New York City - Day 2

After a late night, you try to sleep in but the city wakes up early. Four flights up on 7th street and Avenue A, I hear traffic and construction, a motorcycle comes to life and roars away, I fall back into a sleep that is aware that the city is awake. Eventually we do get up and I find that I just got a parking ticket. I am confused so I ask a passerby to explain. Evidently, cars can't be parked on the south side of the street on Tuesday and Friday between 9:00 and 10:30 because they clean the street. Another man loudly tells me to put the ticket back on my car or I will get another one, he states that I bought that parking place. Okay. I better move my car across the street Thursday night.

Eventually we are ready and head off to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa). We stop for lattes and an olive cookie. Yes, a shortbread like cookie with bits of kalamata olives, surprisingly good.

We hop on the subway to take us to the museum. Oh dear.....MoMa is closed on Tuesdays! We regroup and decide to go to the Guggenheim instead. As we're leaving the MoMa someone waves to us in the street with a huge smile, and it took us a second to realize it was a friend of Rainy's and Raven's from Meadows, Sharissa Iqbal. Apparently she was interning at the MoMa working with the elderly and disabled in incorporating arts programs to help them better experience it. For instance they were setting up private tours for the blind where they are able to touch the statues. She offered us free passes into the MoMa, and we were so excited!

With the Guggenheim in our sights, we take the Bus on Madison Avenue Uptown.

Their special exhibit is a contemporary photography and video show titled "Haunted". It is based on the assumption that much contemporary work is haunted by the past, by the history of art, by apparitions that are re-animated in reproductive mediums, live performance, and the virtual world. The show was fascinating and inspirational. I bought the book featuring the exhibition, just let me know if you want to look through it when I get home!

It was past 4:00 when we left the Guggenheim and we were all famished. We took a bus back to the East Village with plans to go to a cafe called The Smile that Raven was familiar with. Our luck was waning, they weren't serving food until 6:00 which was another hour away, but the waitress recommended another restaurant a few streets away, "Bianca". We were the only customers (NYC is a late night city). We just needed a light meal as we had dinner reservations for 8:30 that night. We ordered a bottle of Tokai, a Hungarian wine from Friulano by Stefano Traverso Vineyards, a crisp cold white wine. For food we had mussels, sauteed chicken livers with a balsalmic sauce, a uniquely chopped artichoke salad with lemon and parmesan , and a beautifully plated tuna salad with onion, celery, tomato, and croutons that soaked in the juiced. This ended up being more food than we expected, but it was all very yummy. Because we had some time to spar, and I was lugging around the book "Haunted", we decided to head back to Raven's apartment to relax and freshen up before heading out for the night.

We left around 8:00 pm, walking through the East Village to Bowery Wine Company. There was a jazz band playing which was great, but they were pretty loud so conversation was more difficult than expected. We had a discount of 40% off all wines! We began with a half bottle of a French Sancerre, which was lively and fresh and wonderfully dry. Soon we realized we wanted food with our wine and so with our second half bottle of Red, an Italian Santi varietal, we paired their cheese and meats platter: Brie, cheddar, provolone, prosciutto, salami, and toasted french bread. After we finished, we ordered glasses of wine individually, Julie went with a white santi, crisp and refreshing with a hint of pear notes. Rainy and Raven were were in the mood for a sweet ending and so they ordered a German Reisling which was delicious. Rainy geniusly suggest we end with their Prosciutto Lettuce Wraps. These were spectacular, individually wrapped and drizzled with a divine sesame sauce. Feeling very satisfied, we decided to continue with the Jazz theme and head to a small Jazz club in the West Village.

Smalls Jazz Lounge. We entered through a easily missable entrance down a steep stairway, where we felt s if we'd stepped back in time to the height of the Jazz movement. It felt private, with an audience that was concentrated on appreciating some serious Jazz rather than liquor. Their were small chairs lined up concert style, and the players lived and breathed for their craft. It was the epitome of what you'd imagine a private jazz club to look and feel like small, dark, and full of love and attention to preserving the art of Jazz. Joel Press was on Saxaphone, Joe Hunt on Drums, Pat O' Leary on Bass, Michael Kanan played the Piano as a quartet. The specialness of this concert radiated through us, mesmerized by sound, soaking up this rare and special event. And like all great Jazz lounges the fluffy house tortoise cat lounged fast asleep in the back, undisturbed by constant affection from passerbys and sounds.

And just as we thought the night was over, we realized we were a bit hungry. Fortunately Raven lives right above a famous diner called Odessa. The highlight was the Monte Cristo; a breakfast sandwich that began with challah bread dipped in egg and fried like french toast. It was served open -faced, topped with ham, turkey, and swiss cheese. Drizzle a little syrup and you have the best breakfast ever!

It's 2am as we wearily climb the four floors back up to the apartment.

New York City - Day1

We left our motel in Dansville, NY mid morning to drive to New York City. Rainy and I decided to travel the interstate so that we would make it into the city before dark. We took Vishu's advice and stopped in Corning, NY to visit the Corning Glass Museum. It was a huge museum that took you through a variety of modern glass artists and the techniques they each used. Then there was a section that displayed the historical aspects of glass. It was fascinating! I am sorry there are no pictures to show you, I didn't take my camera into the museum.

Off to NYC! I drove and Rainy navigated. We make a pretty good driving team. Driving in the city was a totally new experience, I don't think New York cars come with signals for changing lanes and it must be okay here to turn left from the far right lane. In spite of this challenge, Rainy guided us to Raven's apartment without making a single wrong turn! Parking was my next challenge. The first time down the street Raven lives on, on the parking spots were taken. I circled the block, and lucky for us, a car was leaving. Have you ever parallel parked in a spot where your car would barely fit? Lucky for me that I learned how to parallel park in the 1970's using a big Chevy Suburban. Lucky for me me that Rainy was here to make sure that I didn't accidently bump one of the cars as I was parking. The car was parked with inches to spare. Raven wasn't home from her wine class, but we lugged our suitcases up four flights of stairs and her neighbor let us in. We cooled off by standing next to the window air conditioner. NYC is currently hot & muggy!

Our night began when we met Raven at Jimmies No 43, a place that specializes in craft beers and serves small plates of food. Rainy and I both ordered a casked nut brown ale while Raven had Schneider's Aventinus. We shared beer sausages, herring & montauk tilefish ceviche. Rainy and Raven talked about friends from middle school and basically caught up on what everyone has been doing. Raven had recently been to Las Vegas so she was pretty up to date on people they knew.

Our next stop was next door to Burp Castle.......yes they served more craft beers but the atmosphere was like a Monastery. You are supposed to be quiet and let the beer speak to you. Well we weren't too quiet, but no one seemed to mind. I enjoyed a Hebrew, Rainy had a Tripel Karmeliet, Raven had a blanche style beer. Lucky for us they had pommes frites, belgium fries with an array of sauces, for us to sample.

We left the Burp Castle and went to the Blind Barber, a pseudo speakeasy. Their selection of beer was lacking (I had an IPA, Raven and Rainy had a wheat beer), but Raven finagled a private, off-limits, parlor for us to sit in. It was much quieter and more suited to our conversations.

Our last stop for the night was PDT (Please Don't Tell). To enter this true speakeasy, we went into Crif Dogs, a very tiny hot dog joint. Raven went into the phone booth, picked up the receiver and pushed a button. The hostess responded and let us all enter PDT through the phone booth. We were seated at the bar and ordered cocktails. Because we had a skilled bartender, we simply told him the liquor of choice and what we liked. I requested a gin drink that wasn't overly sweet. The bartender made a "She's so Delicious" that actually had a gentle hint of the red bell peppers that he muddled in. Rainy requested a whisky based drink. The bartender made a cocktail similiar to a Manhattan but he used bourbon and a maraschino cherry liquor, plus other ingredients. Raven ordered The Bone, a spicy tequila drink similar to a bloody mary. Every good speakeasy has a list of rules to follow. PDT just happens to post theirs in the bathroom that is lined with mosaic broken mirror fragments. By now it was past 1 am, but Rainy and I decided to each have another cocktail. This time Rainy had a drink made with tequila and strawberries. My request, thanks to Raven, challenged the bartender beyond his comfort zone. I wanted a cocktail using Canton ginger liqueor. The only one the bartender knew of used whiskey, which I don't drink. He ended up mixing a beautiful cocktail that used the canton, St. Germaine, and gin. Because the bar was linked to the hot dog stand, we were able to order a hot dog which of course was passed through a secret window. We shared a Wiley Dog.....Yummy!

Our last stop for the night was the Snack Dragon taco shack. You can imagine what we ordered! Actually , we shared nachoritos (crispy tortillas, delicately turned into nachos), quack-n-cheese (quinoa, beans and cheese), grilled sole tacos, and grilled sole with chorizo tacos.

We were full and slightly drunk.....time to go home.

Good Night.

Day 11 - Wednesday, June 23, 2010

After a leisurely breakfast at Hemingway Bistro, we headed back into Chicago and went straight to the Shedd Aquarium. It was raining as we stood in line for about 45 minutes to get into the aquarium. The rain was gentle and kept the heat at bay, but we were anxious to see what was inside! Rainy and I both liked the frogs the best. When Rainy was little, she was fascinated with frogs. I think it was her Aunt Janis that gave her a set of wooden poison dart frogs and the paints needed to render them as they actually looked. We were thrilled to see those same poison dart frogs at the aquarium! In reality, other than the frogs, we were somewhat disappointed with the overall aquarium. Rainy said the Seattle Aquarium was much better. After the aquarium, we headed out of Chicago towards Indiana. (Julie)

Leaving East out of Chicago and in to Indiana, our drive was relatively uneventful. While doing some searching online I found that there are inexpensive b&b's all over Amish country around Middlebury in Northern Indiana. I found the most affordable and booked a room.

It didn't take us long to come upon an obviously Amish owned restaurant (more like dining complex) called Das Deutch Essenhaus. This place was nuts. It could seat 1,200! They served the epitome of country dining. It would be impossible to eat vegetarian there... apparently the Amish really like their meat. I had a turkey dinner and my mom had fried chicken. There was home-made peanut butter on the table made with karo syrup and marshmallow cream!

We were driving Northwest into something very nasty looking and cars were roaring past me in no passing zones. I told my mom she should check the weather on my phone and sure enough there were severe thunderstorm, flash flood, and tornado warnings! The storm was set to hit our area in 15 minutes!

We got to the place we were staying just in time. When we got inside the Patchwork Quilt Inn, we were told not to go back outside. Our first stop on the introductory tour was the path to the basement, where it was likely we would end up. We were shown to our room and the lights flickered three times before the power was out for good. We sat at the window and watched the greenish/orange sky and the trees being pummeled by the wind. Our host came in a few minutes later and told us everyone needed to come to the dining room because a tornado had touched down in the neighboring town 5 miles away. To be honest, I was pretty excited because I have had a fascination with tornados since I was a kid. We waited for more news while everyone chatted excitedly. The storm passed relatively quickly and we were safe to go back to our room.

Day 9 - Monday, June 21, 2010

After straightening up the main house and putting the huntin' buggie away, we were off to Chicago (or so we thought). We had been wanting to stop by and see our old friends, Marilyn and Jerry Swanger who lived in the house closest to Briarwood Ranch, now would be the best time, the only time. The Swangers were not sure who was pulling up into their yard until we got close, then everyone was excited. We visited for a few hours, talking and laughing about events from the past and filling each other up with current events. Rainy spent those years at Briarwood playing with Marilyn's granddaughter, Kylie. Rainy and Kylie even went to kindergarten together. Marilyn tried to call Kylie, but she was at work.

Just as we were leaving, Kylie called, when she found out Rainy was there, she asked us to wait, she would come over with her daughter, Addie. Of course we had to wait! Once Kylie and Addie showed up, there was more laughing, talking about the past, discussing who remembered who from kindergarten, and of course, being entertained by Addie who will be one next week.

It was hard to leave, but at 5 pm, we decided that we better at least head towards Chicago. We got as far as Bloomington where we stayed at The Burr House Bed & Breakfast.

Day 10 - Tuesday, June 22,2010

Rainy and I had a wonderful breakfast at the Bern House Bed & Breakfast, Bloomington, Illinois, where we stayed the night. Yummy baked eggs with herbed croutons, sausage, sliced tomatoes, fruit, & cinnamon muffins. All of this served on china! We thought it was a wonderful way to start the day.

We left, heading north to Chicago on Interstate 55, but were able to pick up Route 66 at Joliet, a suburb of Chicago. For lunch, we stopped at a White Castle.....just had to try these little burgers fresh, not frozen. I didn't

realize they were served with diced grilled onions. Delicious!

On with the search for the end (or beginning) of the Mother Road. We

drove into downtown Chicago. Driving wouldn't have

been so bad except for all of the construction.

We drove all the way to the Navy Pier, where we found parking for the shocking price of $20. It was hot and humid as we walked around the pier,

constantly searching for the shady spots. I really wanted to take a

riverboat architectural tour, so we decided to do that first. It was a two hour tour up the river. The buildings were tall (of course) and there was a

wide variety of architectural styles represented. Funny though, the highlight of the tour was watching the Chicago Fire Department put out a fire that was burning in a piling on the river. We were passing the fire

before the "official" fire boat even arrived. It was interesting to see the

response. By the end of the tour, we were tired of the heat and the sun,

thought that touring the aquarium would be a nice change. Unfortunately, it was almost 5:30 and the aquarium was closing at 6 pm. It would have to wait until tomorrow. We decided to head west to the suburb of Oak Park where we would be staying at the Write Motel, across the street from the

Hemmingway Museum. It was nice to check in somewhat early! We walked down the main street to where there was a cluster of restaurants and decided on sushi for dinner. We walked back to our motel, had a nightcap, and called the day done.

Day 3 - Tuesday, June 15, 2010

We awoke early this morning as we were camping fairly close to a highway. The noise of morning traffic, plus the sunlight beaming into our tent made sleeping in almost impossible. We were on the road around 7:30 and I was in the search for coffee. We came upon the small town of Madrid, about 10 miles from Santa Fe. Definitely an artist community that sprung from what used to be an old mining town. There was a GREAT place for coffee & croissants. We sat outside and enjoyed the quiet and beauty of the town. We felt as if we had unexpectedly stumbled onto something quite wonderful.

On to Santa Fe! It was time for an oil change, and since it was too early for any of the museums to be open, we stopped in at Jiffy Lube. That taken care of we dashed in to Target to buy socks for Rainy. Then it was time to find the Plaza. The sun was out and it was starting to get warm, but there was a gentle breeze. We walked around the Plaza and admired the Native American craftsmen and there displays of jewelry & pottery. It took a lot of willpower to resist buying turquoise jewelry (seems to be my downfall). The highlight of Santa Fe was our visit to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. The display focused on O'Keeffe and abstraction. It was beautiful! They even had the "Jack in the Pulpit" series which I use to teach about O'Keeffe; how remarkable to see the actual paintings. Some of the artworks in the display were soft pastels or charcoals. I was amazed at the brilliant colors achieved and the sense of small details. It made me want to pull out my pastels (which I brought along) and start practicing! Before leaving Santa Fe, we stopped at the Guadalupe Cafe for lunch. Funny thing, I remember their green chili being so spicy that I could barely eat it. It wasn't the heat that I recalled from my teenage years.

Our Next stop was Las Vegas, New Mexico. We spent some time wandering around the town square and admiring the old buildings. We stepped into a couple of the stores to see what they had.

Back onto Route 66, we traveled the old road as much as possible on into Santa Rosa. The main attraction was the Blue Hole, an 80" wide, 240" deep artesian well with crystal clear, 61 degree water. Rainy and I decided it was time for a swim so we walked to the higher rocks and jumped in! The cold took my breathe away, but then it felt good. We swam around and jumped in from the high rocks a few more times before getting back on the road to drive to our night's destination:

Our next stop along old route 66 was the ghost town of Cuervo.  We searched amongst the old buildings, admiring their construction.  There was also a church that looked as if it was still cared for, but it was hard to tell for sure.

We also stopped in Montoya to photograph another decaying building, this one claiming to have cold beer!

The Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, New Mexico was our destination for the night.. The Blue Swallow was wonderful. We sat outside our door on old furniture, ate our leftovers from the Guadalupe Cafe, and enjoyed the sunset!

Day 2 - Monday, June 14, 2010

Our goal for today was to make it to Santa Fe and stay in a campground. We only made it to Albuquerque where we camped in the yard at a hostel!

Leaving Holbrook, Arizona fairly early in the morning, our goal was to stop at Stewart's Trading Post to check for Route 66 and other memorabelia. They were closed, but I HAD to take pictures of the strange maniquins.

Leaving Arizona, our first stop in New Mexico was Richardson's Cash Pawn and Trading Post in Gallup. We enjoyed looking at the fabulous turquoise jewelry, but managed to leave without buying a thing. Our next stop was along the edge of the massive El Malpais lave flow where we hiked to the crater of the Bandera Volcano and then cooled off in the ice cave

Bandera Volcano

The Ice Caves

Our next plan was to stop at Acoma Pueblo: Sky City. Unfortunately, they had closed early to celebrate a cultural holiday so we were unable to visit the pueblo. We settled for pictures from afar.

As we traveled, we did our best to stay on as much of the old Route 66 as possible, though it was often hard to tell if we were on the right road and traveling in the right direction. We were overjoyed when we thought we were lost but came across this:

Traveling the old highway meant we were lucky to see a variety of old bridges.