www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2024/09/10/us-passport-renewal-application-online-state-department/
Indiana wedding at White oak farm, Issa vibe cafe in New Buffalo
We danced the night away at my niece’s wedding, held at White Oak Farm in the countryside near Michigan City, Indiana, only 12 minutes from New Buffalo, Michigan, but one time zone away.The weather was dry (amen) and in the 80s, with some intense sunshine during the early part of the outdoor service on a stone patio between two barns – not the old rustic barns but new fancy barns, one with chandeliers, designed not for livestock but for events including weddings. Great people, service, food, dj, dancing.
The morning after, my sibs and I checked out of our respective airbnbs at 10 am (a bit challenging when you’ve gone to bed at 1:30 am) and met at Issa Vibe Cafe, a cheerful easygoing spot with large breakfast paninis (request mayo/aioli on the side; consider sharing) and coffee drinks. It was a good place to hangout and a perfect way to end our family gathering.
Noah, D and I did stop for some Michigan pothole ice cream at Oinks on the way out of New Buffalo. We’re talking very chocolate ice cream with oreo cookie crumbs and mini-peanut butter cups, so not suitable for our lab Millie, who was with us. Amazingly, another customer came over to our table with a little dish of vanilla ice cream for Millie. How kind was that?
Filed under Indiana, Michigan, southwest Michigan, Uncategorized
Good news!! Michigan Central Station to offer guided tours, opening first restaurant in four decades
Michigan Central Station announced it will offer guided tours and open its first restaurant in four decades. Sadly, it wasn’t open when we tried to visit earlier this year…
— for details Read on www.clickondetroit.com/news/local/2024/09/17/michigan-central-station-to-offer-guided-tours-opening-first-restaurant-in-four-decades/
Filed under Detroit, Michigan, Uncategorized
Ithaca is Gorges @ Robert H. Treman State Park, Cascadilla Gorge, Fall Creek Taughannock Falls
I love a good gorge and this part of the world (the Finger Lakes) is full of them. In and around Ithaca, my favorite is to walk from upper to lower Treman, much of it along stone paths, steps and bridges along the gorge, with water crashing down on mossy-stones, through the sun-dappled forest.
The light, sun, breeze, sound is dazzling and reminds me of my parents who love/loved these gorges too. Fall Creek Gorge is also a stunner, especially as seen while crossing over the suspension bridge high above, but the views are obscured by the metal netting, a sad necessity to discourage suicidal jumpers.
Our final gorge of the trip was the big Kahuna — Taughannock Falls, which is the highest in the area and, word has it, taller than Niagara (albeit with much less volume.)
For old time’s sake, we ate nearby on the west shore of Cayuga Lake at Glenwood Pines, in a knotty pine-walled dining room with big windows looking out at the occasional white sailboat gliding through the blue water and the wooded sloping shore beyond, on Cayuga’s east shore. Excellent “pines burger” but sadly the Ithaca Times restaurant review I wrote in 1980 was no longer tacked up on the wall. It was still there about 25 years ago when we last visited., to my amusement. The kids were impressed as I recall.
Next time, we’ll try to spend more time at Ithaca Falls on Lake Street below Fall Creek gorge on campus. — and hike the Risley Trail (behind Risley Hall on North Campus) to the bottom of Fall Creek.
This trip, we also missed Flat Rock, the rushing water over, yes, flat rocks, in the tiny hamlet of Forest Home, and The spectacular Watkins Glenn.
Filed under Ithaca, New York, Uncategorized
New and old favs in Ithaca – East Shore Road House (breakfast!) and Johnson Museum/dairy Barn (Cornell) and old favs: Ithaca bakery, Greenstar, lake time, Ithaca beer, the commons, Salt Point Brewery
We had a rare (for this visit) rainy day, which fortunately didn’t last long but with the temperature suddenly fallish (60s, not 70s or 80s) we did some indoor activities, starting with brunch at the terrific East Shore Road House in Lansing. Local food producers, husband-and-wife operation, creative entries, cheerful service, short wait on a Saturday. Perfect.
Next stop the Cornell campus to go to the Johnson Museum, designed by IM Pei. Haven’t been there in decades.
I didn’t remember the top/fifth floor with its long glass windows affording spectacular views of Cayuga Lake, the valley, Cornell campus and a classic tempestuous Ithaca sky. Another favorite was the second floor outdoor deck with a long, sloping, zero-gravity wood bench where we laid down and looked up at the ceiling dotted with flashing little lights, like stars in the night sky – an LED art installation.
We walked around the campus, across the suspension bridge high above Fall Creek Gorge. We saw lots of unfamiliar new modern buildings on campus in addition to the old favorites — The Straight (student Union), Goldwin Smith Hall, McGraw Hall (history). Final on campus stop: the dairy barn (which isn’t a barn any more) for Cornell ice cream! Perfect.
Yesterday was lunch outdoors at the edge of a cornfield at Ithaca Beer Co. where I had a “Cornell chicken” sandwich…apparently Cornell chicken is a thing (cider vinegar and an egg are main ingredients) and I found the recipe on Epicurious. The day before was sandwiches from Ithaca bakery, grocery shopping at Green Star Market, and a quick stroll around the Ithaca Commons downtown (which sadly has little to offer.) we also had good pizza at Salt Point Brewery in South Lansing, which closes pretty early (9 pm) on a Saturday night, at least by Chicago standards.
And of course, a highlight was another late afternoon swim at “the lake.” Millie our pup is a fan of the water too.
The Long View at the top of Johnson Art Museum.
Filed under Ithaca, New York, Uncategorized
Eating and drinking our way around Seneca And Cayuga Lakes
Gorgeous weather, perfect for a Finger Lakes food and drink crawl, starting with Apples and Moore which was as miserly as I remembered, with no samples to determine if you wanted to buy a huge bag of apples – the only option available in the shop. (Also, dog-unfriendly. Theyallowed out of the car despite the ample grounds.)
But we learned that if we picked our own, we could sample a few varieties. Our favorites weren’t readily available. (It’s too early for the fabulous snapdragon apple I discovered two years ago. It’s available in late September.) We did enjoy some delicous apple cider donuts and the glorious view of orchards dotted with red apples and the lake valley in the distance.
Next stop: Two Goats Brewery, on the east side Seneca Lake, which has a phenomenal view of the lake and valley beyond. We had roast beef sandwiches with mayo and horseradish on a chewy roll, and Golden Crush hazy IPA. then onto my favorite spot – Finger Lakes Cider House which is between the two lakes in another gorgeous spot, with a cut flower operation, a good gift shop, excellent food, friendly and dog-welcoming staff. We had a house flight cider, with our favs: honeyoye and fruit of the bloom.And a cheese board of Lively Run Cheeses, also local (and a place we’ve visited on the crawl in the past.)
Last stop, Trumansburg, a quick stop at our favorite shop Sundrees and then on to the Wednesday night farmers market, which is refreshingly low-key and counter culture.(Word has it the Ithaca Farmers Market has become too popular, leading to weekend traffic jams.) In T-burg, a bluegrass band played inside a red-topped wooden gazebo, while a food truck sold mean-looking fried chicken, and other vendors sold exotic garlic varieties, fancy slices of cake, excellent focaccia, late season tomatoes and basil.
Filed under Ithaca, New York, Uncategorized
New Paltz, Mohonk, Catskills, Roscoe Diner (Liberty) – road to Ithaca
We took a roundabout way to Ithaca so we could drive through the college town of New Paltz, which still has the alternative and outdoorsy vibe I remember, then on through the mountains past the grounds of the Mohonk resort, and into the Catskills where the big Borscht Belt resorts have been replaced by small orthodox Jewish temples, businesses, a camp.
For old times sake, we stopped for lunch at the Roscoe Dinner, getting a tuna on rye and Greek salad with anchovies, good Greek olives and grape leaves, which we ate at a picnic table at an adjacent ice cream shop (owned by the diner) that had a dog treat for Millie. The drive here was beautiful especially as we got closer to Lansing, NY and Cayuga Lake where our friends Myra and Mike’s little slice of heaven is located, a sweet cottage high above Cayuga’s waters. We arrived just in time for a late afternoon swim and happy hour on the dock. Oh happy day.
Our friends little slice of heaven (Salt point), Bread alone and Jane’s Ice cream (Rhinebeck
Playing catch up with the blogging because we’ve been so busy enjoying the gorgeous weather. We spent much of our time in the hamlet of Salt Point, walking out onto the pastures to the pond (where Millie can’t resist jumping into the pond) and the gazebo, visiting the cows, looking out over the valley at the stunning views.
We dropped in at a private party at a small old house in the hamlet of Rhinebeck to briefly see my cousin and her family who just moved there. The village reminded me a bit of Sag Harbor, increasing chic. Which has its pros (good bakeries) and cons (overpriced home goods shops.) we split an excellent chicken salad sandwich on delicious focaccia at Bread Alone and ice cream (killer chocolate) at Jane’s, a local dairy.)
Filed under New York, Uncategorized
Wilkes-Barre PA, mist in the Poconos, Poughkeepsie Walkway over the Hudson
There was rain and mist in the mountains as we left our unlovely motel and drove further north and east, stopping for coffee in what turned out to be the interesting city of Wilkes-Barre. It reminded me a little of Easton, my mom’s hometown with old redbrick row houses with white wood railing. But Wilkes-Barre had surprisingly grand old buildings, some banks or fraternal organizations, and two small colleges with pretty old buildings. A bridge over the river with eagle sculptured pediments, worthy of Europe. A memorial to fallen coal miners. Seemed a faded, once mighty industrial city on the rebound.
The most spectacular and unexpected building was a mosque with four minerets that could have been in Istanbul. Apparently it was a Shriners temple, built in the early 1900s. Abandoned, with some busted windows but perhaps slated for restoration.
We found good coffee and pastries at Abide, which welcomed Millie, our dog, inside. Another nearby coffeehouse, Pour, looked like a good option too.
Confirming Pennsylvania’s swing state status in the upcoming presidential election, we saw a Harris Walz sign near the Jewish center of King’s College and a nasty “ F—k Biden” sign in the window of a faded apartment building. Another window in the building had a “Catholics for Trump” sign.
The sky began to clear as we drove though the Poconos to the Hudson River, crossing into Poughkeepsie, enough so we could sit outside at the Palace diner, old school with shiny aluminum siding, and eat brunch while passing customers made a fuss over Millie. We had one mishap. Millie balked at climbing the metal grated steps leading up to the dramatic walkway over the Hudson, fashioned from a former rail bridge. We found a hill she could walk up to get on the bridge and walked about half the bridge span, soaking in the spectacular river views, and then took the handy elevator down and walked uphill the to our car.
Filed under New York, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania2, Uncategorized
Ohio Turnpike, Milan (Ohio) Melon Days, West End Ale Haus (Bloomsburg, PA) – Driving from Chicago to the Hudson Valley (NY)
As a kid driving from suburban Detroit to eastern Pennsylvania with my mom, I was excited when we first crossed the Ohio border into western Pennsylvania, only to soon discover (or remember) how long Pennsylvania is. Still, as we drive on I-80 today, decades later, I’m happy to leave the flat straight Ohio turnpike behind, in favor of a mountainous stretch of I-80 lined with trees (although preferably not driven in the rain).
Unlike Iowa I-80 rest stops which have many appealing amenities (trust me), the Ohio turnpike rest-stop west of Cleveland offered no picnic tables or outdoor spaces to eat our picnic fare, let alone with a dog. Grrr. So we ended up taking a brief detour to the small town of Milan, west of Cleveland, which we learned is the home of Thomas Edison. We didn’t see his house, that we know of, but we saw many stately wood Victorian and 19th century red brick homes.
The town was packed with people attending the annual Milan Melon Days (as the street banner we drove under informed us). We found a public park with many picnic tables under a shelter, old playground equipment, and a pleasant view of a grassy slope lined with willow and pine trees. Worked.
Why does it always rain on highway 80 along the scenic but scary stretch through the mountains of western Pennsylvania? At least this trip, the rain was intermittent and Dirck was driving. (I had a much scarier ride years ago while driving solo with the kids in a downpour. Lots of trucks, curving road.)
We got lucky with a terrific dog-friendly pub (thanks Bringfido.com) m, the West End Ale Haus, in the small town of Bloomsburg, where we showed up just before the kitchen closed at 9 p.m. The server couldn’t have been nicer and the cheese burgers were perfect. We were the only diners outside on a Saturday night, with the occasional souped -up car dragging Main Street. Millie enjoyed her strawberry Greek yoghurt frozen treat.
Now we are at a somewhat grim but dog- friendly red roof inn a few miles east (Bloomsburg-Mifflinville).The woman at the front desk looked miserable and when I asked how she was doing, she said she had a headache and no Tylenol so I fished some ibuprofen out of the glove compartment for her.
No breakfast so I won’t get my on-the-road Raisin Bran fix. No carpet in our spacious but spartan room, disabled accessible, which was okay until about 1:45 am when people arrived above us in what I’m guessing was also an uncarpeted room. They sounded like a bunch of elephants dragging roller bags and rearranging the furniture for hours. Who needs sleep?
Filed under Cleveland, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania2, Uncategorized
TakeBetsywithyou 