Tag Archives: Tourism

There’s More to Baltimore

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Baltimore…so close to DC but a whole other experience. A couple of weeks ago, my sister was visiting from South Carolina, and we took a brief but action-packed journey to Charm City. She had some Marriot points, so we stayed “in style” right on the Inner Harbor near Pier 5. A room with a view from the 14th floor, no less.

The first things we did, after checking into our hotel, was to walk around the harbor to the Visitor Center. Here we met an amiable older gent named Sonny, who took us under his wing and gave us excellent suggestions on sites and how to get there. Handing us a map of the bus routes, he explained the free circulator bus that would get us just about anywhere worth going.

We ignored his first suggestion of visiting Fort McHenry, as we wanted to stay closer to the harbor. Instead, we took the short walk over to Cross Street Market in the Federal Hill neighborhood, and had a delicious Haitian vegetarian meal from one of the stands. Next, a visit to the incomparable American Visionary Arts Museum, also in the neighborhood. A brief but free water taxi ride later, we were back at our hotel to rest up before dinner. We picked Sonny’s choice, one of the oldest restaurants in nearby Little Italy, Chiapparelli‘s. Even though I thought there was no way to fit more food into my stomach, we then walked to Fell’s Point for gelato.

Our second day, we set out on the Circulator bus to the Johns Hopkins University campus, where the Baltimore Museum of Art is located. (First, we had to fortify ourselves by walking a few blocks east to a commercial strip of neighborhood for some coffee and bagels.) I was especially impressed by the Cone Sisters collection, which includes a lot of Impressionists and things that the rich sisters had bought from Gertrude Stein when she needed money.

Next, we set off for Lexington Market. You can’t take a free circulator bus there directly, so we had to do some map-reading to figure it out, but it was only about four blocks from the purple line route. The last time I visited Lexington Market, it was in the “old building” which is right next door to the “new building” which most businesses have moved to. Except Faidley’s, the quintessential destination for what is touted as the best crab cake in Baltimore, which we had to experience. Indeed, it is a masterpiece, especially eaten standing up at a wooden table. The patina of their of the old location, open since 1886, will never be matched if/when they move to the new building.

After a visit to the nearby graveyard where Edgar Allen Poe’s mortal remains reside, we realized that the “arts crawl” in the Bromo District that we had signed up for was – horrors – actually the next week (duh!), but that gave us a good excuse to go back to our hotel and chill for awhile before seeking a light dinner, and then indulging in a marathon Food Channel watching spree.

The next morning, we awoke to the golden light bouncing off the harborscape, packed up and took ourselves to the iconic (but perhaps overrated) Miss Shirley’s Cafe‘s downtown location, and drove back home. Only the fact that we had walked many miles both days kept us from having gained five pounds.

Left: View from the “Bird’s Nest” at the American Visionary Art Museum, looking toward main building and downtown. Below: Baltimore painted screen exhibition at the museum.

Free water taxi across the harbor.
Despite its many good points, trying to get from one point to another within the Baltimore Museum of Art is not intuitive in the least. We must have gone through the Jon Waters Rotunda, where this curious piece of art resides, at least four times to reach other exhibitions!
Now, that’s what I call a crab cake! It’s at least the size of a softball, maybe bigger.
Golden morning light on the harbor, looking west.

California, Part III: Around Los Angeles

L., Los Angeles, travel,

We completed our recent California trip in and around L.A. We took the Coastal Highway (AKA Rte. 1) most of the way up from San Diego, with many beautiful views of the ocean. They remained “from afar” because it was so chilly with almost gale force winds all the way. Finally reached L.A. just in time to get caught in rush hour. (Which is not hard to do since it lasts, like, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. most days.) But we were treated to the spectacle of the snow-capped mountains flanking downtown L.A. so it wasn’t so bad.

We’ve housed a number of Smithsonian interns over the years, and kept close some of them. Madeeha Ahmed and her family have adopted us. We stayed with Madeeha at her cozy apartment near Echo Park several days, and visited her mom’s for a delicious Pakistani-American feast one night, and had fun playing with her niece and nephew and visiting with her sisters and brother in law. Another former intern, and 2022 Festival assistant, Andrea Mayorga, invited us to Santa Clarita for an outstanding Guatemalan-American feast with her family. Needless to say, we did not lose any weight on this trip!

Along with visiting friends, eating lots of good food, and taking some walks around Echo Park and Silver Lake, we visited the new(ish) Academy of Motion Pictures Museum. The museum is located next to the Los Angeles Contemporary Museum of Art (LACMA) and not far from the La Brea Tar Pits. It’s quite large, with rotating exhibits focusing on different films which illustrate the complex business, and magic, of movie-making. (Something that I have been long fascinated by, but then who isn’t?) The Godfather exhibition brought back a lot of memories – not all good. Spoiler alert – remember the horse head in the bed?

Our trip to California all seems like a dream (a chilly and often damp one) now. Isn’t that the way with vacations?

Madeeha and Steve live the good life, sipping coffee at Woodcat on Sunset Boulevard.
Swan boat on Echo Park Lake. Note snow-capped mountains in the distance.

One of my favorite things on display at the Academy museum was this set of facial hair. A mustache for all occasions!
Of course, many more famous things are on display, like these Jack Skellington heads showing various emotions.
More hipster action from Steve and Madeeha, this time brunch at Sqirl.
Sidewalk wisdom near Silver Lake.

California Part II: San Diego Delights

#sandiego, tourism, ,

The second portion of our recent California trip took place in San Diego. The trip down there from our rental car pick-up spot near LAX was pretty grueling, as it got dark and started raining (during rush hour on the I-5) which was no fun at all for Steve the Driver. But we made it to the pleasantly retro Old Town Inn, and found a yummy kabab joint open later than nine p.m. near downtown before crashing.

The choice of San Diego as a destination spurred from a wish to visit my old high school buddy, Linda and her significant other, Tom, who spend the winters there. They drive across country from Western Massachusetts in their well-appointed RV, before the snow threatens to fly, jeep in tow. They park their home on wheels on Mission Bay, situated perfectly to view both sunsets and fireworks at Sea World. Nice!

Since they are semi-locals, they suggested an itinerary for the day which began with breakfast in Pacific Beach at an iconic restaurant, World Famous, steps from the beach. There’s a porch with heaters, which is good because despite our hope that San Diego would be warmer than San Francisco, it wasn’t much and the wind was wicked. (Still, some intrepid surfers were out there on the waves.)

We planned to spend the rest of the day, which you can do easily, at Balboa Park. Most people seem to know the park because the world-class San Diego Zoo is there, but, covering 1,200 acres, there a lot more to keep you amused. We stayed within the ample confines of a section of the park which once housed the 1915-17 Panama-California Exposition. (Why Panama you ask? Celebrating the opening of the Panama Canal, is the short answer.)

Today, the several-blocks-square cluster of buildings and other grandiose features left from the exposition (which, according to historic record, was not a really big success) house museums, displays, and theaters, and flank gardens, fountains and open arched arcades which, with some imagination, can transport you to — hmm, not sure where exactly, but a sort of part European, part Disneyland place with international flare.

A visit to the Visitor Center in the complex is suggested to get a map to keep you on the right path(s). We started at the Mingei International Museum (which it being a Tuesday was one of the only attractions in the park open), which features, naturally, international folk art and craft. There were two current exhibitions, one on piñatas and one on beads, both really well done.

Next, we descended into the charming Japanese Friendship Garden complete with koi ponds and a flowing stream, a bonsai display, and well-groomed paths lined with flowers, trees and statuary. Next, a tour around the House of Pacific Relations International Cottages, offering a sampling of cultures from around the world. (Only three of the 34 were open by three p.m. Most are only open on the weekends, and those open on weekdays seem to close early in the afternoon.)

After a bit more wandering around, we took a brief walk through a garden full of strange and wonderful succulents, and then contemplated an early dinner. Where could we see the sunset over the ocean and eat local seafood at a reasonable price? Back where we started from, it turns out! So, we backtracked to World Famous, enjoying a symmetrical ending to a great day.

Breezy and chilly Pacific Beach, the starting point.
This is a piñata, believe it or not. The exhibition showed how artists are “pushing the envelope” of piñata making with very small and very large iterations as well as artwork using piñata materials, making political and social statements, etc.
Overlooking the Japanese Friendship Garden from above.
An example of the splendiferous architectural wonders left over from the California-Panama Exposition.
Otherworldly cacti in one of the many Balboa Park gardens.
And… back where we started from. We enjoyed the sunset from the comforts of our table since the wind and chill never let up. (The World Famous might think about cleaning their porch windows.)
Long view of Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco

California, Part I: San Francisco Sojourn

San Francisco, travel,

A nice, warm, sunny escape from Northern Virginia to California seemed like just the ticket for late February/early March. The only part of that to come true, however, was the “escape” part as it was hardly warm and all too often not sunny during our whole trip. Especially in San Francisco, our first stop on the journey.

Still, we had fun visiting and hanging out with daughter M.E. and other friends, and seeing some of the sites. Since she’s lived there for a number of years, there is not much that we haven’t already visited at least once, but we found a few new diversions.

A visit to the Disney Family Museum in the Presidio was one of the first stops. Why is this museum in SF you ask? According to a helpful museum guide, it is because Walt’s daughter Diane lived in SF and wanted it close to home. No matter, it is interesting and more expansive than meets the eye at first (it just keeps going and going, chronicling Walt’s life from birth to death, and covering the evolution of the creative output we all know and most of us grew up with). Okay, so it may white-wash some of the not so great aspects of Walt’s personality and politics (see for instance this list of the not-so-nice). But, still, a good diversion for a couple of hours, and well done exhibitions, interactives and video clips that bring back memories.

Nearby, the new Tunnel Tops Park offers a spectacular view of the Golden Gate Bridge, the Bay and downtown SF. That view will never get old. We also caught a sunset at the ocean – at that point is was so cold and windy that we jumped out of the car only long enough to snap the sunset and ran back in – no lingering on the beach watching the few crazy surfers.

My birthday having been earlier in February, I had requested a mother-daughter birthday celebration at a Tiki Bar, of which there are many in SF including the original Trader Vic’s. We chose the Tonga Room in the basement of the Fairmont Hotel, downtown. (You could take a cable car part of the way there but we took the bus.) Totally over the top, and one tall $20 drink, which includes at least five types of liquor, will serve to set the mood.

The SF visit also included a performance of M.E.’s improv class, a visit to her high school friend Suchana (who impressively just defended her Ph.D. at Stanford), lots of good food including a dinner with friends/colleagues Elisa and Kyle, and a walk in the mostly gloomy, occasionally sunny, Golden Gate Park Botanical Garden. All in all, despite blooming flowers, palm trees and citrus fruit growing in backyards, chilly outside but warm and comforting inside with good company all around.

Here are some snaps of the highlights.

Steve was wearing a mask more to keep warm than to ward off COVID and other germs.
This is what makes creating film a lot like doing the Festival. Behind Walt Disney there was a whole host of creative talent, many acknowledged here and many more remaining anonymous I’m sure.
It always interests me afterwards what I decided to take photos of. I was smitten with the range of colors in this display about making color animations.
I’ve never been to Disneyland (yes to Disney World though) but this scale model was fun, and also huge.
Our chilly sunset.
Behind the railing at the Tonga Room. Which is where you have to stand unless you want to eat something (not worth it) and actually get a table. But it is still fun and makes dancing to the cover band easier.
My Mai Tai. Very potent! Stole the umbrella from someone else’s abandoned drink as you don’t get one with a Mai Tai but I really wanted one.
Breakfast, bordering on lunch, at a Mexican place near our basic hotel the Geary Parkway Inn.
M.E.s half of the Improv class takes a bow after the first part of their performance. So fun!
Indian lunch with Suchana to celebrate her impending Ph.D. defense.

Dispatch from a Happier Time

Guadalajara, Guadalajara, tourism, ,

After our trip in mid-February to Guadalajara, Mexico, I planned all sorts of topics to write about, as I had with trips to France and India in the past. Happy things, bright and sunny things, reflecting the excitement of traveling to a new place full of color, light and warmth.

Then, within a few weeks, the dreaded COVID-19 hit full force and suddenly, despite the early arrival of spring flowers, things seem bleak, bleached out, and hand-sanitized for your protection. My mother’s assisted living facility in South Carolina is closed to visitors; we are teleworking which is okay in the short run but will get old I am sure; and the larger world full of students trying to learn from home, social distancing, and semi-empty grocery shelves is the new reality.

Still, I wanted to share a few lovely moments to add cheer to a cheerless situation. And I might write a couple more blogs on specific topics such as the voladores. But for now, our wonderful trip seems like a dream. And let’s hope our current situation does not turn into a nightmare.

Gaby and M.E. goof off with guavas near a natural warm spring which we took a soak in.
Murals, but famous and not so famous artists, abound in and around Guadalajara. This one was on a small island in the middle of Lake Chapala.
Steve, M.E. and Gaby pose in the late day sun in Tlaquepaque, a town full of crafts, mariachis, and people having a good time.
Even the skeletons were cheery.

Kalorama by Call Box

tourism, ,

On a recent walk in DC, my husband and our young friend Gabriel and I parked the car at Woodley Park and wandered around, through Adams Morgan. We took a couple of turns and found ourselves confronted by the rarified architecture of Sheridan-Kalorama.

This historic district is home to ambassadors, politicians (and their relatives), ex-presidents, and various other rich folks. Gabriel, an avid smart phone user, gave us a running commentary as to whose house was whose, but there was another form of interpretation that, to me, was a lot more fun: repurposed call boxes.

What’s a call box? Well, according to the project’s web site, call boxes were used in the past (from “the 19th century” until the 1970s when the 911 system made them unnecessary) to call police or firemen in emergencies. You may have noticed them on city street corners – boxes of various shapes on a pole, painted red.

In 2003, the committee heading this project starting working to turn the abandoned call boxes into “mini-museums” with interpretive labels on one side, and original art work on the other. There are sixteen of them; we only saw three or four. Finding them all could make for a fun scavenger hunt/walking tour.

The “Women of Influence” box is located just inside a security fence surrounding a stately home. All along this fence is a sign that warns the viewer that you will be violating the law if you get any nearer. This turns out to be Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner’s digs. The call box is more interesting than that fact in my opinion.

  • The women of influence include Eleanor Roosevelt and Madame Chiang Kai-Shek.
  • Hard to get a good angle on this thanks to Ivanka and Jared’s fence. And leaning in might have brought on the secret police?

Another box detailed the history of a nearby house called The Lindens, which was built in Massachusetts in 1754 and moved to Washington, DC in six railway cars and reassembled in DC in 1935. Without the call box, you’d just walk past the house and probably admire it, but you’d have no idea it was so well traveled.

You can read about the rest of the Sheridan-Kalorama call box mini-museums here. There’s a map of the neighborhood so that you can embark on your own walking tour as well.

“Kalorama” means “fine view” in Latin, and the view is indeed fine there, which we found out as we walked across the bridge back to Woodley Park as the sun was setting.

Swiss Sojourn in West Virginia

#HelvetiaWV, tourism, ,

West Virginia may seem like an unlikely place for a tiny Swiss American town. But, as a folklorist, I often expect the unexpected. Cultural adventures that might surprise other people don’t faze me and my colleagues.

So, it was with delight that my friend and colleague Arlene and I set off, after interviewing ginseng trader Tony Coffman, for an evening in tiny Helvetia, WV, which was a stopover highly recommended by former Smithsonian co-worker and current head of the WV Folklife Program, Emily Hilliard. Emily was so excited about our visit to Helvetia that she helped, via email, to rally a bevvy of locals, which led to an impromptu creek-side party.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. First, we had to make sure to reach the town before five p.m., when the Kultur Haus (sort of general store and museum, as well as post office, rolled into one) closes for the evening, and in order to have enough time to eat dinner before six, when the Hutte (the town restaurant) shuts down for the night. The Kultur Haus is the home of a charming collection of Fasnacht masks – well, if you find giant leering faces and fancifully menacing creatures charming. Fasnacht is the Swiss answer to Mardi Gras, and during that wintry celebration, hundreds of people descend upon Helvetia.

But it was sunny and warm on this May evening as we parked near our abode for the night, the Beekeeper Inn, and there was hardly another person in sight as we took the short walk between the historic wooden buildings. After visiting the Kultur Haus, we settled into our dining experience. We met the keeper of the town web site, Dave Whipp, for dinner and he offered advice on menu choices, historic background on the town, and told us stories about some of the inhabitants, past and present. I had homemade sausage, which was covered in tasty tomato sauce and accompanied by sauerkraut, a potato pancake, and hot apple sauce. Arlene went for the bratwurst. Just when we thought we could eat no more, we surrendered to warm buttery peach cobbler.

Rolling out of the restaurant, we walked the short distance back to the Beekeeper and were greeted by Clara Lehmann and her husband Jonathan Lacoque, filmmakers, and their five year old twins, and Clara’s mom Heidi. Clara grew up in Helvetia, went away for awhile, but returned to raise her family. Thanks to the internet (which apparently they get there, although cell service was blissfully nonexistent for us during our whole visit), they can do work from this most isolated spot for big clients like Google. They are currently putting the finishing touches on a film about her grandmother, one of the biggest movers and shakers and promoters of Helvetia, who passed away recently.

Soon we were joined by the next door neighbors, a concert pianist/composer (originally from England), and his wife, a nurse (originally from Louisiana). Wine, beer, more food materialized, and the cheerful conversation punctuated by the babble of the creek stretched until darkness, the evening chill and some early mosquitos drove everyone toward warm beds.

The next morning, a sumptuous breakfast at the Hutte set us up for the whole rest of the day. Reluctantly, we pried ourselves away from the table and left for more West Virginia adventures. But the memory of the good company, local charm, and global connections lingers on. Aufwiedersehen, Helvetia. Hope to be back some day. There are still plenty of choices on the menu of the Hutte to try!

Arlene resorts to reading the paper map over breakfast.
  • Some of the many Fastnatch masks at the Kultur Haus.
  • View of the Beekeeper Inn from the Hutte.
  • One of the Hutte room views.

Florida, Part 2: Great Men and Chickens

chickens, Florida, Great Men, , ,

Florida as we know it today, one might conclude from formal public art and street signs, was created by Great Men. Of course, we all know that is not true, but Great Men are on display almost everywhere around the state. Ponce de Leon, though he failed to find the Fountain of Youth, did “discover” Florida (as the History Channel explains, this happened on April 2, 1513). His name is commemorated in parks, streets, and a whole town in the state.

Henry Flagler came much later, but is credited with inventing tourism in Florida. Although one encounters Flagler’s name in many places in Florida, we learned all about Flagler while in Key West, through a very illuminating exhibition at the Custom House museum. One of his chief feats was masterminding the Florida East Coast Railway, an enormous and costly venture (in funds and number of workers killed during the construction) linking the most remote but also the most populated and economically successful of the chain of islands to Miami. Voila, tourism is born, sort of.

We did not drive the length of the highway that now follows Flagler’s accomplishment, but arrived on the water via the Key West Express from Fort Myers. The day before taking the boat down, we explored this fine town and discovered that most things there are named after Three Great Men who wintered there: Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Harvey Firestone. Statues of this threesome lounge in the middle of a fountain in Centennial Park on the edge of downtown.

So much for Great Men. Let us now turn to chickens. Key West is proudly quirky, and one of these quirks comes in the form of “gypsy chickens” which roam the streets, yards and parks freely. Forget the famed six-toed cats of Hemingway’s adobe (speaking of great men); chickens rule in Key West, whole families of them. When we got tired and bored of battling the tourist frenzy of Duval Street, we settled on a park bench (which are few and far between in Key West unfortunately) and watched the chicken show, featuring dueling crowing roosters, and hens clucking in complaining “mom tones” to their tiny fluffy offspring.

Florida. So much more than warm winter weather, palm trees and water, water everywhere. Even more than great men and chickens.

  • African American soldier of the Civil War statue, Ft. Myers
  • Street art in Ft. Myers
  • Edison, Ford and Firestone
  • Key West quirky signs
  • Route 1 ends in Key West
  • Porch art in Key West
  • Small delicious Cuban restaurant, Key West
  • The art of Mario Sanchez from Key West
  • One of the many

George Alfred Townsend: A Gap(land) in our Knowledge

culture, tourism, travel, , , ,

Nature and some largely forgotten history converged on a little post-Thanksgiving jaunt we took this weekend.  The Appalachian Trail intersects with a small park called Gathland in rural Washington, County, Maryland.   I wish I could say we went on a hike, but since the light was failing when we finally got there, we just explored the mute, stone testimonies to the man who was George Alfred Townsend, AKA “Gath.”

One of the two interpretive signs that deal directly with this enigma of a war correspondent and author of several novels includes the quote, “Mankind is always interesting, but is also fatiguing.”  As a successful writer, with it would seem substantial financial means, Gath and his beloved wife Bessie built a country estate to escape mankind and Washington, DC.

As most of the other ten or so signs describe various aspects of Civil War campaigns in the area, one does not learn much more about Gath, his life, and work from the site.  Bessie gets even shorter shrift.  The buildings remaining in the park, constructed from an attractive local stone, include Gath’s “empty tomb” – highly creepy, even if his mortal remains did not end up there – and the ruins of what appears to have been a very large barn.  There are also two houses intact, and the park web site promises a museum in one of them, open in the tourist season.

The central attraction of the property is a massive and curious memorial to war correspondents, planned and perhaps financed by Gath.  It towered over the peaceful late fall landscape like the sole remaining wall of a castle, with arches and crenelations, statuary and niches.  And a weather vane.

Perhaps we will return to visit the museum if/when it is open. Perhaps we will acquire a copy of one of Gath’s novels, such as The Entailed Hat, or Patty Cannon’s Times (as you see from this link, it is available on Amazon) and read it to better understand this contemporary of Mark Twain’s.  Perhaps not.  Meanwhile, visiting what remains of Gath’s country estate and trying to decipher his life from the meager outdoor interpretation available in the park made for an interesting afternoon.

Teddy Roosevelt in Buffalo: Mystery in History Solved

culture, tourism, travel, , ,

While in Buffalo recently for the annual American Folklore Society meetings, I had some free time to explore this fascinating city.  (Yes, it is much more than hot wings and Niagra Falls.)  I set off to explore why Theodore Roosevelt was inaugurated in Buffalo in 1901.

I set off on a brisk (due to the 40sF temperature and wind) walk from downtown, admiring the architecture along the way, and soon arrived at the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Historical Site

This stately mansion houses not only the library where Roosevelt was inaugurated, but an impressive array of interactive displays for deeper dives.  While you wait for your guided tour through the house, you are immersed in an exhibit on the 1901 Pan Am Exposition,  a sort of world’s fair designed to showcase everything progressive and superior about America.  Considering that electricity, and even ice cream, were new things back then, there was a lot to ooh and aah over at this fantastic city of the future for the people of the day, and putting yourself in their place via the displays was fun.

Things get decidedly darker when the tour guide puts on a video that explains how, after a rousing speech about the wonders of the exposition and of America, President McKinley is shot while greeting well wishers.  (Obviously at least one person, Leon Czolgosz, did not wish him well at all.)  TR was the Vice President, and when poor McKinley finally succumbed to his wounds (unfortunately he did not die instantly but suffered in the hands of inferior medical practices of the day), Roosevelt was summoned to Buffalo to pay his respects and get sworn in.

The next area imagines the many pressing issues of the day that must have been going through Roosevelt’s mind as he prepared to take over the presidency.  Many of them sounded disturbingly familiar to those of us reading the news in 2018:  immigrants flooding the country; poor race relations; and rampant devastation of natural resources in some of the country’s most spectacular wild landscapes, among others.

Poor old Teddy had his hands full, in other words.  As those of us who know a little something about his personal history (or find out more through a visit to one of the many TR historical sites around the country), he was not exactly perfect.  (Let’s not get into such things as the eminent domain of the Philippines, destructive safaris in Africa, etc.)

In any case, the tour through the house, standing in the library were the inauguration took place, seeing a pile of facsimiles of telegrams (the email – or even Twitter – of the day) that he needed to address, and then diving into more history in the upstairs rooms of the mansion where you can pose with a larger-than-life cut out, pretend to be president, and contemplate further how far, but then again how close, we still are to issues of 1901, was all very interesting and powerful experience.  Thanks to our tour guide and the staff of the site for an enlightening couple of hours.