New York Part One

Both Lauren and I have been fortunate to do a lot of traveling in 2015. At the end of April, Patrick and I went to New York for a week with our good friends Michael and Grayce.

On our first full day we walked miles and miles around Brooklyn. We started by meeting up with Grayce's sister and her boyfriend, and together we walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and explored Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Our hardest decision of the day was picking between all of the delicious food vendors at Smorgasburg.

After lunch we took the subway out to Prospect Park. It was an unbelievably idyllic Sunday afternoon in the park. 

Next we wandered through Park Slope, stopping for drinks and snacks at Blueprint.

We had such a good day in Brooklyn.

The following day we took the ferry to Ellis Island. We admired Lady Liberty from the boat. 

It was fascinating to learn more about the island where so many of our ancestors first arrived in the United States. Ellis Island had exhibits that broadly covered immigrants' journeys as early as the 1500's, but I was most moved by the images of people waiting to be processed through Ellis Island and begin life in their new home, whether striking out on their own, or reuniting with loved ones.

After Ellis Island, we walked the short distance from Battery Park to the 911 Memorial and One World Trade Center.

It's hard to find the right words to write about the Memorial. To me, it felt appropriate. It felt vast, and sorrowful, and eternal. 

The reflections of the sky on One World Trade were beautiful.

We ended our day on an upbeat note at the Top of the Rock. 

Next time I'll share the rest of the highlights from our trip in Part 2! 

New Orleans Part Two

Hello friends! I'm excited to share part two of my New Orleans adventure with you this week!

In my last post, I mentioned that one of the many things I love about New Orleans is the music. The street musicians are incredibly talented, and the music is vibrant and played with such passion. As you walk down the streets in the French Quarter from one performance to another the atmosphere has such an intensity, almost making you feel like you're living in a movie with your own personal soundtrack. I loved it.

Jackson Square was my favorite place to listen to the street musicians and constantly full of crowds of people stopping to take a picture or dance. The energy was contagious. Jackson Square includes St. Louis Cathedral shown in the picture above, a gorgeous park, and the Presbytere and Cabildo where the Louisiana Purchase was signed.

On the perimeter of Jackson Square you'll find Stanley, my favorite spot for lunch. The place was packed, so we were lucky to find a spot at the bar. I was mesmerized by every mouth-watering plate that flew by me.

I was told by a few friends that taking the streetcar through the Garden District to look at all the beautiful houses was one of the "must-do's" in New Orleans. Thanks to the advice of our concierge, we got on the St. Charles Streetcar early in the morning, and boarded at the end of the line to have our pick of seats. It's $1.25 for a one-way ticket, or $3.00 for an all day pass. We stayed on for the entire route, about 80 minutes total. When we got off, the line to board went down the entire block!  At the end of the route, everyone gets off so the driver can flip the seats to be facing forward for the return trip.

Most of the route passes through St. Charles Avenue which is lined with hundreds of gorgeous homes. Every mansion we passed appeared more outstanding and grand than the last. I am fascinated by old houses, and thoroughly enjoyed seeing so many balconies and turrets and arches. I am obsessed, and completely in love with porches. I looked enviously at so many estates with rocking chairs thoughtfully placed amongst extravagant wrap-around porches, and pictured the owners sitting out on a warm evening sipping cocktails and people-watching.

These pictures don't do the homes justice, and I often couldn't grab my camera fast enough to capture the beauty of the intricate structures as we zoomed from stop to stop. It was fun to look out at many of the trees lining the streets, covered in beads from past Mardi Gras parades.

Next on the agenda was an afternoon cruise on the Steamboat Natchez.

We arrived 30 minutes early to much longer lines then we expected.  While waiting to board, we were serenaded by a steam calliope playing old-fashioned tunes. We found seats outside on the third tier with spectacular views of the St. Louis Cathedral. The majority of the tour is narrated with interesting facts about landmarks and the cargo carried along the Mississippi, and concludes with live jazz music. It was a very relaxing two hours and fabulous way to see a different part of the city.

We had a great dinner at Arnaud's on our last night. We sampled the gumbo, more amazing bread that took up half of our table, and one of their signature cocktails. Brennan's is still my favorite, but Arnaud's was definitely delicious and worth visiting. The other unique thing about Arnaud's is they have a Mardi Gras Museum upstairs that's free. We had the entire place to ourselves and were able to admire the intricate and elaborate costumes of a woman who was queen of over twenty-two Mardi Gras balls. It must have been quite the workout to carry the trains on those gowns!

The following is a random picture that totally captures the whimsy of Nola. Unfortunately my friends and family were not rewarded with this classy souvenir.

I mentioned Cafe Beignet in my first post. On our first day, we visited Cafe Du Monde, the most famous place to sample beignets in the city, but the line was way too long.

We went back on our last morning dodging under balconies trying to avoid torrential downpours and lightning strikes. It was a pretty nasty morning, even from my Seattle weather standards so we chose not to sit outside. We brought them back to our hotel room, and although it was only a 10 minute walk, they just weren't quite as good as Cafe Beignet. I blame it on the weather, and would definitely give them another try. On the other hand, the Cafe Au Lait was lovely.

Just a few steps from Cafe Du Monde is the French Market with many fun shops, and praline manufacturers. I had never tried a praline prior to this trip. I found them creamy with great flavor, but really really sweet.

New Orleans is full of historical landmarks and museums, and there is so much we didn't have time to see. The New Orleans Pharmacy Museum was just steps from our hotel, and with my interest in medical history, it seemed like the perfect place to peruse. They offer guided tours most days at 1:00, and the cost was only $5.00. You can arrive about 15-20 minutes early for a self-guided tour of the second floor.  It turned out to be one of the most fascinating parts of the entire trip.

The first licensed pharmacist in the US worked at this pharmacy.

In the picture above are show globes that were used to communicate disease epidemics to the citizens of New Orleans. Different colors represented the severity of the epidemic and were meant especially for the illiterate portion of the population.

Our guide, Owen, did an outstanding job describing the conditions, equipment, technological advances, and history of the medical field in New Orleans in the 1800's and early 1900s. After hearing his one-hour history lesson, it was amazing to me that anyone survived those times.

I could not have asked for a better experience in New Orleans, and fully intend to visit again. I'm trying to talk Jen into going with me next time!

New Orleans Part One

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to spend four amazing days in New Orleans with our lovely mother. I've always wanted to visit the South, and was thrilled to get the opportunity to explore this gorgeous city. I'd jump at the chance to go back!

There is quite the selection of historic hotels in the French Quarter. I decided to book a room with a balcony at the Omni Royal Orleans. I wanted to be able to sit outside at night and hear the music playing on the streets below. After a 5 hour flight, and bumpy cab ride, we were so excited to check in, only to be told someone had vomited in the last balcony room the night before and they couldn't get the smell out. I was definitely bummed, but still trying to be polite. The gentleman at the check-in desk asked if I was a reasonable person. I replied "of course" -- and he proceeded to tell us that his only option was to give us the Penthouse at no extra charge for our entire stay! Cue fireworks and confetti. My jaw dropped to the floor and I had to ask him about four times if he was kidding.

Never in my life will this happen again. I took many mental pictures, and gleefully skipped around every inch of this suite. It was so luxurious -- 1500+ square feet including a sitting room, dining room, wet bar, gigantic four-poster bed, two bathrooms with a jet-tub and my favorite part --a  gigantic private balcony overlooking the French Quarter (see first picture for incredible view). It was also about four steps away from the rooftop pool and observation deck.

Our first night we ate dinner at the hotel's restaurant, The Rib Room. Every dish was delicious, but the bread was the most noteworthy. Each table gets its own gigantic loaf, still warm from the oven with the perfect mixture of crunchy crust, and soft and airy center. Who doesn't love a good loaf of bread? The other magical aspect of dinner was a Wedding March parading through the street with musicians and dancers. We were advised it's rare to catch one of these, and this happened to be a random Monday night! The incredible energy and looks of pure joy on the participants' faces brought an instant smile to your face.

My first experience with beignets (fluffy doughnuts with mountains of powdered sugar) was at Cafe Beignet, just a few blocks away from the hotel. They were delicious in all the right ways, and well worth the 40 minute wait and line out the door. Believe what everyone says about not eating them while wearing black...

We also did a City Tour to explore New Orleans beyond the French Quarter. The tour took us through one of the neighborhoods majorly affected by Hurricane Katrina. Over 9 years later there are few remnants of the devastation caused by that storm. If you look closely, you can still find houses with markings from the search parties.

Along this tour, we stopped and walked around one of the city cemeteries. The above ground graves are pretty incredible to meander through. Our tour guide gave a really interesting explanation of what happens to the bodies, and how these grave sites are used for so many generations. I'll spare you the gruesome details, but definitely take time to walk through one if you get the chance!

Later that afternoon, we took a walking tour of the most haunted parts of the city. I can't begin to recount the many gory details, but it was fascinating and a fabulous way of learning about the rich and colorful culture of the French Quarter. Several days after the tour, I was flipping through a book in one of the local gift shops about the most haunted parts of New Orleans, and every place we visited (restaurants, museums, hotels, etc.) all had at least one associated ghost story.

The best meal we had in New Orleans was at Brennan's. We walked by this restaurant on our way to Cafe Beignet. There's a gorgeous window that looks into the restaurant's enormous kitchen and everything looked so delicious we decided to come back for dinner. We learned the restaurant just reopened about 4 months ago after a long renovation. It has a magical twinkling courtyard and the most amazing drinks and food I've had in a long time. I had the best Gin & Tonic of my life at this restaurant and highly recommend the Steak Diane. This is also the birthplace of Bananas Foster, and it did not disappoint.

In my next post I'll share more about our trip including the Garden District, Steamboat tour down the Mississippi River, Jackson Square, Cafe du Monde, and the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum. Until then, Happy Spring Break!

Albuquerque Hot Air Balloon Fiesta Part 2

Hello friends! Last week, Lauren shared Part 1 of our awesome sister getaway to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. I’m so excited to share Part 2 with you now!

First, I’m going to back up a bit from where Lauren left off with some of my pictures from Morning Glow and Mass Ascension, both of which were soooo beautiful and awe-inspiring.

One of my strongest impressions of the Balloon Fiesta was how nice the balloon crews were. Everybody seemed cheerful, even though it was incredibly early. I think it boils down to a whole bunch of people being exactly where they want to be for an amazing once a year event. Obviously, the balloon owners are hugely passionate about ballooning, but it’s worth noting that the crews are largely comprised of volunteers who sign up because they love it and want to be a part of it.

The crew lays out the balloon envelope and then the balloon is blown up with a big fan.

As I was framing a shot of this green and blue balloon, one of the crew members who was holding the top of the balloon during the inflating process called me over and invited me to get right up close and get a shot through the air vents of the inside. So cool!

As the sun came up, suddenly balloons were inflating all over the huge field. Like Lauren mentioned, we wanted to look everywhere at once, and the beauty of it was overwhelming. And quilty inspiration was everywhere! If I had a nickel for every time Lauren or I said “I think that one is my favorite…”

No basket!

Once all of the balloons launched into the sky, we were equal parts exhilarated and starving. Luckily, we’d been tipped off that the Fiesta experience was not complete without a breakfast burrito. New Mexicans are quite proud of their green chiles, they put them in everything, even their chocolate truffles. These burritos were filled with eggs, potatoes, bacon, cheese, and green chiles, and they were ridiculously satisfying.

After that amazing burrito, we had a few hours to sightsee around Albuquerque before we had to be back for the evening session, Twinkle Glow. As Lauren mentioned in Part 1, we drove up to Sandia Crest to see the city and surroundings.

We wished we had time for a hike, but that will have to be saved for a future trip. Instead, after lunch we headed back into town and stopped by a grocery store to pick up some food for dinner. As great as the Fiesta burritos were, we figured twice in one day was a bit excessive.

On our way back to the park and ride, we took a 2-mile detour to drive by one of the biggest Breaking Bad landmarks, the White family’s house.  The house is now inhabited by an older couple who apparently does not enjoy the home’s claim to fame and constant stream of Breaking Bad tour buses, die-hard fans, and from-a-distance lookie-loos like us. There were multiple "No Trespassing" signs in the front yard, and the couple was standing in the driveway, arms crossed and frowning. We took mental pictures and went on our merry way.

After we got back to the Fiesta grounds, we walked over to the Balloon Museum.

We had 45 minutes to explore before the museum closed, so we hustled through exhibits on the history of hot air and gas balloons, the use of balloons in war, and the history of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. There were also fun interactive exhibits for kids about how the balloons are constructed and operated.

One of the most memorable sights at the museum were two ladies that were elaborately dressed exactly alike from their purple blazers to their patterned black pants, and identical shoes and purses. It was just great and now I wish we’d approached them and asked to take a picture with them.  

One tradition of the Fiesta is trading and collecting pins. Breaking Bad pins have been popular in the past few years. Here are a few of the pins displayed by the museum from a private collection.

After we got our fill of the museum, we walked back to the Fiesta grounds and checked out the pin booths and other merchandise booths, and found the Fiesta raffle quilt. I could not capture a picture of the entire quilt due to some unfortunate lighting, but here is a portion of it.

We found a spot to eat dinner, and then hung out, waiting for the sun to go down. The wind came up and people started flying kites.

Unfortunately, by the time it got dark, the wind was strong enough that the balloons had a hard time staying upright. But we still enjoyed it and really appreciated the balloon crews that made the effort to stay inflated for the crowds to enjoy.

The night ended with a long and impressive fireworks show. After it concluded we were exhausted and could not wait to get back to the hotel and fall into bed.

On Sunday morning, we were up at 3:40 a.m. (2:40 PST) with our act together! We got to the park and ride before any significant line had formed, and within 5 or so minutes we were zipping off to the Fiesta grounds. Our bus was nice and quiet Sunday morning, no rowdies to be found.  We started the morning right with a breakfast of burritos and coffee, which were so nice and warm in our bellies as we waited in the pitch black cold for the sun to rise.

Sadly, the sun rose without dawn patrol or morning glow, and we eventually learned that the winds were just barely too strong for the balloons to take off. We suddenly realized how fortunate we’d been Saturday morning to catch mass ascension.  The officials waited a few hours before canceling Sunday’s mass ascension. Luckily, the entire morning was not a loss, because some of the crews decided to make the best of it with a static display on the ground.

Sunday's balloon display was gorgeous and we had a good time, but it also strengthened our desire to come back for a longer visit next time. Good work, Balloon Fiesta, you knew just how to leave us wanting more! 

After the morning session ended, we headed back to the hotel to check out, and then grabbed brunch at Zinc and took a walk around the University of New Mexico campus before heading to the airport. We were sad to leave but also pretty worn out from the extremely early wake-ups. All the more reason to go plan a longer Fiesta trip next time, so that we don’t feel the need to cram in each event on all the days.

Balloon Fiesta, we can’t wait to come back and see you again!

California Dreaming

In mid-August Patrick and I took a week off and had a summer vaycay! It was glorious. We spent the first half of the week in LA visiting my dear college friends Heidi and Amy, and the second half of the week in San Diego.

We did so many fun things!

Heidi and another friend, Andrea, did an open water swimming race, and we got to go cheer them on! It was a nice throwback to our old swim team days. They both did great! In fact, Heidi won her age group, beating out a former Olympian! What a badass.

Heidi, Amy and Dre

That evening we went to the Hollywood Bowl to see Iron and Wine, the Head and the Heart, and Glen Hansard. Wow, the Hollywood Bowl just might be my favorite place to see a show. The Hollywood Bowl’s beauty and acoustics are unrivaled, and possibly best of all, they let you bring in your own food and drinks. Our friends put together an amazing picnic, and we enjoyed great music as the sun set and the Super Moon rose over Los Angeles.

The next day we went downtown and ate lunch at the newly revitalized Grand Central Market, which is one part farmer’s market, one part fabulous restaurant row. Patrick and I both selected plates from DTLA, specializing in cheese and salads. Our lunches were delicious (not that you could ever go wrong with burrata cheese), but Heidi and Amy were was the big lunch winners. Heidi got a brisket plate from Horse Thief BBQ. She graciously let me have a bite, and it was the best brisket OF MY LIFE! Amy got the daily curry from Sticky Rice, and it was also mind blowingly delicious!

We went on a little walk after lunch over to The Last Bookstore, which was such a unique space. The main level was normal bookstore, but the upstairs was a “labyrinth” with a book tunnel, a book wall with a window, other fun displays, and artists’ studios.

My favorite part was that they organized their used books by color!

That night, Amy and her fiancé Brad had us over for Brad’s famous tri tip. Patrick made Manhattans, and we sat in the backyard and talked and laughed until dark. Good friends.

Our last day in LA, Heidi took us on a nice bike ride from Huntington Beach to Newport Beach and back. After our ride we treated ourselves to waffle sandwiches, which were completely delicious!

Afterwards we went to Venice, or as Heidi calls it, “the Portland of LA”…very true!

As we left for San Diego, we were so sad to say goodbye to our friends, but also so happy that vacation was not over yet.

We checked out nearly all of the San Diego beaches, and concluded that Coronado Beach was our favorite relaxation spot. Sparkling beach, beautiful historical hotel, tropical drinks, completely idyllic.

We also had a fabulous anniversary dinner at a newish restaurant, Juniper & Ivy. One of my favorite parts of Juniper & Ivy was the open kitchen. It was fun to see how well the crew worked together.

The next morning we drove up to La Jolla to go sea kayaking. Unfortunately the water was too rough to go into the La Jolla caves (or take any pictures!) but we still had fun.

That night we found an excellent speakeasy-style cocktail bar called Noble Experiment. It’s sneakily hidden in plain sight, so feel free to email me if you’d like directions on how to find it. The bartender, Megan, was top-notch and also incredibly nice.  

On our final day, we took time to explore the parts of Balboa Park surrounding El Prado. The architecture and gardens were both so lovely.  

We spent our last hour before heading to the airport at Queenstown Public House in Little Italy. The space was light and airy, the food was excellent, and I could have happily spent more time there!

Alas, it was time to head home. We’ll be dreaming of you until next time, California!

Although my last few blog posts haven’t reflected it, I have been sewing quite a bit. I’ll have a new quilt to show you in my next post!