Just another wonderful visit to Mohonk Mountain House
Taking the family for their first visit to Mohonk.
Author: DJB
Architecture Old and New
Too often college campuses can be poorly designed landscapes for a hodgepodge of mediocre buildings. So when you come across good – or great – buildings in the academic setting it is a real treat. On this year’s vacation/college tour, we’ve seen some of both, but I’m pleased to say we’ve been fortunate in visiting colleges that through the years have been thoughtful about their buildings and their settings. We’ve now become old pros at the campus tour. Andrew and Claire head off with one tour guide so they aren’t intimidated (if they ever are) by having the folks in the same group. Candice and I then follow a second guide. Candice pays attention to what the guide is saying, while keeping her eye trained on the design and maintenance of the buildings. I take pictures of the architecture and any landscape feature that strikes my fancy. We all come together at the end and share what we’ve seen and heard. Hey, it works for us! At the end of week one, we’ve seen some …
The people and places on Main Street
There are few things I like better than walking along a great Main Street. For the past two days, I’ve been lucky enough to walk around four terrific Main Streets: Middletown, Connecticut; Amherst and Northampton, Massachusetts; and tiny Red Hook, NY. You can pick up life lessons on Main Street – like the bumper sticker I saw on a car parked along Northampton’s Main Street this morning: Just say NO to Negativity. You can also meet very interesting people. While taking photos around Northampton, I was approached by a resident of the streets of the city. He must have seen my inner preservationist (sometimes people who look at the world a little differently have great powers of observation), because he told me he liked to work for the “hysterical society.” He then proceeded to point out the historical courthouse (where Calvin Coolidge first practiced law) – a very nice 1885 building seen in the photo above. My new friend then pointed in the opposite direction and identified the Northampton City Hall. “See those turrets?” he …
Two Years and There’s Still More to Come
I began writing More to Come… two years ago as a way to keep friends and loved ones updated during a family trip out west. As I wrote I found I enjoyed capturing not only experiences from travels, but also observations about books I was reading, music I was hearing, or simply life. The feedback was also positive (probably helped by my admonition in the “About” section that if you didn’t like what I was writing you should “get your own blog”). Two years later I find myself on another vacation with the family and More to Come… has over 300 posts to date. So look forward to some more vacation reports. I should warn you that it is that type of vacation that hits families with teenagers: the college visits. We’re in the northeast for this trip, and while I won’t bore you (or embarrass my kids) with litanies of schools visited and reactions to the tours, I will post a few stories and photos along the way of great architecture and interesting people …
After Pepe’s Pizza, Only 999 to Go!
Some time ago Candice purchased the book 1000 Places to See Before You Die: USA and Canada to spur us to find some interesting places to visit as we traveled. So as we headed out to the northeast for vacation and college tours (not in that order), she picked it up and began to check what was on the list in the cities we planned to see. If the first day is any indication, we’re going to eat well. As we pulled into New Haven, she read, You can appreciate the city’s self-anointed role as ‘Pizza Capital of the World’ by visiting Little Italy, specifically Wooster Street, where a few acclaimed pizza joints stand cheek by jowl, the most famous being Frank Pepe’s, which has been turning out incomparably delicious thin-crust pies since 1925. Never one to pass up “the most famous” of any restaurant, we went, stood in line for 45 minutes on a Monday evening, and then entered the no-frills dining room (we were in booth 17) where we feasted on two fabulous …
The Gospel Truth
I love books that force you to turn page after page because you want to see what comes next. Dirk Hayhurst’s The Bullpen Gospels, which was released this spring, is that type of book. Claire has to read a memoir for school this summer. I’ve thought about recommending this book…and then I remember the foul language, the sophomoric pranks, and the detailed descriptions of every body part – male and female – known to man. But seriously, she could do a lot worse than The Bullpen Gospels. Hayhurst is a relief pitcher who has played in the Padres and Blue Jays organizations. On its face, The Bullpen Gospels is his recounting of the 2007 minor league season, where he played in Single-A and Double-AA ball. You will laugh your ass off at the antics of ballplayers working to get to The Show. (Sorry, it is hard to get the language of minor league players out of your mind after reading The Bullpen Gospels.) Riding home on the train last evening, I laughed out loud twice …
Save ALL Of Ellis Island
Last week I was in New York and had the opportunity to tour the South Side of Ellis Island. It was my first trip to this evocative place where as many as 40% of Americans can trace their initial experience in this country. From the Save Ellis Island website, here are the basic facts: The Ellis Island Immigration Station opened on Ellis Island in January of 1892. It served as the primary immigration center for the United States from 1892 until 1954 when it was closed. Facilities were built to house and feed immigrants while they waited for their identification papers to be processed. A state-of-the-art hospital complex treated and cured most sick immigrants in order for them to be permitted entry into the country. More than 12 million immigrants passed through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1954, reaching a peak of 1.25 million in 1907. It has been estimated that 40% of Americans today can trace at least one ancestor’s entry into the United States through Ellis Island. It is the early twentieth-century state-of-the-art …
The Big Burn
Timothy Egan’s “The Big Burn” is another in his collection of smartly written books about important times in our history.
Summer Saturdays are the Best
The joyful photograph at the top of the post – which comes from the wonderful photo/blog Real People Eat Local (check it out for their delicious pictures) – is a perfect encapsulation of our day. Summer Saturdays really are the best! Today started relatively early (by Saturday standards) as Andrew had to be at the Cathedral for a choral practice at 8 a.m. Our car is in the shop this weekend waiting for a leaky fuel pump to be repaired (one never wants to smell gasoline in your home garage), so Candice, Andrew and I had to juggle our schedules around the availability of Zipcars – the wonderful car sharing service we swear by. Because we have some 25 Zipcars within about 3 blocks of our house, we picked one up (a little Honda) and were on our way by 7:30. Urban living is great! Swim team meets the past six weeks have their own charm, but they have disrupted the Saturday morning ritual Candice and I established this year. So we were pleased to …
Divisionals
How hot can it be? Shortly after 8 a.m. this morning the sun topped the trees and began to bake our group of swim team parents who had camped out poolside to cheer for the Gators in the annual Divisionals swim meet. We were competing in Division E this year, which was a stretch for our ladies and gentlemen. But the team gave it their best and ended up 4th out of the six-team division. We had some amazing efforts by our swimmers, including a new pool record set by one of Claire’s best friends in 15-18 girls breaststroke. And they did it with temperatures nearing 100 and the heat index going to 105 degrees and higher. How hot can it be? It was brutal. Andrew made divisionals this year in two races, the 15-18 boys 200 meter medley relay (swimming backstroke) and the 100 meter breaststroke. The relay boys were up against some tough competition, but knocked time off their personal best. But it was in the breaststroke where Andrew had his best race …
MORE TO COME... 