Tag Archives: reviews

The Ferry Building-San Francisco

September 24, 2012 By in Travel Tags: , , , , , 2 Comments

the original tower built in 1892

So much food.  Honestly.  It was maybe even too much food.  Our apartment was very close to the Ferry Building and this was a great thing and a terrible thing depending on your perspective.  We ate there ALL the time, and while so much of its fare was very reasonably priced, when you’re there every day, it becomes silly.  BUT everything in there is SO good…let’s start with a little history first.

a pretty concoction at the Slanted Door

The Ferry Building was built to accommodate the passengers coming across the bay before the Golden Gate Bridge was ever built.  We’re talking 1892.  When people could start to travel more by car, the building suffered and became less than fancy.  After an earthquake caused considerable damage in 1989, the city decided to renovate  and only reopened it in 2003.  It still serves as the port people use to get on and off ferries to come into the city, but now it’s also full of delicious treats.

We did most of our weekly grocery shopping at their farm to table market with everything you need to make fresh, delicious salads.

We met a friend for breakfast one morning at Boulette’s Larder which is really an experience.  Any place that offers a savory, stir-fried rice dish with lamb sausage for breakfast and has a giant dog with dreadlocks sleeping under the table is for me.  It’s for you too, I promise.

pluspets.net

The McEvoy Ranch olive oil outpost has delicious olive oil from their ranch just about an hour away.  The ranch itself holds events and tours and I only wish we would have had the chance to visit.  You start to notice their name pop up here and there around town (they have their own ice cream flavor at Humphry Slocombe).  We picked up a lavender scented, olive oil body balm that was promised to heal all wounds including those in your soul.

Other random treats I just grabbed there on the fly were fresh empanadas from El Porteno, vegan doughnuts from Pepples and books for G in the book shop, Book Passage.  We ate turkey burgers (staff favorites) and sweet potato fries at Gotts, we picked up a daily loaf of bread at Acme and ate prosciutto from Boccalone, whose tagline is Tasty Salted Pig Parts.  We picked up burrata, which is a type of mozzarella that makes me want to cry, from the Cowgirl Creamery, iced New Orleans style coffee from Blue Bottle, and gelato from Ciao Bella.

But the piece de resistance was the Slanted Door.  I won’t lie, it’s pricey.  And there can be a 30-45 days in advance reservation situation for dinner.  We did the same thing we did at Delfina and hit the restaurant well before the first sign of the gloaming.   If you do go, you should really get just one thing…the Shaking Beef…it’s worth it.  You won’t find anything like it anywhere else.  That kind of Vietnamese/California fusion is hard to replicate.  The dish has a spicy lime thing happening that is so good I could hardly stand it.  And then we had spiced orange cotton candy for dessert, because how could we not have that?  You can see us hiding behind it below.

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In an attempt to recover my lost vocabulary, I drop a new word and its definition at the end of each week’s post.  Then I attempt to incorporate that word into the following weekly post.

This week’s word:

profligate \PROF-luh-guht; -gayt\ , adjective:
1. Openly and shamelessly immoral; dissipated; dissolute.
2. Recklessly wasteful.

San Francisco Food

September 10, 2012 By in Travel Tags: , , , 3 Comments

So now that we have a beautiful new laptop (sorry we can’t afford to send you to college now G), I am back in the business (hobby) of blogging. I intend to jump right back in where I left off and that was in San Francisco. Enjoy some breezy, summery fun posts over the next month as we start to settle into fall.

Yours, Me

If you enjoy eating, San Francisco is for you. What I really love about its ‘food scene’ (heh heh, I said ‘food scene’) is that not only is the whole farm to table thing taken VERY seriously, you can find some really lovingly conceived, expertly made, delicious food that will not break the bank. You, of course, can break the bank if you’d like to…there is always that option…but you don’t have to in this town in order to really enjoy some very tasty treats.

I had a list of a ba-jillion places to try from family, friends and travel sites…it would have been impossible to have hit them all, but I am proud to say…I did a fairly good job. Allow me to channel my inner Goop and share some favorites.

Dad’s Picks

In SoMa:

Anchor & Hope-Well the fish was delicious and the wine was delicious, but really all I have to say is—Lobster and Macaroni & Cheese Fritters. We like to run HI/LO like that. Plus their business card/flyer made us giggle.

The Grove-A very chill and relaxed spot right near the SFMOMA. Independently owned, cozy-couchy seating, a big tree growing in the middle of the place with lights wrapped all around it, eggs florentine with arugula and a parmesan cream, very friendly people. So yes.

In the Mission District:

vegetarianwhohatestofu.com

Delfina-We stumbled on this famous SF spot by accident. Since we were avec bebe we were also at the ‘early bird’ feeding hour so we were able to slip in at the bar with no reservation. Reservations for dinner can sometimes be a 30 to 45 days in advance situation. We went with the basics, ravioli in a brown butter sauce and spaghetti. It was so fresh and so delicious I felt like the critic in Ratatouille, who after his first bite, gets whisked back to a childhood memory of his mother cooking for him when he was a boy.

What We Missed:

Comstock Saloon-This looked like so much fun. It has a ‘gold rush’ look and feel to it and Free Lunch Friday! We missed Free Lunch Friday.

Mama’s-This spot is an institution in San Francisco. It’s nestled into the corner of Washington Square next to the beautiful Sts. Peter & Paul church. This was recommended by many a person, as they are known to make a mean breakfast. But, Nanny Rigsby and Michael also make a mean breakfast, so sorry Mama, next time.

Margi’s Picks

On Hayes:

Two Sisters Bar and Books-A couple years ago, my very favorite yoga teacher on the planet, Margi, picked up from New York City and moved to San Francisco to be near her family.

downtowndog.com

Not only did I get to take her class at Yoga Works in San Fran, which was so fun I nearly peed my pants, but her little one and my little one got to run around in a playground in the Marina while she and I caught up.

Her boyfriend of 100 years, Michael, is a mixologist at Two Sisters and was just featured in the SF Gate as the best bartender in the whole town. While I am not a big cocktail drinker, he made me a very gentle nightcap out of magic and sparkles that tasted like creamy, burnt caramel and sent me right to sleep.

For more about Margi and her yoga retreats and classes—she goes to Italy, Costa Rica, Beijing and more—click here.

Bar Jules-This sweet, little spot on Hayes has classic, expertly prepared French basics. The staff is friendly and charming AND they write out the menu in cursive every night. White wine, salmon, strawberry shortcake. No frills. Perfect.

Picks from Gwyneth Paltrow‘s Goop

In the Mission District:

Tartine-I can barely speak about Tartine yet. It is an institution of bread making. I thought, what’s the big deal? It’s bread. Thank goodness we just didn’t go there earlier in our trip because I would have gone back every day to eat Gruyere Puffs. The space is the size of my thumb nail and the line was out the door, but once I had a glimpse of the baked goods case, I began to see the light. Every delicious dessert you can think of (and I’m not really a cake and pie girl), was so beautiful…they each looked, well, fake. They looked like they had been shallacked for a photo shoot or were made of ceramic. I ordered a croque monsieur and a crazy looking slice of lemon meringue cake and both tasted even better than they looked if that’s even possible. My only wish was that Michael was there with his camera…I only have this sad iPhone shot.

Bi-Rite Market-This place is a real treat. It’s TINY, but somehow they pack in all the sections you’d find in your corner grocery store from cleaning supplies to a fish counter. It’s jam packed from floor to ceiling with all kinds of amazing treats. Everything we purchased there was fresh and delicious and of amazing quality.

Picks from our foodie friend Lady Grady

In the Mission District:

Bi-Rite Creamery-Ok…I know I am very lucky to somehow lay claim to these two beautiful boys, despite the fact that little G looks like he decided to go out on a whiskey binge and start fist fights all over town. And I know I am even luckier that I get to eat ice cream with them that tastes of honey and lavender or of salted caramel, but I had to post this somewhat boastful photo because I need to be reminded from time to time that I am, in fact, lucky. Plus, I don’t care how overdone the whole salted caramel thing gets. I will always love it and I will always order it and I hope it never ever goes away.

Humphrey Slocombe-Lady Grady informed me that even though Bi-Rite Creamery ice-cream is amazing, there is supposedly even MORE ice cream out there and I should go find it…the touter the sweeter. One afternoon we schlepped it over to this joint to find a long line and an intriguing list of flavors. With everything from Salt and Pepper to Olive Oil to Government Cheese, I went with Malted Milk Chocolate and G with Nutter Butter. Sometimes, you can’t resist the classics. But I was dying to find out what the cult favorite, SECRET BREAKFAST flavor was all about. Are you ready? It’s bourbon flavored ice cream, with corn flakes. Heh heh heh.

yum.sfstation.com

FourBarrel Coffee-This is my husband’s department, but I have to mention it because it is such a scene. With descriptions of their coffees along the lines of the most intricate wine descriptions, ie.

FLAVOR: Navel orange, cinnamon, and fig fragrances introduce a creamy cup. Watermelon and lime flavors balance a fresh pastry and cardamom finish. Excellent mouthfeel…

coupled with the fact that everyone in there is so hip and so cool and so knowledgable, you will feel like you just had the best cup of coffee you will ever have for the rest of your life.

What We Missed:

Bar Agricole-Just look at their brunch menu.

And THEN—there’s the Ferry Building, a food mecca all its own that will receive its very own special post. Until then…

Eating in Boston

May 5, 2012 By in Travel Tags: , , , , 1 Comment

Due to Michael’s schedule, the little man’s schedule and my advancing years (hello 9pm bedtime), we did a lot of what we like to call—hotel livin‘ while we were in Boston.  This included activities like lining up toys on shelves for photo ops…

…finding ways to make the little one giggle…

…even if that included allowing him to swipe my cosmetic bag and completely fard himself.

So this scenario didn’t really leave us with much time to go restaurant hunting, which is something I used to really like to do before I had the little man.  Now I’m fine with a bowl of cereal for dinner.  BUT once in awhile we left to go out to eat and I think I should share 3 unassuming little spots with you because they were so great.

First we have Four Burgers right on the Common.  I know…I can’t shake my (not so) secret, dirty burger habit.  But there is nothing dirty about this place.  It’s fantastic.  Can you guess what the concept is?  Yes!  Four Burgers!

1.  Local, grass fed beef.  2.  Free range Turkey  3.  Wild Alaskan Salmon  4.  Veggie

This is a dream come true for me since I’m married to a fish-a-tarian.  The only veggie option at Shake Shack is sort of a fried cheese ball that makes Michael feel really bad about himself.  These four burgers were all so good we went there 3 times.  Bah!  Plus they had a great beer and wine list and really good sweet potato fries.

Best of all, the owners were in the store bringing out burgers, clearing the tables, helping in the kitchen and chatting up customers.  The one I talked to (whose name I can’t remember because I’m the worst with names—I’m sorry!) was a very cool, down to earth, family guy who loves what he does and really has an interest in cleaning up the burger and fries scene a bit.  I begged him to bring the store to New York, but not too close to our apartment.

Our next stop was a little fancier but no less friendly than our new friends at Four Burgers.  G and I stumbled into the beautiful, historic Boston Public Library just in time for tea.  The Courtyard Restaurant has this lovely high tea service from 2-4.  It was 3:45.  Not only did they let us sit, they brought us extra treats and took our photo.  The room was pretty easy on the eyes as well.  One day I will try to remember to bring more than just my iPhone camera with me to get some nicer photos.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

lemon tarts are surprisingly sour

 

And finally, the Union Oyster House.  A bit of a tourist stop?  Yes.  But so what?  We ate it up.  This place opened its doors in 1826 and is an historic landmark.  It’s cozy and tiny and perfect.  We got to sit upstairs in these old, wooden booths with this great amber lighting.  It made you wish there was a blizzard outside…I mean, I’m glad there wasn’t, but…look how cozy…

Presentation is authentic, no pretense here…our 2 dozen oysters were just shucked and thrown on a plate.  Plus everywhere you look there is a plaque denoting some interesting historical factoid, like…

This was JFK’s table.  They are clearly very proud of it.  As they should be.

 

iGameMom.com

May 4, 2012 By in Stories Tags: , , , , 1 Comment
iGameMom.com

It’s been a wild week and I haven’t had the chance to post anything.  Eeeeeek.

But on Friday I really enjoy re-blogging something I discovered during the week that was helpful, inspirational, funny or just awesome.

When I first started blogging I thought about doing a monthly post about my favorite apps for the iPhone and iPad, but then I discovered something better—iGameMom.com

The world of apps grows and changes so fast, it’s almost impossible to keep up, but somehow (and I don’t know how), this lovely mom tests out all kinds of educational apps for kids and gives her reviews.  She also alerts you when something is having a special and will be offered for free for a limited time.

I bought just about every app in the 1-3 year old category she’s recommended and they are all great.  We play them together and I watch my 2 year old learn colors, numbers, words, shapes, songs, animals, and more.

There is no WAY I would have had the time to test them all out myself.  Thank you iGameMom!

Have a great weekend.

The Boston Children’s Museum

April 23, 2012 By in Travel Tags: , , , , 2 Comments
The Boston Children’s Museum

I am fortunate enough to have fallen in love many times in my life…with boys, books, and truffle oil; wine, my husband, my son…I know it when I feel it.

I fell head over heels for the Boston Children’s Museum. It’s spectacular.  Somehow, I’ve been to many a Children’s Museum in my day and this one is right up there with the champs.

200

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

First of all, the lunchroom is attached to an Au Bon Pain so no hamburgers and fries for lunch. We had black-bean burgers with avocado and a side of hummus and cucumber instead.

Yes!

Then we headed right up to the 2nd floor (out of 3) to the fabled 3 years and under room.  It took us about an hour to get there because we had to stop in the children’s art gallery, then the water play room, then the kindergarten classroom…I could keep going, in fact there are so many rooms and exhibits worth mentioning, I just have to link to them here.

We spent quite a bit of time at the GIANT checker board.

Not only is everything bright and clean, but the staff came over to interact with the children from time to time to maybe show them how to use something or to inspire them to play with something in a different way.  They even just came over to blow bubbles. What?  Bubbles?  Yes.  It was fantastic.

When we finally made it to the under 3 area, G literally squealed with delight when he saw all the other kids having so much fun. The area is vast with 8 different sections including an art room, a kitchen and an indoor playground.  The story room is complete with a rocking chair for 2 and a full library of children’s books and parenting books (!!).

And the best part about it? There is seating for parents along the perimeter of each section. You can just sit down and kick up your feet while your little one runs from room to room.  PLUS the whole under 3 area is gated and has only what I can describe as its own door man.  This watchful attendant stands guard so big kids can’t bust through and knock the little ones down and the little ones can’t escape.  If they had just had a cocktail bar it would have been perfect!  This type of set up really allows little ones a taste of autonomy.  Plus it provides them with the ability to interact with other kids without their parents hovering over them simply because they have no other place to go.  He and I both had a great time.

Suddenly in the midst of all our fun, there was an announcement that there was to be a puppet show in the kindergarten room!  Hoooray!  Off we went…we then still had more than half of the museum left to explore by closing time (yes, we closed the joint).  I had to tear him away through sirens of wails and sobs.  As I tried to calm him and get the stroller, the attendant said, ‘Don’t worry…that’s the reaction of most kids when they have to leave this museum.’

tggallagher.com

Top 10 Things we did in Boston

April 1, 2012 By in Travel Tags: , , , , , , , 2 Comments
Top 10 Things we did in Boston

Ack. Organized tours make me so uncomfortable. They always have and they always will. I’ve just learned to live with it now. Michael, however, cannot live with it and refuses to go on any kind of organized tour anywhere, ever. But there is so much history in Boston and I wanted to get the lay of the land so I thought…well…while he’s at rehearsal, I’ll take the classic Nanny Rigsby approach and go on the Boston Duck Tour.

DUKW converted into a tour bus for the famous ...

DUKW converted into a tour bus for the famous Boston Duck Tour. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Duck Tours are actually conducted on military ducks which are half land vehicle/half sea vehicle, like a platypus or Aqua Man. They used ‘ducks’ to storm the beaches at Normandy. Again, like the hotel that used to be a jail, this does not conjure up terribly romantic images. But part of the fun is that after you drive around town, you get to drive into the Charles River (this is where the half boat part comes in).

Be warned, if you ever decide to go on the duck tour yourself their website is so intense and cranky that I almost decided not to go. It’s a little tricky to navigate and there are all kinds of ‘no-exceptions’ rules. This is for a reason though. The tours are WILDLY popular. You really do need to book them 30 days in advance. Because it was mid-week in March we were able to book the day before, but the whole boat was full by the time we got there.

A Boston Duck Boat tour boat in the Charles River

A Boston Duck Boat tour boat in the Charles River (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Personally, I found the tour to be about 30 minutes too long, but that might be because I had a toddler asleep on top of me and I had to support his entire body weight. And even though the tour had a few of those scripted, guided tour jokes that make you want to look at your feet, our guide was pretty funny. No—our guide was really funny. I got a great understanding of the city from him and a few tidbits of history.

AND…we had to get on the Duck at Boston’s Museum of Science, where we were greeted by this guy…

EEEEEEK!!! He’s life sized. G looked up at him and said, ‘Oh-No.’

Here’s a brief overview of the most interesting tid-bits about Boston from our (well worth it) tour, and a few things we stumbled on on our own.

Top 10 Things to SEE in Boston (according to me!)

1. The Old State House.

  • This original State House was built way back in the day (1717) and has a little balcony on it where the Declaration of Independence was read out to the people for the first time.
  • "Old State House", Boston, site of o...

    “Old State House”, Boston (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

    This is also the site of the Boston Massacre (1770) which helped fuel the Revolutionary War. The story changes depending on which side you were on. Some say that English Soldiers randomly opened fire on an innocent crowd of Bostonians. Our tour guide told us what actually happened (?) was the English were attacked by a Boston gang that turned into a mob so they acted in self defense. Either way, the colonialists were really tired of the English by then, so it was a story that didn’t go away. It spurred future Revolutionary events AND proves that the political tool of ‘spinning’ events in one’s favor goes WAAAAAAAYYYY back.

  • My favorite part of the Old State House is the Lion/Unicorn statues on top.

When we walked past them earlier in the week, I pointed them out and said, ‘Look at those crazy statues. They look like relics of England don’t they?’ Then the tour guide told us, they were originally symbols of England (yay me!) and when the victory of the Revolutionary War was announced people were SO excited they literally climbed the building, tore the statues down and BURNED them! Then they thought, ‘hey…you know…we actually like those statues.’ So they were cleaned up and put back.

2. The Bell in Hand Tavern

(photo credit: Wikipedia)

  • This tavern claims to be the oldest in America. Our guide told us it is also the only place you can enjoy a Sam Adams beer while you look out at his grave. (!) Samuel Adams is buried across the street in the Granary burial ground (so is Mother Goose, or is she?).

3. Copley Square

  • This brings us into the Back Bay section of Boston which was built on a landfill in the 1800s. The extended land took 40 years to complete. It’s about 200 years older than the original town of Boston, which includes the Boston Common, founded in the 1600s. It’s very fancy, but will always be in the fancier shadow of Beacon Hill.

  • (photo credit: Wikipedia)

    The public space of Copley Square was donated by John Singleton Copley who was a prominent (and very dashing) portrait artist from Boston (left). It’s adjacent to the Trinity Church. Across the street on one side is the John Hancock building (designed by I.M. Pei). Across the street on another side is the Boston Public Library (worth a peek inside for the architecture). In designing the Hancock building, I.M. Pei decided he couldn’t compete with the architecture of the church, so he made the building out of mirrored glass to reflect the historic landmark. It’s a very nice effect.

(Photo Credit:Jean Malley-fotopedia.com)

4. Newbury Street

  • This posh street is like the Madison Avenue or Blvd St. Germaine of Boston. Fancy shops, places to eat and art galleries all mix in with 19th century architecture.

5. Commonwealth Avenue

  • This avenue runs parallel to Newbury St, and is lined with beautiful examples of 19th century homes. The two roads running side by side are analogous to Madison and Park avenues in New York City. Commonwealth begins at the entrance to Boston’s Public Garden, which is marked by this guy…

George Washington (photos by Michael y’all)

  • Michael also snapped a few photos for us of homes at the base of the Commonwealth (in spring, no less), and one of G bringing me a leaf on the fairy lit Commonwealth Mall.

6. Boston’s Public Garden

  • I LOVE the Public Garden. We were lucky enough to show up in this freaky spring snap so we got to see the garden at it’s best. It has manicured lawns, topiary hedges and flower beds. It’s never teeming with people, so it always has an intimate feel to it, like there’s room to walk and breathe and soak it all in. Founded in the late 1800s (it’s part of the Back Bay), it’s a good 200 years older than it’s neighbor, the Boston Common. Charles Street divides the two parks.

  • (amazon.com)

    This garden holds special meaning for me because as a little girl one of my very favorite books was Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey…I honestly didn’t realize until recently this book was based on a family of ducks who lived in this very real Public Garden. If you were lucky enough to have someone read you stories every night before bed, you know how they get burned into your brain. To see-in real life-the pond and the little island where the ducks ended up living was nothing short of magical. Their drawings in the book are indelible to me. They have a statue now to commemorate the ducks and they claim it has never been professionally polished because children sit on the ducks so often. G, however, tried to pick one up.

7. Cheers

  • Even though it’s only the exterior shot, it’s fun to walk by the Cheers sign on Beacon. I loved Sam & Diane.

(photo credit: Wikipedia)

8. The New State House

  • This shiny domed beast fit into John Hancock’s former backyard.

city-data.com

9. Bunker Hill Monument

  • This monument, constructed in the 1800s to

    (photo credit: wikipedia)

    commemorate one of the first battles of the Revolutionary War had a lot of financial trouble. To see it through to completion one Sarah Josepha Hale (right) organized a craft fair and bake sale that raised 30 thousand dollars. That was a LOT of money back then. Here’s to the power of craft fairs.

10. The Boston Opera House

  • This is the beautiful space Les Mis lives in for 3 weeks. Michael stood on the stage for us and snapped a few photos of what it would be like to look out into the audience…

  • Interesting Nerdy Fact: The Boston Opera house was originally The Boston Theatre. Edwin Booth performed here the night his brother, John Wilkes Booth, assassinated Abraham Lincoln. Yikes!

Boston

March 25, 2012 By in Travel Tags: , , , , , , 8 Comments

We LOVE Boston.

It’s like a set of a New England town, but I guess that’s because it actually is a New England town.

"A plan of the town of Boston with the in...

"A plan of the town of Boston with the intrenchments &ca. of His Majesty's forces in 1775, from the observations of Lieut. Page of His Majesty's Corps of Engineers, and from those of other gentlemen." (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Coming from the Mid-West, New York is as close to New England as I’ve ever been and that was originally settled by the Dutch.  I’ve always had these ideas of New England towns in my head…so Boston is that idea realized.  Why I’ve lived in NYC for 13 years and never bothered to travel to Boston is beyond me.  It’s fantastic.  Michael’s here with Les Miserables,  for 3 weeks, so we thought, let’s go visit him!  A quick hop down to Penn Station, a jump onto the Acela and three hours later we were here.

What we’ve discovered so far is that we love it.

First of all, it’s spring.  So that’s nice.  The weather is in the 70s which is perfect for a walking town.  Michael doesn’t have to be to rehearsal until 1 so our mornings have been spent in the hotel room having coffee, doing yoga, playing with the baby and eating our first breakfast.  Then we head out to the Boston Common for a walk and second breakfast.

The Boston Common is officially the country’s first public park (some argue, the world’s first public park).  It was purchased by the Puritans in the 1600s for $150.00 from Boston’s first European settler.  All kinds of crazy things have happened here…cow grazing, witch trials, speeches by Martin Luther King, hangings, riots and concerts by Judy Garland.  The list goes on.

All we do is play in the Tadpole playground.

Once we send Michael to work around 1230, the baby and I go on adventures and/or nap.

Our first big adventure was Charles Street.  This is an adorable street that sends you right up along Beacon Hill.  Beacon Hill is a very old/very elite part of town where the likes of John Hancock lived (presently John Kerry lives here) and lots of other Boston society types.  It’s simply charming.  There are narrow, tree lined streets with gas burning street lamps and rows of brownstones and town houses.  Charles Street, named after King Charles of England, houses little shops and hotels and places to eat.

What we fell in love with on Charles Street:

It is Easter time, the greatest time of year for darling, little chocolates and Beacon Hill Chocolates had a HUGE assortment of handmade goodies.  G picked out a cute little bunny head on a stick.

This is a tiny children’s shop that is great for gifts.  They have toys and clothes from lots of my favorites like Hatley, Zutano, Petit Bateau, Melissa and Doug and Aden and Anais.

This frame shop/gallery has a show going on by Andrew Woodward of the fifty state animals.

They were selling prints and I thought it would be fun to get one for Gray, but the New York State animal is the beaver…

He’s cute and everything, but we decided we liked Massachusetts’ little Boston Terrier better!

We popped in here just to get a brochure.  How could we not when they have an Edith Wharton room?

We also went to check out this hotel which used to be a jail. (!)  It’s run by Starwood now, a purveyor of high end hotels and is really beautiful inside, but there’s something…well…pretty creepy about it!  Jail doesn’t conjure up the most romantic of images…who’s with me?

My other favorite little shop for gifts and goodies was this place, Black Ink, loaded floor to ceiling with fun little treasures.  I found these great Crumpled City Jr. maps from Palomar, which I’m sure are old news, but not to me!

They are spill proof, tear proof and awesome.  Their maps for kids are colorful and bright and point out a lot of good spots for kids to go.  I grabbed the NYC one for the little man…because why not?

They make a handful of maps for kids…

 

and have grown up versions too…

 

More Boston to come…

February’s Travels

March 11, 2012 By in Travel Tags: , , , , , 1 Comment
February’s Travels

While Michael was in Tampa in February, he stayed in a private house that was halfway between Tampa and Orlando. We decided to join him last minute because he couldn’t stand being away from his family a minute longer. Aw. The house was terrific. Classic Florida. I loved it. It brought me right back to my tweens.

Les Miz was playing in Tampa at a lovely theatre right behind what’s known as the riverwalk. So we drove into work with him one day and took the little man on the riverwalk and to their fantastic Glazer Children’s Museum.

glazermuseum.org

located right behind the theatre. I hate to say it…but that museum leaves the Children’s Museum of Manhattan in the dust.  Just look at the fountain that welcomes you…

It cost $15 dollars and has 8 million things to do.  We were there for AGES.  I decided just to add links of all the different exhibits because why not?  Have fun checking them out.

glazermuseum.org

There were also great reading and resting nooks, equipped with bean bags and books.

On Michael’s day off we decided, ‘When in Rome’ and high-tailed it to Walt Disney World. We knew the baby was really too young to fully enjoy it, but we did it anyway.

And we were surprised to discover that G was right on board with the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House, The Carousel (of course) and It’s A Small World (which they have really spruced up since I was there—20 years ago).

But what surprised us the most was how much he enjoyed the Haunted Mansion.  He LOVED it.  I don’t think he’s old enough to be scared of it yet, he just pulled that sort of contemplative face he gets sometimes…you know the one.

We left only after about 3 hours because Grandpa Michael couldn’t take it anymore…and that’s ok…because it was hot and crowded and Downtown Disney yielded just as much fun.  Downtown Disney is open to the public, I guess.  It’s a complex of shops and restaurants and I saw on-line the night before that this dinosaur themed restaurant was given high marks by reviewers.

I was a little leery, but I must say they spared no expense with their recreated dinos.  Most of them were life-sized and every once in awhile one would roar and G would say…’oh no.’  They had several different dining areas and we were fortunate enough to get to sit in the ‘ice age’ which was a big blue cave with frozen dino bones in it.  Every once in awhile our section would experience a ‘meteor shower’ and the blue cave would make a really loud thunder-ish noise that you couldn’t hear anything else above, then the room would flash orange and yellow.  It was quite the atmosphere to enjoy a (really outrageously priced, but surprisingly delicious) goat cheese salad.

After lunch we wandered into the other rooms like this paleo-octopus bar—

and private group table with a big jelly fish hanging over it—

We checked out the Build-a-Dino (of the Build-a-Bearfame) center and the sandbox out front where you could

build-a-dino.com

excavate dino bones with a little brush.  See the family photos here.  We really enjoyed ourselves.  There was even a BabyCakes bakery next to the Lego Land.  Go Erin McKenna!  She’s the founder of BabyCakes NYC, and creates vegan, wheat free, gluten free treats.  I love to see the lady entrepreneurs expand.  I went down to her shop on the Lower East Side when G was still really little and she was there.  She chatted with me about the baby and I kind of felt a little star struck because I’m so impressed with her creativity and diligence.  I have sort of a small business crush on her!

We ended the day at Lego Land.  I think that is just a great place to end any day when you have a little boy.  Especially when they have a giant dragon made entirely of Lego in the water at the front entrance.

lego.com

 

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