The Silent "I"

Where to Get Your Kicks on California's Route 66

After our barrelling-through-the night strategy to kick off our Christmas Across America Tour, we woke up in Barstow and were ready to hit the Mother Road, Route 66.  Barstow didn't look like much at night, beyond a strip of chain hotels and fast-food joints (or at least to the weary traveler).  Barstow's primary claim to fame seems to be it's location along the historic Route 66, the way west for dust bowl refugees in the 1930's.  Barstow has clearly seen better days, and let's hope for better days ahead.

Our first stop was the Route 66 Museum, one of six Route 66 Museums dotting the historic road.  The museum is housed in basement of the old Harvey House Hotel, sitting beside a row of a dozen or more parallel train tracks.  In its heyday, the Barstow was a prime stop for the Santa Fe Railway, and Harvey House was renowned for its hospitality. The museum has a few old vehicles, like a Model T Touring Car, and displays on the various eras of Barstow's history and on Route 66 generally.  The gift shop of every kind of trinket imaginable emblazoned with "Historic Route 66" was nearly as big as the display.  Since my son is a fan of gift shops, we spent as much time there as we did looking at the memorabilia.

After learning all about the importance of Route 66,we set out to find it.  Some of it is subsumed under I-40, and then it diverges off through the Mojave Desert. We took the interstate for parts of the trip and went off on side trips down Route 66 from time to time, depending on what we wanted to see.  I was struck by how incredibly pristine both the interstate and Route 66 were--not a single piece of stray litter in sight.  I remember the famous commercial in the 1970's of the Native American chief character looking out over a landscape filled with trash and a single tear running down his face.  Anti-litter and highway clean-up programs over the years must have worked, because the desert road was amazingly clean.

We headed down the historic part of Route 66 to Newberry Springs, California.  We stopped for lunch at the famous Bagdad Cafe, location of the 1988 film of the same name.  Both Frank and I had seen the movie many years ago, and decided this was as good a place as any for lunch.  It's not the most luxurious place by a long stretch, and what you might expect of a roadside stop on an otherwise deserted stretch of highway in the desert.  The food was good, the staff was friendly and accomodating, and it has a certain nostalgia for many tourists traveling on Route 66.
 
Our main stop of the day was at Kelso Dunes, part of the enormous Mojave National Preserve.  We had to veer off Route 66 for a while and drive several miles down a dirt road to find the trail, but it was worth it.  I wrote a little about it yesterday, but none of the pictures I took really capture the magic of watching the light change on the desert.  The shadows on the dunes took on deep pools of color, turning the normally beige landscape into a breathtaking display of sand and sky.

 

We made it to Needles by around six pm, but couldn't decide on a place to stop for dinner, so we forged ahead to Kingman, Arizona.  We dined on hearty, delicious Mexican food at El Palacio on Route 66, then made our way to the Springhill Suites for the night.  Springhill Suites is a very modern, upscale motel near I-40 that we were able to use some of our Marriott frequent-stayer points to score a free room.

Road Trip Tip of the Day:  Visit natural landmarks and parks an hour before sunset for the best light for photos.  You will get some amazing results, even with a simple camera, if the lighting is right. These were taken with a Nikon D90, but my husband got some gorgeous results with his point-and-shoot as well.

Yahoo! Mother Board Summit: The Mother of All Conferences

Recently, sixty-five moms from all over the US and Canada descended on Palo Alto and Sunnyvale to attend the invitation-only Yahoo! Mother Board Summit.  The moms are a high-powered group of bloggers who are plugged in to all the latest trends in marketing and social media, and were invited to participate in a one-day conference at Yahoo! Headquarters in Sunnyvale. I was fortunate enough to be invited, and had a wonderful time connecting with old friends, and meeting some great new friends.  I was happy, for once, to not have to travel to a meeting.

I have been on the Mother Board for three years, from its inception.  At the beginning, we answered surveys and tested out new Yahoo! products and gave the marketing team feedback.  In the past year, it has grown into a community of 80 bloggers who support and advise each other through a Yahoo! group and on the pages of the Yodeling Mamas blog. 

The Mother Board Summit was a mix of practical advice for bloggers, marketing focus group for Yahoo! products and services, and socializing over great food and drinks.  The women on the Yahoo! marketing team and Voce Communications did a fabulous job of organizing the content, and shepherding the attendees from place to place.

World Cup: Where to Watch in Palo Alto/Stanford (San Francisco Peninsula)

My hometown of Palo Alto, California is a melting pot of cultures, and as international community as you are likely to find anywhere in the world.  Home to Stanford University, Palo Alto is an upscale mecca for students, entrepreneurs, and regular folks alike.  When the World Cup takes center stage every four years, Palo Altans and our neighbors from around the world gather to celebrate our national allegiances, and commiserate our losses to soccer powerhouses like Germany, Brazil and...Ghana?

This time around, I was determined to find a way to celebrate the event with other people, so I investigated where there were gatherings to watch the games being held in South Africa.  Although the HD TV in my house is just fine for viewing, it's more fun to watch with a group.

Here are some of the places I've watched these past few weeks, in case you're looking to watch the elimination games in Palo Alto or Stanford:

Pasta? Palo Alto: Pasta? as the name suggests is an Italian Restaurant in downtown Palo Alto on University Avenue.  The food is good, but the mood was somewhat subdued on the day I dragged my co-workers out for lunch to see the game. It was not nearly as exciting as some of the other venues, because I think the crowd was a mixture of soccer fans and people who just wandered in for lunch.  Pasta? is located at 326 University Avenue, Palo Alto, and is normally open from 10 am - 10 pm. 

Tresidder Student Union & Coffee House (CoHo): The Stanford Coffee House or CoHo as it's known on campus has two large HD TVs set up for game-viewing.  The day I was there, a group of Dutch students were lined up in front of one of the TVs like big orange birds on a wire wearing soccer ball hats, cheering on their team.  CoHo has not only coffee drinks, but also a great selection of salads and sandwiches.  It gets crowded at lunch time, so plan those 11:30 am games ahead of time.  I was also told that there are TVs set up in the lounges in Tresidder for viewing, but I didn't see where these were located.  CoHo is located at 459 Lagunita in the Tresidder Student Union, and is open 7 am - midnight weekdays and 9 am - midnight on weekends.

Restaurant Review: Piperade in San Francisco

I have been dying to try Chef Gerald Hirigoyen's Piperade Restaurant in San Franciso since hearing him speak at the Cooking for Solutions event in Monterey. I tried the Garlic Soup with bacon, egg and shrimp as the first course. The soup was tangy, but not overpowering with garlic flavor.  I would never have thought of putting shrimp, bacon, eggs and bread together in a soup.  It was like a sophisticated omelet soup. 

For the main course, I had a perfectly grilled halibut steak topped with crispy garlic and a spicy pepper on top.  The dish was flavorful, and the fish was buttery and delicious.  Frank had a tender duck that melted in your mouth.

I didn't know much about Basque cuisine going into the restaurant, but our friendly, cheerful Basque waitress was more than happy to explain things to us and make recommendations.  She recommended the Gateaux Basque for desert, a dense cake with a layer of cream and a compote of sherry-infused cherries.  I had a custardy mousse made of almonds, pistachios, and cream with sweet, crispy almonds on top that the waitress explained was a result of the Arab influence and history in Spain.  Wherever they came from, both were the perfect note to end the perfect meal.

I can't wait to go back to Piperade to find out what else Chef Hirigoyen has up his sleeve.  I bought a copy of his book, Pintxos: Small Plates in the Basque Tradition at the Monterey event, and now that I have some reference to what it's supposed to taste like, I might have to try a few things.

I saw one older child in the restaurant of about 11 or 12, but I would not recommend this for kids. I don't think that kids would be unwelcome, I just don't think that you or the kids would be comfortable.  Our son was not with us, so I don't know if they have a child-friendly menu, but the flavors are probably a little too powerful for small fry. This is a great place for a date night or a special celebration with friends.

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Now We're Talking: Talkeetna

We ventured off the main Parks Highway to check out Talkeetna, Alaska, population 1,064, plus a busload or two of tourists.  If you were charmed by the 1990's television show Northern Exposure, Talkeetna would be right up your alley.  In fact, the fictional town of Cicely, Alaska was supposedly based on Talkeetna, although the show was actually filmed in Washington State.  The resemblance between the two was unmistakeable.

Frank insisted on having lunch at the historic Talkeetna Roadhouse, built in 1914.  Frank later explained that he wanted to eat there because it was the only restaurant listed in the AAA Guide.  We saw several other eateries on the main street, so either the guide was out of date or the other places were not worth mentioning.  Not wanting to risk it, we stuck with the AAA Guide recommendation.

Celebrity Chefs Cook for Solutions in Monterey

This past weekend, I attended a great event at the Monterey Bay Aquarium called "Cooking for Solutions".  It's an annual event in its ninth year, featuring celebrity chefs doing cooking demonstrations and speaking on sustainable food efforts.  The events lasted all weekend, but I signed up for the cooking demonstrations on Saturday morning with chefs Anthony Fusco, Kevin Gillespie, and Gerald Hirigoyen. Each Chef presented a seafood-based recipe, answered questions, and spoke about their commitments to local and sustainable food sources in their respective restaurants.

Chef Anthony Fusco, formerly of Harbour Restaurant in New York City, was up first, and showed us how to make Scallops Crudo, an appetizer similar to ceviche using passion fruit vinaigrette instead of citrus to marinate the scallops.  Chef Fusco explained the various unusual ingredients in the dish and what they meant to the balance of flavors, such as adding cocoa nibs for an earthiness and shiro dashi for smokiness. 

Both he and Kevin Gillespie waxed poetic about the olive oils and vinegars from Katz & Company, a Napa Valley artisinal oil and vinegar company that supplies great restaurants throughout the country.  He emphasized that it is important to know where your food comes from, and who is making it.

I hadn't heard of Anthony Fusco before this event, and unfortunately, his restaurant, Harbour, closed in December. He is working on opening a new place in New York called Carmela's, scheduled to open at the end of the year.  Chef Fusco was very engaging, and spoke lovingly of growing up in an Italian family in Brooklyn where Sunday dinner lasted all day.  His father, a "Wall Street man", was sitting behind me in the audience, beaming with pride at his son.  He said their favorite dish was a simple pasta with garlic, anchovies, olive oil and red pepper flakes.

Aside from his love of seafood, Fusco seemed to hold a particular reverence for bacon.  "Popcorn cooked in bacon fat will change your life," he said, drawing a laugh from the crowd (and for me, the desire to go home and try it).  He invited everyone to come to Carmela's when it opens, and assured us that "there will be pork on the menu."

Dining in Kaua'i: 2010 Edition

 

Kauai has a number of great restaurants that will suit any palate, even the pickiest of children (or adults for that matter).  This was our sixth trip here, so we have some old stand-bys that we try to get to every time we come, and always try something new.  I wrote up a list of recommendations on our last trip here, and already shared my thoughts on Verde, so here are a few additional recommendations:

1. Brennecke's Beach Broiler:  Brennecke's in Poipu is a venerable seafood restaurant, unpretentious, but featuring fresh, grilled fish dishes and generous portions.  Decorated with a sports theme, it doesn't look like much, but the food is good, and the site offers views of the sunset off the western shore of the island.  I had grilled shrimp and ono, served up with hearty potatoes au gratin and broccoli, with a side of crisp pineapple salsa (pictured above).  Everything was cooked to perfection, and tasted great together. Location: 2100 Hoone Rd., Poipu Beach, Koloa, HI. Reservations Recommended.

Dining in Kaua'i: Verde

If you're looking for an inexpensive, yet delicious place to dine in Kauai, look no further than Verde, a New Mexican-Hawaiian fusion restaurant in Kapa'a (think: Ahi Tostadas and you get the idea).  It may look like a typical taco stand, but it's about as far from Taco Bell as Hawaii is from the North Pole.

Chef-Owner Josh Stevens moved to Kaua'i after stints as chef in some of Oahu and Maui's best hotel restaurants.  A native of New Mexico, Chef Josh imports in chiles and flavors from the region and blends it with the best of local ingredients to make tasty, creative concoctions like the Cali Burrito I had (pictured), or the Chile Seared Ahi tacos.  He also features flavorful vegan and gluten-free meals, so there is something for just about every palate.  The chile spice can be either mild or hot, red or green, and seasoned to your liking.

I'm not a huge fan of hot food, but the burrito I had was flavorful without being overpowering. It was a good size, but not the gigantic football size that you get in some restaurants that you can't possible eat, or if you do, immediately feel ill.  We also shared chips lightly dusted with chile powder served with some excellent guacamole.

Located in a fairly nondescript stripmall in Kapa'a, I was surprised that such good food was being served up in such humble surroundings. This was probably our best food find on this trip, thanks to our friends, locals Donn and Nancy Forbes, who are dedicated regulars.  Verde had not yet opened when we were in Kauai in 2007, so this was a new place for us.  Thanks, Donn & Nancy!

This is a great place to go if you've had enough kalua pork sandwiches, poi, and spam musubi, and want something a little different. Verde is located at 4 Kuhio Highway, Kapa'a, Kauai.

Buenos Aires: Where's the Beef?

 

February 3, 2004

One of the things Argentina is famous for (besides Eva Peron) is the incredible beef.  We had read about the steakhouses in Buenos Aires, and being big time carnivores, we couldn't let a day in Buenos Aires go by without trying a steak.  We had both read about La Estancia Restaurant in various guidebooks, which the website calls "A Hearth Burning in the Heart of Buenos Aires."

When you walk in, you see a large asador or circular fireplace with various kinds of meet roasting on tall spits surrounding glowing coals in the middle.  I've read that there is a floor show in the evening, but we arrived early (probably 6:30) and were the only ones in the restaurant.  Argentines tend to eat dinner later than we do, which was probably a good thing since we didn't know how Alexander would fare if we had to wait a long time for dinner.

Our waiter was a portly gray-haired gentleman wearing a jaunty neckerchief and a white apron.  He didn't speak much English, and we didn't speak much Spanish, so we just pointed and smiled and hoped for the best. He was friendly, and ruffled Alexander's hair and patted his shoulder every time he came to the table or passed it. 

Brazil: Iguassu National Park (Cataratas de Iguassu)

February 1, 2004

After making it through the fingerprinting and mug shots at the Brazilian Customs Office, we hopped in the car with our tour guide from Iguassu Falls Tours, Edson, at the wheel.  We drove through the beautiful countryside with farms and thick rainforest on either side, with a few buildings and houses punctuating the deep green landscape. 

As Edson drove us through the scenic farmland and rainforest and spoke lovingly of growing up in the area, moving away for his education, then coming back to the place he knew best.  He taught us to say "obligado" instead of "gracias" for "thank you" while in Brazil. We pulled up in front of the entrance to the Brazil Iguassu Falls National Park, where there was a terrific visitor's center and gift shop.  Alex liked the map of Brazil showing where all the National Parks were.  Who knew there were so many?

We paid the park entrance fee, and did a little browsing in the shop. Edson told us he would bring us back on the way out of the park, so we didn't buy anything, just looked at all the nicely made knick-knacks, masks, and t-shirts with colorful embroidery on them.

We drove deeper into the park, where there are several lovely hotels, and parked at the Tropical Cataratas Hotel, and got out for a walk.  At the entrance to the trail down to the main viewing platform, we spotted another coati (called a quaxti in Brazil), walking around, probably looking for snacks.   He seemed unruffled by the busload of tourists around snapping pictures, and fairly tame.  At times, he looked annoyed, looking at people with a glare that said, "If you're not going to feed me, get the heck away from me."

I don't think it would be a good idea to try to pet one of these critters, but it did seem like they weren't particularly ferocious.