Yes we are in Los Angeles, Burbank to be exact. beautiful weather, scenery and my adorable 20 month old niece Lucy.
Greetings from Burbank
Filed under Uncategorized
Hiking and dining inTucson.
perfect weather for a hike at Catalina state park in oro valley where we did the challenging Romero pools trail, 2.2 miles each way and lots of rocks, mountains, glorious views.
We ate a much deserved early dinner (we missed lunch, while out on the trail for 4 hours). I had very good carne seca at rosa’s and good pizza the night before at skordatos.
Filed under hiking, Tucson, Uncategorized
Coronado cafe, Biltmore Hotel – Phoenix
finally got a chance to see a little more of Phoenix after many years of whizzing past the city to Tucson (and occasionally Scottsdale). we were in the area around the Heard Museum, driving down straight flat residential roads lined with way tall Palm trees, past lovely old stucco bungalows and Spanish mini villas. we had an excellent lunch at the funky Coronado Cafe, which oozed low key charm and served a fabulous crabcake(the owner proudly revealed her Baltimore roots). also excellent key lime pie and fres lemonade. we did a quick drive through the Roosevelt arts district which had some promising looking galleries and boutiques and along 7th street and the Coronado historic district.
Also visited the famous Biltmore hotel, with frank Lloyd wright-like architecture, lovely gardens and a way cool pool.
Filed under Des Moines, Phoenix, Uncategorized
Cool restaurants to check out in Phoenix
the vig Fillmore — neighborhood tavern 1914 bungalow, fish tacos
Coronado cafe, historic district, crab cakes
Astor house – BBQ
The main ingredient – beer
Cibo – pizza
Binks midtown, veggies
The house brasserie — Scottsdale
Lon’s at hermosa house
Roosevelt arts district
The mystery castle
Filed under Phoenix
Pointe hilton tapatico cliffs resort Phoenix and Arizona shuttle.
It didn’t occur to me that a shuttle, as opposed to a flight, could be delayed by there I am outside the Phoenix airport waiting for the delayed shuttle to Tucson. Hope it’s not more than 45 minutes behind schedule although heck, just sitting outside the airport terminal in sunny 70 degrees or so weather is a tonic for this Midwestern snowbird.
I am leaving Phoenix after two days of work meetings. We were lodged at the very nice pointe hilton tapatico resort in north central Phoenix. Nice place with more pools and hot tubs than I could count, easy access to good hiking trails, a lovely mountaintop restaurant with good food and a spectacular view, especially at sunset. The layout is very confusing with lots of stucco two story spa is buildings rambling up a hilly compound.
Didn’t see much beyond our meeting room and the bus taking us to and fro. Did have a good dinner last night at del frisco’s grill near the Biltmore.
Filed under Phoenix
Blue Tomato Kitchen in West Des Moines
Tried out Blue Tomato Kitchen, a casual Italian restaurant operated by Baru 66’s french chef David Baruthio. It opened in January a former coffee shop in what I guess is West Des Moine’s Valley Junction. It was hopping on a Friday night and we found one open table. Service was swift and we were in and out in an hour or so (although not in any particular rush.) The food was fine – didn’t bowl us over. We had a thin crust pizza with anchovies (on my side at least, my husband doesn’t like them) olives, chilis, tomatoes. Good. Salty. Light. And spaghetti bolognese which didn’t have the long-cooked meat flavor of my version – more tomato-ey. Good enough. We also shared a little piece of lemon ricotta cheese cake topped with gooey dark cherry sauce. Good too. We’ll give it another go and nice to have as an easy option.
Filed under Des Moines, DINING
good burger at NorthPoint one the Milwaukee Airport
I was sad to learn that usinger’s, the famous sausage maker, no longer has an outpost in the Milwaukee airport but I had a very good burger with cheddar cheese and grilled onions at NorthPoint in the main terminal. I could see the cook flipping the burgers on a grill through a window by my table. good frozen custard too. Best of all my flight left ahead of time. Only wish it was a direct flight to Des Moines, which used to be available a few years ago. Now you have to take two puddle jumpers, via Minneapolis.
Milwaukee in the snow
Amtrak finally got me to Milwaukee, but three hours late. Our 10:25 am train was delayed and delayed until it merged with the 1:05 pm. Oh well. Much of the ride was thru a white out of snow. In Milwaukee I had to trek through pelting snow up the hill to my hotel, the hilton city center. I was one of the few people on the street at 3 pm and although the snow was so intense I couldn’t look up without pf getting hit in the face with snow, I made it to the Milwaukee public market where I had a very late lunch at a salad/sandwich/juice bar called The Green Kitchen and then wandered thru the snow to explore the Third Ward warehouse district. I had an early dinner at Kiku, a Japanese place near the hotel, and returned to the hilton looking like the abominable snow woman, my boots caked with snow, my jeans wet, snow covering my blue coat. very happy to be in bed watching white and Davis from my home state of Michigan win the gold Olympic medal for ice dancing.
Filed under Milwaukee
Long day at union station…trying to get train from Chicago to Milwaukee
My amtrak train from Chicago to Milwaukee has been delayed 2.5 hours so far. Mechanical problems. hope snow here and there doesn’t further complicate matters. I may have to buy some Girl Scout cookies from the traveling sales kids for lunch. Argh
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World Food Prize Headquarters and Howard Buffett photo exhibit in Des Moines: worth a visit
I finally got to walk around the renovated downtown library in Des Moines that is now the headquarters for the World Food Prize and was blown away by the restoration/renovation effort. It was always an elegant 19th century building but it got pretty shabby in the mid 1990s when my children visited the library there regularly as Downtown School students. With all its stain glassed windows and murals and wood it always hinted of a previous, more elegant life. Now it’s back to its former glory and well worth a walk around. The restored WPA murals on the bottom floor are particularly interesting, tracing the history do Des Moines from prehistoric era to 1941. And the Howard Buffett photos of people from across the world facing hunger issues is mesmerizing. So visit when
You can. (There was an open house last weekend.)
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THE WORLD FOOD PRIZE HALL OF LAUREATES is open to the public for tours from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., free of charge, on most Tuesdays and Saturdays. Please call 515-247-2222 for open house dates. Click here for more information. |
Filed under Des Moines, museum exhibit
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