We had a goof cubano tort a too!
in the Des Moines airport, our snazzy Swiss Army knife is confiscated by TSA (after we decide not to check our bags, as planned). At ohare, we win a $100 Visa card after I nudge Dirck to try on some pants at a dockers promotion kiosk. Woohoo! On to Toronto!
Filed under Chicago, Uncategorized
To be honest, we didn’t do much in western Kansas beyond the confines of D’s 1960s ranch house in the tiny town of Wright, outside Dodge City. We were there to pack up and haul out all the stuff that a family of 8 children accumulated during the past 55 years. And we found things that were much older, some back to the late 1800s, we think.
A melancholy task, but good to be with other family who came from New Mexico and elsewhere in Kansas. Lots of laughter, occasional tears, family tales shared. We did emerge for lunch yesterday at Tacos Jalisco, our favorite Mexican place on Wyatt Earp blvd. in Dodge. A late dinner was at a surprisingly packed Applebee’s near Boot Hill, maybe some others were there because there weren’t many other options on a Sunday at 10 pm. I did have a very good limeade.
Today, we stopped to see family in Wichita and then picked up ribs “to travel” at Gates BBQ in Kansas City. Now three hours til home.
P.s. Comfort Inn in Lenexa turned out to be a mixed bag. Our room was clean but the thin walls meant nonstop noise from someone who appeared to fall asleep with the tv on. Argh
Filed under Kansas, Kansas City, Kansas misc
On our drive to Dirck’s childhood home for the last time (it has been sold) we have stopped at some favorite spots during our almost 30 years driving together through Kansas.
The Overland Park Farmers market was overflowing with gorgeous produce but we restrained ourselves since and bought only what we can eat in the next two days away. Peaches, cantelope and a fantastic looking bread from the Ibis bakery stand (our “morning buns” were delicious, a bun made with croissant dough sprinkled with cinnamon sugar.)
On to the flint hills and the old town of Cottonwood Falls with its glorious French revival courthouse. We wandered down the three block brick Main Street, poked around in some antique/junk shops and craft shops, had fantastic sirloin steak sliders in the restaurant At the classy western hotel, The Grand Central Hotel and found a cool old limestone motel at the other end of Main Street along the river that looks like an amazing place to stay, the Millstream Resort Motel.
We drove south along scenic byway 177 through the vast open, gently rolling flint hills, the road almost entirely to ourselves. So much open space, land, sky, road. love that feeling. We stopped briefly at the old Bazaar Cemetery to walk along the old gravestones and hear nothing but the wind blowing through the trees.
Now we are in Wright Kansas, an unincorporated city of less than 100 people, outside Dodge City, packing up the house with some of Dirck’s siblings and their families. Strange. Sad. One of life’s endings.
Filed under Kansas, Kansas misc
I have wanted to go to the Justus Drugstore, a farm to table t
Restaurant in an old drugstore in the pretty small town of Smithville, just north of Kansas City for some time and we finally did! One of the better meals I’ve had in awhile and we didn’t even eat in the main dining room (the old pharmacy) but instead on the east side patio. We shared a delicious sweet corn salad (corn, heirloom cherry tomatoes, herbs, butter, cheese from a local dairy and butter. It was light and sweet and mysterious. I would love to know how to make it at home.
This is the kind of place that makes its own ketchup, which resembled tomato paste but tastier. It arrived with the crispy hand cut fries that came with the burnt end sandwich, whIch was like nothing I’ve tasted before. there is a lot to be said for good ingredients and when every ingredient is good, the net effect knocks your socks off. The roll was delicious on its own, then there was the BBQ pork, various other ingredients I couldn’t quite make out (arugula, capers) added up to a sweet but spicy flavor. The fried chicken was surprisingly light and the chicken tender but not undercooked, served atop a delicious risotto and fresh greens.
The desserts were crazy. We shared carrot cake beignets which came in an oblong narrow tray with a beignet on either end and in the middle this light goat cheese foam with carrot caviar (yes,,carrot caviar, little bright orange beads, who makes carrot caviar?) The beignets were warm and moist and fabulous, even better when dined in the foam. We also tried the homemade ice cream, chocolate Brownie and sage butterscotch.
The main dining room is small, charming, with lovely landscapes and abstract paintings, all by the chef. Talented guy. The old soda found is lined with jars of homemade, hand labeled bitters, for making cocktails.
Smithville itself turned out to be a pretty little place with a row of old well tended red brick buildings, a brick patio and bandstand.
now we are at a comfort inn in Lenexa, Kansas. Not bad.
Filed under Kansas City
Another busy day exploring Detroit. We went to The Heidelberg Project, a crazy art installation that is located on two blocks of inner city Detroit that looks more rural than urban these days, with many vacant lots full between the occasional inhabited house in various degrees of disrepair. Some of the houses have become canvases outside (the polka dot house was my favorite) and then there are piles of strange objects strewn across he lots — old appliances, lots of stuffed animals, dolls, signs painted as clocks, shoes.
Interesting to see white non detroiters walking around a neighborhood they would ordinarily never feel comfortable walking through.
We went on to Eastern Market, had a coffee at Germack’s and walked though the old Hirt building that is now Devries Market, great old red brick building with wood floors and tons of Detroit Classic foods (vernors, sanders , dried Cherries).
Couldn’t resist driving home along Woodward avenue, stopping around 7 mile to see the fancy houses along the Detroit golf course, then to Sherwood. Forest and Palmer woods. Even stopped at my old pediatricians office which was in a house on seven mile and park side. (That photo is Noah in front of his great-grandparents’ house on Boston Avenue/Blvd. in Detroit.)
We did do a little exploring in ferndale (rust belt market) and Royal oak (atomic coffee, which has very good homemade lemonade and comfortable cheerful white and orang patio furniture.) Also had frozen custard at a stand on Woodward near 14 mile that had sanders hot fudge.) Yes, I am going to roll home.
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First stop Shinola, where we admired the sleek decor, the watches and bikes and almost total absence of price tags. next door at willy’s, a high-priced boutique, then to jolly pumpkin for a light lunch in cool post industrial decor (Korean short rib pizza with arugula; curried potato chips.
we dropped by the Avalon bakery on the Wayne state campus which I’ve heard about for years. Amazing to see all the development going on. And really nice to see people walking around downtown where Hudson’s used to be and eating outside at a cafe.
Next stop: Pewabic pottery, a national historic landmark and a drive down Iriquois Street in Indian village lined with gorgeous well tended homes and gardens and yards and then, a stones throw away on charlevoix, classic urban blight with crumbling old houses and weed strewn empty lots.
onto Hitsville USA: the Motown museum in two of the eight houses where berry Gordy built his empire. A really fun tour full of music and interesting stories and memorabilia. It’s a very low tech exhibit which ai appreciated – you got to stand in the recording studio where many soon to be famous performers created their hits and the old 1960s office and living quarters. Our tour guide was young and enthusiastic and the tour ended with us all winding and dancing a Motown tune. Two Japanese tourists and a Brit among us.
Tonight we went to slow’s BBQ, in the shadow of the former crumbling train station, once a symbol of Detroit decay and now a symbol of its revival, as it is being rebuilt and repurposed.
Forgot to mention that we started by dropping by my great grandfather’s old house on the still elegant Boston Blvd.
Decision #1: i90 skyway (about $7 tolls total) or i94? My dad suggested the tollway so we tried for the first time. Not the worlds best road (construction) but maybe not as bad as i94 thru Gary.
Decison#2:all important where to eat lunch? We stopped in the pretty lakeside town of st. Joseph and found a good place Cafe Tosi (good tuna melt…tuna with artichokes, feta) and muffuletta.
decision #3: where to stop for fruit. Exit 39 on i94 in Michigan at the stand we think is called fruit acres for good peaches and blueberries. Free samples are not slices of fruit but a whole peach or apple or whatever.
Decidon#4: dinner in Chicago last night. We ate at one of our old favorites…Andy’s Thai kitchen.
As I was adding a kernel of corn to the jar labeled “Clinton” ( as part of a highly unscientific tv station prez politics poll) some old crank grumbled “She won’t win.” Then he dropped a kernel into the Trump jar, and I couldn’t resist coming right back at him with “he won’t win.” So it goes during this Iowa State Fair during the run-up to the Iowa caucuses.
I was surprised to see how tiny the Des Moines Register’s soapbox is, where presidential candidates can hold court, if they can bear a heckler or two. Sunday’s selection was less than thrilling — Ben Carson (who I’ve already seen twice, without trying at the farmers market downtown) and George Pataki. My husband got to see Marco Rubio, amidst a sea of umbrellas on a very wet Tuesday at the fair.
Other fair impressions:
— we were astonished to see that the top prize is $2000 for the winning “casual appetizer” in the food hall. I am trying to convince my sister in law to enter next year (mums the world that she lives in LA.) another $2000 purse for the top bacon dessert.
– we finally tried the cattleman’s beef quarters for dinner. Good ribeye sandwich but couldn’t bear to try the hot beef sundae on a hot and humid day. next year, must try the lamb again.
– no real birds this year in “the avenue of breeds” due to the avian flu outbreak but the ceramic chickens on display instead was sweet. I did get an egg on a stick in the ag building..
– we seemed to know every other young wholesome kid working the applelicious food booths
Filed under Iowa
Also may try out some new things recommended this story from the DSM Register on Fair Food.
Hard to believe that in my youth, I rarely planned trips and never used guidebooks. In middle-age, with limited time to travel, a slightly bigger budget and advanced pickiness, I’ve taken to booking lodging and sometimes meals in advance using an array of guidebooks and travel articles. Here’s what’s come in handy for Portugal:
Lonely Planet guide – Got this from the public library and have used primarily to find lodging and bone up on cultural activities.
Rick Steves’ guide – It’s not as detailed as the Lonely Planet guide but Rick was helpful in narrowing down where to go during a two-week period. His guide is not as encyclopedic as Lonely Planet – with info on far fewer locations and for the locations it does list, offering fewer options. I didn’t use his lodging suggestions much – Lonely Planet had a wider range, more interesting off-the-beaten-track places and good subtitles like “rural inn” to help narrow things down. I don’t like big hotels or resorts. I prefer smaller family-run places where you can sort of get a feel for what real life is like and connect a little with locals/local life. But I think Rick’s guide will be helpful for actual sight seeing, with some good walking tours in places like Lisbon and Porto…
Newspaper travel stories – The NYTimes has a few including a story on The Other Algarve (which I found a bit late, after I’d spent considerably time trying on my own to figure out the least touristy places to visit) and a 36 Hours Lisbon; But I also found some really helpful stories from the Travel Channel (Anthony Bourdain’s show), the British press including some stories from the Telegraph and the Guardian, plus Afar magazine.
TakeBetsywithyou
TakeBetsywithyou 