When we realized that certain trips we took from Long Island (notably to Washington, D.C. and further south) would now take us twice as long when we moved permanently upstate, we decided a trip to our nation’s capital would be in order.
Last time we were in Washington was between Christmas and New Years. The streets were empty and it was bitter cold. This time the streets were filled with tourists and school groups.
Our first stop after checking into the hotel was a walk down to the National Mall where we thought we’d pay Abe Lincoln a visit. This has always been my favorite “monument” in D.C.; there is such a presence in the massive stone structure which always has a humbling effect on me when I see it.
After visiting Abe, we headed back to the hotel to get ready for dinner at Kinship. I always love to stumble upon some interesting architecture along the way – whether it be a hidden courtyard or intriguing passageway.
Kinship
Kinship is a one-star Michelin restaurant near the convention center. What brought me to this restaurant was the inventive menu. I have to say, I loved the restaurant; the service was outstanding and most (but not all of the dishes) were superbly prepared. Here were some of my favorites: lobster “French toast,” celery root salad that looked like it had dollops of goat cheese around it but which were actually tiny meringues and finally potato crusted pike.
The next morning we woke up to pouring rain but determined to sight-see as much as possible. On the agenda that day, a trip to the National Portrait Gallery to see Kehinde Wiley’s portrait of President Obama as well as Amy Sherald’s portrait of Michelle Obama. Neither disappointed and I was pleasantly surprised that we picked the correct time to visit since the gallery was not that crowded.
And even though we had visited the National Portrait Gallery before, we didn’t remember the beautiful building! I also loved reading about the history of the structure – it is one of D.C.’s oldest buildings and housed the U.S. patent office at one point. Here’s a shot of one of the hallways.
Julie’s Kitchen
We also paid a visit to the National Museum of American history to revisit Julia Child’s kitchen from her house in Cambridge, MA. We had seen it once before but it had since been moved to the ground floor of this museum as part of a “Food” exhibit. I spent a lot of time staring at her kitchen and imagining her cooking in the space.
Look at those blue cabinets! And those funky kitchen chairs!
I also loved the fact the exhibit included her much-earned degree from the Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris. Problem is when I looked at the diploma I only saw Meryl Streep (as Julia Child in the film “Julie and Julia”) not Julia herself! I guess that means Meryl did a really good job portraying her.
We stopped to have a bite at Michel Richard’s Central near the mall area since it had been decent on our two previous visits. This time however, we were disappointed. In fairness, I’m not a big fan of brunch menus but usually can find an omelet or a club sandwich. This time around they had neither and I was stuck with eggs benedict with a couple of slices of smoked salmon which although they visually looked OK, they came out cold and not very appetizing.
After lunch, we headed over to visit the Botanical Gardens. So many flowers! So many plants! And mangoes! The visit brightened up the gray and rainy Sunday afternoon.
It’s Always Happy Hour Somewhere
Actually it was nearly 6 p.m. and we had a good two hours to kill before dinner so we headed over to the Old Ebbitt Grill for oyster happy hour. The restaurant was packed with locals and tourists alike. Tourist question of the day: Why are you dragging your luggage through the restaurant? Could you not have left the bag at the hotel or checked it somewhere? Ditto for toddlers. TODDLERS DO NOT BELONG IN BARS. This in my mind is non-negotiable and I’m all for restaurants that ban kids in certain areas.
The bar was crowded but we managed to squeeze in and order a couple of drinks and a dozen oysters. The drinks were fare, ditto for the oysters. It may be described as an “iconic tavern,” but I won’t be back.
Mediocre Sunday Eats
Sunday turned out to be our day of not-so-good eating, since dinner that night at Le Diplomate (again a place we had been to before) served us a too-salty plate of tuna carpaccio and a tough steak frites. (Although the fries were good.)
The day wasn’t a total waste however, since checking our “Pacer” app, we had walked this much! And burned off 800 calories (theoretically) of uninspired cooking!
It’s been nearly seven weeks (but who’s counting!) since we moved permanently to the Red House. It has taken some time to get used to the fact that now, for the first time, we have no “home” to go back to on Long Island. That means we no longer lose half a Sunday (inevitably a beautiful Sunday afternoon) to get to Long Island so one, or both of us, could go to work Monday morning. Yeah!
I will still be working on Long Island and this week was the start of my Monday morning commute (much better than Sunday afternoons!) I will be staying with my parents (Thanks Mom and Dad!) 1-2 nights a week. Since I’ve been doing this “commute” nearly every weekend for 9 years, it’s actually pretty easy. Now it’s just different days of the week!
In the meantime, we are still hanging pictures (we have a lot of pictures). We even have frames that don’t have pictures!
Plus we’ve already started moving pictures around that we hung up a few years ago and decided we wanted something else in their place.
Although I do like the top drawing by my Uncle John, I prefer the drawing our daughter Rachel made of the Eiffel Tower juxtaposed with Edvard Munch’s The Scream. In her rendition, the “screamer” is in miniature form and floating on a cloud. (She was very young when she did that picture, so rule out any extracurricular party drugs, please.)
Closets? What Closets?
Trying to find room for everything (mostly clothes) in a house that has ONE walk-in closet downstairs (for coats originally but now housing all of Lynn’s hammers and drills and screwdrivers and nails, etc., etc.) is nearly impossible. There is also a small closet in the master bathroom but eventually it will be made into a linen closet.
That means, we have clothes stuck on rolling racks that are more suited for fashion shows. Meaning they should only be holding a couple of designer outfits and not the shirts and pants and dresses and coats we’ve hung on them.
We already broke one such rack when it crumbled from the weight of too many sweaters and jeans. Just look at it!
Garden Update
In the midst of all the unpacking and arranging and rearranging, I’ve tried to tend to the garden and am happy to report that for the first time in many years, I have zucchini! They are still little but I have hope they won’t be eaten by birds or insects or a bunny if he or she manages to get inside the fence.
We also have peas growing quite well, broad beans that are doing okay, and tomatoes that are coming along quite nicely.
Then there’s the lettuce. When our son Nicholas came up to visit, he thinks the lettuce we grow is the best he’s ever had. Glad he likes it and the simple salads I make too!
And look at all the flowers.! We have day lily’s in a brilliant orange, and Stella D’Oro ones in a gorgeous yellow. I really love flowers and those growing in the garden right now not only add a welcome splash of color against all the green fields but they just bring the garden to life.
I’ve also put up what Lynn refers to as the “cemetery fence” and since he has a sense of humor, he will start humming an appropriate cemetery “dirge,” usually something along the lines of Elton John’s “Funeral for a Friend.”
This is due to the fact that the last three summers I planted roses, the deer have taken it upon themselves to eat them – thorns at all. I was tired of spending the money (rose bushes are expensive!) and taking the time to plant them, only to have the deer “help themselves” so to speak.
As you can see, the deer love to wander not only on the back 4+ acres, but in the front lot, too close to the street for their own good which makes me very nervous for them and the drivers! We have a lot of big trucks (think milk!) and RV’s and campers that roll up and down the steep street especially since there are a lot of farms further north and a very desirable campground about 15 minutes from us.
A New Neighbor
In the meantime, we’ve finally learned the name of an elderly neighbor (Helen) who I would always wave to coming up from Long Island because she was usually sitting on her porch (at least in the summer). Helen told us she had been a dressmaker in the day when there were not one (!) but at least four dress shops in town. (Now we have zero.) She also said she had lived in her current home for about 20 years since she had taken care of her mother-in-law. She is now by herself but even in the winter I see her with a little shovel pushing the snow off the sidewalk onto the street.
“Do you know how old I am,” she asked us as we were walking into town to partake in the town’s annual cheese festival.” I hesitated thinking she was probably in her 90’s but before I could answer she blurted out, “I’m 89!” Followed by “do you want to see the inside of my house?”
We did not but assured her it was kind of her to invite us in. In the meantime, she pointed out the three garages she had (at least one of which she rented out) and the fact that no one could “do” stucco anymore. “See those cracks on the side of my house?” she asked. “That was from the earthquake.” I looked at Lynn but didn’t say a word.
As it turns out, he later told me that there was in fact an earthquake in upstate New York, sometime in the early 1980’s. He says he remembers “feeling it,” when he was living in Rome, New York. I had already moved from Syracuse and was working in New York City, where the only rumbling I was experiencing was from the subway.
Little Falls Cheese Festival
Although this has been an ongoing event for the last five years, it was only our third time attending the festival. The city shuts down a good chunk of Main Street so vendors can set up booths selling anything and everything cheese-related plus other items, too.
Luckily, the weather cooperated so the turnout was nice. We bought some cheese (how couldn’t we?) and visited with people we knew from nearby farmer’s markets.
This year’s winners included (once again) great goat cheese from Jones Family Farm.
As well as a new guy out of Troy, New York, (R&G Cheese Makers) making some pretty amazing mozzarella. (Little to no salt plus lots of flavors = a very good product.)
And last but not least a goat cheese from Cochran Farm 1790 that is appropriately called “Mohawk Mist” which was pretty darn good.
Best of all, after all this cheese and meeting new neighbors, it’s lovely to be able to walk along the pathway by the Eric Canal (yes, that Erie Canal). It’s very peaceful by the water and being able to spend time outdoors on a beautiful sunny day is a gift.
Although Lynn and I have lived in the Mohawk Valley part time for nearly 9 years and we lived in Syracuse, NY for nearly 3.5 years, we had never been to either Corning or Rochester, NY. So this past spring break, Lynn and I decided to visit both of these cities.
First stop Corning, NY, with a visit to the Corning Museum of Glass on a damp and rainy afternoon. This image of what I perceived to be a school of fish caught my fancy. When I researched the artist, Lino Tagliapietra, and the title of the work, “Endeavor,” he described it as a fleet of boats. I’m always happy when my understanding of any artistic endeavor is close to what the artist was thinking.
I was also impressed with not only the size of the museum but the hands-on demonstrations that we, as visitors, were able to partake in. We watched glass being blown into shape, fired and molded. We watched glass being broken (carefully) and how glass heated to a certain temperature mysteriously becomes Pyrex and transformed into casserole dishes.
While I remember the tuna casseroles my mother used to make for dinner fondly now, my preference these days are layered vegetables (notably eggplant, zucchini, roasted tomatoes and mushrooms) in a Pyrex pan topped with some cheese. Anyway, I thought this “tower of Pyrex” was pretty cool. And speaking of vegetables, on the way out of the museum we stopped at the gift shop and picked up this glass cutting board. I think it will fit perfectly in the Red House kitchen especially since we grow garlic on the property (and the Mohawk Valley has both the perfect soil and climate for growing garlic in New York State).
Dinner in Corning that night was a pleasant surprise. We visited “The Cellar,” a downtown wine bar with an interesting menu which they describe as “global fusion.” Since Lynn and I frequently refer to ourselves as “professional eaters,” we usually get 3 or 4 different dishes and share them. That night didn’t disappoint with some oxtail tacos, spicy chicken skewers and pad thai to start. Tasty lamb chops and charred brussels sprouts with walnuts were a delicious finish.
Retiring back to the hotel, we stopped at the bar and had to persuade the bartender that he wouldn’t get in “trouble” if he served us the wine we wanted in the “pretty” glasses that supposedly were just on the counter as props.
What troubled me from a marketing point of view is that we were a mere 45 minutes from a Finger Lake (that would be Keuka) and there was not a SINGLE Finger Lakes wine to be had on their beverage menu! Shame on them.
Keuka Lake Tastings
From Corning we drove to Keuka Lake to visit two wineries in particular – Domaine Leseurre and Weis Vineyards. We started with Domaine Leseurre trying a few of their varietals. I really wanted to like their wines but truthfully was pretty disappointed. I’m always looking for the “wow factor” in a wine and those we tasted fell short. However, literally right next door is Weis Vineyards, a winery founded by German-born winemaker Hans Peter Weis. He’s the guy to watch out for in the next few years because the wines we tried (Dry Riesling, Gewurztraminer and most notably his Schulhaus Red) were absolutely delicious. Had we had a bit more time we would have visited a few other wineries around the lake.
On To Rochester
Here’s a photo of the outside of the George Eastman Museum. Pretty impressive, right? It actually reminded me of some of the big mansions during the “gilded age” in Newport, Rhode Island.
While there were exhibits to see and display cases filled with early camera prototypes (remember the Brownie? – it’s the camera in the middle), I was more interested in the house and the gardens. Unfortunately, the gardens didn’t open until May but we did get to see the rooms and the grandeur in which the family lived.
From the George Eastman Museum, we ventured downtown to see the falls. Kind of cool I thought to have the Genesee River mosey on down through the city to end in an old industrial area (which they have started to revamp) and culminate in the High Falls. The water looked pretty muddy that day (perhaps it’s always like that?) but I did manage to capture the rainbow that just happened to appear when we were walking along the bridge.
Italian For Dinner
If you haven’t been to Rochester and are in search of some really decent Italian (and pizza!) I recommend Veneto. True to form we split a Pizza Margarita, had a green salad and a caesar salad, then split a bowl of Rotini Bolognese. I hate to use the word “delish,” but in this case, that’s the most appropriate word for that meal.
From Rochester we drove to St. Catharines, Ontario, in search of their downtown farmer’s market. We parked the car, went to the ATM to get some Canadian $, found the farmer’s market but were disappointed in that we only found a couple of vendors selling smoked meat-products and/or lunch sandwiches. (We were on the quest for Canadian maple syrup.) Since my forte is planning ahead, I had already found a maple syrup farmer 15 minutes outside of town so that’s where we headed – stocking up on maple syrup that sells for half of what we pay in New York State.
Time For Lunch – The Good Earth Food and Wine Co.
There are some meals Lynn and I have enjoyed more than others over the many years we have traveled together. Lunch that beautiful Friday afternoon at The Good Earth Food and Wine Co. was one of them.
Nestled in what at first seemed like a residential area in the town of Beamsville, we came upon the winery and restaurant.
While it seemed like a gray and chilly day, actually by the time we sat down for lunch in their indoor/outdoor patio, the sun came out and it was quite lovely. Needless to say the food and the wines we had to go with our lunch dishes – pea shoot salad with yellow and red beets with goat cheese, lamb meatballs with cheesy grits, broccoli and roasted tomatoes, and finally the chef’s pasta special of the day -a rigatoni in a vibrant green spinach sauce with red peppers were exceptional. To say I was super impressed with Chef Andrew Thorne’s cooking skills is an understatement. I wanted to move into his kitchen and never leave!
We passed on dessert, taking time outside the winery (after buying a few bottles to go after chatting with the chef and I believe, the gracious owner, Nicolette Novak before leaving) to snap a few more pictures of some flower arrangements and a neat sculpture.
Now that we had not only seen “the fork in the road” but taken the fork too, we had time to kill before dinner so we went to Ikea!
Side Trip – Ikea!
I have to say that Ikea has come to our design “rescue” in every home we have ever owned. We’ve renovated TWO complete kitchens using their cabinets, purchased kid’s bedroom sets, TV stands, bathroom vanities, and even a dining room table and chairs. Really, the list of things we’ve bought from them over the years is endless. This time on our shopping list were temporary clothing racks (we have no closets in the Red House) so we at least have a place to hang up some clothes before we go into the closet-building business. What I particularly liked about this Ikea (actually 3 things):
You can take your shopping cart loaded with all the stuff you bought directly to your car!
There were associates on the floor who were available to help you find a product.
The prices were cheaper than in the U.S.
Overnight and Dinner in Niagara-on-the-Lake
We had been to Niagara-on-the-Lake twice before. What I liked about going off-season was that you could get a hotel room for only half an arm not an arm and a leg, there weren’t hoards of people blocking the sidewalks licking ice cream cones and there was loads of parking.
Dinner that night was at Treadwell’s. We had discovered Chef Jason (Jay) Williams at the Inn on the Twenty the summer prior, and wanted to see what he was up to in his new digs. He and his crew didn’t disappoint.
We were lucky enough to get a seat at the bar which meant we got a bird’s eye view of the chefs cooking and plating. Let me mention that the service at Treadwell’s is top notch with a much-appreciated wine list that is heavy on the local wines and a Sommelier, James, who made some remarkable recommendations.
What did we eat? House-cured smoked salmon with hand-picked fresh herbs.
Whitefish with a creamy potato “chowder” and chunks of lobster claws.
Arctic char with roasted beets and tiny baby radishes and greens.
And while we also watched them put together an amazing charcuterie board, we only feasted with our eyes. However, we did end the evening with a lovely cheese plate.
Plus, look at all these greens! Truly farm/garden to table.
What I took away from this short get-away is there are many talented chefs who are not working solely in urban areas but all over New York State and Canada. When we first started traveling to Canada (albeit when we were in college 40 years ago), the Canada food scene, unless you were in a major city, was dismal. I remember driving in search of anything that didn’t resemble fast food and more often than not came up “empty-stomached”. Since then, the food scene in Canada has exploded with chefs and restaurants and wineries bringing creative and fresh food to the consumer. I am so happy to see and appreciate this development. Going forward, since we are now within a shorter driving distance to the Niagara wine region of Canada, we will hopefully be making many more trips to that area.
