February 23, 2010 · 10:56 pm

Dreaming of: Astoria

I’m starting to think we could easily spend a lot more than three days on the Oregon Coast when we’re there next month. A friend who grew up in Washington State and summered with her family in Oregon, says we must add the old coastal town of Astoria to our list of must-sees. It’s named after John Jacob Astor, I’m told, and from a recent Travel and Leisure story, I gather it’s the oldest American settlement west of the Rockies – it will be 200 years old next year – with lots of Victorian buildings and an old trolley along the riverfront.

My friend also mentioned a possible tour of a tuna cannery – not sure if  that’s still available. (Or if I really want to see how tuna – which I eat often, mercury be damned, is canned. Surely it can’t be as bad as watching sausage – or laws – be made.) I did just learn that my favorite tuna – Bumble Bee – was first produced in Astoria in 1875 but closed  its headquarters in 1981. Who knew?

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February 17, 2010 · 9:13 pm

Kooky Kansas: pt. 5 Lucas


One attraction I’ve longed to see during several trips to Lucas – but haven’t yet caught up with – is a traveling museum  featuring  “The World’s Largest Collection of the World’s Smallest Versions of the World’s Largest Things.”

I’ll give you a moment to absorb that properly.

It’s a clever idea – by an artist and free spirit named Erika Nelson who moved to Lucas, next to the Garden of Eden. She drives her museum (inside a van)  to kitschy roadside attractions, often in little towns  that overcompensate for their littleness by producing a LARGE version of something or other that, with hope, puts the town on the map. Then she makes small versions of  these large things and exhibits them in her  van, err museum.

Nelson has also compiled a state-by-state list of the world’s largest things and I’m pleased to report that I’ve seen several including the World’s Largest Swedish Coffeepot and Cup in the small Iowa town of Stanton (which doubles as a water tower); the World’s Largest Ball of Twine in Cawker City, Ks. (although this claim is disputed by Minnesota twine-ballers)  and the World’s Largest Tire near the Detroit airport (a highlight of my Michigan youth).  There is a larger point – that these quirky things make these towns and cities distinctive and, as such, should be celebrated. (Nelson is into “combating genericana” i.e. all the generic fast food restaurants and chain stores you see in one town after another that makes them all seem the same.) Check out the list at – www.worldslargestthings.com/wllist.htm

One final (as if) note about Lucas: this is the only place where I eagerly look forward to eating baloney – in this case homemade Czech bologna made at Brant’s Meat Market, an 85-year-old store on Lucas’  tiny main drag. The beef jerky is good too!

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February 16, 2010 · 4:36 pm

Kooky Kansas: pt.4 Garden of Eden

I never like making errors but maybe it’s a good thing I was tired last night when blogging (that’s my excuse) and made two errors in my post about the Garden of Eden BECAUSE I got an email today from the great-grandson of S.P. Dinsmoor (yes it’s S.P. – for Samuel Perry, not E.P. as I mistyped yesterday) politely setting me straight. Which I appreciate.  And it’s interesting to hear from a vigilant member of the Dinsmoor clan.  The great-grandson also noted, rightly, that technically S.P. is entombed, not buried, in the mausoleum. Again, I stand corrected.

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February 15, 2010 · 11:48 pm

Kooky Kansas: pt. 3 Garden of Eden

What really put Lucas, Ks. on the map, is an astonishing place called The Garden of Eden, which was built by an eccentric Civil War Veteran named S.P. Dinsmoor. The Garden is in the backyard of Dinsmoor’s small cabin made of limestone logs (vs. wooden logs.) I’ve struggled for years to describe it properly. It’s a true concrete jungle, made of concrete and stone vines and pillars with statues of  Biblical figures (Adam and Eve are there) as well as pro-working Joe tableaux (such as the working man being crucified by the banker, the lawyer, the preacher, and the doctor.) One of my favorite parts is the large limestone mausoleum where Mr. Dinsmoor is entombed. A guide hands you a flashlight so you can enter and look through a plate of glass at Dinsmoor’s disintegrating skeleton.  I have a priceless photo of my sister, who was visiting from the east coast during the late 1980s when I lived in Kansas, outside the mausoleum looking at me with a “You’ve got to be kinding me” expression.

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February 14, 2010 · 11:02 pm

Kooky Kansas: pt. 2 Lucas

While grassroots art can be found – as it should be – scattered in random rural locations throughout Kansas, there also is  a self-conscious concentration of it in the small Kansas town of Lucas which has a  storefront museum in some old  limestone buildings devoted to grassroots art. This is the art stereotypically practiced by self-taught, iconoclastic loners – like  farmers and ranchers –  but also by  trained artists and savvy hipsters living in remote places  and it ranges from enticing odd to childlike to a little scary.  A relative of folk art, grassroots art sometimes is called visionary art, naïve art, or primitive art.

You’ll see it all in Lucas – not only at the Grassroots Art Center but at a few other locations in town. When we visited a few years ago in December, someone from the museum took me, my husband and two young-teen kids, to a plain little unheated bungalow on a quiet street a few blocks away – and inside was the most astonishing sight. Every single room was covered with Barbies – yes, that Barbie – and other dolls.  There were  Barbies dripping from walls covered in aluminum foil and  piled up in the bathtub, Barbies exotically-decorated and decked out in every which way. If this hadn’t been labeled “art” it might instead be viewed as a  “cry for help.”  We were all a bit spooked walking around this ice cold bungalow of Barbies – including my daughter who was never a huge Barbie fan but played with them occasionally.  Check it out yourself at http://www.kansastravel.org/isis.htm

In the backyard is local Lucas legend Florence Deeble’s  Rock Garden – a rather worn collection of “concrete postcards” – sculptures depicting famous places Florence visited, such as  Mount Rushmore.  A few blocks away, is the real Lucas masterpiece (which inspired young Florence and spawned the Grassroots Art Center) known as The Garden of Eden.  Again, stay tuned.

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February 13, 2010 · 9:08 pm

Kooky Kansas

A Wall Street Journal reporter seems to be mining the kooky Kansas beat, which I used to fancy as my own.  After writing about the Big Well in Greensburg, Ks., she wrote a piece on the eccentric roadside sculpture in nearby Mullinville, Ks., pop. 202,  which has long been a source of fascination for my family as we drive to and from my in-laws house in western Kansas.   Last December, in addition to slowing down on the not-that-busy state highway to look more closely at the ever-growing line of scrap-metal whirligigs, many of them with political references of an indeterminate nature, we turned north on a country road in town and past the sculptor’s workshop – a shed with heaps of scrap metal and half-finished whirligigs (maybe that’s gigs.)   There must be several hundred by now along the road  – made of junk metal, glass bottles, presumably pilfered road signs, toilet seats, tractor gears, bowling balls, all whirling in the wind.

From the WSJ story, we learned that the sculptor  is 79-year-old farmer named M.T. Liggett, that his subjects include three former wives and many girlfriends including one portrayed as a mouse in pearls holding a piece of cheese, caught in a mousetrap. (Guess that relationship didn’t go so well.) Among his favorites is one of Bill Clinton with a padlock welded to the zipper of his pants. Word  has it that the American Visionary Arts Museum in Baltimore – which I was dismayed to discover was closed on the Monday I visited – is displaying Liggett’s  work.

It’s part of a genre of art by self-taught folks known variously as grassroots art or naive art – and Kansas is full of it. Stay tuned.

For more, see: http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052748703894304575047461204497670-lMyQjAxMTAwMDAwOTEwNDkyWj.html

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February 12, 2010 · 11:37 pm

Spring break destinations

I’m beginning to feel like a bit of a freak choosing Portland and Oregon for a spring break destination – everyone else I know in Iowa, if they’re getting out of here in March, is heading to Mexico or Florida or Arizona. Somewhere that warm weather is practically guaranteed – although not always as we’ve learned from our frequent trips to Tucson in March to see my dad.

Last I looked, Portland is usually in 50s, maybe 60s, in March – which isn’t exactly balmy but a heck of lot better than the sub-zero temps we’ve had here. There doesn’t seem to be any cost advantage to flying to Portland vs. Arizona during spring break from Des Moines. Both are expensive. But our  Portland ticket is about $$150 more  than our son’s ticket to Tucson. (And we both fly out on the same flight to Denver before parting ways for different destinations.)

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February 7, 2010 · 9:16 pm

Clarksdale, Miss/Ms.: songs/albums inspired by

I got to wondering how many songs have been written about Clarksdale – after reading about Robert Plant’s Walking into Clarksdale album – so I did a quick search on itunes. I found 50 songs with either Clarksdale in the title of the song or album (most were song titles) -and they had great titles like

Stranded in Clarksdale

Clarksdale Moan

Crying Down in Clarksdale

Down Around Clarksdale

Slow Night in Clarksdale

Clarksdale’s Burning

No We Ain’t From Clarksdale

Clarksdale’s Waiting  for me.

The performers included Elvis Costello whose Clarksdale Sessions songs were recorded at a studio in Clarksdale, Son House, and Jelly Roll Morton. I couldn’t find a recording of Robert Plant singing Walking into Clarksdale but I did find a good cover by Nanette Workman. Also enjoyed Charlie Musselwhite’s Clarksdale Boogie, and Super Chiken (a local favorite) singing Clarksdale.

Might be fun to download a few of these for your trip – I think I will next time.

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February 6, 2010 · 8:43 pm

Clarksdale, Miss.: takemewithyou (what to do/see)

Some helpful reader reminded me it’s Miss. not Ms. for Mississippi. So I stand/blog corrected. This is the final installment of takemewithyou suggestions for E. and friends as they head to Clarksdale this spring. Things to do:

– Listen to the blues, of course. Ground Zero club is an obvious choice. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon and Ground Zero wasn’t open just walking around the largely deserted town, we chanced upon some musicians playing inside the little Bluesberry Cafe at 235 Yazoo Avenue.

They all seemed to be locals who knew each other but couldn’t have been more welcoming so we got some sodas and listened to some blues and boogie piano  played, oddly, by a middle-aged white guy from the Netherlands (aka Theo D. “The Boogie Man”) who moved to Clarksdale to open a storefront rock and roll museum (which we didn’t get to: http://www.blues2rock.com/Site/Theo_D.html) ; and a older black man who sang with a weathered voice. A local favorite, Super Chikan, was there but we didn’t hear him, alas.

One woman sat down with us, carrying a photo of another tourist who had visited the cafe recently – Paul Simon. That Paul Simon. Clarksdale is that kind of place.

– The Delta Blues Museum is, as promised, very low-tech but that’s part of the charm. In a former train depot, it has Muddy Waters’ childhood cabin, among other blues items. I got to talking with the woman behind the front desk who told me how Robert Palmer (the Robert Palmer) often takes her out to eat when he visits. Palmer put out a 1998 album with Led Zeppelin buddy Jimmy Page called “Walking into Clarkdale” (with a song by the same name…some lyrics below.)

– The Mississippi (i.e. River.) – One thing that surprised me about is that it’s hard to see the river at all from lots of Delta towns which are often miles from the river, which in turn is hidden by levees. If you have time, drive about 1 hour northwest to Helena Arkansas, another struggling Delta town with lots of blues history that has fixed up its worn downtown and has a riverwalk atop the levee.

For more ideas check out the NYTimes’ 36 Hours in Clarksdale piece from 2006.

Here’s lyrics from Robert Plant’s song:

When I was born I was running
As my feet hit the ground
Before I could talk I was humming
An old railroad sound
Things didn’t get much better
When by the age of five
They found me walking into Clarksdale
Trying to keep my friends alive

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February 5, 2010 · 11:27 pm

Clarksdale, Miss.: takemewithyou (where to eat)

And now the all-important where-to-eat suggestions for E. and friends who are taking a road trip to Clarksdale, Miss. (among other places):

– Madidi (www.madidiires.com) is a surprisingly fancy and sophisticated restaurant to find in a struggling Mississippi Delta town…until you remember that the Mississippi Delta is where actor Morgan Freeman (aka Nelson Mandela in his latest film) was raised – and still lives. He has pumped money into the area – including by bankrolling this restaurant.  The food, upscale Southern,  is very good but to be honest, I’d stick with some of the lower-key places, which seem more reflective of the “real” Clarksdale.

– Ground Zero – This isn’t really “real” – it’s another Morgan Freeman effort but it’s designed to look  gritty that it passes muster. Ground Zero is a blues club that also serves food.

– Hicks Tamales and BBQ Shop – Noah and I tried several times to pick up a hot tamale here at the drive-through window but the line was always too slow (not long, just slow.) Supposed to be good though.

– Abes BBQ – We did get take away pork (I think) sandwiches from this hole-in-the-wall and some BBQ sauce to take back to Iowa. Very good (and quite different from our usual Gates BBQ sauce)

– Delta Amusement Blues Cafe – This is a small downtown working-guys cafe, basic greasy spoon with some local character.

– Uncle Henry’s Place (www.unclehenrysplace.com) – This is a very strange Southern inn about a half-hour outside of Clarksdale in a really faded town (so to speak) called Dundee near “Moon Lake.” We went here because of its history – it was a hangout of William Faulkner’s and owned at various times by the family of Tennessee Williams and Conway Twitty. The food was  rich and  pricey Louisiana fare and it was empty when we ate there (we arrived kind of late) which gave it an even more strange, faded feel.

– Ramon’s – We never made it to this place, which looked pretty low-down, but it sounded intriguing (chicken livers with spaghetti!)  when I heard an NPR report on it by Jane and Michael Stern. The onion rings on the Sterns’ roadfood.com page for Ramon’s look amazing. (roadfood.com is another good source for food during your trip although be forewarned – some places will be not-so-pretty.)

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