area around Red Wing Minnesota, and recommend the St. James Hotel, where they stayed.  Good to know. In the recent past, we’ve done more exploring just to the east of the Mississippi River in Wisconsin, north of LaCrosse, Wi. in towns we really enjoyed including Alma, Stockholm and Pepin. Maybe it’s time to do a little more exploring on the Minnesota side.

When I googled the St James, the word “haunted” came up – apparently the place has a reputation for housing ghosts! More below from a 2008 story I found:

Ghosts linger in Southern Minnesota

Heather Edwards
staff writer

Armed with a copy of Christopher Larsen’s “Ghosts of Southeastern Minnesota,” I headed south to catch the last of the autumn colors and get into the Halloween spirit.

There are many supposedly haunted spots in Minnesota, and the southern part of the state is no exception. I decided to check out some of the ghostly spots; on the morning of my day trip, the skies were appropriately spooky, with fog enveloping the car as we drove down Highway 61.

My first stop was the St. James Hotel, 406 Main St. in Red Wing. According to “Ghosts of Southeastern Minnesota,” the hotel was built in 1875 on the remains of an Indian burial ground and has a long history of ghostly occurrences. For example, a new employee once walked into her office and found a note, written in childlike script, that read, “Who are you?” Later, she would find another note that read, “I know who you are.”

Was this a trick played by a fellow employee? Possibly. But the employee who found the notes kept sensitive information inside her office, and so the office was always locked. She was only one of a few employees who had a key.

In addition, chefs working in the hotel’s basement have seen faces – no bodies, just faces – staring at them. Housekeepers have seen something move in a nearby room, but when they investigate, nothing is there.

Guests have been affected by the strange happenings as well. In fact, several guests have left in the middle of the night because the blinds on their windows were flapping on their own accord.


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March 17, 2012 · 11:02 pm

getting to manhattan from Newark airport

There are he low-cost, low-stress, low-impact way to Newark Liberty.

There are now direct flights from Des Moines to Newark Airport and it doesn’t look too taxing (or expensive – if you skip the cab) to get to Manhattan from Newark. Haven’t been to that airport since the 1980s when I used to fly – okay this will date me – People’s Express.

Here’s the scoop on the AirTrain:

Operating 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, AirTrain provides easy connections to NJ Transit and the rail lines that run on the Northeast Corridor and North Jersey Coast Line. AirTrain also offers a simple way for passengers to get to and from Manhattan and points north, or Philadelphia and points south. It also connects passengers to airline terminals, rental car facilities, hotel shuttles and central parking lots. Best of all, you never have to worry about traffic conditions.

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March 12, 2012 · 11:59 pm

Exploring Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood

Lincoln Square Images

I wasn’t entirely convinced that Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood existed after my failure a few months ago to find it. But this time, my stepdaughter – an enthusiastic Chicago transplant, originally from Oklahoma – was on board to show me exactly where it is. And it does indeed exist and is a fun place to explore on a sunny afternoon (or any other kind of afternoon).  To get there from Lake Shore Drive, you take Irving Park west to Lincoln Ave (northwest) and at first there’s not much of great interest but then it gets more interesting as you get to Lawrence Ave (see map below), especially when you walk through the gates heralding the last block that has diagonal parking. Among the highlights in this neighborhood of well-groomed children and well-groomed dogs:

  • Krause Music Store, a landmark building designed in 1922 by  Louis Sullivan  with gorgeous ornate facade of grey-green terra cotta (see photo below). I’d love to see it at night – there are light bulbs embedded in the facade. Word has it this is Sullivan’s last work – and was recently renovated.
  • Gene’s Sausage, an old-fashioned sausage shop with lots of modern-day imported packaged foods from Germany and Eastern Europe. Long line at the meat and cheese counter. The baked goods looked yummy too.
  • A Secret Closet – a resale shop with such good-and-reasonably-priced stuff that every gal in our group (all four of us) bought something. I bought a necklace. My step-daughter, a dress; my daughter a shirt; and my sister-in-law, earrings.
  • Selmarie Cafe – cheerful cafe with coffee and pastries overlooking a pretty square where the well-groomed children and dogs gather.
  • Merz Apothecary, dating back to 1875, which very wide selection of lotions and potions. I asked in particular about my favorite scent, Bergamot (which stems from the oil of the Bergamot orange which is lemon-yellow and found in southern Italy and France), and was directed to no less than three items containing it. (Including lovely smelling soap.)
  • Davis theater, old-fashioned facade, up-to-date films.
  • There’s a lot more info at http://www.lincolnsquare.org including details about the annual “Spring Wine Stroll” on Thursday march 29.

    Lincoln Square Map

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March 10, 2012 · 7:35 pm

New Francesca’s, Pittsburgh Building in Chicago

Comfortable temps and sunshine in Chicago. We had a nice dinner at a new offshoot of Francesca’s on Chestnut downtown near Watertower Place – i was hoping for pasta bolognese but had pasta vongole (with clams and mussels which was good.) Yesterday I met my stepdaughter at the Pittsfield Building on Wabash, which has an ornate well-maintained arcade with an original old-fashioned lunch counter. We ate in the four-five story atrium of the building. Nothing fancy but good tuna salad and grilled cheese and breakfast served much of the day. Worth another visit – if only to look more at the building’s ornamentation.

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March 9, 2012 · 4:53 pm

vivace pizza, biking along the rillito trail near St. Phillips square Plaza, chopped (now choice greens) and zin burger

It was cold last Wednesday so we braved a bike ride along the wash near St. Phillips Plaza at Campbell and River, riding west. Nice level ride but it was cold riding into the wind. For lunch we ate at the former Chopped, now Choice Greens, or some such. As good as ever. That night we ate at Zin Burger – big juicy rare burger but pricey. Tuesday night, we had a good meal – pizza and salad at Vivace Pizza (in st. Phillips Plaza) Best part of Tucson: Being with my dad!

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March 8, 2012 · 6:29 am

Hiking solo in Catalina State Park, Beyond Bread (in the shadow of a horrible shooting),

It was such a gorgeous morning – flawless blue sky, light breeze (that later became fierce wind), and bright sunshine (temps rising past 80) – that I just had to go hiking, which meant hiking solo since my dad wasn’t up for it. I’ve never hiked on my own but I’ve hiked many many times at Catalina State Park, about a mile north of my father’s house in Oro Valley. It turned out to be just fine – more than fine, actually fun. I walked on the very easy Canyon Loop Trail for about 2.5 miles on a mostly level dirt trail through a valley surrounded by jagged mountains and fields of cactus, saguaro, barrel, agave, scrub bushes and purple and yellow wildflowers. There were plenty of other hikers around, several of them solo, so I felt not at all out there all alone. I ended up backtracking to do short section of the Romero Canyon Trail  – the first flat mile to the lovely Montrose Pools and back. Sitting on a bench overlooking the pools – a small puddle of water at the bottom of a shallow ravine bordered by saguaros – I met a fellow hiker who I ended up walking back to the trailhead with. Nice woman, retired, used to live in Decatur, Illinois now lives in Mesa with her husband, who – it turns out, is a retired ag journalist. (My husband is a not-retired ag journalist – how small a world is that?) Anyway, my rule of thumb when hiking alone – beyond the obvious of bringing water and trail mix – is to not do anything too challenging (I like to have someone near by when I fall….) and to have my cellphone handy in case of emergency. I also made sure to text my dad to A few other hiking suggestions from my brother who was here recently:  At Catalina, the Sutherland trail is pretty nice and not very difficult. Romero is nice too – more difficult. the 50 year trail has some nice views but a little one note. Beyond Catalina, he also did the Magee trail – and if you go a bit further than he usually goes – about 45minutes out then back – it gets really beautiful.

We ate lunch at the new (or new since I was last here three years ago) Beyond Bread on Ina and Oracle which is as fantastic as the original one on Campbell (and much closer to my dad’s house.) Sadly, it’s in the shadow of the Safeway where Gabrielle Giffords and many others were shot a year ago.

 

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March 6, 2012 · 6:27 am

Indian food in Oro valley, u of arizona, carne seca not carne asada

We usually drag my dad to have Mexican food while we’re in Tucson – and that may happen yet – but last night we went to Flavors of India, a restaurant in one of the anonymous strip malls up here in Oro Valley that an Indian friend of my dad’s recommended. And it was excellent – started with complimentary papadums and chutneys (most Indian restaurants I’ve been to, especially in London, charge you for this kind of thing), then followed my dad’s friend’s recommendations and had Mulligatawny soup and crayfish malbar (which I’ve never heard of). Both were fab!

Today I met an old friend on the U of Arizona campus who is a professor there and we had a nice lunch at a middle eastern restaurant nearby. We met at Centennial Hall, which was festooned with a banner advertising the great dance performance series with several of my favorite companies including Bill T. Jones and Alvin Ailey. Unfortunately they’re not happening when I’m here. Dinner tonight at a Mexican restaurant in Oro Valley – good fajitas. I was hoping to have a dried beef that I love at El Charro, the famous mexican restaurant downtown but realized that I got the names of that dish mixed up. It’s carne seca …not the carne asada served at the Oro Valley restaurant. Must remember this next time.

I

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