May 22, 2017 · 7:35 pm

PJ Bernstein’s, Pomodoro Rossi, new Q subway, gotham Hall, Central Synagogue– NYC

We love NYC but hope to get home to Des Moines tonight on this dreary rainy day. Our flight is already delayed so we aren’t sure we will make our connection in St. Louis. Other than that, we had a great time. We were surprised to enjoy our two visits to Central Synagogue so much. It turned out to be a spectacular Sephardic temple on 55th and Lexington, run by a smart charismatic group of women rabbis and cantors who we’re warm, friendly, and sing beautifully. The lead rabbi was also Asian. Another surprise.  The party was held at Gotham Hall, an imposing former bank (I’m told) on 36th and Broadway and 6th Avenue, near the original Macy’s. It has a huge domed ceiling below which some 300 or so of us ate, danced and partied until after midnight.

Last night we had good Italian food at Pomorodo Rossi, a neighborhood place on Columbus and 71st or so, can conveniently located near my relatives apart. Good pasta with seafood and a light red sauce, grilled artichoke and an outdoor table where we had a rare and wonderful dinner with our dear friends Myra and mike who won the good friend award for driving in from Connecticut.

Today, we met my brother at The Whitney Museum, our favorite place to hang out on a rainy Monday. This time we saw the Biennial exhibit which had some challenging stuff, as expected. Lunch was lobster bisque and a shared crab cake sandwich at Lobster Place in Chelsea Market.

On the east side, we had corned beef and breakfast at PJ Bernsteins on 3rd, morning pastries on Lexington at Corrado Bakery and coffee served by Aussies at Heavenly Rest Stop at 91st and Fifth, in an alcove of a fancy church by the same name.

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May 9, 2017 · 3:50 pm

More good things in Des Moines – Akebono (sushi), new Farmers Market vendors, spiffed up Graziano Mkt, new East Village places

New improved Graziano’s meat counter, DSM

Good stuff keeps coming to Des Moines and this longtime resident remains thankful. Even Graziano’s, the old Italian specialty store on the south side has spiffed up with some major remodeling – and is now surrounded by new apartment complexes.

I didn’t think we’d have many people to watch as we ate on the patio at Akebono, a Japanese restaurant with good sushi, in downtown Des Moines last Saturday night but the streets were hopping. Part of it had to do with a food truck event  nearby at the Des Moines Social Club, some Kentucky Derby partygoers, some Prom kids and a crowd at the restaurant Malo but it still amazes me to see so much happening in a once obscure corner of downtown. We enjoyed Akebono’s food and service too (although the poke didn’t resemble the kind I’ve enjoyed in places like Hawaii and LA.)

The farmers market opened to a huge crowd (the weather was gorgeous) and I was pleased to see new vendors such as 5 Borough Bagels from Clive and Scenic Route Bakery from the East Village. The new HyVee also  fit right in, which is a relief. People on the HyVee patio were eating what looked like good brunch entrees including French Toast.

We stopped at Zombie Burger during a bike ride and were a bit disappointed by their new recipe for fries and the cranberry-Gorgonzola salad. We preferred the less crunchy fries and the salad with a less sweet dressing and bacon (although Zombie kindly added bacon to our salad anyway). Sitting on the patio, we took note of all the new buildings surrounding us, which makes the place feel more urban and busy, including the AC Hotel which has what we’ve been told is a great rooftop bar.

On the Great Western Trail, we were relieved to see that the changes in the trail to accommodate the Microsoft server plant and a highway near Orilla have not messed up our favorite trail. Also pleased to see that the pub Outskirtz looked more open for passing bikers on a Sunday than I’ve seen in the past.

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May 2, 2017 · 3:28 pm

When next in Rome…airbnb options

This from my friend Meagan!

we actually stayed at two Airbnbs.
The second was my favorite. Here is the link: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/5264318
When I went to pull up the information on the first place we stayed, I can find the host but it looks like it is a different apartment. Apparently she owns three so she must rotate which ones are available. (The one that is up now actually looks nicer than the one we stayed in). When we stayed at her other apartment, she and her husband picked us up at the airport for an additional 35 euros which was nice to not have to navigate the train or pay for a cab (which are so freaking expensive) when we were jet lagged. But I’m not seeing that offer on the new page so maybe she doesn’t do that any more. Anyway, here is the new listing: https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/17196892

I can really recommend is the Sant’Eustacio il caffe dal 1938. Super authentic Italian coffee place, pretty close to the Pantheon. You order and pay, get your ticket and then sort of shove your way up to the counter on the other side and give your ticket to the barista.

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May 2, 2017 · 12:31 am

Kansas City – Westport Cafe and Bar; the West Bottoms Warehouse Shops

It’s been too long since we explored Kansas City so last weekend while there for a lovely family wedding, we revisited Arthur Bryant‘s for barbecue (no change there, still great fries and ribs although the burnt ends weren’t as good as remember – more manufactured chunks slathered in sauce rather than the random scraped up crusty scraps I remembered from years past). We also had an excellent family brunch (light omelettes with thin crusty fries; a good Eggs Benedict with poached eggs and smoked salmon, although the Hollandaise sauce was cold) with a special guest (Uncle Kenneth!) at Westport Cafe & Bar.

Le Lou Flea

A highlight was explored the vintage, antique and design shops in the West Bottoms, which not long ago was just a bunch of abandoned gloomy towering brick industrial buildings where I gather, the Mafia got up to no good. Now there are vintage shops (Le Lou Flea) – all four rickety floors) and design stores (Varnish and Vine)  here and there, plus a cool coffee shop (Blip Roasters) and more I’m sure to come given the growing popularity of once-dying post-industrial former dead zones in Rust Belt cities. A few I wanted to visit weren’t open on a Sunday afternoon including the the Gathering Place and Goldie & Myrtle’s. (Next time!) Some kids-in-the-know at Varnish & Vine also recommended some restaurants in the area including Voltaire, Stockyards and Rock Star Burgers.

We stopped briefly nearby in another west side neighborhood nearby (that reminds me Des Moines’ Sherman Hill) at West Side Storey (geddit) across from an artisan bakery (Fervere) and Bluebird Cafe/Bistro that we used go to. (Nearby, we also happened upon the FBI office in KC in a suitably hidden location).

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April 11, 2017 · 3:40 pm

Ames/Wheatsfield Co-op and DSM/new Bill Riley bike trail leg and acrobatic yoga

Victoria campaigning!

We drove to Ames last Saturday to help our friend Victoria Szopinski launch her campaign for mayor (Run Victoria Run!) and ended up taking a drive around downtown and campus since I haven’t been there in years. So long in fact that I last visited the Wheatsfield Co-op when in a little downtown brick shopfront (as I recall). It’s now in a bigger freestanding building on west edge of downtown – nice place, although not quite as amazing as Iowa City’s Co-op.

One Sunday, it was suddenly spring again (the last we saw spring was, oddly, in February) so we rode bikes through Water Works Park  along the Bill Riley and Great Western Trails toward Cumming. On the return at Park Ave. near Orlondo’s, we took a new spur of the Bill Riley Trail paralleling George Flagg Parkway that was handy (given there was construction on the regular trail and Flagg Pkway) through the woods along packed dirt (at least it wasn’t gravel) to meet up with the paved stretch of the trail leading to Gray’s Lake Park, where we picnicked and watched a group of very limber and fearless young people doing what we learned is called Acrobatic Yoga. (Imagine the old airplane rides you give little kids, where their tummy rest on your extended legs – and then imagine the kids, actually in this case, limber and fearless young person starts doing all kinds of twists and turns and what appeared to be handstands while atop your extended legs. Crazy)

 

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March 31, 2017 · 9:02 pm

Here’s a REAL SIMPLE story I wrote about our family trip to Jackson Hole!

As seen in the April 2017 issue!  Click here (or read below)

How to Plan a Vacation With Adult Kids

By Betsy Rubiner
When our kids were young, my husband and I took them on plenty of memorable vacations—to northern Michigan, upstate New York, Rocky Mountain National Park, the Badlands, England’s Lake District, and Ireland’s County Cork. Then we became empty nesters, and the family trips stopped. Our kids were young adults with their own zip codes, lives, commitments, and ideas of fun. Gone were the days when we had control: “OK, kids, hop in the van! Off we go!”

But last June, the six of us—our son and daughter, plus my step-daughter and her new husband—gathered in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, a result of advanced diplomatic skills, detailed consultations, and a little nudging. I started by nonchalantly making the case that a family vacation kinda made sense, since we were already trekking to Jackson Hole for my cousin’s destination wedding. Why not add a “just us” trip? Then my husband and I sweetened the deal by offering to foot much of the bill, especially for our 20-something son and daughter, so everyone could afford to come.

We were careful to get the kids’ input, reserving the bossy-parent card for crucial things, like making the final call on a cozy Airbnb cottage with a view of the Tetons. Yes, we had many group e-mails about syncing up flights, but major details (general dates, for example) were already determined by the wedding, which gave us more time to discuss the fun stuff.

And that’s where the benefit of traveling with adult children comes in: I could step back from my usual trip planner/tour guide role because the kids stepped up. Cooking break- fast and dinner became a group activity, which is how I found myself learning to make grilled kale. Our son-in-law turned out to be the kind of traveler everyone wants on a group trip. Enthusiastic and curious, he’d done his Jackson Hole home- work and suggested what ended up being our favorite hike in Grand Teton National Park. It also produced a new favorite family tale: the one where we set off on a gorgeous trail but left all our water in the car.

Although we came up with a general game plan each morning, we were not overly ambitious, and attendance was optional. We typically wound up together—but not always. And that was fine. The cottage was affordable (paying for everyone’s separate hotel rooms would have been less so). And while there was spectacular scenery, wildlife viewing, and cookouts, what I loved most was being able to do something I no longer take for granted: hang out as a family. We had the rare opportunity to catch up and relax in this stage of family life. It was a trip that felt different, almost more special, than the cherished trips we’d taken when our children were little. And on one of our lunches out, the kids even picked up the tab.

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March 26, 2017 · 2:38 pm

When in Marshalltown Iowa — dining at Zamora Fresh Market

Work brought me to Marshalltown, Iowa (about an hour north and a little east of Des Moines) yesterday and my nose for local Mexican food brought me to the back of Zamora Fresh Market  (on the town square across from the grand courthouse). Sure enough, behind all the shelves lined with Mexican staples  is a little cafe with good no-frills Mexican food that reminded me of the fare served in Dodge City, Kansas, another city that has become increasingly Hispanic (and a city where my husband grew up).

I had the tw0-taco special for $5.99 – one carnitas (pork), one asada (steak), rice and beans. Nothing fancy but moist, packed-with-flavor (or at least salt) meat. The roasted chicken I brought home for dinner – complete with roasted hot green chili peppers — was delicious.

 

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March 25, 2017 · 10:15 pm

Next time in Nashville: where to shop!

For our next trip to Nashville (or Austin):

NYTimes March 2017:

NASHVILLE — The novelist Ann Patchett, who lives in this city, has said that she brings out-of-town visitors to two places: the Parthenon, the replica of the ancient Greek structure in Centennial Park, and United Apparel Liquidators, or U.A.L. as devotees know it. Both are temples of a sort.

The small clothing chain has three stores in the Nashville area. The flagship is also in the city, in a strip mall of no distinction, half-hidden between a nail salon and a Chinese takeout place. Ms. Patchett took the author of “Eat, Pray, Love,” Elizabeth Gilbert, shopping there one day last year, and during a literary talk that night, they dished about the Christian Dior flats that Ms. Gilbert purchased.

“They were so beautiful,” Ms. Gilbert told the audience, “I was licking them in the store.”

Better still, Ms. Patchett noted, the designer shoes were “10 percent of what they had once cost.”

Technically, U.A.L. belongs to the booming retail category known as off-price. But where discounters like Nordstrom Rack and T. J. Maxx have a bargain-basement atmosphere and leftover-seeming merchandise, U.A.L. feels like a designer boutique. Imagine walking into Jeffrey in New York or Fred Segal in Los Angeles and discovering it’s having an everything-must-go fire sale.

http://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/15/fashion/best-kept-secret-in-fashion-shopping-nashville-ual.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Ftravel&action=click&contentCollection=travel&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=4&pgtype=sectionfront&_r=0

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March 20, 2017 · 2:19 pm

How I (unexpectedly) got a new bag from American Airlines

 

In the “it pays to ask” department: After returning home late two Sundays ago  from Florida, I realized that the purple suitcase I’d checked (at the request of American Airlines, although it would have easily fit in overhead) had several prominent rips. At first, I thought “Oh well,” but later it dawned on me that I probably wouldn’t be able to use the bag any more, especially if I need to appear somewhat respectable (or ever have another business trip…).

When I looked up online the particulars for what to do about a damaged bag, I learned I was supposed to show the bag to an American Airlines person at the airport within 24 hours of my return. But the morning after I returned was not only Spring Break. A major storm on the East Coast had led to many cancelled flights, meaning the airport would be even more mobbed. The last thing I wanted to do was go to the airport and kvetch about my ripped bag.

I explained all this to the AA baggage person the following Thursday night when I happened to be picking someone up at the airport and to my surprise, she looked at my bag, and said that even though I was past the 24-hour period, she’d give me a new bag “as a courtesy.” She left for a few minutes and returned with a brand new bag and was quick to point out the features including four wheels and a 10-year warranty. I thanked her profusely and went on my merry way.

 

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March 19, 2017 · 8:14 pm

Midway Cafe in Islamorada, Squall on Highway overlook near Duck Key, Turquoise water!

At the Speakeasy Inn/Rum Bar on Duval Street, Key West

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posting this a week after the fact…

Our drive back to Fort Lauderdale went well, with no major traffic tie-ups so we had time to stop briefly in Coconut Grove, where I showed Noah our lovely Airbnb and picked up the hat Francine left there. We stopped at Midway Cafe in Islamorada for coffee, a better option than Mangrove Mike’s (our outbound stop) with more coffee and baked good options. Cheerful inside and in back garden.

We were a bit soggy when we arrived because we got caught in a sudden rain squall while we were going to an outdoor walk linking the highway near Duck Key. Ended up having a nice chat with a snowbird from Ohio who was also taking shelter under a little overhang and he filled us in on what life is like in the keys during hurricanes and floods. No wonder houses are built up on stilts.

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